Today we’d like to introduce you to Becca Sandholm
Hi Becca, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My heart for photography began in high school while working with film. I opted to attend Winona State to earn a degree in Mass Communication: Photojournalism not knowing what path with photography I’d like to take. After school, I fell into photographing weddings under another local photographer who taught me the ins & outs of running a business as well as working with clients.
This is when I fell in love with photographing relationships. Photographing people together and aiming to accurately depict their love whether it be between partners, other family members or friendships. I want my clients to be able to look back on their photos and remember exactly how they felt in that moment.
I more recently expanded into working with small business owners and their relationships with their passions. This has been a very fun exploration. I have found photographing them working with their craft, serving their clients, or & showing the person behind the business help them connect with their audience.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t think any business owner who went through 2020 would consider it a smooth road. My husband and I got married in 2015, the same year I started my business. I was ecstatic with the growth it had in those early years. I surpassed my wedding booking goal while still juggling another couple jobs. I went full-time in 2018 when we noticed I needed to pour more of my time into my business and my husband’s salary could support us.
In 2019 We had our first son and I didn’t know how to both be a mom and a business owner. That trend continued through 2020 and was compounded with COVID-19 wedding delays. I miscarried and then later had another son in 2022. My business took a backseat until 2024 when I finally felt like I was a person again and could poor back into it.
While I am celebrating being in business for 10 years this May, I am also working the hardest I ever have to keep my business going. As a solo entrepreneur with a creative brain, the CEO aspects of my business have always caused a challenge, but I am excited to see what the work I’m doing now could turn into. Using the other side of my brain to plan and build out ideas has been life-giving in a way I wouldn’t have expected.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I photograph weddings & families in various stages of life (think newborns, family photos, childhood milestones) as well as small business owners who need to create content to connect with their audiences.
I mentioned previously my passion for photographing relationships, and this connects to how I run my business as well. My clients are never just clients to me. I love to learn as much as I can about them, share meals together and become friends so that I can better capture them. These relationships have also been a foundation of my business as past clients have shared their experiences with loved ones and have in turn hired me as well.
I work with complete transparency and seek out the best interests of my clients whenever I can. I will advocate for them as they make decisions about their wedding, I will support them as they build their business, & I will connect with their kids to capture their personalities and take the pressure of a perfect photo session.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Get the numbers right from the get go. I wish I had leaned into a business coach and tracking my finances from the very beginning because I think I could’ve avoided a lot of stress in the harder years. Also connect with people. Building connections with others in the industry will only set you ahead later. It might sound very much like buzz words but community over competition to the core.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.justbephotographymn.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justbephotography.mn/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justbephotographymn
