Today we’d like to introduce you to Breeanna Farmer.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Absolutely! I was gifted my first DSLR camera when I was 20. At the time, I just wanted to take “cool” photos and spent a lot of my time dressing up and taking photos with friends or taking self portraits.
Owning my own business or becoming a professional photographer was never really on my radar. I thought I’d go to college, work in accounting and spend my days in a 9-5 office job somewhere in the corporate world.
After entering the corporate world, I realized that the things that mattered most to me didn’t line up with the career path I was on. Since I’d been living across the country, I wasn’t able to travel often or visit my family back home as much as I’d like because well… 2 weeks of PTO a year doesn’t go very far.
This started my brainstorming! If I wasn’t happy doing what I thought was supposed to be my life’s plan, what would fulfill me?
My answer was what was at the time, my favorite hobby – photography.
Within weeks, I’d packed up my car and moved back to the midwest, where I could build up my portfolio. Starting out, I was taking on any type of session I could get from newborns and families to seniors and weddings. This is how I’d discovered my love for working with couples and even more recently have niched down to serve small weddings and elopements.
I’m in my 7th year of business now and am completely in love with my clients, my business and the life I’ve been able to build so far.
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?
There have been smooth parts of the road, but also some of struggles that I’ve had to learn and grow through.
I’ve had to learn how to stay motivated and creative, but my biggest struggle is finding a balance between work and play. Since I always want to give my couples the best experience I can, I actually have trouble putting down work or turning my brain off sometimes so that I can be more present with my family and in my daily life.
Also, worrying about doing something new and failing can be daunting. It does help to realize that if I try something and fail, I’ll be better for the experience than if I’d never tried something that I had wanted to.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a small wedding and elopement photographer and videographer!
I’ll help my couples with ideas for how they can spend their elopement day, where to elope, timelines, how to feel like a natural in front of the camera and so much more!
My goal is to create non-traditional, natural looking photos that truly document the couple’s wedding day. I hope my work can make my couples feel all of the nerves, excitement and happiness for years to come.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Starting my business in itself was a huge risk. I’d left my corporate job and put all of my eggs in one basket, which was terrifying.
Since I really didn’t leave myself a back up plan, I knew I’d have to make this work… and I did!
It also felt risky when I niched into weddings and then again from all weddings to just small weddings. You almost feel like you’re turning away potential clients, but really you’re attracting the ones who make you feel 100% aligned with where you want to be.
There are definitely times when you should do the big, scary things, but also times when it’s okay to say no. Deep down, you’ll know if the risk is right for you or if it’s not worth taking.
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@breeannakay.com
- Website: breeannakay.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/breeannakayphotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/breeannakayphotography
Image Credits
Breeanna Kay Photography
