Today we’d like to introduce you to Jodie Heinen
Hi Jodie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always been interested in art and music, but as I grew up I was always told “there’s no money in art” or “find something more practical.” I’d often wonder how it was that artists, musicians, actors, etc even existed if this was such a common mindset.
Fast forward to age 24. I had graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Accounting and was working full time in the corporate world. By the time I had finished my first year out of college, I had felt burnt out and had no idea why. The 9-5 was supposed to be the dream… right? Wrong, for me at least.
I decided to begin looking at starting my own business. I thought about starting a youtube channel, a microbakery, a coffee cart, anything that would get me away from the corporate life. Lucky for me, I was also planning my wedding at this time, and had started a friendship with my wedding photographer, Whitney.
Photography was something that I have always been interested in. From commandeering my grandma’s camera as a child to dipping my toes into a social media management role in college, I had always been excited about it. It wasn’t until after my wedding day that I was serious about doing it.
There isn’t a lot that I remember about my wedding day, thanks to the nerves, but I do remember how much I enjoyed working with Whitney and her team that day. I am also so incredibly thankful to have the entire day memorialized by the photos she took. These thoughts and feelings were what struck my newfound passion.
I began to work hard to learn how to shoot manually. I took my camera out every chance I got to practice working with the settings. Then, I started diving into Youtube videos and taking both online and in person courses to master my craft.
I am currently preparing for my third season shooting weddings and I am so totally in love with it.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t exactly been the smoothest road. Like any business owner, I had to figure out what my policies would be and how I would handle setting boundaries with clients. I think setting boundaries has been the biggest challenge as I have always been a people pleaser. I have learned from not only my own mistakes, but from friends that also own photography businesses that letting clients overstep boundaries is the quickest way to burn out. My goal is to be in this for the long haul, so burning out just isn’t an option for me.
Additionally, I moved from a full time job to a part time job last summer to spend more time working on my business. The month after this switch was made, I found out I was pregnant with our first baby. While both my husband and I are very excited about this new addition to our family, it goes to show that when you make plans, God will laugh and show you His plan. Despite a rough first trimester, I was still able to work all the weddings I had booked last summer/fall, and deliver beautiful galleries to my couples. I am incredibly thankful to my husband and my brother-in-law for stepping in to help me when they were able to.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a photographer. I specialize in weddings, families, and boudoir. I would say I am mostly known for weddings since that is what I book the most.
I am most proud of the fact that I did it. I started my own company and it is going well for me. I know how this sounds, but entrepreneurship is not for everyone. It’s scary to start your own business. Especially when you have been pushed into the corporate lifestyle your whole life.
I think my personality is what sets me apart from others. I take the planning of the timeline, the shot list, and all the other details leading up to the wedding seriously. But on the day of the wedding, I am goofy and laid back, yet I still have the ability to keep the day moving along according to the timeline. As someone who has been married recently, I can say that I really appreciated anyone who could distract me from the nervousness I was feeling. It makes me really happy that I have found a role where I can do that for other brides now.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Right out of high school, I initially went to college to be a law enforcement officer. After completing one year of college, I thought it would be a good idea to work in corrections to see if this was the right path for me. After six months of working part time for two different county jails, I changed my major.
During this time, I learned that law enforcement officials do not get the respect they deserve. It truly is a thankless and incredibly dangerous job, and is the motivating factor behind the “Hero Discount” that I now offer for my wedding packages. Looking at the big picture, this discount may not be much, but it is my way of showing LEO’s, firefighters, first responders, and members of the military that “I see you and I appreciate you.”
Pricing:
- I would refer readers to the investment page on
- my website: heinenmediaco.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://heinenmediaco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heinenmediaco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094092070578
