***All images in this post are copyright emilie inc.***

NEXT WEEK: Mary Marantz

{To nominate women you'd like to see in this series please list them in the comments-or if you have a question you'd like to see in the interviews--make sure to include your info in the comment fields so that I can get in touch with you- or write to me at: davina at davinafear dot com }

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Emilie,  You are an amazing woman!  There are so many other words to describe you as well...caring, genuine, depth, visionary, organized, thoughtful, authentic.  I am in awe of the amount you have accomplished in a short period of time since leaving your photographer/editor positions at major national newspapers.  You have created a fantastic photographers workshop, started a charity from the ground up, moved into a new retail space studio, hired a number of employees, and gotten married!  You ability to manage it all and keep a sense of abundance and not a feeling of being overwhelmed has my attention.  Thanks so much for being here!

You have gotten married in the last year. How did that affect your business and the way you work with clients? What changes have you made? 

Experiencing how my clients feel both from a planning perspective and the emotional level of the wedding day script has certainly impacted my business. With 250 weddings under my belt, brides often look to me for advice when making pre-wedding decisions and guidance on the actual day. I feel a greater sensitivity to the dynamics between a couple and the supporting relationships now, something I couldn’t have known from the inside-out previously. Getting married was wonderful, but exhaustingly stressful too!

What does your workflow look like?  Do you outsource or keep everything in house?

Everything is done in-house. Leads and bookings are done by my studio manager with ShootQ. I edit every wedding in Lightroom (I have two associate photographers too), my production manager tones and uploads images to Pictage, my designer completes an album pre-design and I create a blog post all within a week after the event. It’s very structured, but works for us and allows us to approach each weekend’s weddings with a fresh start.

What do you do to help your clients be so comfortable with you during a photo shoot?

This may sound cheesy, but I am just my usual self. I don’t feel like I do anything different with my clients than I would do with my friends, and therefore always appreciate the compliments I receive from couples who liken me to just that, a friend.

What do you recommend women do who are just getting started in the industry?

Be active! Ask questions! Learn! But most importantly, seek out a mentor. I earned a degree in photojournalism from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University where I was the photo editor of the school’s daily newspaper, had multiple internships with different newspapers and studied abroad for a semester in London with National Geographic photographer Ed Kashi. I strongly believe in paying your dues/ slow-and-steady wins the race/ letting the kettle boil approach to learning vs reading a book or just buying a camera and calling oneself a photographer. There is no quick and painless path to being a photographer and starting a business. If you’re in this for the long haul, you need to be diligent and explore all avenues. There will be bumps in the road, but amazing successes too, as you find your way. And finding your own way is key, as everyone’s path to success is different. What worked for one person may not be right for the next. I pour my heart and soul into my business and that’s been my secret ingredient for success. If you don’t have passion for what you are doing, you’ll eventually burn out.

What do you do for fun…that has nothing to do with photography?

My favorite thing to do, hands-down, is to take our dogs to the beach. We’re fortunate to live on the coast in Maine just a few minutes from some of the prettiest beaches. Escaping there to run and romp with the dogs and throw the ball has become a much-needed escape to my day and place I have found such peace. Have you read the poem “maggie and milly and molly and may” by ee cummings? It ends with: “For whatever we lose (like a you or a me) it’s always ourselves we find in the sea.” If we’re not at the beach, we’re taking a Sunday adventure ride, something I’ve done since I was a kid with my father and now with my husband, where we get in the car and head nowhere in particular to explore without a planned destination.

What are you most proud of as a business woman?

My proudest moment was hanging my sign outside my studio. As a girl I used to play office. No, not house, office. I had a portable file with my imaginary customers I would tote around and talk to my parents about business transactions. I have no idea how that started or why, but have always dreamed of running my own business. I used to work at USA Today and the Washington Post as a photographer and photo editor, two remarkable achievements I still can’t quite believe are a part of my resume. But it was the process of creating and opening my own shop that makes me the most proud because it was 100% me achieving a lifetime goal. Tho business was just fine when I operated from my kitchen table, I skip through my studio door every morning with a smile on my face that doesn’t get old.

Overall, I think I am most proud of how much the emilie inc umbrella has grown. Aside from photographing weddings and running a studio with employees, I also started a non-profit (www.pinkinitiative.org), a national directory (www.newsweddingphotographers.com) and a photojournalism workshop (www.rootsworkshop.com). Next month I am starting an in-studio workshop series (http://blog.emilieinc.net/2010/01/branding-blogging-workshop-announcement.html).

What do you do to keep your marriage fun? 

We’re so fortunate to be in the same industry (my husband J is the wedding development manager for liveBooks and shoots weddings with emilie inc. on the weekends. He used to be my account rep at Pictage back in the day and that’s how we met!) which enables us to have a solid common ground. Both of our jobs entail quite a bit of travel, which is a perfect balance for us to tickle our sense of adventure and escape from the everyday. Our routine is never quite the same which keeps things fresh and fun.

You have created great relationships with vendors in your area, how have you done that?

More than 80% of our brides are from out of state, most of whom we don’t meet until their wedding day (http://blog.emilieinc.net/2009/08/emilie-inc-2009-booking-trends.html). A few years ago, I started photographing the process of area vendors I love working with as a way to give these brides planning from afar an inside peek at their process and, in turn, massage those valued vendor relationships. At this point I am only paying to advertise on one website, as most of my work comes from word of mouth referrals. Vendor and venue relationships make up a huge percentage of those bookings. I prefer to link arms with like-minded talent and forge ahead together. http://blog.emilieinc.net/search/label/vendor%20tours

How have you made your business grow and thrive in such a small town? 

Portland is a small business mecca, with very few large corporations to support the employment workforce. Therefore it has the infrastructure and resources in place to support and help grow small businesses like mine. I have no formal business training, my growth can be attributed to an exhaustive trail of trial and error. Now in my 7^th year, simply put, my business has grown from never wavering from my initial model: to always love what I do and to provide a consistent superior customer experience.

What do you do to keep from feeling overwhelmed?

I tend to take on a lot, but rarely feel overwhelmed. Lists help! For me, I always prefer busy over bored, so am constantly looking for ways to improve and grow my business. I suppose if I ever reach a point where I feel uninspired, then it’s time to move on to something new. 

You seem to be a very grounded, purpose driven person. What steps do you take when you make decisions?

First and foremost, I try to embrace risk. I’ve never been one to follow the pack, and instead prefer to be out in front forging my own way. Taking chances and trusting instinct is my personal compass. But for back-up, I always make a pros & cons list. May sound simple, but the age-old practice has helped me make major life decisions. 

What three products or things help you stay organized?

iPhone, Google Docs, liveBooks, ShootQ.

You are the founder of pinkinitiative.org. What inspired you to create this organization and how do you fit it into your already busy life?

I was raised to always make time and money for charity. I came to a point with my business when it just made sense to give back, simply put, because I could. I chose to donate a portion of all my wedding profits to breast cancer research because it is a cause that is close to my heart and affected my family as a child. The response was humbling, somuchso that I decided it needed to grow beyond emilie inc. I formed a 501(c)(3) non-profit in 2008 so that all wedding vendors could contribute to this worthy cause and it’s caught on like wildfire. We have more than 100 vendors from all over the country giving time and money, hosting grassroots events and creating products to benefit Pink Initiative. It’s mighty awesome.

You are an extremely genuine and caring person in an industry that can be very selfish and ego driven.  How do you keep those aspects of you as strengths within your business? 

I’m not sure I would know how to do it any other way. Since giving has always been part of my make-up, I feel the most purpose from helping others, not winning contests or receiving accolades. This summer I will be hosting the third Roots Workshop for a week in July on Cape Cod, an intimate photojournalism intensive with 12 students and 9 staffers under the same roof on the water. It’s a summer camp of sorts that achieves a gentle balance for serious learning in a beautiful surrounding. The lack of ego is what makes the experience magical and safe to push one’s boundaries.

What is something that you think women in the industry should not do?

Assimilate. It took me a long while to not feel pressured to adopt the latest trends and styles in our industry, but rather embrace my own and trust that there’s an audience for everyone. How boring it would be if everyone were exact replicas of each other.

What is something that you think women in the industry should do?

Support each other. When I moved to Portland from Washington, DC, I was surprised at how little sharing was going on among wedding photographers. Selfishly seeking girlfriends, I organized a twice-yearly luncheon for women wedding photographers. There were 12 of us at that first luncheon, now our group is more than 60 strong! It’s a saturated industry, but one of the most loving of all. We’re blessed to document joy, so it only makes sense to share that love and kindness in all aspects of our business, especially with our peers.

What five suggestions do you have for women who are trying to have a more whole, content, and blissful life?

If I knew that magic equation I’d be a multi-millionaire! Personally, I don’t think a perfect balance exists. I appreciate that everyone aspires to achieve a state of whole or else we would be a mighty dull species settling for second best. My contentment comes first from accepting who I am and all the good and bad that makes me me.

 To see more of emilie's work:

www.emilieinc.com

blog.emilieinc.net

www.emilieink.com

www.rootsworkshop.com

www.rootsworkshop.net

www.pinkinitiative.org

www.newsweddingphotographers.com

***All images in this post are copyright emilie inc.***