Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in photography but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Carrie Anne Kelly, a Photographer and Content Creator based in Oceanside, CA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I am a body positive boudoir photographer, and I help my clients see and celebrate themselves fully through the photographic experience at my studio. I am known for my unique approach to image making, the way I help my clients feel incredible, and the space I offer and hold for my clients. I am most proud of the community I am cultivating through all the wonderful people I work with. This is not just a one-stop shop for a boudoir session. I am deeply connected to all my wonderful clients, and we are all a support system for one another, even if they do not always realize it.

Tell us about yourself

My journey as a boudoir photographer began with my journey toward loving myself. It's no coincidence that I am a boudoir photographer. My reasoning and my "why" are very much inspired by my own journey + healing from an eating disorder. I am in love with the fact that I get to use photography as a vessel in helping people see how incredible they are.

After spending some time interning and working as a photographer in the fashion industry, I quickly learned that I wanted to feel more passion behind what I was doing. I wanted to use my skills to help people. I also had a passion for helping people feel good through photographic experience, but I never knew what my exact calling in life was. That was until I photographed a friend's boudoir session and experienced being photographed for my own boudoir session in one day. This was in 2012.

Through that unique experience, I realized if I can help people heal from their disordered body image through photography, that's what I want to do. Being photographed for my own boudoir session was so powerful, grounding, and healing. It helped me to move forward in a lot of ways. I wanted to offer that to my clients and do something more meaningful.

Now, I work out of my Oceanside studio and get to bridge the gap between my love of fashion photography and the boudoir industry through a really unique creative practice of working with my clients. It's really just only beginning at this point. I am making work I am truly excited about and inspired by, and my clients want a piece of the magic too. It's so freakin' cool.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment has been moving my business from the east coast to the west coast and building something bigger than I had ever imagined. Getting my very first studio in the aftermath of the pandemic proved to me how hard I worked even when all odds were against me.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

I think what a lot of people don't realize is how hard running a business is. It is a labor of love, truly. Finding balance and truly taking time away from the business can be hard. When you are a small business owner, you are the accountant, the bookkeeper, the marketer, the designer - you are everything. Getting to a place where you can take time off and find balance can be super hard but also so rewarding.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Don't give up. Owning and growing a business is not for the faint of heart. Get your LLC. Hire and pay for a good accountant. Throw yourself into it entirely (if you can). Do things by the book and do it right. Take your time. Grow sustainably. Hire people you look up to and let them teach you.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.carrieannekelly.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carrieannekelly/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrie-anne-kelly-28912043/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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