Today we’d like to introduce you to Todd Graham.
Todd, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve been an entrepreneur most of my life, really. Around five or six years old, I started my first business outside of a trailer park my family used to live in during the summers in Colorado. I originally started that business not really knowing what I was doing, but wanted to help out any way I could. So, I would go door to door asking people if they’d like to donate any unopened or unused beauty products like nail polish, eyeliner, etc. I’d collect all those items, put them in a basket, make a sign out of cardboard, and sit at the entrance to the trailer park and sell them for $1-5 each. Needless to say, my margins were phenomenal haha. After a few weeks, other kids saw what I was doing and by the end of the summer, I had about five kids working for me. It was during this time I knew I wanted to start and build companies for a living.
I was always a pretty artistic kid growing up, so the thought of working for myself and creating art seemed like a dream. Once I took my first official photography class in High School, I was hooked. I became obsessed with photography and spent the entirety of my free time learning about it. I got my first paid gig my freshman year of college working with another student trying to build up her modeling portfolio. I made $50 and I remember thinking, “Yep…this is it. This is what I want to do for a living”.
I got my first commercial job with a Fortune 500 company not long after that shooting on a Canon Rebel XTI and an 18-55mm kit lens. The rest is history. After ten years, I am now the Co-Owner and Creative Director of Mike Moon Studio, a wedding photography and videography company here in Georgia.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My journey thus far has, in no way, shape, or form been a smooth one. With that said, I wouldn’t trade a single bump, bruise, or scar I’ve acquired along the way for anything. Those battle wounds are what made me who I am today and are a constant reminder of where I came from.
There are many things that were, and in some ways, still are tough. One of the biggest, earlier on, revolved around the costs of pursuing your dreams. When you work around the clock, you sacrifice relationships with friends and time with your family. It’s easy to lose sight of what is most important in the pursuit of your dreams. You don’t even realize you’re doing it half the time. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but a valuable one. Another being financial sacrifices. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t times when I thought to myself, “man…it would be so much easier to just work a 9-5 and have a reliable paycheck, plenty of time on the weekends with family and friends, being able to clock out and worry about nothing after 5 pm…” But the thought of that alone always kept me pushing forward.
One of the biggest obstacles I’ve encountered that most people don’t really seem to talk about is mental health. The mind is a powerful thing. It can push you forward and it can hold you back, whether you realize it’s doing it or not. I’ve had a lot of naysayers throughout my life. Whether it was being bullied from a young age to friends and family telling me, “you can’t make money in the arts”. At some point, even if it’s subconsciously, your brain identifies these words as facts and ultimately creates what psychologists call, The Imposter Syndrome. Pretty fascinating stuff.
Whether you think you struggle in the mental health department, I highly recommend you all read The Imposter Cure by Jessamy Gibbered and The Feeling Good Handbook by Dr. David Burns.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Mike Moon Studio has been around for over a decade now and I own it with my business partner, Joel Brantley. We specialize in Wedding Photography and Videography. The thing that I am most proud of when it comes to our business is the peace of mind that we provide our couples.
The first wedding I ever shot was as a 22/23 years old kid just trying to build my portfolio. I was hired for $200 to shoot their wedding video and as I’m setting up my equipment in the church, the father of the bride informs me the photographer isn’t there. As it would turn out, the photographer was in Colombia….the country. Needless to say, the photographer didn’t show up for the wedding and the couple asked if I’d take both photos and video…my first wedding ever.
Joel, my business partner, waited seven months to get his wedding photos back.
At Mike Moon Studio, we have put systems in place to ensure things like this never happen. We don’t really sell weddings, we sell peace of mind, and we are both incredibly proud of that.
What were you like growing up?
I was into everything as a kid haha. I was an extremely introverted kid growing up. It wasn’t until my mid 20’s when I started to break out of my shell. Photography, without a doubt, helped me with that. Being forced to communicate with brands, models, couples, etc. really did wonders for me. Earlier in my photography career, I was so introverted I would say things like, “If I don’t say anything, that means you’re doing great!”. In my private life, I was the goofiest of the goofy. I noticed that when I’d bring a little bit of that personality out with my clients, my pictures would come out 10x’s better and my clients’ experiences were far better than they were before.
I was huge into sports and spent a large part of my childhood and through high school playing baseball. But I was involved in a little of everything. Baseball, theater, you name it. In high school, I was in about 40 different clubs. True story. I was one of the very few in both the Young Democrats and Young Republicans clubs. Neither club really ever met for anything but got you out of class for a few minutes for yearbook pictures. I was also a proud member of the state championship-winning bobsled team four years in a row. We were the only team. Either way, we were champions and had t-shirts to prove it.
Pricing:
- Wedding Photography Starting at $2,495
- Wedding Videography Starting at $1,695
Contact Info:
- Website: www.MikeMoonStudio.com
- Phone: (678) 928-3919
- Email: Todd@MikeMoonStudio.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/MikeMoonStudio
- Facebook: Facebook.com/MikeMoonStudio
- Twitter: Twitter.com/MikeMoonStudio
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