Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Bagley.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Karen. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Well, I have a story like many, I suppose. I did not have an easy childhood. I most certainly was not raised with a silver spoon in my mouth, so when I tell you I started from nothing… That is a very true and genuine statement. I always had a creative side to me, but as you grow the world around you tries to convince you that your creativity will never lead to a career that will actually support you. In the back of my head, however, I knew that they simply could not be talking about me. I knew deep down that I could do something amazing if I believed and worked hard enough.
As a child, my mother would get me wind-up cameras and I would take pictures of my cousins in outfits I would make for them. I always had a deep urge to create. As a young teenager, I saved every penny I made babysitting and bought my first camera ( A Minolta 35mm) and started taking pictures of EVERYTHING! Shortly after started my first job developing film at a local photo store. This job and my boss at this job was a huge piece to my journey. My deep-seeded love for photography really just grew during this time.
My dreams were put on hold when I got pregnant at 18 with the love of my life (we are still together to this day and more madly in love than ever. He is my biggest supporter and I would not be where I am today without him) I got a “9-5” job that wasn’t even remotely in the field of photography and I was MISERABLE! I worked this job for almost five years to the date. What makes this worse guys… I was only making $360 every TWO WEEKS! You read that right! Yet somehow a steady paycheck, even a small one, kept me in chains almost. The fear of going from making something to nothing was almost paralyzing.
Enough was enough. One day I had a customer who came in, she had a horrible attitude and acted as if she was better than all the workers in the building. She had her family and friends with her and I couldn’t help but ease drop on their conversation. She mentioned how she spent twelve- hundred dollars on a boudoir session for her fiancé as a surprise. When I peeked over her shoulder to see the standard (NOT to discredit her photographer by any means) boudoir photos, something snapped inside of me. I knew right then I could be doing something more. I KNEW WITHOUT A DOUBT I could make money like that. I turned my two weeks notice in right there and never looked back. The month after I quit my job, I made my first $2400 sale! I cried tears of joy. I had never seen money like that at one time.
I spent every waking moment studying my craft, bettering my business, working on client relationships and marketing. I had days of sadness and stress wondering if I made the right decision and then I had days of pure joy where I knew this was what I was meant to do.
Getting to where I am now, running a six-figure studio, was by no means easy. There was never one moment where I thought MAN this is a piece of cake. I can tell you that it is a million times over WORTH IT though. I knew in my heart that creating artwork for people was where my heart was. It has always been that way. I lost track of my dreams for a while, but no matter what I did… it was always there. You see your dream will never leave you. It will always be there waiting for you to come back and make it a reality. It comes down to how bad do you want it. I fought for my dream. I will always fight for my dreams. That is why I have been successful. I have never stopped fighting! And I never will.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Not by any means. I had struggles of self-doubt. I think creatives as a whole really struggle with this. Self-doubt alone can completely kill and smoother out even the strongest sometimes. I had very little belief in what I was capable of. That is why it is so important to remember and hold your WHY so close to you. WHY are you doing this? That why will help you recenter and refocus on your journey. I would be lying if I said self-doubt disappears completely because it doesn’t. But just like with anything else you have to fight to rise above your self-doubt. With every client who appreciates you, every sale, and every shot you take this will improve.
There was also the struggle of comparison. This too can and will be the death of you and your dream if you let it. You see the world revolves around us posting every single thing in our lives. As a bystander all we see is the positive and wins a certain company or person has had. We never see the struggles. So when we go through a struggle, we immediately feel as if “well maybe we just can’t be successful,” or “it’s not in the cards for us,” because we don’t see anyone else struggling. Let me say this loud and clear EVERY SINGLE BUSINESS OWNER STRUGGLES! Many times with the same exact thing you do. I had to learn to STOP. Stop looking at others. I put blinders on and to this day I do not look to others. I focus on myself, my business and my clients.
I struggled with funds. There will be many times in your journey where you will be faced with a decision to make. When I had NO MONEY, I had to make a decision to use a credit card putting me in debt to market my business OR I could not use that card and not market my business. There are hundreds who tell you to avoid debt at all costs, and in a perfect world YES that is true. When you have no money though, that has to come from somewhere. With that comes risk and stress. What if I go bankrupt? What if I ruin my family because of my decisions? There were a million and one things that ran through my mind. The outcome… I took the risk and paid all of my debts off in less than a year! ALL OF THEM!
And finally one of my greatest struggles was trying to balance my career with my family and friends. You do not realize in the beginning starting a business can be a very lonely road. You have to make sacrifices that you may not think about at first. I struggled with finding the correct balance of time spent with my children, husband and business. Here you are trying to build an empire but you are missing your children growing up. My solution to this was having a very strict schedule. Showing my children that hard work leads to amazing things but making sure I have good quality time with them and my husband every day. Business will always be there. There will always be something for you to work on. Your marriage and your children however, may not always be there. Take care of those relationships.
Please tell us about Significant Moments Photography.
My business is Significant Moments Photography. I specialize in Maternity/Motherhood and Underwater Fine Art Portraits. I am most know for my Maternity and Underwater work. In a world where maternity as a whole is photographed exactly the same, I made it my goal to push past the “NORM” and really provide something new, sexy and timeless. As a mother, I saw such a huge need in this field and was ready to do something NEW! As for my underwater work, it has meaning for me. I am passionate about the water and oceans on this planet and being able to document subjects in one of the most powerful elements here has me completely addicted. There are major challenges with shooting underwater and I love creating art despite those challenges.
As a company, I can say I am most proud of the relationship we have with our clients. Without our clients, there would be no us. I love them and would go to the end of the earth for them. Of course, I am also so very proud to see where this company has gone, especially considering where it started. Yet and still we have only scratched the surface!
What sets me and my business apart from others is the devotion, the love and the energy that goes into our work and clients. The experience we set for our clients is unlike any other. My passion for creating and providing artwork for a client’s home is so evident that it is infectious. My work ethic and love of people also set myself and my business a step above the rest I NEVER STOP wanting to improve. And finally, the art we create is unlike anything you see, I am always working to better my craft and that can’t help but shine through in the art I create for my clients.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Simply put, I would have started sooner. 🙂
Contact Info:
- Address: 1600 Quail Run SW Conyers GA 30094
- Website: https://significantmomentsphotography.com/
- Phone: 678-986-4167
- Email: karen@significantmomentsphotography.com
- Instagram: significant_moments
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/significantmomentsphotography/
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=significant+moments+photography
Image Credit:
Camera Gear @Canon
Underwater Housing Unit @Ikelite Underwater Housing
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