Find Your Passion and Diversify Your Business

I realized at a young age that earthly life is too fleeting to be spent on things that stink. ie: mean co-workers, fluorescent lights, hoarding PTO for a precious 1-week vacation. I started my studio not necessarily out of a photography passion, but because I love style, travel, politics and experiences, and it seemed the best route to enabling those things. And God is good- several years later, He gave me my other half! Since Brian and I got married 18 months ago, our lives have been enjoyable chaos. I became a local politician, we expanded our third-generation farming operation, opened a new store, logged about 220k miles by land/air/sea, and are working on two new businesses. Our ultimate goals with business are to provide jobs, to connect people, to bring style and culture to a sheltered mid-western town.

Jael Photography was born the summer after I graduated from college in 2006, and grew quickly. But as all photographers know, the market has changed dramatically in three years, and by last fall- I felt that I needed to reinvent the studio.

J Ella Couture

So one Friday afternoon in October, following a few late nights and buying trips, we opened a clothing store and launched a fashion brand! “J.Ella Couture” is an intimate downtown boutique (using 450SF of studio space), and includes my very own line of couture accessories and clothing.

Jael Photography seniors now get a completely different experience. They have a massive, totally mod and always-changing wardrobe to pick from for their session, and they get to be styled and photographed by fashion experts! They’ll also get to be part of our fall runway show. They love it! And of course, when they see in their viewing how fab they look in all of our pieces, they want to take them home!

Team is crucial.

Brian runs our farming operation, so his time is limited, but he’s our rockin’ visual manager. ie: he engineers and seeks out re-purposed materials to build funk-tastic designs. I hired Megan a year ago as studio manager- I should have warned her how impulsive I am, because she’s since become studio manager/buyer/designer/personal-shopper. My other two employees keep things moving smoothly by holding reflectors, producing J.Ella exclusive designs and manning the store. I should insert here another thing I learned early on: no matter how big or small your business is: hire an assistant! A HS/college student to run errands, deflect tele-marketers, let the dog out, update Facebook, grab Q’Doba, explain what “FML” or “LMAO” mean.

So what’s next for Jael Photography + J.Ella Couture? Something fun… and…tasty. Stay tuned.