I met Brittany Sisk several years ago when she was working in mental health. We had several conversations about where she wanted to go next with her career—go to law school? pursue her doctorate in Political Science and become a professor? Ultimately, she left the mental health field (which was always her plan) and went back to school, acquiring her Masters of Political Science. However, none of these avenues lead to her real passion—photography.
She had been encouraged by a sage friend to “do what you love and the money will follow,” and those close to her saw the potential in her photography. A couple of years ago, she took a significant risk on herself and started Inspired Life Photography. She hasn’t looked back since!
Brittany worked with a consultant from an area business incubator to write her business plan. She spent many hours writing the story of Inspired Life and working through the numbers. With each new draft of the plan, she sent it off for review then talked with her consultant over the phone about any necessary changes. This service proved golden to Brittany as she solidified her plans to move forward with the business. And, though Brittany had natural talent in photography, there was so much to learn about cameras, digital editing, and the computer software she would be using. She contacted a photographer she respected and made arrangements to apprentice with her to learn the nitty-gritty about running her own “photoshop.” With the business plan and apprenticeship now complete, she turned her energies to finding customers and building her portfolio.
Pumping her creativity into the birthing of Inspired Life, she put up a Facebook page and started posting to create a buzz among her friends, family, and acquaintances. She sent messages out to them offering free photo sessions (including a CD of their photos) in exchange for permission to publish the photos in her portfolio. She started posting the photos to Inspired Life’s Facebook page and her risk started to pay off. She is truly a talented and artful photographer, so the news spread easily among her family and friends to “get in with her now before her prices go up.” She was so busy with photo shoots that she had left herself no time for editing and those first shoots didn’t make their way back to the folks until nearly 6 months later.
Since those early days she has learned to pace herself with photo-shoots and has taken on interns to help with her bigger projects (like 12-hour wedding shoots). Her apprenticeship was crucial on her journey to creating a successful photography business and knows there are others out there who need that same boost, so she’s created an internship program that allows aspiring photographers to learn the business while giving her an extra set of hands.
Sitting and talking with her recently, I knew she had found her niche. She just glows when she talks about the business and is so confident in her talents and abilities! Her photography is art and truly captures the best of who we all are.
Interviewed by Safi Mahaba (Sharon Martin) of Cohort 9
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