Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Hedden.
Hi Sarah, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
I’ve always been the one with a camera. Whether it was with my family or friends, I’ve always tried to capture life moments when they happen! It was about twelve years ago that I realized I wanted better equipment and wanted to learn the true art of editing pictures to bring the best out of every shot. I can remember the moment I realized what professional pictures can mean to people.
There was a young lady I loved named Catie, She was 15 years old and was battling cancer. Well, Catie and I had an impromptu photo shoot one night in my backyard. A few months later, Catie lost her battle with cancer. Those pictures meant so much to me and to her family. I knew I had to keep furthering my career in photography and continue to give back to families facing such difficult situations.
After working in corporate America for 13 years, I went full-time into photography in 2016. Since then, I have been named the Best Photographer in Jax and Best Wedding Photographer for the past three years. I just opened a new studio in San Marco and I’m so honored to continue capturing the essence of people and documenting their lives in the most loving, joyful, authentic, and creative way.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Failing forward and the lessons I’ve learned.
I graduated from college and became one of the youngest people hired as a sales rep in a large pharmaceutical company at 20 years old. I Transitioned into medical device sales after four years. I had a lot of success in sales and then was promoted to management as the only female manager.
Medical device sales taught me not only how to sell but to be self-motivated, how to grind, be competitive, marketing and be the best in class to my customers. Restructuring forced me to look into a startup medical device company and back into sales. I had to learn to promote a new device and start almost from the ground up. This was valuable because this really taught me how to get a business off the ground. There are no shortcuts to discipline, hard work, and determination.
Then I was fired… And honestly devastated. So, I took the time to really decide what I wanted the next chapter of my life to be. I had a lot of fear of going into photography full-time. My BFF said to me, “If you work as hard for yourself as you did for these major corporations, I have no doubt you’ll have a wildly successful photography business.”
I’ve always known I could sell. But, working in corporate America, I was never able to be my authentic self. I was chastised for my big personality and natural ability to connect through humor and wit. With photography, I am unapologetically myself. Every element of my personality that wasn’t appreciated in a structured corporate environment is what sets my work apart and is one of the main reasons why clients choose me.
Covid also created challenges for my photography business. I was lucky that my business didn’t stop so I had to put in safety measures to mitigate risk for everyone. The biggest challenge was in my newborn photography.
So, during the lockdown, I created instructional videos for parents to show them how to swaddle their baby for their newborn session so that I wouldn’t have to have any contact. It allowed me to focus on capturing the baby in the safest way possible. I set up outdoors at people’s homes and all of the families were thankful they could still document special moments in their lives.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a Professional Wedding and Fine-Art Portrait Photographer in Jacksonville. I specialize in weddings, maternity, newborns, headshots and families.
My clients tell me they love my work and they keep choosing me not only because of my work but because of my personality and how I make them feel. I want clients to see a gorgeous print on their wall and remember how much fun their session was. I’m constantly challenging myself to learn new shooting and editing photography techniques to ensure my clients get the best I can give. I believe everyone is beautiful and I love to document that fact!
I’m most proud that I use my god-given talents to build a successful female-owned business and that I’m able to support my charities of choice through my work.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
No risk, no reward, right? The biggest risk I was ever forced to take was going from hobby photography to a full-time business. Because I was fired from my medical device job, I had a lot of self-doubts and I really had to take time to regroup and rebuild my self-confidence.
During that time, I decided what quality of life I wanted. How I wanted to prioritize self-care and mental health. I wanted to really shape my business and be successful but also do it by being 100% myself.
My expectations were to literally just pay my bills with photography. I never in a million years would have thought it could be a true full-time successful thriving business.
I’ve never worked harder and I’ve never been happier and more fulfilled.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://sarahheddenphotography.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahheddenphotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahhedden.photography
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/yofavphotog
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sarah-hedden-photography-jacksonville
Image Credits
Sarah Hedden Photography
