A few minutes with Sophie Callahan - Photographer

In this week’s ‘a few minutes with…’ I speak to the lovely Sophie Callahan. Sophie is a vlogger, blogger and professional photographer. She’s blogged on my blog and I’ve blogged on hers. She’s an all round good egg and so flipping knowledgable.

Tell us about you and your background. What made you want to start a business?

I’m a specialist equine photographer and also a blogger and vlogger of all things equine and country. I started my career in event photography and soon got bored of photographing football tournaments and dance competitions. So I decided to give equine photography a go and never looked back.

I’ve always wanted to work for myself, so I started exploring self employment as soon as I graduated from university. I have always been creative and have ridden since I was three, so I feel like I’ve found the job I was born to do. It just makes perfect sense for me.

How is your business different? What makes your products special?

There are a lot of equine photographers out there, so it’s tough trying to constantly come up with ways to differentiate myself.

When I share the images from my clients’ shoots online, I don’t just post their photographs, I also tell their story, which often evokes a deeper level of emotion, in both my subjects and the rest of my audience. I want my clients to have ‘an experience’, from beginning to end.

I also blog and vlog, every week, and try and share lots of fun, original content to my social media pages, which has helped build my online ‘tribe’ and I am super grateful to be able to say that I have a very loyal, supportive following. This has definitely made me more valuable as a photographer, as my audience feel like they know and trust me before they’ve even met me. Photography is quite an intimate thing, so trusting and feeling comfortable with your photographer is so important. I think being so active online has definitely helped me achieve this level of trust in my potential clients.

If you had to sum up your business in a few words, what would they be?

My dream business!

Do you have a motto or ethos?

Work hard and be kind. That’s pretty much all that matters.

If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring business owner, what would it be?

I have lots. I love an inspirational quote! Lol. But most of all, I think it’s to be grateful for what you have and work hard for what you want.

Gratitude is so important and it’s easy to focus on everything you haven’t achieved/got yet, rather than what you have. We’re all in a different place, so don’t compare yourself to others and remember to appreciate how far you’ve come and how much you’ve achieved, every step of the way.

One thing that helps you run your business more effectively

My other half? Lol! I’m a creative, so I’m naturally disorganised, impulsive and a little bit ditzy. He’s the opposite, so he makes sure I’m actually earning money and keeps me on the straight and narrow.

Best thing about running a business?

Just one thing? Erm… The freedom and flexibility it gives me, not only to decide my own hours, but to make my own decisions. I couldn’t stand having to go through three levels of management to get a new Facebook campaign signed off, or something. I like to just make decisions and run with them.

Worst thing about running a business?

Being everything, all of the time. Building your website, doing your own tax returns, packaging orders, sending invoices, taking bookings, sending emails, creating content… It can exhausting sometimes.

Top business blog you follow

Well, this one, obviously! And also, Jasmine Star and the Female Entrepreneur Association.

Top business book you’ve read

Get Rich Lucky Bitch, by Denise Duffield Thomas is my favourite!

Top business achievement

Building my dream job from nothing when everyone said it’d never work. This job is literally everything I could ever have hoped for. I love everything about it and feel so lucky to be doing it!

That and interviewing Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester for my vlog. Vlog goals!!

Where can we find you?