Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Caldwell.
Michelle, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My parents gave me a little Canon Rebel camera for my 19th birthday. I quickly realized photographing friends and family brought far more joy into my life than studying mounds and mounds of psychology books at my university. So, I transferred to photography school in Santa Barbara, CA and never looked back!
I began my business while in school and hit the ground running when I graduated in 2010. I never imagined owning a business could be so fun but once I pulled my best friend and husband into the business, it really changed everything. Being a “solopreneur” was great but working alongside a team of your favorite people is even better! Now we have a team of five photographers & videographers and love them all like family!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Gosh, yes & no! It’s been a wild ride! We’ve been blessed with so much, but we’ve had our fair share of struggles. Navigating systems & workflows and expanding into offering videography have all been difficult! It’s so much trial and error. No one hands you a guidebook on how to run your business, you know!? Once you feel like you’ve got it all down, things change, a new program comes out or clients change, and you are back at it again. But I guess that’s what makes it interesting!
We are expecting our first baby, due in March, and that’s throwing us a curve ball. We are trying to figure out what to do and how to best navigate life with a little one on the way, which means lots of big changes coming up for us! Change is hard but it’s just part of the process and learning to embrace it is half the battle! Learn, adapt & keep moving forward!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Cotton Collective – what should we know?
We create warm, heartfelt wedding and lifestyle photography for madly-in-love couples, sweet-hearted families and happy brands we love, all backed by the belief that love is our greatest legacy. Simply put we specialize in happy, natural photography for kind people! 🙂 As a business, we are a family of photographers loving each other, our friends and our clients as best we can.
We also have a heart for coaching other photographers! We’ve spent 10+ years in the photography industry, learning and crafting Cotton into a meaningful photography business that truly fuels our hearts and we want the same for others! From learning the photography basics to implementing our wedding photography systems, we completely customize their coaching and make sure they get the most out of every minute.
I’d say I’m most proud of the people that surround us, from our team to our clients! I love all our girls (and my hubby, of course) so much! They are kind, loving and always go above and beyond for us and our clients. And our clients are awesome too! They are just great people! Most of the time they become sweet friends of ours! We are so relationship focused and I hope that’s what sets us apart, how much we care.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Being kind and serving others! This is a customer service business at the end of day so loving people and caring about them is at the top of the list.
Pricing:
- Our lifestyle family & business collections begin at $950
- Our wedding photography & film collections begin at $3800
- Our Cotton Coaching sessions begin at $200
Contact Info:
- Address: Houston, TX
- Website: https://thecottoncollective.com/
- Phone: 7133207784
- Email: hello@thecottoncollective.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thecottoncollectivetx/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cottonweddings/
- Other: vimeo.com/cottonweddings
Image Credit:
@thecottoncollectivetx – all images by us 🙂
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
