Today we’d like to introduce you to Alicia Yarrish.
Alicia, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started my business in high school when I was around 16. While it wasn’t super-official because you couldn’t technically register my business entity at that age- it was still very important to me! I started with high school senior portraits and families at my church. It honestly was a fun “side hustle” and I had no idea it would turn into a career. My Mom was so amazing and fueled my passion for photography from when I was 10 years old, buying me professional gear as a tween.
When I went to college for business and finance I quickly figured out that I didn’t want to work for someone else in the corporate world. And I knew my camera inside and out. So after college, I took my extremely part-time business and made it into a full-time, branded business.
My company has risen through the ranks and had so much growth and development over the past 10 years officially in business!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Every business has hurdles, even if you don’t recognize them until later on. I’m a go-getter! When I face a challenge I instantly go into “overcome mode” and don’t necessarily register it as a struggle or disadvantage. But now, looking back, my struggle has been moving my business. Even as a baby, part-time, business moving from Houston to the Chicagoland area where I went to college, then back to Houston. It wasn’t easy!
Most significantly, not very long at all after I started the adventure of being a full-time photographer my husband and I moved to Germany. You go where the military sends you! And while it was an amazing opportunity and we created so many amazing memories there it wasn’t necessarily the easiest task to pick up my growing business from Houston and make it successful in Germany… and then back again!
Both moves were difficult but each taught me valuable lessons about business. And I’m a big believer in the idea that everything happens for a reason. Well, it sure did! Now I teach other businesses how to relocate their business among other core business topics like marketing to increase revenue.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I’m a wedding photographer, based in Houston and proud to travel domestically and abroad, serving classic couples planning a stylish wedding and a beautiful marriage. I’m known for photographing couples in a way that their personalities shine and capturing details in a modern and meaningful way.
My couples are family-oriented and greatly emphasize guest experience and leave space on their wedding day for sentimental and fun moments to happen.
I’m so very proud of not only how far my art has come, but also what my brand stands for. My couples and their families appreciate my “type a” personality and my analytical brain that balances my creative side. I love a good, structured timeline and think communication is key for trust and amazing photographs.
If you’re reading this and a bride, or maybe sometime down the road you’ll be a bride (or groom!) I just want you to choose wedding professionals that share your priorities and values. And you simply mesh with personality-wise! That’s how you create a dream team and experience the wedding day that you’ve been dreaming of.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
The wedding industry is truly massive. In the United States alone the wedding industry generates more than 50 billion dollars in revenue each year. Within that revenue, there are so many sectors of the industry- locations, client budgets, cultures, etc. So statistically speaking it’s hard to make any guesses on where the industry as a whole is going. I’m sure there are experts making those predictions, however, my analytical brain knows I’m not the expert for that job!
I can speak for my little corner of the industry and my business though. And I see it making a shift to more meaning. More meaningful traditions throughout the day, more meaningful experiences for guests, more time for meaningful moments to happen naturally throughout the day, more meaning in wedding details… there are so many ways to achieve a more meaningful wedding day and that’s really where I see things going in the next few years. And because of that, over the next 5 to 10 years it could really change how clients hire vendors and what types of vendors are being hired.
Along the same lines, I think couples will continue to put an emphasis on personal connections with their wedding day vendors and choose people, like myself, that will celebrate alongside them each year because their marriage is worth celebrating!
Pricing:
- The AYP Wedding Experience starts at $5,500
Contact Info:
- Email: alicia@aliciayarrish.com
- Website: https://aliciayarrish.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliciayarrish/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AliciaYarrishPhotography
Image Credits
Alicia Yarrish Photography
