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104: Amanda Reed Photography – Picture Perfect

“You’re crazy! I don’t know anything about this!”

And so, the unconventional journey of Amanda Reed’s photography career begins. After taking her brother’s senior high school pictures herself, Amanda was shocked at the response the photos were receiving from friends and other peers. It was very obvious that Amanda had a talent hidden inside that was not apparent to her at first. Amanda’s friends and family urged her to become a serious photographer and take her ability to a new level!

“You can make an awesome business in West Virginia, but you have to value yourself!”

When asked about starting a business in Appalachia, Amanda touches on the importance of self value. She explains that understanding your self worth as an artist goes hand in hand with understanding what you bring to your customers and finding the right balance of personal care and business care is paramount to success. She has managed the growth of her business by setting clear goals and keeping a detailed calendar of her work year. Amanda also describes how realizing the importance of what you do each day you go to work and the service you provide to so many people is a successful recipe to avoid complacency.

Photos courtesy of Amanda Reed Photography

“The most important thing I can do is respect them, love them, and let them be themselves.”

Amanda shared how much it means to her to have a personal approach with her work. So often we feel a lack of human connection when when conducting one on one business. The contribution of maintaining a personal experience with her clients is something that Amanda prides herself on and attributes so much of her success to! Since taking the photos of her brother that unexpectedly plunged her into her very vibrant professional career, Amanda still has a very special place in her heart for photographing school pictures of teenage students. After recalling some of her own difficulties from her teenage years in school, Amanda goes on to explain how creating a comfortable, respectful and loving environment for her students while they are with her is the most important thing she can do for them!

Never losing a personal approach, staying humble, valuing yourself, always remember why you go to work! Amanda Reed is an amazing example of an entrepreneur who takes these steps to heart and has raised an incredible business from the ground up in Appalachia!

In addition to providing such an incredible product to so many individuals, each year during the holidays, Amanda takes the opportunity to do something incredible for those less fortunate. Here is a link to the wonderful charity sessions that Amanda does!

Here is a link to this episode on SoundCloud, and we hope you all get the chance to enjoy another great story of unlikely journey that turned into a brilliant success!

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT AMANDA REED PHOTOGRAPHY!