Today we’d like to introduce you to Ivette Franqui.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Ivette. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
We opened our bird road office in 2016! My mother was a photographer while I was growing up and I learned the craft from her. I studied it in college while pursuing my double major in marketing and journalism. In 2016 she became very sick and I wanted to make sure she knew her legacy would live on! I opened Ivette Media LLC and began doing my first photography jobs under the company name “Ivonne Photo,” honoring her.
I completely fell in love with the art of capturing people’s milestones knowing that MY work would be something they could treasure for years to come! It was so exciting to be a part of something so important.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t been easy. As I mentioned she got sick the same year I opened. Terminal Ovarian Cancer. The year I was fighting to grow a business we were also fighting for her life. That year we tried four different chemotherapies and had two large surgeries. My husband also proposed to me that year (talk about bad timing on his part-haha-MEN…)
Point is.. a lot was going on in my life. But as any business owner knows. You have to work hard every day to make it. I put in over 14 hours a day between social media, creating a website, marketing materials, logos, etc. Most of my first years I worked from a hospital, by my mom’s side for her full-day chemos. I took phone calls there pretending to be in an office and was running around when I had to meet clients at the office. I was a one-man band for the business and as an only child. I was rough but I was determined to keep the business afloat.
Please tell us about your work.
I am a Miami based photographer and I specialize in Quince, Wedding, and Maternity! We also do destination weddings. Once we opened we saw so many photographer friends try to open and have to stop pursuing their dream because there was so much competition. There are so many photographers now, its a rough industry! My approach to climbing to the top was to give more specialized attention in a saturated industry. I was already a one-man band, so Clients had my number. I wanted to be easy to reach, 24 hours a day (I know) clients experience a boutique-style service with us. Where they could text the photographer styles they like and we were a one-stop-shop! We offer full packages with outfits, photos, makeup and hair, accessories and even our OWN PRIVATELY OWNED LOCATION for their photoshoots! We bought a property with all the accessories and hottest photography trends happening at any moment to provide as part of our photography packages.
For example, our girls wanted pictures with a horse and flowy dress, we had the dress and horse at our location at no additional fee! Someone wanted a mermaid look?? We have mermaid tails and a waterfall for their shoot! our location is extremely versatile. Any time a new look comes in style for the photography world, we are on it o make it happen at our location! EXCLUSIVITY for our clients… As if that wasn’t enough, we make this a real experience for our clients. at the end of the day, the bulk of our clients are referrals. Make sure your client had fun and loved your work, and you’ll have a client for a lifetime! And shell rave to her friends and family!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I could give myself advice early on, it would’ve been to go to more workshops! Workshops are something I do a lot of today and I see their importance in learning and growing. Running a business is half about your industry and the other half is social media, marketing, legalities, contracts, workflow, taxes, pheeww.. It’s a lot behind the scenes but the more you do it the more you understand. Workshops are guided to help teach you different areas in a craft. I attend everything and anything I can take some time to be at. NEVER STOP LEARNING!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ivonnephoto.com
- Phone: 305-343-2306
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credit:
Ivonne Photo
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