Exploring Life & Business with Paula Player of Paula Player Photography

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paula Player.  

Hi Paula, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
My story begins from an early part of my childhood, my dad and I would take photos around the home, the neighborhood, and of my family members. Then we would cover up the windows of the kitchen and develop the photos in the chemicals which would make the photo appear on the paper. It felt like magic! I learned from an early age that photographs were an amazing way to remember people and times.

Moving to the US in 2001 as a teenager taught me the value of photos even more. My family and I packed 3 suitcases with clothes, shoes and family albums. We knew our move would be permanent and bringing photos along was the only way to see our family. Fast-forward 6 years, I was attending college to become a Spanish teacher, but deep down I knew I wanted to be in a creative field, but I just didn’t know how or where. I remembered how much fun I had taking photos with my dad and decided to give photography a try. I worked under a few local photographers and got to see this career up and close and decided to make it my own. I was young and insecure, but my heart had a big passion for new things and I embraced it fully.

With my photography, I wanted to show color, vibrancy, and people celebrating life. Even though I didn’t have much experience or much knowledge, I loved learning new concepts and the internet played such a key for my self- taught journey. When I saw a photo that captured my attention, I would try to recreate it and see if it turned out the way I saw in my mind. This helped me shape my style and I started to feel more confident in my abilities.

Photography has taken me to many amazing places and I have learned that having a team by my side is such a big step into progress. Part of growth has been delegating tasks to others, which takes trust and having a system established. Thankfully I have found and built amazing relationships that support me into making our photography business absolutely possible and fun!

Being a photographer for over 15 years, I saw the need to have an “in-house” makeup team for our clients. I started a make-up company which allows for our clients to come in before photoshoots, get pampered, and ready for their session. I have some amazing make-up artists that have the same passion to help our clients look and feel the best. Ultimately, this is what I have always envisioned, is to take a photo and have the person feel like it’s their best moment and their best look. That photo will continue to gain value as time goes by. My motto is Celebrate life; I try to live by these words daily.

Alright, 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?
Some of my challenges have been finding the right balance to keep all my ideas, to-do list, and goals in order. When my children were very little, business boomed and I had a hard time finding the time to keep my workflow, emails, and tasks happening in a timely manner. Having a daily routine, self-care, and office hours has allowed me to complete my work in better timing as well as being invested with my family so I can really enjoy quality time with them.

Also, I would say is growing my brand, the quality and overall experience has been challenging. Being able to have deeper relationships with my colleagues, and my employees really made a difference in my connections to others. Investing in them made the biggest difference and caring for them personally helped me connect more genuinely.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Paula Player Photography?
Being a photographer has taught me so many different things. One of them being a good communicator. English isn’t my first language and it took me a long time to get comfortable to take charge of a situation and guide my subjects with confidence. The biggest challenge for me is learning to embrace myself so others could also do the same. I am known for my bubbly personality, my sense of humor, and how spontaneous I am during the photoshoots. I love making people laugh and be relaxed in photos. I can generally see when my subjects are tense and engage them in some relaxation techniques so they loosen up and enjoy the experience. We specialized in wedding photography, couples, family, and more. I personally love being part of people’s life celebrations. They are happy and ecstatic for the most part and being in the midst of that is fun to me. I am most proud of the fact that I have been able to keep my business afloat for over 15 years and have happy clients all this time. To me, that’s an accomplishment and a benchmark in a professional level that I didn’t imagine achieving.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
First of all, I give all glory to God for giving me this deep passion and impulse to do what I love, but also all the people that helped me along the way to get to where I am right now. My husband David was the first person to believe I could start a business when I was only 20 years old, we were newlyweds and didn’t have much. My parents are also such big propellers into my success! They have not only encouraged me, but my mom especially loves to promote my brand and is always there when I need her. My brother Pablo, and my assistant Grace, have both been there for me for many years supporting me by helping me develop new ideas, go on photoshoots with me, and just being willing to be part of the team. Definitely, my colleagues in the wedding industry really helped me by sending clients my way, one, in particular, is Sara from Stunning and Brilliant Events. We have done so many projects together and just have such similar goals. Last but not least, my clients! They have really helped me grow by supporting my business, trusting in my vision, and recommending me to their family and friends. All of this is because they love my work and my vision and without that, we couldn’t have gotten this far.

Contact Info:

• Email: paulaplayer@gmail.com
• Website: https://paulaplayer.com
• Instagram: @paulaplayer
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulaplayerphotography
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDLRAPiQ-At4nqnmM4SJp6A
• Other: https://hairmakeupaction.com

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