Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Page.
Hi Kelsey, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I was born in Nashville but grew up in Louisville, KY, and Tuscaloosa, AL. I grew up going sailing a lot and developed a huge love for the ocean and marine life. I always grew up wanting to work with Dolphins, so that’s what I pursued. I went to college at the University of Alabama to study Marine Biology. But honestly, college was hard. I ended up struggling with a really bad depression and ended up dropping out after 2 semesters.
In high school, I had gotten a DSLR camera for fun and throughout those two years took photos as a hobby. It became a fun escape for me especially when I was battling my depression. After leaving The University of Alabama I decided to pursue photography more but I had zero ideas what I was doing. I ended up taking a photography class and a business class at a local community college. Welp I still really had no idea what I was doing but I wanted to keep learning. I continued shooting and trying to teach myself. I would shoot photos of anything and everything. I would even set up mini studios in my closet with sheets and lamps and try to take photos of random objects and just experiment as much as I could.
I soon decided I wanted to go to art school to learn more and get a degree in photography. I started looking at two art schools here in Nashville. I always felt the urge to move back to Nashville but I never knew why. I only ever visited Nashville when visiting my dad’s side of the family sometimes on Holidays. I never experienced the city or nightlife as an adult but something in me always felt called to move here. So I decided to pursue going to art school here. Well, that was going to take money so I decided to move back to my mom’s in Louisville and work full-time to save up money.
After moving back I started working at a hotel and started plugging myself into the creative community in Louisville. I quickly heard of an internship opportunity with a very large and well-known photographer in Louisville. I had ZERO experience and I had barely just learned how to shoot in a manual in my photography class. But I was going to apply anyways. The application asked for work history. But let’s be honest I knew he wouldn’t care less about me working at a hotel, but I also had zero experience in photography. And I had a very little portfolio, so I knew I had to get creative to make myself stand out while having nothing to put on a resume. I took a graphic of a camera and I wrote all of my info into the different sections of the camera. It was probably dumb but I hoped it would at least catch his attention outside of the other applications. I knew it was a stretch with my lack of experience but I was hoping that he would see my passion and efforts.
Well, it worked because the next day I got a call for an interview. I have never been so terrified of an interview in my entire life. I showed up 45 minutes early and sat in the parking lot hyperventilating (lol the panic was real). I had a printed copy of my “resume” and went in terrified and about as nonconfident as you could get. But I knew I had the passion and desire to do this so I was hoping and praying that would be enough. About 30 minutes into the interview I got asked to be one of his new interns. HOW THE HECK DID I LAND THIS? When I say I was shocked… I was shocked. But I was sooooo excited. And that’s where Kelsey Page Photo began.
We immediately rebranded my business and I started all over. I worked and worked every day for the next year learning and soaking up every experience I could. And the transformation of my work in just a year was night and day. A few months after my internship ended I decided to look up jobs in Nashville, I decided to not pursue art school anymore since I had such a huge learning experience with my internship but I still had the desire to move to Nashville.
I was still working at a hotel and I just wanted to see what they were paying here in Nashville so I could figure out how much I needed to save to move. I was hoping maybe the following year I could move. Well in that process I ended up finding a job opening for the same hotel chain and the same position I was currently doing, so what did I do? Well, I applied. And then that just started a frenzy of me applying to other hotel jobs here even though an hour before that I was just looking to see pay rates to move in a year or so. Well, the next day I end up getting a call to go interview for a hotel. So I drove down that next day and interviewed and spent 2 days experiencing Nashville for the first time as an adult. I fell in love and wanted to move that much more. The next day I got a call and I was offered the job. Umm, what? in 48 hours I went from researching pay rates to moving in a year to then being offered a job to start immediately. So I went for it. I found a girl on Facebook who was looking for a roommate and I met her the day we moved in together. But with no savings, no safety net, just pure living in the moment, I went for it. My life changed so quickly but for the better.
I remember when I moved here someone told me that Nashville was a 5-year city. You wouldn’t make it a successful business until at least 5 years. I refused to let that be my truth and my timeline. I quit my full-time job at the hotel a year after moving to Nashville and started working for another photographer part-time while I continued to grow my business. A little over a year later I finally went full-time working only for myself. It was terrifying, but having no backup income will make you grind 10x harder than you ever have. As a creative and someone who struggles with ADHD I thrive in chaos. The last 6.5 years in Nashville growing my business has been filled with chaos but it has been such an amazingly beautiful journey.
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?
Ha, I don’t think a smooth road will ever exist in my life. This journey has been full of struggles. The hardest struggle has been the battle with my mental health. I have always struggled with severe depression but at the end of 2019, it got really severe. I was struggling really badly and I was I in the middle of my busy season, the pressure to be a good business owner and wear all of the hats of being an entrepreneur while trying to take care of my severe depression ended up being too much. I started having pretty severe suicidal thoughts and had to admit myself to the hospital to get help several times. This battle continued for the next year and a half until I finally received a treatment that saved my life.
I have been very open about my journey with mental health because I think it is so important for people to know we aren’t alone. Especially us as business owners. But that in itself came with a lot of bumps in the road. I had multiple people cancel shoots and projects with me due to my being open about my mental health. But that only made me want to share more to try to end the stigma around mental illness.
There is also the struggle of finding a balance between your business and having a personal life. I still have not found a good balance (if anyone has found it please send me the secret! haha) But honestly, as a small business owner, we are expected to be available to people constantly. And when your business is also your hobby and passion it’s hard to create boundaries or have an off switch. It’s very easy to intertwine your value as a person with your success as a business.
As a photographer, I am an owner, creative director, admin, editor, office manager, marketing strategist, content creator, website designer, social media manager, and so many other things. I think it’s easy to assume because I work for myself and have the flexibility that it’s easy or doesn’t take a lot of effort. But I promise 99% of small business owners you know are probably putting in all of their free time and then some, working behind the scenes to make their business what it is.
Another huge struggle was covid of course. Not being legally allowed to work was a huge struggle in itself. But then even when life started to get back to a little bit of normalcy, business still sucked! Getting professional photos is a privilege for a lot of people and so the number of people booking shoots after the financial hit of covid was few and far between. I didn’t start getting consistent bookings again until probably the mid-end of 2021. The financial hit during that time was super hard and terrifying for a business owner. And let’s be honest we all know the cost of living in Nashville is outrageous as is, nonetheless when you’re losing money as a business!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a photographer and I specialize in creative studio portraits and work mostly with musicians. But I do have another photography business offering wedding photography and videography also. But my love of photography definitely lies in creative portraits. I absolutely love working with musicians and other creatives and making a vision or story come to life.
I am proud of a lot of things in my business over the years and I have had a lot of amazing opportunities I look forward to having many more over the coming years. But one of my most memorable shoots was working on set with Jimmie Allen and Abby Anderson for their cover of the song Shallow. I was hired on by the videographer who I actually used to be a business partner, to come to shoot some BTS photos during their video shoot. But while I was there they informed me they needed the single cover for the song and asked me to shoot the photos for it. So of course I said yes! Over the years have also worked with two artists from Project Runway as well as having photos published in several magazines. I also had my photos appear on my first-ever billboards last year which was so unbelievably exciting. (I definitely cried when I saw the first one in person).
Any big plans?
My main plan is just to keep growing my business.
One of my main goals is to start touring with an artist, so hey if any of you need a tour photographer/videographer hit me up! But other than that I always strive to continue growing and learning as a business owner and a photographer. I never want to get comfortable and be stagnant.
Contact Info:
- Website: kelseypagephoto.com kelseypageweddings.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/kelseypagephoto
- Youtube: youtube.com/@kelseypagephoto
- Other: tiktok.com/@kelseypagephoto
Image Credits
Tara Taylor of Rooted In Grace Photography
