We had the good fortune of connecting with Astrid Frontado and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Astrid, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
Definitely, priorities had changed over time, before having kids my career was one of my main priorities, and it took a great part of my time. Family has always been important for me and I’ve always knew that should the time come I would make big changes in order to fulfill both. I come from a Psychology career background, so this plus my faith help me realize that becoming a stay at home mom was going to be the better decision for my family and giving a good foundation to my kids. It was after 4 years that I started to think of doing something that I really love and that could allowed me to spent a lot of time with my loves ones. That’s how I started my own photography business working from home!

This came alone with challenges and learning so many things, not only career wise and going all in into photography but also learning how to create, grow and maintain a business. For me this is just the beginning and it’s been such a satisfying experience!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I consider myself still pretty new on this career but I’ve learned a lot in this year an a half, this is a constant learning process and a lot of practice, learning from other photographers so many tips but it is also a journey to find and develop your own style. I do love photography in general but my passion as has always been is working with kids, specially with babies, getting to hold each little one and create the best memories for their families is what fulfills me the most. I believe that you should really love what you do and be very patient and willing to dance, sing and play in order to capture young children! In my particular case my passion for what I do it’s what help me strive on learning and growing, this definitely help me enjoy every single session I have from preparing my set ups to editing and delivering the final products to my clients. To see them happy and excited with the results is what motivates me to keep going because it tells me I’m doing things right!

I would say the most challenging part for me have been growing my business in a market that its highly saturated and social media had become so important that it takes a lot of effort to gain some presence. However, seeing people driving long distances to where I am makes me feel appreciated, as well as many of them coming back for the different stages of their little ones and to portrait new life events!

Another interesting fact is that I’m originally from Peru and also speak Spanish and Portuguese and would gladly have communication with my clients in their prefer language so they could feel comfortable enough to express their thought, likes and visions!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take them to the Fort Worth Stockyard, the Dallas Arboretum, I would take to hike Eagle Mountain Park, Six Flags for some fun rides and to do some shopping. To eat I love Joe’s Crab, Texas Roadhouse, Texas do Brazil, Cheesecake Factory for a Jamaican black pepper and shrimp or a Farfalle with chicken and roasted garlic. To have fun maybe for a movie or bowling at EVO.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
This would be my husband, who has always supported me and also who pushed me to take the risk, I’m a person who always likes to have a plan for everything, I’m not pessimistic but I’m always with my feet down to earth and I’m very cautious with the decisions I take. I started my business in a period of time were I was suggested to drop it all off, but it was quite an investment already so with a lot of prayers I decided to keep going and so far I’ve so blessed! He is also my biggest critic and pushes me to always keep learning more and improving as much as I can! Definitely, also my kids who have been my biggest motivation to start this journey!

Website: www.ejamphotography.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ejam.photography?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EJAM.Photography.7/

Image Credits
EJAM Photography by Astrid Frontado

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