We had the good fortune of connecting with Meda Simpson and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Meda, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I am a Christian, and I firmly believe that the most important factor behind my success is the Lord. From the beginning, I have prayed that I would bring him glory through my business and he would lead it where it needs to go. Throughout the process of starting a business and growing it, I took one step at a time waiting for doors to open or doors to close. When given opportunities to practice photography, I capitalized on them and worked for very little pay for awhile to grow my brand and expand my business. I would say this is essential for people who are beginning photography and wanting to improve their skills.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started doing photography professional my sophomore year of college as a way to help pay for my education. At first, it was just a passion that I was able to make a little money off of. I never could have imagined how quickly it evolved. By the time I was a junior, I could have been considered a full-time wedding photography & a full-time student, along with an hourly job that I worked on campus part-time.
Creating a brand and growing my client base was not high on my list when I started out. I had more of a mentality that I was just trying to stay afloat and not any particular direction that I was trying to swim to. I continued booking weddings and shoots, and by the time senior year approached I decided that this would be my full-time occupation post graduation. School became less of a burden and I cut down hours at my hourly job to make more time to pursue photography and build my brand. In the beginning it was lots of late-nights of editing, driving 4 hours home after weddings so I could make it to my 8am class the next morning, and having to learn time management skills like I never had before.
The main point of my journey to being a full time photography is that I had to be strong and persevere through the first few years trying to grow my name and business. There were few times when I would have said it was easy, but I truly have been so blessed with the best clients and more opportunities than I could have imagined!
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
DFW, Texas is quite possibly my favorite area in the world! I have lived in another country for 4 years, traveled to 3 others, but the Fort Worth/ Dallas area will always be home.
MUST VISIT PLACES–
Summer moon coffee on South Main in Fort Worth. They have a creamer called “Moon Milk” that is the best thing for coffee lovers.
The Fort Worth Stockyards are a great place to get a true Texas Cowboy experience. There is food, longhorns, and all kinds of activities for everyone of all ages.
The rooftop bar of Sinclair in downtown Fort Worth would be my top choice for drinks. 🙂
If they haven’t been to a Trader Joes, that will be the first grocery store on the list to get snacks for the week.
Fort Worth recently opened a new shopping area called Clearfork, and we would be hitting up all the stores there for a day of shopping.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My very first photography course was when I was 14 and it was taught by my mom. She was someone who always very interested in photography and saved to buy all the equipment, but never went full-time since her main focus was raising my siblings and I. After my photography course, she let me use all her cameras & lenses to start doing photoshoots with my friends and for the local sports team. Once I started college, my mom let me second shoot some weddings with her and gave me a lot of room to practice. If it were not for her encouragement and guidance I would not be where I am today with my business.
Website: https://medaabigailphotography.com/
Instagram: medaabigailphotography.com
Image Credits
Meda Abigail Photography