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

Hi Monica, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I’m gonna be honest, I started my own business without thinking about it. Let me tell you a quick story on how it all started. I have always liked to take pictures, so in high school I took a photography class elective. That’s when I got my first DSRL or “professional” camera. I only did photos for the class and just for fun. A year later, a couple of my friends were about to graduate so we planned their senior photoshoot just for fun. I had no idea how to edit photos, I’m pretty sure I used my camera in auto mode lol. We did the shoot and I uploaded them to Facebook. That’s when another girl that I didn’t know saw them and asked me to do hers and she was willing to pay!! I got so nervous and I didn’t want to do them, because even though I really enjoyed taking photos, I still was so lost and didn’t know what I was doing, but I went with it. Her shoot was in like two weeks and I spend those two weeks finding information and learning techniques, poses, everything!! I remember being on my phone all night on FB photography groups and YouTube asking questions and trying to learn everything I could. After her shoot, another person asked me and so on! My prices were supeeeeer low, but I gained so much experience on how to work with people and I am so grateful and blessed I was able to start my own business thanks to my people without even thinking that it was gonna be my life and passion and truly what I wanna do for the rest of my life!

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.
There are thousands and thousands of photographers, so it is really hard to stand out, but I think what sets me apart from others is my personality. I think that being myself is what attracts people, they feel the connection and I always try my best to make them feel comfortable and to also be themselves so their personality is shown in their photos! It hasn’t been easy, as I mentioned before I didn’t have the experience, so I spend lots of nights trying to learn everything I could while I was also going to college full time, so it was like getting two degrees at once. There’s so much to learn about photography you’ll be surprised! When I started to do it as my job, I was still at college, so I had to make time to do shoots, go to school which was a 2hrs commute, do homework and edit photos. But I love it!

Any great local spots you’d like to shoutout?
There’s lots of cool/fun places in the city!! For food I’d always choose tacos or pizza! My favorite tacos are from Los Paisanos and Chilangos tacos! and we would get pizza from Grimaldi’s! We can also visit some museums, Dallas museum of illusions is pretty cool! At night we can go dance at Medusa or bar hopping at Deep Ellum!

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?
I wanna give the biggest Shoutout to God! I wouldn’t be here without Him by my side! Thank you!! Shoutout to Darlin & Vanessa, because it all started because of them! Thank you! Shoutout to Rosa Hernandez, my first paid photoshoot. Thank you! Shoutout to Cristina Garcia, she was always helping me find ideas, props, she even went to some shoots with me and always recommended me to people. Thank you! Shoutout to my boyfriend Saul, for going with me to almost every single shoot and helping me with everything, either setting up, holding a reflector, even second shooting for me. Thank you! Special Shoutout to my parents! I would not be able to do this without them! They got me my first camera and have been supporting me since day one! Thank you!!!

Website: www.monyphotography.com
Instagram: www.instgram.com/photographymony
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-gomez-a91184120/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/monygphotography

Image Credits
Mony Photography