Today we’d like to introduce you to Ria MacKenzie.
Ria , please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up always being the photographer in the group posing my friends, taking pictures out and about, and going through too many rolls of film while traveling. I still have boxes of albums and photos from before smartphones and digital cameras existed. Fast forward…I began my career as a new mom taking pictures for families because I was the creative friend with a nice digital camera. When my husband Bobby and I had our first son in 2009 we worked really hard to make this business work for our family. Bobby really encouraged me to do what I loved and would spend his time outside of his own job helping me and being this amazing and involved father. He still remains a huge support, an unsung business partner, and my number one fan!
I started off working really hard at getting comfortable with family photos and then finally booked a few weddings. That’s when I instantly fell in love with capturing emotions and documenting people’s most important days. I’ve always been eager to challenge myself and try new things, so I spent a few years photographing anything that came my way. It took a lot of reflecting to figure out where I wanted to take my business. I once was the photographer that photographed everything, but I’ve learned to focus and grow what I’m most passionate about which are weddings, creative branding, and boudoir photography.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I haven’t met any entrepreneurs who haven’t met any obstacles or challenges in their career. When bonding with other small business owners especially “mom bosses” (#momboss), it is interesting to hear that we all share similar struggles. In 2009, I became a new mom which brought incredible amounts of happiness, while at the same time growing a new photography business brought equal amounts of stress and feelings of being overwhelmed. With our second son arriving in 2013 it seemed like we were starting all over again with business. My family was hectic and happy but managing business and raising another child came with more time management challenges. If anyone is familiar with photographer moms, our work days consist of wearing multiple hats of prioritizing motherhood and owning your own company with work hours stretching well into the night. I had to keep remembering that this time with my children will only happen once, to make the very best of our days together, and be ready to pass the baton over to my husband or whoever was around to watch the kids so that I could focus on work. I’ve learned to be present for my kids and live in the moment so that I didn’t feel like I was being pulled back and forth throughout the day from mom to business owner.
I honestly feel as much as I chose this career, this career very much chose me. What started off as a passion project with hopes of becoming a career one day, has become a business that continually challenges me, keeps me inspired, and supports my family. This business has given me incredible amounts of pride professionally and personally. I’ve met a lot of amazing people and have had the opportunity to document their wonderful stories.
I chose this career not only because my love for the arts, which was always a passion of mine but it allows me to be home with my kids as much as I can while they are so small. I’ve learned a lot of things and faced obstacles as a “mom boss”. I learned to say “no” when I was too busy. In the beginning, it was hard to gauge how much I could handle and I would say “yes” to everything. I also learned to ask for help before I broke down and felt overwhelmed. It takes a village even when this is pretty much a one woman show. So a huge shoutout goes out to not only my husband, but to my parents, my in-laws, my friends and sitters who have helped me out!! I learned to network to keep myself motivated and inspired. This business can seem lonely at times when I am working at a desk at night by myself. Meeting other photographers and networking with other business owners has really brought out the best in all of us. Community over competition!!!
The most important thing I learned is to stop saying “if” and start saying “when”. I would catch myself saying things like, “IF I had a studio then I could do…” or “IF I had more time than I could do…”. I noticed that the “If’s” were becoming excuses to why I wasn’t where I thought I should be. I thought that because I was in business for a few years that I should be more successful than I am. It’s easy to become hard on yourself when business isn’t going the way you think it should. By changing my mentality and networking with others in my field, I have been able to have a positive outlook and realistic goals as a mom and business owner.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I specialize in couples, creative, and boudoirs. I am proud of all the avenues of my business but I am loving how creative branding and boudoirs help my clients with personal and/or business growth.
Creative branding sessions are helping people in business set themselves apart. One of the most intimidating factors of being in business is standing out and differentiating yourself from every other company that’s doing the same thing. I take an interest in learning about clients and getting to know other entrepreneurs. I love their drive to get themselves out into the world and what better way than to promote themselves than through photos and video on social media and their websites.
With boudoir photography, a lot goes into creating a comfortable atmosphere and posing woman who may feel vulnerable in front of the camera for the first time. They start the session getting pampered and pretty with hair and make-up, then the real fun begins when the camera is out. Most women dread posing but it’s actually the funniest part of the session. There are a lot of laughs, but I love the look on my clients face when they see the back of my camera and how gorgeous they look!! After their session, women have this amazing boost of confidence and tell me how much they enjoyed the whole experience along with their photos.
In doing a creative branding session as well as with boudoir photography, creating confidence is everything!!! Making You Glow has been my on-site hair and make-up stylist, and assistant. Together we create an environment that is relaxed yet fun since most people are camera shy. Usually music is playing and a lot of laughs are happening alongside posing.
What were you like growing up?
I have always been outgoing, an empathy, and someone who feels comfortable around anyone. I grew up appreciating the arts and loved drawing and dancing the most. I have an older brother who let me tag along with the boys and always introduced me to awesome music. We were lucky to have such supportive parents that let us try whatever we felt like diving into!! I danced, twirled baton, played clarinet, did drama club, cheered, and even tried basketball but I didn’t do so well with that. My parents were great at promoting education and travel. I’ve been lucky to travel and see the Philippines where my mother is from, live in Spain, and visit Eastern Europe where my brother resided and completed his schooling. They pushed me to go to school and I don’t regret the experience whatsoever. I went to Emmanuel College and received my Bachelor’s in Global Studies where I dove into world affairs but as you can see has nothing to do with my current career. I have no regrets about my college degree, it has really shaped me into who I’ve become and has helped my work ethic, focus, and drive.
Throughout my life, I’ve resided in three different states so I learned to make friends and deal with changing environments quickly. I’ve been living in Southeastern Massachusetts and around the Boston area for most of my life. I pretty much continued to move around from place to place until my husband and I planted our family in Middleboro. We are loving the supportive community here and being part of an up and coming town!
Pricing:
- Weddings begin at $3,000
- Creative Branding sessions begin at $750
- Boudoir sessions begin at $400
Contact Info:
- Website: www.riamackenziephotography.com
- Phone: 508-280-1358
- Email: ria@riamackenziephotography.com
- Instagram: @riamackenziephotography @rmpboudoirs
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ria-MacKenzie-Photography-255192457139/?ref=bookmarks
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/rmpboudoir/
Image Credit:
Ria MacKenzie Photography
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