Conversations with Meredith Graves

Today we’d like to introduce you to Meredith Graves.

Hi Meredith, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was originally pursuing a career in law because it was kind of a family tradition. In lieu of law school, however, I chose the Public Administration program at UMKC and was pretty miserable. I had started taking photos on the side for fun, as most photographers do, and the organic interest was growing beyond what I thought it would. It was so hard to focus on statistics class when people wanted me to go to Colorado and Utah and Oregon to shoot their weddings. Also, I had gone almost straight from graduating early in my undergrad into a master’s program and I was BROKE, so having people wanting to give me money was crazy. It didn’t feel like work and eventually became so overwhelming that I dropped out of the program within a 48 hour period. I then had to figure out how I was going to replace what would have been a very stable and predictable life/career with a new unpredictable, albeit exciting, life as an entrepreneur. I was able to book out my first year of weddings providing the stability I needed to be full time and I haven’t looked back since!

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?
No, it has not been a smooth road, the time period directly before going full time was especially painful. My husband and family all wanted me either to be a city planner or a lawyer, at the very least finish the masters I had started. They didn’t quite understand at the time what a pull being your own boss and being creative had on me. I knew that I would always think I could have done more or been better if I didn’t try and I wasn’t prepared to live with that guilt. Now that I am full time one of the things that have been the most difficult is the overwhelming anxiety. It’s 24/7 365. As entrepreneurs dealing with couples on the happiest days of their lives, we feel the need to be on 100% of the time and it’s draining on us as professionals and as individuals. I was really not prepared for the endless nights of sleep thinking about emails that needed to go out, mistakes that I could make or did make, or feeling like we can be reached at any time. It’s haunting at times.

COVID was also really difficult which seems like a given but I think our industry was hit in a very interesting way. Since weddings historically are lumped with funerals and other “personal” events, they are often excluded from normal regulations which meant we were flying blind for quite some time before weddings were officially regulated. That didn’t stop people from wanting to move forward with their weddings because it was personal to them and therefore felt exempt. However, it put us in a difficult situation deciding if we wanted to risk our reputations or our health and the health of our families.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am known primarily for my weddings, engagements, boudoir, and branding. I think I am most proud of my growth as a wedding photographer, I am much more confident in my creation and more confident in the logistical management of the day which is one of my biggest selling points. I can command the attention of a room and leave very little space for error or delay. What fills my cup up personally is working with my boudoir clients. It has brought some of the best women I know to my door and I am truly grateful to be given the opportunity to work with them. The area I am most excited about, however, is branding. That feels like a bigger dream to me, something that is still in the stars. I want to own a firm that focuses on working with ethical brands, women and minority-owned brands, creating all visual media across the board. Good people doing good work as I like to say.

I think what I am mostly known for in our industry is my humor. I like being the funny person and bring that light-hearted energy to the day because I think it contrasts nicely when people see how devoted I am to the business side of things and running a day smoothly.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I struggled with this one quite a bit but if I had to pinpoint a quality that my clients like I would say it’s my positivity and humor. You want to add to the good vibes on a wedding day and blend seamlessly with the wedding party and family. I think I do that pretty well by just getting along with people. I also bring humor with me so photos on a wedding day don’t feel as stuffy as they could.

Pricing:

• Wedding $3,800
• Boudoir $1000
• Branding starting at $750
• All other shoots starting at $450

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: 67848918
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meredithgraves_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meredithgravesphotography