How Our Photography Career Started

“If you want to create a great product, just focus on one person. Make that one person have the most amazing experience ever.” — Brian Chesky, Co-Founder, Airbnb

The Beginning:

I grew up around cameras. My Dad was a hobbyist with a basement darkroom, so was his brother. I remember being about 5 years old and being with him in that darkroom and the smell of the chemicals. It was the happiest times I had with him at that age. My parents separated soon after and then divorced.

As a teen, I reset up the darkroom for a bit, but eventually lost interest. Entered college and studied psychology. I still loved photography and the Arts. I played guitar and sang, well tried to anyway. I've played instruments and been involved in music all of my life. I decided on psychology because I really understood it and thought it would make for a more stable career path. When I graduated I went into working with people that had mental illness and developmental disabilities. Perhaps it was because my sister had developmental issues, I don't know. But, I found the work rewarding and loved my job.

I moved to NC form NJ in 1997 and went to work for a company called NORTH, Inc. I was shortly promoted to Home Manager, then Regional Supervisor, then Director of Services. I held the last position, which was basically running the company for 11 years. I never pictured myself as a manager and in charge. I always thought it was easier to do things myself and take care of my own piece of the puzzle, then to be responsible for others doing their pieces. Nevertheless, I was pretty good at it. I also learned a lot about accounting, billing, payroll, human services and budgets.

As time went on, burn out started setting in. I was growing bored in my job. I was also becoming more and more frustrated by the bureaucracy of it and needed a change. I thought maybe a little side work would help and found a job working for Picture People at Southpoint Mall in Durham. I really never took pictures of people before and hadn't had any real exposure to children or working with them in years. But, that was the job. I was only there for a few months and they asked me to manage the studio as the current manager was stepping down. After a lot of thought, I decided to do it. I left my job in mental health and started managing a portrait studio in the mall. It seemed like a step backward in my mind, but it was a lot easier and less stressful. Also, I was working with photographs. This is where I met my business partner Jen.

Jen was the manager of the Cary Towne Center location of Picture People. We had meetings together, worked on projects and shared staff. We were also an emotional support for each other. In short we became friends.

At Picture People, I learned a lot about running a photography business. They also started photographing in preschools, so we got to know that business model as well. this all had a lot to do with how we got started the way we did.

Flash forward four years and Picture People gets bought out and the new company decides to start closing all of the studios in the triangle. This was February 2011. We were given no notice. They told us the night before and we started packing up the next day. Jen called me up and the conversation went something like this, Jen - "Any idea what you're going to do?" Steve - "I think I'm just going to start my own business. I don't have any other ideas and I've tossed it around for a while. What about you?" Jen - "I was kinda thinking of going into business with you, if you'll let me." That's it. That's how J and S Photography came to be.