Callie Webster

I would say find what you're really passionate about and try not to lose sight of that. Always come back to your true self. Young women have such a freshness on life and are so passionate, and I actually learn a lot from that in my own work. I'd say try and live life with no fear, that way you can keep moving forward in your career, and stay passionate in what you do. One thing I've found in my business over the last 2 years is that the people that are right for me will come, and if I find something that's not a good fit, clearing that clears the way for a client that will be a better fit with a higher budget typically. So just follow your gut - if you feel in the beginning that an inquiry sounds like they have no budget or they want to do it for trade and you can't do that financially, just go with your gut, and the next person that comes around will be bigger and better. It's really hard to do that and trust that, especially when you have bills, but it is working out to our benefit.

I think there's a lot of saturation in the business, but that doesn't really affect me now because I'm so niche to what I do. The biggest challenges for me are juggling schedules and work-life balance with small children. In a world of what's trending, just trying to stay on top of all that is a daily challenge for a business owner. But I wouldn't say there's anything huge or major as a challenge in my own mind. AI isn't a concern for me at all - most of my clients want me in person at some point in time, and they need that interaction with the homeowners and scheduling. Even when I do editing, it never comes out totally right with AI anyway. I'm sure it'll get better and I'm excited about that, but right now it's not hindering anything.

For me, storytelling is the most important part of what I do - it's what always brings me back to photography. Every time I steer one way, I always come back to storytelling. When I think about meaningful work, it's not really about having big names on covers, though that's nice. To be honest, that's not fully meaningful work for me. I like some kind of change, something positive and noteworthy. I prefer to show up in a way that makes change rather than just getting the gold prize at the end. It's more about showing that other women can get to this point through the steps that it takes to get there, versus just displaying awards. It's about helping women in this industry make a way for themselves without feeling like they can't do it because there's too much competition or saturation. It's just about being yourself and how to harness your creativity in that way.