Meet Caili Wilk | Photographer & Breast Cancer Survivor

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

Hi Caili, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk happens every day, in minor ways – the unpredictability of life. It’s natural to want to control and mitigate risk to some degree. In my own life, there has been a huge amount of instability, from childhood and beyond. In those early years, I had no control over the level of risk I wanted in my life, and as an adult, the PTSD that comes with generational trauma overshadowed even small decisions, and fear bled into many parts of my life. If you have anxiety on some level you may understand that feeling. But something inside of me has always wanted to improve as a person – become more educated, move to a different part of the world, learn new things, and take on challenges others think I’m not capable of, and that takes risk. Sometimes the risk seems very small when you have nothing to lose, yet there’s comfort found in the familiar, and change is challenging, both internally and externally. Looking at my life, I have taken gigantic risks; one of the largest is coming to the USA at 18 from England and ultimately staying, going to college, and making a life here. Who knows what my life would be like if I had not done that? Perhaps the greatest risks though, have been internal – the risk of trusting myself over critical opinions, the risk of believing in myself over derision, and the risk of attempting when facing failure. Life is fluid and full of opportunities every single day and contradictorily, you can succeed even if you fail. When starting my photography business, success initially meant being hired, taking good photos, and having a flexible schedule. With growth comes new definitions – high level of skill, efficiency, income, work/life balance, reputation, client satisfaction, and always aiming for improvement! In any business the first decision, risk if you prefer, is to begin – to create, to offer, to serve, to try, to emerge from nothing. And the amazing part of life is that flow can be created by you, even if the river appears to go in the opposite direction, it can carry you far!

What should our readers know about your business?

I always loved photography and as a young adult, I worked for a company taking sports and studio portraits. Years later, after having my young son, I wanted to move from a career in Social Work to have a flexible schedule to stay home with him. I’m an introvert, and the idea of taking portraits of strangers was the last thing on my mind, but unintentionally, I began taking portraits again, and to my great surprise, I enjoyed the friendly immediacy that comes with a photography session. The satisfaction of ‘doing good’ was there too: being able to help people relax through a session (as many folks do not relish getting their pictures taken), and of course, sending out a gallery they love and will cherish is gratifying.

It’s amazing to look through the camera and see someone, a bride on their wedding day, or multiple generations gathering for the weekend. It’s a gift to see the connections through the lens. Everyone is beautiful, and it’s remarkable to capture that. I’m so grateful to all my clients for helping me grow my business. Many clients feel like friends, who I deeply care about and I’m always thrilled for clients to return and contact me at the next milestone in their lives, trusting me to document their lives. I am focusing more on weddings these days, and they are always a joy for me to photograph, and experience – I often tear up at weddings, the emotions are real! Aaother amazing part about photograpghy, is the oppertunity of incorporating the natural landscape into my shoots; in California, the possible locations are vast and all are worthy.

One of the challenges for me was going through breast cancer treatment during the pandemic while building a business – talk about an unexpected roadblock that makes you question everything in life and about yourself! It’s interesting though, I now see photography as an even more precious service to others, even more important to retain those indelible images, as time goes by and memories are lost, and people pass on. I love what I do, and I’m excited to keep building my brand and capturing these moments and enjoy meeting the many wonderful people I photograph.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

Well, the Central Coast has so many glorious places to visit.  I love the local hiking spots in San Luis Obispo – Bishop’s Peak is one of my favorites and in Santa Barbara, I love Lizard’s Mouth for a spectacular view. This is an amazing stretch of coastline and the notable Highway 1 drive through Big Sur is enchantingly rugged, especially if you are a photographer.

Foodies will be delighted with Six Test Kitchen, a Michelin-starred dining experience in Paso Robles. And while in north county, a visiti to Sensario, an outdoor immersive art experience by Bruce Monro is a must-do – highly recommend arriving before sunset to watch the lights come to life with the changing sky! If you prefer plant-based meals, I like heading to Bliss in downtown SLO for a fast vegan bowl, or Mason Bar in Arroyo Grande has great ambiance, food and cocktails. If you like wine tasting, we are spoiled for choice, but Sculpterra or Daou in SLO county are both fabulous, and the elegant charm of Sunstone Winery in Santa Ynez is unparalleled.

Thursdays Farmer’s Market in Downtown SLO is a great way to enjoy local produce, food, music and community gathering. And I enjoy walking our amazing beaches here and building a bonfire on the beach in Grover is a great way to end the day.

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?
There are many stand out people I would like to thank, who I appreciate massively for supporting me: family, freinds and clients, thank you! And I’d like to dedicate this to my three children, who have been with me along many journey’s and mean the world to me.

Website: cailiwilkphotography.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cailiwilkphotography