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

Hi Marie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I was honestly looking for more freedom. I’m a mom to an autistic child and was finding it hard to work a typical job that was flexible enough to still care for my son as needed. When I lost my job working in veterinary specialty and emergency, I knew finding another job that paid well and was as flexible as my last job was going to be slim to none. Veterinary jobs are typically 10 hour days and that wasn’t going to work for me. But I LOVE animals and knew I still wanted to work with them. So, I dove head first into turning this little idea into a full blown business and, with a ton of hard work and early mornings, Marie Wulfram Photography was born.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
When I first started trying my hand at pet photography, I didn’t have a dog. I know, dog photographer without a dog. Was the joke for a long time haha. But I was still working in vet med at the time so I asked a coworker if they wanted photos of their senior dog. I remember being at work the day after I sent him the photos and he was showing some of our coworkers the images. There were many “Ohs” and “Awws”, but one of the gals started crying. She took the phone from his hand and held it close as she scrolled through the photos, tears streaming down her face.

She looked up at me, took a deep breath and said “These are absolutely beautiful and I wish so much that I had something like this before my heart dog passed away last year.”

Yeah, I started crying, too.

It was in that moment, staring into her tear-filled eyes, that I knew this was exactly what I was meant to be doing.

Even then, I never would have imagined how soon I would be doing it or what that journey was going to look like. It’s been a wild ride of ups and downs since then, a lot of late nights and early mornings, a lot of people saying it was a foolish idea or that I was “crazy” to think people would pay what I was asking “just for pet photos”.

But there were also so many smiles, tears of joy and appreciation and lots of slobbery dog and cat kisses, too.

My goal in life has always been to create art. To evoke emotion. I never knew that the way I would do so would be with photographs of dogs and other pets. Now I can’t imagine doing anything else.

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.
We would definitely go to Lucky Dog Outfitters for new toys and treats for their dogs! It’s one of the best places to go for pet parents in the south Puget Sound. Then we’d spend a lot of time on the trails, hiking gorgeous places and exploring all the state has to offer for the wild at heart. The Washington coast has so much to see and do, too, such as Ruby Beach, and is a must visit in the summertime. The Tree of Life at Kalaloch Beach is a must see while it’s still holding it’s ground. Then there’s the mountains near Snoqualmie Pass, or even further north towards Mount Baker, full of trails both long and short for any level of hiker. If they had their dog with them, we’d definitely check out Marymoor Off-leash dog park since it’s one of the biggest (maybe even THE biggest) in the state.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today without the help of the photography education community. Specifically the Hair of the Dog Academy, the Pet Photographer’s Club and the PhotoBiz X Podcast. There’s of course tons of other podcasts, books, etc that have helped along the way, but those 3 are the biggest influences and the leg up I needed to reach almost 6 figures in under 2 years.

Website: https://www.mariewulframphotography.com

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariewulframphotography/

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and        shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.