Meet Brianna Shrader | Business Owner & Photographer

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

Hi Brianna, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
As a Mom and small business owner, learning work-life balance is an on going journey. In the beginning, it was impossible for me to let go and put anyone else in charge of anything! Then it was time for me to get married and go on a honeymoon and I truly wanted and needed to disconnect. So I set a goal of being unplugged for 3 solid weeks. It really stressed me out leading up to it, but I put my business in the hands of trusted team members – and guess what… nothing burned down, everyone survived, and I was like, “ah-ha! so I CAN turn it off…”

A couple of years later I became a Mom and learning how to “turn it off” become even more important because I have to show up for my children. It’s not fair to be sitting with them on their time, but answering emails on my phone etc. So I started implementing a hard stop time with work at 5pm. On the weekends, unless I’m out shooting – I don’t work. Designating stop times, and family time has become instrumental in learning this balance. When I’m on my childrens time, everyone else can wait.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started out working for another photographer who eventually invited me to be a partner in her business. Ultimately it did not pan out well. I found myself feeling bullied into decisions I wasn’t comfortable with and working with someone who’s morals and values didn’t align with my own. I never thought I had it in me to run my own company but working with someone and feeling like I didn’t have control over my work or my client experience left a terrible feeling in my gut. When I finally exited that partnership I knew I needed to just move forward on my own so that I could create the company I wanted. Even then I only ever expected it to be me, but I quickly built relationships that flourished and resulted in getting too many clients to handle on my own. I began building a team because I didn’t want to say no to any of the work, and today I have a team of 12. We are a full service photography studio specializing in Weddings, Family Portraits and Brand Photography. We take our clients through a very unique process and experience where we take the time to get to know them, their personalities and the individual relationships within the families. We do this so that we can tailor each session to the specific client, drawing out the essence of who they are. We believe our job goes far beyond taking beautiful pictures and getting the perfect poses; it’s about capturing their essence in a way that when they look back on these images years from now, they will remember exactly what phase their kid was in at that time, exactly what their love was like at that phase of their relationship – we are capturing WHO they are. We also are completing each session with custom artwork because these moments, these memories, these treasures don’t belong on a hard drive – they belong on the walls or in our clients hands as tangible heirlooms.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well first of all I absolutely love my little town of Yorba Linda. So we would probably start over at Terra Woodfire Kitchen for some delicious cocktails and dinner and then walk the town on night one! The next day we would explore Laguna Beach, eat at a local spot, enjoy the unique shops and art collectives in that area. We’d stop by the SawDust Festival of course! Next we would probably enjoy a day at Knott’s Berry Farm with the kids, or Adventure Playground where they can just go wild and have fun!

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?
I believe that no one succeeds alone and therefore I have a LOT of shoutouts: – My parents
– The photographer who has been by my side since before day one, Elaine King
– My mentor and friend Kristin Karkoska
– My former photography business coach Johl Dunn
– My current business coaches Jenn Gottlieb & Chris Winfield

And I know there are several others who have helped and inspired me along the way but this list would never end!

Website: www.shyheartstudios.com

Instagram: instagram.com/shyheartstudios

Facebook: facebook.com/shyheartphotographers

Youtube: @shyheartstudios

Image Credits
My own team! @shyheartstudios