Meet Jaimie Ridgewood | Videographer & Photographer

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

Hi Jaimie, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Work life balance is the struggle of every entrepreneur. Perfect balance doesn’t exist because you can’t give 100% to two things at once. And giving less to multiple things at the same time means you’re probably not doing well at any of them. I find balance by knowing that for certain months, my business will get priority over anything else. Other parts of the year, my family and friends get my priority. However, when planning my days, I can be even more selective. I’m a stay-at-home-mom on top of running my business. I give myself three hours in the morning, and three hours during nap time to dedicate to my business and give it my 100%. My kid then gets my 100% while he’s awake.
There’s one more tip I have for people–if email is a huge sticking point in your business, figure out if you can delegate it to someone else, or get more efficient at answering them. I can answer emails as fast as I can answer a text, so I don’t include that as just a part of my business time. I’ll answer an email as soon as it comes in if I can answer it within a minute or two. That way, I don’t get bogged down in emails during my dedicated business time.

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.
I am foremost a wedding videographer and photographer. What sets me apart is what sets most of us apart from one another: the way I see the world is unique. It is a culmination of my own lived experience and my romanticization of the people and world around me. These two aspects help me capture mostly live events in a way that is based in observation and a love of people. On top of that, this helps me edit in a way that isn’t formulaic. Each person’s wedding story is unique to them and not defined just by my style. I began my business 9 years ago, out of film school and having moved out of LA back to Seattle. I didn’t know how to run a business, and I barely knew how to shoot a live event. The only thing that made this transition easier were the mentors who helped guide me through the beginning stages. I assisted in a lot of events for free and soaked up all the knowledge I could. At the time it didn’t feel hard, but looking back and seeing how much easier and less stressed I am now, I can see that professionally I feel more at peace now.
One of the biggest lessons I learned is about my limiting beliefs. For a long time, I refused to try new gear out of a fear of failure. I wouldn’t stand up or speak out for myself because I figured I wasn’t worth the space in someones inbox or DMs. Of course, I didn’t think of it as plainly as this at the time, the beliefs were so internalized. It was listening to business podcasts where people called these things out, and in going to therapy where I’m told repeatedly that I’m allowed to take up space that I truly began to change. Because of that, new opportunities have come my way, my mindset let’s me see potential where I saw roadblocks before.
My brand is about capturing old world romance for modern love. I romanticize people and their love stories. I want them to see themselves through my eyes: full of so much potential and life and beauty.

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.
My perfect day in the LA area would include a visit to The Last Bookstore, lunch and coffee at Cafe Veronese if it was open, a concert at The Hollywood Bowl, and we’d end the night by driving into the hills, pulling our car off to the side and star gazing in one of the only places you can near the city! Reliving my college days! We’d also probably have to hit up Disney!

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?
So many people! In film school, Professor Dean Yamada made a huge impact on my love of film, recognition of its beauty through the rules and breaking of rules for creativity. Giselle Gonzalez helped me understand what pursuing with veracity looked like. More recently, friends in the industry who are constant supports and mentors: Bixby + Pine, Sarah Anne Thompson, Tonie Christine, and Manda from Mae&Co. Of course, my husband for constantly encouraging me to say yes to opportunities.

Podcasts that have opened my eyes to my own limiting beliefs and helped me see business from different perspectives are The Tim Ferriss Show and Work Wives Unscripted. One of these is huge and the other is new but so incredibly honest.

Website: www.ridgewoodfilms.com

Instagram: @ridgewoodfilms

Image Credits
Ridgewood Films