Our story – of how Creative Bent began – is like most photography businesses I think…
About 10 years ago my mom decided to learn how to use her Canon 35mm camera (her reason why is much to long to explain here, you’ll have to ask her if you’re curious). In her effort to take on this daunting task she fell in LOVE with photography! Saying she became a little obsessed is an understatement. She bought every book she could get her hands on, took classes at our local community college, and ended up joining a photography club to better her art. At this time I was in college – finishing my Pre-Med degree (yes, you read that right). After graduation I got married (literally – the first Saturday after graduation) and held 5 different random jobs in 2 years – all the while helping my mom out with what was quickly becoming a much larger “hobby” than expected! In 2004 my mom and step-dad, Richard, built their BEAUTIFUL home on the bluffs (studio included!!). I found myself more and more involved in her photography “hobby” and quickly developed a passion for the whole photography experience. I LOVED the idea of being able to capture a time in someone’s life that they can’t ever get back – to be able to create tangible memories for families. Following in my mothers footsteps I became totally obsessed! I quickly learned photoshop and my mom began teaching me what she knew about photography (which was a whole lot more technical than I expected!!). Up until this point I was the girl that would move the backgrounds, meter the lights, and dance around to make the babies giggle! It’s funny to think about how far I have come and how much I have learned! :)
A year or so later over dinner one night, Richard had this brilliant idea… “why don’t you girls start a business together?” We did a little research, though about it (for 0.8 nano-seconds) and decided to jump in head first and build the parachute on the way down (a Sandy Puc’ quote)! We haven’t look back yet – and what an amazing adventure it has been so far. Not many people can say that they have built a successful business from the ground up with their mom! And we love it. Don’t get me wrong – there are days we’d both like to kill each other I’m sure… but it’s all part of the adventure! We both share a passion for photography and LOVE working with our wonderful customers!
As our business has grown over the years the balance is shifting. My mom still teaches full time at Waterloo High School and I am now the full time photographer for Creative Bent. We still LOVE to photograph weddings together (we wouldn’t change that for anything!!). We now have Brooke working for us in the office, Katie runs our “packaging department,” and our crazy girl Lisa is amazing at helping our clients decide how to best choose and display their favorite images!!
As I look back at “our story” I cannot believe how the years are flying by – but as they say, “if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” So true!!
