Meet Brooke Townsend | Cincinnati Portrait Photographer

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

Hi Brooke, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Honestly, starting my photography business was almost entirely on a whim in 2009! I was 19, living in my parents basement, and bought my first camera on a Best Buy credit card. And never in my wildest dreams did I think it would become what it did!

When I think back to it, I really wanted to be a photographer so I could be free to make whatever life I wanted. Free of working for anyone else… have the control to make my own schedule… have periods where I could take off whenever I wanted…. and just be free to live however I chose without needing permission from anyone else to do so. But also, I really needed to live creatively and purposeful in the process where I could help people see the real magic in life! Because I’ve always been an artist at heart and living any sort of normal life just wasn’t in the cards for me.

And now? 15 years later I find myself as a fully established photographer in southwestern Ohio living a life I only ever could have DREAMED about growing up doing all of these things! And I thank my younger self everyday for attaching to this crazy idea and chasing it so relentlessly for so long.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Gosh, this one is a lot to unpack. Because truly, I fell into this job so slowly over time! But started out on the path of being a photographer with a very intense need to live a different kind of life than the norm.

Has it been easy? Definitely not lol. But has it been worth it? Heck. Freaking, Yes.

They say when you become a self employed entrepreneur, you trade in a 9-5 schedule for a 24/7 one. And while there’s a lot of truth to that come to find out. But the flexibility for lifestyle to have so much of a say over what you do and how you live your life has made all the obstacles completely worth it for me. And the work really hasn’t felt like grueling work because I truly love being a photographer and have since I started this business!

Work a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life right? (oh no you’ll definitely be working but find passion in the work haha!)

My biggest advice I can give after doing this for 15 y ears is to be the master of boundaries. Create schedules and routines for yourself and treat yourself like an employee too. Give yourself days off. Give yourself vacations. And give yourself credit. If you don’t, literally no one else will when you run a self employed business like this. And without having those self regulated boundaries, you’ll burnout quick.

Be in it for the marathon. Not the quick race.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh hell yeah! If they’re an artsy friend, I would set up a day to go out on a nature hike somewhere after having an amazing brunch at a local cafe. After, we might go thrifting for some unique treasures and/or art supplies, stalk through a local bookstore, and then spend the afternoon painting, crafting, or taking photos!

If they’re a chill friend who needs a calmer day, I’d invite them over, bake some fresh bread for us, turn on some spooky shows and play some video games after a good soak in the hot tub. Because my homebody self has been loving days like this most lately 🙂

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My business has been very much such a solo journey. I’ve never had any official employees, co-workers, or even a studio space as I’ve operated out of my home! But that doesn’t go without saying my husband deserves the biggest recognition of support for me.

He has always been my rock and has helped me navigate bookkeeping, taxes, running the household during busy seasons, being such an amazing hands-on dad with our son, and even was my assistant at weddings quite a few times! He has found ways to make this business work no matter the challenges we’ve faced and helped me through some of the most trying times of both of our lives. I truly would not be where I’m at if it wasn’t for all his knowledge, love, support, and encouragement from the very beginning when I came to him with this crazy idea of “Hey, I’m gonna be a photographer!”

Website: www.brooketownsend.com

Instagram: @brooketownsendphoto

Facebook: www.facebook.com/BrookeTownsendPhotography

Other: I’m a painter too! And have another Instagram for my art here: @brookesartjournal

Image Credits
all photos done by myself, Brooke Townsend Photography