What Full-Time Photographers Won't Tell You: Pivot and Profit with Teshorn Jackson

Pat Miller: 00:00

I'm Pat Miller and this is The Professional Photographer Podcast. Today, we're going to get real, like, really real. Like if you're not killing it with your studio, maybe you need to pick up some side work or even get a job and become a part-time photographer. That kind of real. It is a bumpy time for some folks financially. And today's guest, Teshorn Jackson, he's a wedding photographer, and he's seen the industry do some pretty weird stuff in the last year and a half, but he didn't wallow in it. He didn't harm his family by waiting for the money to come in. He rolled up his sleeves and he did something about it. And we want to have a conversation today about what happens if, if that ever were to happen to you. Do you have the ability to set aside your pride and go get some side work until things get better in your business? It's not something that's talked about very often, and it's not for everyone, but hopefully, today's conversation will make this option more reasonable and accessible to you if you ever need it. Teshorn will lay out what he did, how, how it worked, why it's important, how he thinks about money and how he takes care of his family first. Yyou need to hear this episode. Teshorn Jackson standing by. We'll talk to him next. Teshorn, welcome to The Professional Photographer Podcast. How are you today?

Teshorn Jackson: 01:35

I'm doing well, thank you very much. How are you doing?

Pat Miller: 01:37

I'm great. I'm excited to have this conversation because you know what it's like? We're going to be real today. We're going to talk about something that we should probably talk more often about. But before we get into the meat of the episode, they need to know about you. If someone hasn't met you yet, tell us who you are and what you do.

Teshorn Jackson: 01:53

Well, my name is Teshorn Jackson, originating on the island of Antigua and Barbuda in the eastern Caribbean. I studied architecture in this country, and I fell into wedding photography around 2011 or so. And I've been in this industry ever since.

Pat Miller: 02:08

And the transition from what you were doing before to getting into weddings, was that natural or how did you make that transition? Was it curiosity that you followed? Tell us about that.

Teshorn Jackson: 02:19

I was an amateur photographer while practicing architecture, and I photographed couples and models and so forth. And one day, a makeup artist says to me, you need to leave the models alone, stick to the couples. I was like, what do you mean, stick to the couples? Like, I like the models in the studio, studio lighting, and so forth. And she discouraged me from photographing models. I said, okay, I guess I will look into this couple thing, and people asked me to photograph weddings, and I said no. In the first couple of years, like who wants to photograph a wedding? Like who does that? That wasn't part of my interest at all. I had no interest whatsoever. And eventually, I second shot a couple weddings, and one thing turned to another and now we're here.

Pat Miller: 03:03

Yeah, we're here. And some years are great, and some years aren't that great. And today, we get to talk about kind of a real situation that some people find themselves in. That business isn't always great. What has it been like for you recently in the wedding industry?

Teshorn Jackson: 03:18

Wedding industry from around 2024, summer-ish, I started noticing a shift in the industry and I saw there's a real popular person in my market, and he never has to do ads whatsoever. And I saw an ad pop up all of a sudden. Hmm. Ads. That's a first. I'm very aware of my market, just so you know. So okay, let me investigate more. I'm looking at people they would work with, nothing from them. Things, maybe the writing might be on the wall. And as we got late into 2024, I realized, okay, something's off. And I realized that a lot of weddings were down from 2024. And it's affected most of us in the industry itself, and we try to make adjustments along the way, but in the wedding industry, so while it's booming, it's not booming. A lot of people aren't as busy as before. So in fact, the story happened in 2023. That's what it was, end of 2023 when I saw the ad. So 2024 was like rough for most wedding photographers, unless you have a very unique brand and high in demand. For most people, they were not that busy.

Pat Miller: 04:33

I have a feeling that a lot of the wedding photographers watching this are nodding their head. Yes. Okay, I'm feeling that too. I'm curious what you said. It's booming but not booming. What do you mean by that? It's booming but not booming.

Teshorn Jackson: 04:46

Well, if you pay attention to the industry itself, there's some people that are consistently working and some people–most people aren't working as much. So one could say, "Well, my business is thriving. Everything's going great." But you might be the anomaly.

Pat Miller: 05:01

Ah, for sure.

Teshorn Jackson: 05:03

So we get a lot of text messages from people who hadn't worked in months.

Pat Miller: 05:09

Which is just deflating and frustrating to have everything kind of slow down. When your business was slowing down in 2024, did you notice fewer bookings, lower tickets, fewer inquiries? What were the warning signs for you and your business?

Teshorn Jackson: 05:24

Early 2024, my business has never been one to book years out since the beginning. The further side of books was maybe 13-14 months. But I've always been a month out, six months, nine months, one year. And I noticed inquiries will come in, but they turn into Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Pat Miller: 05:50

Yeah.

Teshorn Jackson: 05:50

And it became frustrating because it's like I didn't send for you. You came into my store to see what I have. I introduced myself to you, and you just ran off. So I noticed that. Also noticed while the friends having the same issue, an inquiry comes in, they'll ghost. As if people were talking to each other saying, "Hey, let's ghost these photographers nowadays. Let's send 50 inquiries." And we don't read anything from them, unless we see a price. We don't want to see anything other than the price. And they became very noticeable. So even if the inquiries were coming in, bookings were a lot lower than before because I think the demographics of the couples are changing now. They've become younger. They are TikTok heavy, and they want what they want when they want it. Us old donkeys out there, we have to make adjustment.

Pat Miller: 06:45

Yeah, it feels like that. Before, all of the wedding photographers were nodding, understanding. I think now all the photographers watching are nodding when you're talking about inquiries coming in, and then this ghosting phenomenon that I think is popping up across all different genres of photography.

Teshorn Jackson: 07:03

It's a real problem. And it's like, you know, they inquire, you adjust your communication process, I don't know. But you have to do what works for your business.

Pat Miller: 07:13

And you also have to do what works for you and your family. And what we get to talk about today is when things aren't going well with the job and the business, sometimes we have to pick up some side work or actually get a job. Why is that such a hard topic for photographers to consider and something that isn't talked about very much?

Teshorn Jackson: 07:37

I think the problem is in the education space for years, the objective was to, let's teach about going full time as a wedding photographer or photographer in general. Let's go full time. Go full time. Full time is the pinnacle of success. But no one talks about the struggles of running a business full-time. Most of us aren't accountants, bookkeepers. We didn't study finance. I studied architecture. I know architecture like back in front of my hands. That's what I know, many years in civil design. And when they go full time, they realize, "Wait, I have to work. I have to run this business. I have to do paperwork." Like I hate paperwork. Like with a passion. I've never liked paperwork. Wife always says, "If you had a job with paperwork, you'll get fired." Like yeah, because I don't like paperwork. But because they preach that so often photographers want to get there, now they're there when things aren't working, what do you do? If I get a job, what would they say about me? Now pride becomes the identifier. I have to stay true to full time. I have to stay true. I can't get a job. They'll look down on me. They're going to talk bad about me. But guess what? When the business closes, they'll talk about you anyway.

Pat Miller: 08:47

Ooh, so we don't do what we have to do and then our business closes and they'll end up judging us in the first place. So how do we go about doing this? How do we get past that anxiety or fear about picking up some side work or getting a job and making photography the side work so we can keep the lights on.

Teshorn Jackson: 09:09

I think having honest conversation which appears, you'd be surprised how many people have jobs. You'd be surprised how many people, their spouse is taking care of their photography needs. Their retirement for the military take care of photography needs, if people are more honest with it. So, end of 2023 again, I saw the writings on the wall when I saw the ad pop up. I'm like okay, something's going in 2024 that I sought to, I think, a planner. We end up talking about this research. I think it was Kay Jewelers, one of these jewelry company. They had a 25 less engagement rings being sold that year because what I was told traditionally there's a four-year window when you meet a person and you say I do. You get married. So COVID happened in 2020. That fourth year was 2024. So there's a gap in the wedding industry. So now the domino effects are evident in 2025. But in the 2023, I was like, okay, something's up. Next year, I don't really have much on the calendar. And the opportunity came to my email one day. I said, hmm, a job. Last job I had was January 26, 2011. It's my last day of the job. I said I can't get a job. But I said, you know what, I have goals I need to reach, financial goals. While I wasn't struggling. I knew if I didn't get something immediate, I'd have to depend on my savings accounts. And savings for me are for emergency; it's not for bills. Savings account, emergency funds emergencies. Paying the bills isnot emergency, unless it's an emergency. And I asked them, I spoke to the recruiter, I said, what does the day look like? And they gave me, I said, okay. I said, hmm, I can automate this process and make it even better. And I got a job. There's a contract job, supposed to be from April to June. And I'm a people person, I know how to lead very well. And I told the team, if you guys want a job to extend, you're not going to work on butts off. I'll automate the process, and around May, we had an extension into September. So listen, keep working hard. Got an extension into December, and the contract ended in December. But me getting the job allowed me to really put aside, as most of my salary, I put it in my money market account. While people are complaining, I told my friends, listen, I got this remote gig, it pays amazing. I barely do any real work. I'm working maybe five hours a week and get paid for 40 because I automated the process like there are jobs out you can get. And I got a lot of pushback. I'm getting a job, and it was okay. In fact, a friend of mine, maybe late last year, middle of last year, he says, "I got a job. I listened to you because they were– things were falling apart," and they were just forced to get a job. And the others starting to realize, "Okay, maybe I can get a job, too." And I'm watching my network of people actually getting opportunities outside of photography. So when things are crashing and you have a family take care of, your pride has to go away. The Bible says pride comes before destruction. Another translation said, pride comes before the fall. And no one wants the business to come crashing down. So you have to do a job to take care of your family. Put pride away and take your results because you got into this business to take care of yourself and your family and it doesn't make sense to just get that one salary. Most of us work on the weekends. What do you do on Monday to Friday? Sounds like opportunities to make more revenue.

Pat Miller: 12:49

And it's an honest and refreshing conversation because it's not just a conversation about, well, go into portraits or take up some volume work. And those are all great ways to drive revenue and diversify the business. But you're talking about remote work, contract work, driving for Uber, driving for Doordash. All of those things are ways that you can bring in revenue into the family, but maybe not into the business proper, but work on the side or primary work business. It doesn't look the way that it used to. You don't need to go to a big building downtown and sit there five days a week. At least that's what your experience has shown.

Teshorn Jackson: 13:26

Oh, yeah. Listen, while I was hired by the company, I was in Antigua last year. I was in New York. I was in DC. I was in LA. I was still doing my photography while getting paid by the company being remote. Because when I asked them, what does the day look like? They said, you support the team in the field. I could support them from anywhere. I don't have to go in somewhere. There's opportunities out there. You have to look for it.

Pat Miller: 13:53

Yeah.

Teshorn Jackson: 13:54

It doesn't hurt.

Pat Miller: 13:56

Let's say someone makes that jump. So they, they pick up some work on the side, or they pick up a remote gig, or they've got a full time job and they're shooting weddings on the weekend. How might that affect them? If they were identifying as a full time photographer before, and now they have a job and they do weddings on the weekend, how might that affect them or make them think a little bit differently?

Teshorn Jackson: 14:19

If they actually talk to people, they realize a lot of people have been doing that for years. Our friends that's in the tech space. They'd be a fool to quit that tech job. The remote tech job? Fantastic figures. Who actually want to quit that job? It's remote.

Pat Miller: 14:35

Yeah.

Teshorn Jackson: 14:36

No need to. Just join the club. A lot of people are doing it. They just don't talk about it. I have a friend in the medical field. One day she told me, "I want to quit my job." I said, "Don't do that." Full time photography. While full-time photography can be great, there are a lot of people make a substantial amount of revenue. It can be great. But that's not the story for every photographer. People are honest. Again, there's educators out there. I try to be as honest as I can. I won't sell you a bag of glass that you think are diamonds. A lot of people share their lives on the Internet. It's a facade. Don't take everything that they do as real. It's not a real place for one.

Pat Miller: 15:20

That's true.

Teshorn Jackson: 15:24

Not a real place. And it helps some people. They paint this picture like everything's great. They show the things that they own. But you don't know how they keep it. No, I was talking to a planner sometime last year. Just a real conversation. And if you've been in an Uber before, and when the Uber driver gets an alert for an extra passenger pickup, there's a sudden ringing, by the sound, talking to her and her, I was like, "Oh snap, she's driving Uber right now. She's a high-level planner." Oh, damn, that's crazy. And I thought, well, maybe she was a passenger. No, not just happened once. I said, okay. I didn't ask about it because I know her pride probably was like, you know, I don't want to talk about it. But I realized it's the thing you can do. Uber Eats, friend of mine on the East cCoast. Listen, he's going through a rough time, and Uber Eats helped pay his mortgage because he wasn't booking these corporate events like before.

Pat Miller: 16:26

What about planners? If we're not full time in the wedding industry, will planners look at us or judge us differently?

Teshorn Jackson: 16:32

Some will. Some will. And I had a conversation with the planner, and they were talking about a photographer and the second shooter happens to be a medical professional. And they thought, why this person here? That's not their career. And I said, well, you're not limited to one career. Believe it or not, I can DJ very well. In fact, this weekend at the [Econo] conference, they want me to come DJ. The other open house they have, Octoberfest, but II'm going to be DJ-ing there because I'm good at it. They know that. You can have more than one career. So some planners think because you don't do this full time or you have another job, well, you're not really worth it. I think that's a bad mindset to have. I applaud that person for being good in two different fields. And why limit your income potential? Some planners have other careers. They don't talk about it because they have to paint this pretty picture. Like everything on my Instagram is curated beautifully. I'm the full time wedding professional, not knowing they have another career on the side. Again, I think people focus too much on what people think about them versus what is my objective? The objective is to take care of your family. And it's hard to feed, you don't just keep feeding the monster called the Internet, because when it's all said and done, people really don't care. And I challenge you. If you decide you're going to take, let's say three months off from Facebook, Instagram, check how many people actually send you a text message, say, I miss you, I haven't seen you online in a while. All those likes you used to getting and those comments, well, they don't see you for a while, you've been forgotten about. Ask me how I know.

Pat Miller: 18:28

How do you know?

Teshorn Jackson: 18:29

I've done it before. I used to take a three-month break from social media and come on, Facebook is very a lot of friends and family and colleagues. It's a mix of everyone on there. I take a break off once a year, and all those comments, no one's called or checking. I said, oh, you know what, let me see. I got a text message and hadn't seen online in a while, but most people didn't even notice I was gone. They really don't care. They care till they really don't. So when you keep feeding the monster and worried about what people think and how they feel about you, I think you're looking at it the wrong way.

Pat Miller: 19:08

I've heard someone say don't worry about what other people think of you because they're too busy thinking of themselves. They can't even house an opinion of you in your life because all they're doing is thinking about themselves every minute of the day.

Teshorn Jackson: 19:23

Yeah. You just so happens to show up on their feed, and oh, I like this. And now onto the next.

Pat Miller: 19:29

As someone that clearly has their money game together and has owned your outcomes like you have built a life for you and the family to make sure that you're taken care of, I'd be foolish not to ask a question. How should we be managing our money? Is there anything that comes to mind if we are running a photography studio, either full time or part time, should we be aggressively saving, paying down debt? And I'm not looking for financial advice, just as your thoughts, because it seems like you've really got a great handle on this.

Teshorn Jackson: 19:58

I came across this book several years ago called Profit First, and I'm quick on reading, and I heard about it. I said, okay. Then I didn't grab the book. Another friend mentioned maybe 6 months later, I said, you know what? I heard about this book before, and that book was very timely because like traditionally revenue minus expenses equals profit, and but flips it upside down and says hey, let's take the profits out at the top. Run a business. If you work for Microsoft, when that profits, profits goes to shareholders, right? Some companies pay dividends. Why can't you get profits off the top? Why do you have to worry about, let me pay all these bills first before I get some, I can see my money. No, take some profits out. Even if it's 10%, 5%, pay yourself something. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. Everything has to take care of itself. So that book has really changed because during COVID, I made a post and I said, I know people are struggling right now. By no means I'm a rich photographer whatsoever. I'm not rich by any stretch. And I said, if you need some extra help, let me know, no questions asked, just send me a DM. And I said, I'll just pay you like 50 bucks in Cash app whatever. The money from my profits account, they just give people. The one girl sent me a DM, thanking me, said it actually to get her a medication she needed. She didn't have any money. I think she was like something with laid off from work as struggling. And I'm like, I'm sorry, but you know, I glad I was able to help you here. This one, he works for Irish. He's–what is it? An accountant, auditor. He said, hey, I need some help too. No, I know you said no questions asked, but no, not you. Get out of here.

Pat Miller: 21:41

Bye.

Teshorn Jackson: 21:42

He said, you said no questions asked. But people that needed help. But the Profit First method really helped me to be able to help other people. That's one way. Another thing I tell people to do, no matter what, save 10%, invest 15%. I always, save 10. Invest 15.

Pat Miller: 22:03

Yeah.

Teshorn Jackson: 22:03

If you make that a habit, you can see the things that can happen in your life. I'm not a let me buy things. I'm not a things type of person. I'm an experienced type of guy. Like experiences. If I travel as much as I can. I don't need the fanciest this and that. It's just things. It doesn't mean much to me. I like going places. People like buying things. They never get to see anything. So you have to learn to save your money, invest your money.

Pat Miller: 22:31

Great thoughts. Mike Michalowicz's book, Profit First. Absolute must read.

Teshorn Jackson: 22:35

Definitely. YouTube is even better than the book. He has a YouTube video. He did a training at a conference. That's way better than the book.

Pat Miller: 22:41

Yeah, he's incredible. Let's flip it. Just a second. Let's say we make the jump and now we're spending time out of the studio, driving or remote work, or some other job to help bring in the revenue that we need to take care of the family. How might we structure our practice, our photography practice, so we don't lose ground as a photographer while we're paying the bills doing something else? Do you have anything in mind?

Teshorn Jackson: 23:10

Yeah. For one, I always tell photographers all the time. Listen, have a system, systematize your business. Remember 2008 Avery Johnson, he was a coach of that Dallas Mavericks. He says systems win championships. I never forgot that. You have to systematize your business. Automate what you can, but have a system in place, even if it means getting a virtual assistant. That'll be your own virtual assistant. Right? But have a system in place that way should things happen, things are already in place for you. You shouldn't have to guess what coming next. What's coming next? You already have a system. I used 17Hats for the last 10 years. Without 17Hats, I'll be struggling because remember having to do paper contracts, all these different things. It's not necessarily a plug for them, but it works. I love them. My favorite CRM also, but it works, and you have to have a system in place. Again, if you have a job, when inquiries come in and you're at work all day long even if it's remote, when do you plan on checking your inquiries, when you can respond to them? Have a system in place. Maybe when the inquiry comes in, you have an automated message saying, hey, you'll hear back from us in 48 hours versus 24 hours, maybe 72 hours. Today's couples will be like 72 hours. We're on to the next. Yeah, they're already gonna go to somebody else anyway. So just have a system in place.

Pat Miller: 24:31

Everybody don't listen. Just you and me here talking. Can you believe there are people running around without a CRM, like still doing everything on paper? Like it blows my mind that people are still not using a CRM. It's essential.

Teshorn Jackson: 24:45

It's essential. And I spoke to someone maybe few months ago, and they mentioned, well, I don't have a lot of business yet so I do it by hand. Well, you don't dress for the job you have today. You have to plan ahead. Even if it means, hey, whenever, even if you have a day job. I said, hey, use your day job to help invest in your business, be your own investor, invest in these things. That way later on, when business starts coming now, you already have a practice of having system. You know how the software works. You don't wait till it's raining to get the umbrella. Havet them in the back pocket.

Pat Miller: 25:25

Yep. It's been a great conversation and one that should be had more often. If we want to continue to learn from you, we're going to see you at Imaging USA in January, is that right?

Teshorn Jackson: 25:35

I will be there.

Pat Miller: 25:37

And what are you going to teach this year?

Teshorn Jackson: 25:39

I'm speaking on stage about post wedding sales, what strategies that I use to finesse some extra funds into my coffers. Yeah, but I'm happy to be there. But I just want photographers to live the best life possible because when I started my business, I didn't have anyone to really help me. So I want to leave the industry better than when I met it. Passionate about helping. I don't have it all together. Make no mistake. I still have issues here and there, but I understand the principles and the foundation of how things operate, and I can make adjustments along the way.

Pat Miller: 26:17

I love it. It's going to be great to learn from you and connect with you at Imaging USA. Thanks for the time today, Teshorn. I really appreciate you coming on the show.

Teshorn Jackson: 26:24

Thank you very much and thanks for having me.

Pat Miller: 26:26

Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of The Professional Photographer Podcast. I'm already looking forward to the next time we get to hang out. Before you go, can you do me a favor like subscribe and comment? That's the magical one. Comment. YouTube loves the comments. Tell us what Teshorn said that made you go, "Oh, okay, that was different," or "Wow, that's a really good tip. That's something I can use." That helps us know what's working for you and how we can continue to build the show. Also, if you're not yet a member of Professional Photographers of America, you are missing out. PPA offers incredible resources like equipment, insurance, top-notch education, and a supportive community of photographers ready to help you succeed. It's perfect for photographers who are serious about growing their business in a sustainable and profitable way. At PPA, you belong here. Discover more about membership at ppa.com. That's ppa.com. I'm Pat Miller, founder of the Small Business Owners Community, publisher of the Small Business Summary newsletter, and your host for the show. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you right here next time. Take care.