Today we’d like to introduce you to Alison Elk.
Hi Alison, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Oh goodness, where to start. In January of 2020, we saw a model call posted by a local wedding venue. It caught my eye as a fun experience for us both so I reached out and we ended up booking it! From then on it seemed to just take off. I know what you’re thinking… fake weddings? It’s different, we know. But we have an absolute blast and have met some of the best business owners in the industry in Orlando. Helping a team’s vision come to life is incredible and we get to be a part of it!! We have also more recently started doing some agency work together and that has been some great spending money as well. I would highly recommend finding something you love and do it with someone you love. And no, we aren’t actually married, yet, we just play dress-up.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
So far so good I would say. We definitely had a tough time setting our rate in the beginning since we always want to help out other vendors. But learning our worth and realizing that other vendors use styled shoots to book REAL weddings, but our bookings stop there. (since no one hires models for real weddings lol). So learning to really advocate for ourselves has been a learning process but has absolutely paid off!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
From all of our shoots, we would have to say that we are most proud of all of the new friends we have made. It is truly incredible each time we are a part of a shoot to see it brought to life. When a vendor reaches out to us with an idea for a shoot, we are typically provided with their vision board. This board displays images that have either inspired their creative ideas for the shoot or is what they hope to accomplish. Then, through their gathering and collection of local vendors, they do their best to accomplish and successfully create their vision. We get the luxury of stepping into the completed project as just the small cherry on top to finish it off. Seeing how well these teams plan for and work together is our favorite part. Everyone is always so so kind and team-spirited which is often hard to find.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
For networking, we have found the most luck with national Facebook pages and Instagram. We do all of our bookings independently primarily through our Instagram. This allows us to not only promote ourselves as models but credit the incredible work of the local vendors. We often get referrals from other photographers or planners that have worked with us in the past, which is a great example of the team mindset I referred to earlier. There are other times where clients find our photos and refer to us when selecting which vendors they are interested in booking for their wedding, making the marketing mutually beneficial. We love what we get to do and that we get to do it together!
Contact Info:
- Email: aelk9797@gmail.com
- Website: https://ate0011.wixsite.com/website
- Instagram: noahandali_
Image Credits
brittandbeanphotography
briannakimphotography
cafeyestilophotography
sydneymariephotography
amandazabphoto
jessicajonesphotographs
snapshotsbygabriela
rabecca_cruz_photography
