The Drive: What challenges have you overcome?
Like many young families, it’s completely life changing with little ones in the house. Learning to find out who you are as a parent, regardless of how old you are, is a huge challenge. There’s been a few big challenges in my life that I’ve had to overcome and they have made me more resilient in many ways. Studying full time with a one-year-old and pregnant with my second child taught me a lot about time management and prioritising what is important to me. Last year, when I fell pregnant with my youngest (my third), it actually helped me to become grounded, present in everyday life and I learned to let go of things I couldn’t change.
I am a very driven person and sitting still is a struggle for me. Starting Alexis Galley Photography was the challenge I needed while being home with my youngest. I began researching and planning what type of photographer I wanted to be. This allowed me to build a great relationship with an amazing printing house and through this relationship, I can inspect my prints before they are shipped to art galleries or my clients.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
Like many new small businesses starting out, especially if it is new to you or a new industry, having patience and drive for the business to grow can be mentally challenging. Having reasonable expectations and achievable goals is very important to me, as well as celebrating the small wins. Recently I won an Emerging Artist award for one of my prints. This was such a huge surprise that I didn’t really know how to process it. I celebrated the win with a glass of Malfy’s gin & tonic. It doesn’t seem like much but I’m still breastfeeding my little one and I hate the whole ‘pump n dump’ process. I find expressing myself with breast pumps painful – I’ve tried multiple brands.
Limited start-up capital creates its own challenges, which to many can be a con, however I have come to enjoy this. It has taught me to push my camera, lens, flashes, etc. to their limits to achieve some AMAZING fine art and lifestyle prints. Developing positive relationships with my printers is of great importance to me. I believe strong, positive relationships aids in any business regardless of them just starting out or currently operating.
Standing out in the photography scene is a huge challenge. There are so many of us that the market is flooded. I saw this with the makeup industry too. Believing in myself has taught me to stand up for myself. I want to be seen and wanted for my work, my prints and who I am. My clients come to me for me, because they like who I am and what I offer, as well as my style of photography.
Spreading my time between my early childhood teaching job, solo parenting, running a household and developing Alexis Galley Photography, requires a lot of baskets and time. Giving up my lunch breaks during the week allows me to plan, prep, answer emails, etc., which really helps me to stay on top of things. As Alexis Galley Photography grows, I envision my life changing with it, such as more travel, exhibitions and a studio, along with a better life balance. I love working with New Zealand’s youngest citizens, so I know this will be a big challenge and change for me.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
Dreams, ah there are so many dreams. I definitely have plans to create an amazing studio space with another photographer. He’s on a similar journey to myself, although tackling the photography world in a slightly different manner. Another dream is very secretive to be honest. It is very early in the planning, but what I can mention is that it is a collective of creative people and it’s very exciting.
I plan to continue doing competitions and exhibitions both nationally and internationally as I can. I would love to see my exhibitions in person. My very first exhibition was down in Hastings for FotoFeast’23 and unfortunately, I couldn’t attend for personal reasons. I was disappointed, but I did get to view my daughter’s first exhibition in Auckland, as hers conveniently ran at the same time.
Visit the Alexis Galley Photography website to find out more and to browse her beautiful images. You can also connect with Alexis on Facebook and Instagram.
