How Cooking and Photography Became Her Home Dream Job

If you could do any job you wanted in the world, what would you choose?

When asked this all-important question by her husband, Therese said photographer. But it wasn’t until she joined Pretty Focused – Food Blog Photography she was able to get her dream business up and running.

Therese’s story at a glance:

• After losing her job during the pandemic, initially, Therese wanted to be a portrait photographer but realized it wasn’t for her.
• A year later, she saw an ad for Pretty Focused – Food Blog Photography, researched for months and decided to join.
• With access to professional coaches and a supportive community, she found the program different from any other online work-from-home career.
• After graduating, thanks to the Pretty Focused Buyers Club, she immediately had clients waiting for her and was able to pay off her investment in less than a week.

Read her full story

• 01:45 What were you doing before you joined?
• 06:06: What made you think that Pretty Focused was the real deal?
• 11:33 Did you have any previous food photography experience?
• 16:30 How long did it take you to go through Pretty Focused?
• 24:32 How long did it take you to earn back your investment?
• 30:40 What was your biggest struggle along the way?
• 34:25 How do you decide what kinds of recipes to develop? (listener question)
• 41:02 Do you have a waiting list of clients?
• 42:54 What’s the fastest you’ve sold a recipe?
• 45:13 Did you like cooking before you joined Pretty Focused?
• 46:24 What is Pretty Focused?
• 49:18 How quick did you sell your recipes after graduating? (listener question)
• 57:14 Was the selling exclusive masterclass helpful? (listener question)

Resources

• Artificial Lighting Masterclass
• Pretty Focused Food Blog Photography
• The Pretty Focused RoadMap

Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Therese moved to the United States 8 years ago.

Before her move, she worked in an Irish special needs school. Once in America, she continued that work but in a one-on-one capacity with families. However, when the pandemic began – because of her clients being high-risk – Therese was out of a job.

While losing her job wasn’t ideal by any means, it did provide Therese with an opportunity like no other. As her husband said, “Now’s the time, you can do anything in the world, what would you like to do?” Terese chose photography and the rest is history.

And while — spoiler alert — her story ends a happy one, it wasn’t without some pretty big bumps along the way.

After deciding to be a photographer, Therese first decided she’d like to take people’s portraits. She invested in a very good camera. She purchased courses on how to use it as well as how to pose portrait clients. And then she froze.

The fear of failure was overwhelming. And she wasn’t even sure she wanted to photograph people. She’d read horror stories in photography groups about people not liking their photos or subjects not cooperating during shoots.

A year passed and she still hadn’t accomplished her dream of becoming a paid photographer.

Then she saw an ad for Pretty Focused – Food Blog Photography.

Training, Coaching and Clients?

Therese first thought was that Pretty Focused must be “totally fake.” Her husband was worried they would be investing more in courses without seeing anything out of it.

But as Therese watched interviews with grads and asked questions during info sessions she knew Pretty Focused – Food Blog Photography was indeed very real. Her questions were never avoided, she could see grad success before her eyes and she knew she had never seen another online program that offered training, coaching and clients.

When she and her husband learned about the Pretty Focused Buyers Club, where customers are literally waiting to hire Pretty Focused grads, the decision to join became a no-brainer. One of her biggest roadblocks to becoming a portrait or wedding photographer was having to “pound the pavement” to get clients. She loved the idea of being able “slip in and start selling.”

She also loved that she would be able to use one of her other passions – cooking. Therese’s mom is a great cook and her brother is a chef. She never envisioned herself going down that path as she always saw herself as a creative person. But with food blog photography she would get to do it all.

Seeing it really was a “no-brainer,” Therese did join and found that Pretty Focused Food Blog Photography was indeed different from any other online work-from-home opportunity.

A Better Way to Work From Home

Learning through courses can be a tricky journey when you don’t have someone to answer your questions. Fortunately, this isn’t the case with Food Blog Photography.

Therese was so happy to have access to both professional coaches and a supportive community where she felt like she wasn’t alone in her journey. It was exciting to see that “real” people were looking at her work and providing feedback as well as cheering her on.

She also found that she learned just by searching the group and from reading the coaches’ comments on other students’ posts.

While she had learned how to use her camera before joining Pretty Focused – Food Blog Photography, she hadn’t really used it to take photos of food.

Following the curriculum, she made a goal to do two practice sessions a week. With this schedule and working with the coaches, it took her 5 months to graduate.

Along the way, she did have a challenge with lighting. She found it too hard to chase the sun around her house so that she could take advantage of good natural light. Therese ended up switching to artificial lighting, which made her shoots much easier.

Getting Clients Minutes After Graduating

She initially didn’t have high hopes about the money she would make after graduating and thought it might even be a struggle to get clients.

That WAS NOT the case.

Success came fast. Minutes after being introduced into the Pretty Focused Buyers Club she had clients looking to hire her. And because she built her portfolio so that she could sell much of the work in it, she made her money back within the first week of graduating.

Now, a couple of months into her career as a food photographer for bloggers, Therese is happy she chose to food photography over portrait photography. She doesn’t have to drive to a location, she can work on her own time and the food never moves or talks back.

She works with several clients directly photographing recipes that they provide her. They also hire her to create exclusive content just for them. In addition, she develops and photographs her own recipes and then sells them in the Buyers Club.

And she even has a waiting list of clients who want to work with her.

“I’m Having So Much Fun, I Just Can’t Believe It”

Therese, Pretty Focused Graduate

Life after graduation has been a dream. Currently, one of her biggest struggles is loving her job so much that she doesn’t want to take a day off. It’s a feeling she had never had in her life before.

As Therese’s business grows, her husband has even become invested in the business. They keep a running list of recipes they want to test and have a Friday night test kitchen. It’s a favorite night in the house.

Another favorite? Having discovered there was something where she could make money by combining cooking and photography – the things she enjoys the most.

What if you could turn your passion for cooking and photography into a dream career?

Pretty Focused – Food Blog Photography helps aspiring food photographers get hired. Whether you’re looking to make a full-time income or just supplemental income, there is something for everyone inside our course. Plus, with the support of a community and top-notch coaches, as well as our Buyers Club that connects you with clients, you’ll have everything you need to succeed.

So if you’re looking for a new career or just want to explore the possibilities of working from home as a food photographer for bloggers, join the Pretty Focused Roadmap and learn if this is right for you.