Jamie Romaezi, Blaire Ring, & Justine Smith Empowering Communities Through Newborn Photography and Fundraising
Jun 06, 2024
Alimond Studio
What if your passion could make a tangible difference in your community? Join us for a heartfelt conversation with Jamie Romaezi, Blaire Ring, & Justine Smith Empowering Communities Through Newborn Photography and Fundraising —three inspiring photographers who have harnessed their personal journeys and love for newborn photography into a powerful fundraising initiative. Over nine years, their mini photo session events have not only raised funds but also brought significant impacts to local non-profits. From aiding the March of Dimes and Shady's Paws Animal Rescue to supporting scholarships for local youth, their story is a testament to the profound change that collaboration and dedication can bring.
In this episode, we explore how these women transformed their challenges as preemie moms into a collective mission that thrives on community over competition. Their journey is filled with moments of mutual trust, logistical hurdles, and an unyielding commitment to impact. Listen as they share their process for selecting non-profits and how they keep their efforts fresh and community-driven by encouraging client nominations. This isn't just about photography; it's about the power of unity, the importance of a supportive network, and the joy of making a difference one snapshot at a time.
What if your passion could make a tangible difference in your community? Join us for a heartfelt conversation with Jamie Romaezi, Blaire Ring, & Justine Smith Empowering Communities Through Newborn Photography and Fundraising —three inspiring photographers who have harnessed their personal journeys and love for newborn photography into a powerful fundraising initiative. Over nine years, their mini photo session events have not only raised funds but also brought significant impacts to local non-profits. From aiding the March of Dimes and Shady's Paws Animal Rescue to supporting scholarships for local youth, their story is a testament to the profound change that collaboration and dedication can bring.
In this episode, we explore how these women transformed their challenges as preemie moms into a collective mission that thrives on community over competition. Their journey is filled with moments of mutual trust, logistical hurdles, and an unyielding commitment to impact. Listen as they share their process for selecting non-profits and how they keep their efforts fresh and community-driven by encouraging client nominations. This isn't just about photography; it's about the power of unity, the importance of a supportive network, and the joy of making a difference one snapshot at a time.
Speaker 1:
I'm Jamie Romese, my business is Jamie Romese Photography and I am a posed, newborn and family photographer.
Speaker 2:
I'm Blair. I own Second Half Photography and I'm a lifestyle, newborn and family photographer and I also specialize in schools.
Speaker 3:
Oh great, I'm Justine. I'm the owner of Flutter and Shutter Photography and I specialize in kids, babies, families, and I also do posed, like Jamie does.
Speaker 1:
And then we are organizing a fundraiser mini session. This is our ninth year doing this together just to support non-profit organizations. This year's non-profit organization that we are benefiting is Upside Down Moments. They are a foster-based organization that supports loud and youth.
Speaker 4:
Okay, and how did you get into this? Where did this idea come from?
Speaker 1:
It sort of kind of became a ground-up effort. It initially started with Blair and I. We were both moms, photographers, had preemies, and then Blair introduced me to Justine and eventually we all became preemie mamas together and we were both volunteering for the March of Dimes and fundraising for the March of Dimes. So we said how can we make our fundraising efforts bigger? And we worked together. We made our very first fundraiser mini session. It started just Blair and I, and then it grew for a few years to the three of us and then we decided let's make this something that benefits a smaller, more local organization. And from there it's been just nine years in the making. How did that first one go?
Speaker 2:
It went great. I think it went great. I mean we started it. We called them Hug a Preemie mini sessions, so we were really kind of marketing toward or gearing them toward other preemie parents that were also doing their own fundraising for the March of Dimes and so we all kind of had that shared common goal of fundraising for them.
Speaker 4:
So tell me a little bit how it works. So people come in, they do a mini session with you guys. Tell me a little bit about the process and how it works.
Speaker 1:
Sure. So first our clients become donors and donors become clients. Basically, they make a donation to the nonprofit. First they make a donation to the nonprofit organization and from there and their thank-you message for their donation, they receive a link to sign up for a mini session. And they receive we, we basically donate our time for the evening. Okay, you receive a 15-minute mini session and at the end of their session they get to select two digital images from that to keep for themselves. They can add to that collection, of course, and from there it really is just a nice day where we can bring in a solid amount of fundraising for a nonprofit and usually fund something pretty significant for them. Last year, I think Shady's Paws told us it contributed toward a vehicle for one of their. It was the cat, the animal effort.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, they have a like a small bus that they can transport cats and kittens in. They just have all the crates in the bus, excuse me, and that way they can go around to different events and different people can come and see and adopt cats, and so that's what our fundraiser last year went to help raise money for, and you guys picking different fundraisers each year, tell me a little bit about the history of which ones you've been able to help and which ones you are maybe looking at going forward.
Speaker 1:
So first it was March of Dimes, and then we had a for a few years. So March of Dimes for a few years and then yeah, march of Dimes for a few years, and then we pivoted to a fundraiser mini session benefiting Mobile Hope. Okay, they were our first local non-profit.
Speaker 4:
I love Mobile Hope. I've done a lot of work with Mobile Hope.
Speaker 1:
And then the following year it was Beat the Odds Loudon, which is a legal-based scholarship fund. Last year was Shady's Paws Animal Rescue and this year is Upside Down Moments.
Speaker 2:
The last few years, we were actually encouraging our clients to vote and nominate their favorite nonprofit.
Speaker 4:
So you could have a better idea of which direction to go in.
Speaker 2:
I mean, this county is just full of people that are doing amazing things and it's not possible for us to know everything. So it was cool to get people to kind of nominate their favorite nonprofits?
Speaker 4:
Yeah, and maybe something you hadn't heard of before.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, exactly, and if nothing else, it gets other people's eyes on them.
Speaker 4:
So you said last year went towards a car. Are there any other special stories that this money has been able to help and how rewarding was that?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, it feels great. That's the most significant story that we've gotten so far. You know, when we started, march of Dimes is such a huge organization and I had been fundraising for March of Dimes for a significant period of time, so I personally was fundraising a lot and it doubled what I was able to fundraise initially. So it's a pretty big impact and when it's not attached to anything, it just goes straight to them. They make their own decisions and we get a big thank you At the end. They're very appreciative, but the vehicle was the biggest one.
Speaker 3:
Well, I think, beat the Odds. Also because the organization itself gives money to students who have overcome significant hardship in order to graduate high school, and so each of those kids I mean we don't know which kid our donations or our clients' donations directly went to support, but all of those kids, every single one of them, every year, has amazing stories and it's open to the public so you can go and hear their story and watch them, and watch them receive their scholarship, which is pretty amazing.
Speaker 4:
Yeah, that's awesome, so it's a pretty big event. How many people are you guys expecting this year?
Speaker 1:
It's actually pretty limited what we release. We each release five mini sessions, so it's 15 sessions total, whereas we would be able to do five individually. It's nice to be able to then take that, make it a little bit of a conglomerate and offer more within that short period of time.
Speaker 4:
Yeah, so you guys all shoot at the same time the same location. How does that work? We do.
Speaker 3:
Well, usually we we pick a location like Claude Moore, which is where we're doing it this year, which is a pretty big area, so that we can all shoot in our own style, in our own way, and we're not in each other's way as well. Um, so we can all split off and meet with our clients and each give our clients an individualized experience.
Speaker 4:
Yeah, tell me a little bit about how each of you got into photography.
Speaker 3:
Blair, we can start with you and kind of go down the line if you want Tell me a little bit about your story.
Speaker 2:
So my grandpa was actually a photographer, so I started as the first grandchild and always had a camera in my face and then, you know, I was really into those like little film cameras you could get at.
Speaker 1:
Walgreens, you know, remember.
Speaker 2:
And then you'd take a film and drop it off. You'd wait a week.
Speaker 4:
I was just explaining to my kids the other day what film was.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, we weren't always able to touch the screen and scroll through and how many exposures were on film?
Speaker 4:
So, that's all we took, maybe for like a month. You had to buy it in a study or an ISO right.
Speaker 2:
You had to pick the right disposable camera, yes, um, so that's how I started. And then I needed something. When Izzy was born, um, she was seven weeks early and I wasn't ready to leave her and go back to work because she was only three pounds, and so I needed something that would allow me some flexibility. And I was kind of just taking her picture, and then it started like with neighbors asking me to take their pictures, you know, and then it just kind snowballed, and by the time I had my second daughter, I had a legitimate business, you know, kind of just working part-time, and now that they're older I work full-time. Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1:
And how about you? So? Interestingly enough, it must have been the rise of the real big camcorders with the VHS. I was always on camera, but our medium was was video, and my family and my grandfather was always in my face, and when he was the video camera. Yes, this big old camcorder on his shoulder. They're not those tiny things anymore. Um, they were not those tiny things, then I should say but I knew he was done taking my video, Cause he would go fade now I knew he was done taking my video because he would go fading out and then he would get the fade effect and turn it off, so that's like our catchphrase in our family.
Speaker 1:
So I always wanted to work in TV and I actually was in video yearbook in high school. I went to college to work in TV. So I started my career in media production and news and then moved to project management and along the way I grew my family and when my son was born he was born at 35 weeks, but I was hospitalized for three months of his pregnancy, yeah, and then he was in the NICU for a month. So when he came home it was tough to go back to work, but I did. I worked full time for two years and then it just became really evident that that balance was tough.
Speaker 1:
And one thing with him being a preemie that I wasn't able to do for him was newborn photos, and sometimes we like to provide for others what we can't have for ourselves. So that's pretty much exactly what I did. My niche is very much post newborn photography working with young families, capturing those first few like moments sometimes and all of us work with the newborn newborns, right, yeah, um, so sometimes we're the first people to meet other people's babies and like get those family special together. So I just really love the way that it's grown.
Speaker 4:
But yeah, is it still shocking when you see them, how you're like oh, I just forget how small these little ones are, absolutely.
Speaker 2:
I had a newborn session, the other day and they let me hold him. I was like, oh, I'm done working.
Speaker 4:
I'm just going to sit here. If anybody needs me, I'll just be here holding this baby.
Speaker 1:
Yes, Blair is more of a lifestyle photographer. Justine and I are both post, so we hold babies the whole time.
Speaker 4:
And the instant that you pick them up.
Speaker 1:
I don't get to hold them the whole time.
Speaker 3:
I know yeah.
Speaker 1:
My thing is Do I have to give them back?
Speaker 4:
Right, can I just put them in my camera bag?
Speaker 1:
I'll borrow your car seat let you get some sleep.
Speaker 4:
It's fine.
Speaker 1:
No, I give all the babies back. So far, yeah.
Speaker 4:
I'm Jenny. This is how rumors get started. They know where to look now Exactly.
Speaker 1:
Not me. I give them all back. So for me the biggest thing is my son was five pounds three ounces when he was born and I've definitely met a couple of five pounder tinies in the studio. So when I pick up a baby, that's the same birth weight that was my son. You never really forget what that feels like.
Speaker 1:
And you're like oh, it's so small, it brings you right back. So small, yeah, because I know both years were so tiny. But hopefully we don't have any free pounders at your sessions. I have not had a free pounder, should not.
Speaker 4:
How about you, Justine? How did you get into photography?
Speaker 3:
So my dad was always taking pictures as a kid. He's not a photographer by trade, but he just really loved taking pictures and so I always loved looking at his pictures and we would always go through photo albums and so I kind of developed a love for pictures then, um, and an appreciation for how important photography is, because at some point pictures are all you have left, which I say a lot but and I know that it's morbid, but it's also very true, and I know how appreciative people are when you have those pictures.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, it's part of your legacy, absolutely, absolutely, and so I always loved it. But I went into psychology and I loved that too. I love working with kids, I love working with teenagers. And then my daughter. My third was born early. She was only 34 weeks and she was four pounds 12 ounces, so she was teeny tiny, was only 34 weeks and she was four pounds 12 ounces, so she was teeny tiny and I had been taking pictures part-time for my, um, my third child, sorry. My fourth was my preemie. Um, when you have a lot, you get confused on your third daughter.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, my third daughter my third daughter.
Speaker 3:
Well, no, let's start over, okay. When my third child was born, I fell in love with newborn photography. This is kind of when Ann Getty's was really big, and I thought how hard can that be you? Know, you just lay a baby on a blanket and take a picture.
Speaker 2:
Put it in a bucket. Yeah, I learned very quickly that it's. I tried what they do for like an hour and was like nope.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, I mean, I learned very quickly that it's much harder than just laying a baby on a blanket and taking pictures, but I fell in love with it and I fell in love with editing and the whole thing, and so I was kind of doing it on the side for a while. And then when my fourth child was born, she was born at 34 weeks, at four pounds 12 ounces, and so that was the beginning of my preemie mama journey, and luckily I had these two to help me kind of guide me through the NICU process.
Speaker 4:
Because they had been there. They had been there.
Speaker 3:
And they both were there when she was born. And Blair came and took pictures in the NICU, and you know so, and Jamie did too. We both took birth photos. Yeah.
Speaker 4:
That's how we met her they took birth photos.
Speaker 1:
No, you met at the conference.
Speaker 3:
We met Ashley, yeah that's how you met Ashley.
Speaker 4:
We met Ashley before most of the rest of the world.
Speaker 3:
That's true, and so when she came home, I knew that I wasn't ready to do anything else. I just wanted to be able to be home and be with her, and so I stayed home and I've been a business since 2014. But really, in 2017 is when I, 2016 is when I decided to go full time.
Speaker 4:
Full time. That's amazing. You guys all have a similar path and different in some ways too. So tell me a little bit more about how this idea came together. So you guys were all premium moms photographers. It's driving me nuts, there we go. That's a good friend.
Speaker 1:
That's a good friend right there, I can see it.
Speaker 4:
I didn't touch it in the last question. Yes, I might have made it worse. So who was the one that kind of like initiated this idea for this fundraiser? Does it all kind of come together?
Speaker 2:
I think it kind of came together really just organically, which I see you looking at it. No, it's done, I'm looking at you, because you're talking. I think that's kind of what made it. What makes it kind of magical is just that like I was fundraising for the March of Dimes separately and Jamie was fundraising for the March of Dimes separately, and then we were doing the walk together and like doing these things together but separately yeah.
Speaker 1:
You know, like the same parallel sort of path. I texted her one day, blair. I texted Blair one day and I was like I have an idea, can you come over? How can we do so? Literally, she brought her two girls and I think it's the first time our kids met and they played in my basement and we talked through and I was like how would this even work logistically? And it was even before like how do you take two businesses and combine them into one thing for one cause and not make it look separate? We really wanted the community element to be there, we wanted to look unified and so we did that. It was before. A lot of the like client management systems were out and things like that and photography. That's really changed the game for how we can present ourselves over the last few years as three who are one now. So we had to work through those logistics and hopefully we made it seamless for everybody to just go to one landing page.
Speaker 2:
One spot that was not Like one share of contract, like we just kind of just.
Speaker 1:
And I think at first it was literally, it was three different rows of all the same.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it wasn't WUFU, it was just. It was a form Like yeah.
Speaker 1:
It was a form that our clients filled out. So now it's more of a. You can make a donation to this organization.
Speaker 4:
You've got links and you've got a little bit more streamlined. We've grown in that.
Speaker 1:
But most of our conversation was not do do we do this together?
Speaker 4:
it was how do we do this? Do we do this because you knew you were going to do it.
Speaker 1:
You just needed to get yes, the how, yeah, and it's really interesting because you could be competitive even in that you could like look at it and say, okay, you've got five sessions booked in the first 30 minutes and I don't have any, but really it's more like yay, we've raised this amount of money so far, so fast, and they're all going to book because it's such a great thing that we get to do together.
Speaker 4:
Yeah, and you're not competitive about who gets what, how many sessions or whatever, as long as it's going to a good cause.
Speaker 2:
That's amazing, there's so much trust here too that, like I, I would rather a client book with one of them, and we are raising this money for these nonprofits, because that's the whole point of them.
Speaker 1:
Like you know there's a lot of trust and respect. Yeah, it's not my client, your client. I actually have had clients book with each of you.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, we have two yeah.
Speaker 1:
And it's mostly just about collaborating together and focusing on that bigger picture.
Speaker 4:
So you guys have been doing this for you said eight, nine years, nine years.
Speaker 1:
This is our ninth year.
Speaker 4:
Where do you see it all going?
Speaker 1:
To year number 10. That's right.
Speaker 4:
Are you increasing the sessions each year and kind of making it bigger? No, we've kind of I where you're at.
Speaker 1:
Yeah yeah, it's a nice little formula. What we have done in years past is if we book all five and somebody comes in and they're like, oh gosh, I really missed it, we can sometimes add one on the very beginning, um, but it's a nice little formula that works for us.
Speaker 1:
So growing it to like 10 or 20, that might be to a point of overwhelm. And when we started this, blair and I and Justine and I have also volunteered with other nonprofits as well. So something that we've said to each other along the way is you can only give what you have.
Speaker 1:
And that's pretty huge. So to burn ourselves out with an effort in a way that it negatively does impact our business is something that we're also really aware of. Like we want to give and we want to give what we have, but donating that one evening works really well so far.
Speaker 4:
That's good. And when? When is the one evening and do you guys have sessions left? Are you guys booked out? How are people finding out about it?
Speaker 1:
We actually do have sessions left, which is so fun. The one evening is June 22nd, so this year relatively soon. We do always have a rain date as well. That's part of our structure and what makes this work so well. We assign a rain date and we ask our clients to also hold the next day. So the rain date this year is June 23rd, because in our area it does rain a lot it does, and out of the blue, like last night it's happening.
Speaker 2:
Tornado.
Speaker 1:
So, yes, june 22nd, with a rain date of June 23rd, is when the mini sessions are for this year.
Speaker 4:
Okay, and how are people finding out about them? I know, I've seen it on Facebook and. Instagram. So what are you guys using, what tools are you using to to push this out and this is more just advice for other people that might have a foundation like yours, that that wants to get more people in and do bigger donations what platform are you guys using and what's working for you?
Speaker 1:
So this year we are working directly with upside down moments and the fundraising Um. This year we are working directly with upside down moments and the fundraising Um. This year we're working with upside down moments and the donations go directly to them. So all donations are tax deductible and that is one thing that benefits the individual clients and donors. Um, from there, we all use our own booking platforms, which keeps it within our business and keeps it nice and streamlined for marketing. Um, we are all marketing on Facebook and Instagram and then same for upside down moments. They, uh, they market on their own platforms as well. So that kind of amplifies what we're doing in a different way. And then we all definitely use our newsletters to get the word out to our clients. And then we all definitely use our newsletters to get the word out to our clients. And then we share in Facebook groups and things like that as well, and folks are really like interested Um word of mouth too.
Speaker 2:
Yeah. People to share the post even if you can't come or you know whatever, like just giving it a quick share so that someone else sees it and I mean it's graduation season, People have family in town, yeah, or like hey, the grandparents are in town.
Speaker 4:
Let's knock out your family photos.
Speaker 2:
Yep, so yeah.
Speaker 4:
We have a lot of family coming.
Speaker 1:
I bet you have a graduating senior.
Speaker 4:
So, as we wrap up here, do you guys have any words of advice, maybe a mantra that you guys live by as a group? I mean, your communication is so well with each other and it seems like you're very honest and respect each other's personalities. Is there any words of advice you'd like to leave us with for someone that might be trying to do the same? Collaboration with other business owners business owners.
Speaker 3:
I think one of the sayings that is not our saying specifically, but it's something that we have said a lot over the years is we kind of I feel like the three of us definitely are the definition of community over competition, because we would rather work together and have it be successful than fight with each other and have it be a competition, because that's not fight with each other and have it be a competition, because that's not, that's not how to run a successful business. Number one and number two life is so much better when you have people who you can go to and talk to and bounce ideas off of, and work with, and people that you trust. So I think that's probably like the main thread of the three of us is that we definitely go with community over competition. Yeah.
Speaker 1:
We're all solopreneurs and sometimes that can be pretty isolating. So it's nice to have some camaraderie within somebody that you trust. But a long time ago, when I was in college, I sold insurance and it's one of those markets that can kind of be saturated, just like photography, and the owner of the agency at the time had a policy that if somebody called and said they were coming from another agency and they were upset with that agent, he would then call the agent and say, hey, heads up, got a client I wanted to let you know so that you can retain this business. And I learned a lot from that. He didn't necessarily know that person at all. So I've taken that myself and I feel know that person at all. So I've taken that myself and I feel like that applies really well here and I just I appreciate these guys so much and you can't find that everywhere right, it's not forced at all.
Speaker 4:
It's very natural.
Speaker 2:
I can see that goes from something with parenting to momming, to something happened at yoga, to something that this is parenting to you like our it's like ping-pong ball, but we it's very fluid and very natural. Yes, I to momming to something happened at yoga, to something that business, to parenting, to like our. It's like ping pong ball, but it's very fluid and very natural, and I don't think we even really think about it well, I can see that and I can feel that.
Speaker 4:
So thank you all for coming in today, thank you for sharing your story and best of luck on your big event. Thank you so much thank you. I hope it's a huge success, me too, yeah thank you, you're welcome.
