Life & Work with Kelly Shoul

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Shoul.

Hi Kelly, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My photography journey started when I was very young. I remember just having this unexplainable desire to take pictures. I bought my first DSLR when I was 23. At the time I was an accountant. I would rush out of work at 5 pm, drive to a trailhead in the suburbs, and capture the golden hour in the woods.

I would go on solo hikes and take pictures of the autumn leaves floating down a river, and the sun peeking through leaves on a tree. I was always trying to capture a feeling. I would see things in nature and it would make me feel a certain way, and I wanted to document that. A feeling that lives in photographs.

Super cheesy, right? Well, I’m a huge sap which makes me a great wedding photographer! So the years went on, and I decided I’d try to make some money off of this fancy camera I bought. I started by taking pictures of my nieces and nephews. I made a Wix website and it didn’t have much on it other than my family, my pets, and some landscape images. Then I made an Instagram and Facebook account.

Then old high school friends started asking me to photograph their engagements and weddings! I think I charged $300 for my first wedding. I tried my hand at newborns and family sessions. I did A LOT of work for free. I mean A LOT. I would seek out couples and ask if I could take their picture at no charge just because I wanted the experience. As time went on I realized that I needed to niche down. I wasn’t loving the variety. I felt like I was attempting all of these areas and doing okay, but not great at any of them.

I had NO idea what I was doing! I was working a 9-5 and did my photography on the side. In 2016 my friends and my partner took a snowboarding trip to Colorado. It was then that I realized I was nowhere near where I wanted to be in life. I knew the path that I was on was wrong. I knew I needed to leave my hometown and follow my dream and passion for adventure and photography.

During that trip, my partner proposed, and the wedding planning began! We fast realized a traditional wedding was not for us. So we did it our way. We eloped. Soon after, I posted photos of our elopement along with #eloped. After clicking on a few of the hashtags I came across photos of the bride wearing a wedding dress and hiking boots, carrying her bouquet in the hiking backpack on her back on top of a mountain.

The same mountains I was longing for ever since our road trip. I thought to myself, “there’s no way photographers are making money off this. What a dream job.” And then after doing some research I found that indeed photographers out there were making a career out of just photographing elopements. It was the moment that changed everything for me.

From that moment on I knew I wanted to be an adventure elopement photographer. And I knew I was never going to give up. I put together what they call in the industry “styled shoots” of couples fake getting married just to build a portfolio, again, for free. I would drive all across the east coast looking for the best mountain views. I worked non-stop for years trying to build this business while still working full-time as an accountant.

As the years went on, student loans and other debts were paid off and it was time to make a change. We were craving bigger adventures. Then COVID hit. The housing market went wild and we knew this was our opportunity to move out west. We cashed out on our house and packed all of our belongings in a small U-Haul. We drove 1,700 miles across the country with two vehicles, our two dogs, and the U Haul over 4 days. We slept at truck stops and Wal-Mart parking lots.

On the last night, we splurged and got a hotel right across the CO state border. When I saw the mountains off in the distance for the first time I started to cry and called my husband who was in the car in front of me. We drove in silence while on the phone, speechless, in awe. I think part of me couldn’t believe we did it. I was 30 years old. I quit my very comfortable 9-5 career as an Accountant, in hopes to become a successful adventure elopement photographer.

Some said I was foolish. Most can’t believe I stuck with it and didn’t give up. What they didn’t see though was the years of sacrifices. Years of saving money. Years of work and little play. Hoping one day it’ll be worth it. But even if I fail, it’ll all be worth it. Fast forward to living here in Denver for two years. It was a very slow start. But I invested in myself. I attended workshops and learned from the top leaders in the industry. I taught myself how to develop a website on the best platform.

I learned all about SEO and the best way to market my business. I eventually made enough money to hire professionals and outsource areas of my business that I’m not an expert in. I did more styled shoots to build up my portfolio for Colorado. I hustled, I worked, I networked, and I put in the hours. Now I’m consistently getting inquiries and bookings, and ranking on the first page of Google for “Adventure Elopement Photographer”. It feels damn good.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There are times when it’s smooth, and times when it’s rocky and the struggles feel so heavy. In the beginning, my struggles were investing in the wrong companies, and wrong workshops. There were a few times when I put a lot of money towards either a styled shoot, a copywriter, or a web designer, and it was a stressful experience. It’s so wild to me how other small business owners will take people’s money, and just have no customer service skills.

Things I’ve encountered were taking 4x longer than promised, delivering unfinished work, and for the styled shoots them being completely unorganized, models not showing up, not getting the content that was promised, just total messes. When you’re investing in your business, your pride, and your soul, it’s extremely frustrating working with other companies who don’t have the same level of customer service as you do. Later on in my journey when I quit my full-time job, getting bookings was a struggle.

Moving to Colorado, where there is a lot of competition has been challenging. It kind of is always in the back of your mind, “when is my next booking going to be?” You never know what could happen, if there will be another pandemic. But with all the struggles, I wouldn’t change this job for the world, and I wouldn’t change anything that has happened in the past to get me where I am today.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
In Love and Adventure is an adventure wedding and elopement photography business. We specialize in helping our couples make the brave decision to elope, as well as help lead them through the elopement journey, and photograph their big day. Our work is inspired by love, storytelling, and nature. We believe that each couple deserves to have a wedding day that they choose, not one that is chosen for them.

We encourage our couples to unapologetically get married how they want, because how you get married matters. If there is any day in your entire life where you should unapologetically do whatever it is that you want to do, it’s your wedding day. We understand firsthand how it feels to feel stuck and forced into having a traditional wedding, as we eloped also in 2016. That’s why we are most proud of all of our 5-star reviews.

Just knowing that our couples have this wild idea to get married this way, and we can bring that to fruition for them is everything. They are going to have this amazing experience, and super unique story to tell on their wedding day. We love our couples so so much.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson I’ve learned along my journey is to not compare myself and my business to others. There were many years when I followed other photographers on social media, and the comparison and imposture syndrome was so real to me. I had to unfollow them.

The number one thing I need to do is focus on myself, my business, and my ‘why’, and keep pumping that out into the universe. The more you put your truest self out into the world, the more you’ll attract your people, and the more you’ll be able to live your best life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://inloveandadventure.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/inloveandadventure/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/inloveandadventure/
• Other: https://inloveandadventure.com/colorado-elopement-packages/