Meet Taylor Joerger

Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Joerger.

Taylor, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Growing up, I was always attracted to the way the light hit certain things, the way a single moment that would normally turn into a distant memory, is captured just by a click of a button. As a child, I played with film cameras, anxiously awaiting to get the photos back after having them developed. I remember the first time I asked my mom for my first point and shoot camera. I was mesmerized. The act of capturing each moment, editing the photos I had captured and sharing with friends and family drew me in. I never really understood that this was a passion I could years later expand into my career. While I was in middle school, I was lucky enough to be given the option to continue expanding my knowledge through photography classes offered to students.

In high school, I was gifted my first DSLR camera, a Canon EOS Rebel T3i. My family and I went on several road trips, allowing my passion for travel to bloom. From there, I spent time over the years playing and expanding my photo knowledge. During my college years, I decided to focus on a kinesiology degree, causing me to lose touch with photography. Once I graduated, I felt like something was missing, so before I committed to getting my Masters, I decided to move west, dig deep and explore my passions. This is where I was reunited with my love for photography. An unmatched feeling, capturing moments that won’t return.

From being raised in the Midwest, to moving as far west as I could to southern California, my love for exploring has landed me in the Colorado Mountains this time. Since living in Colorado, I have grown in so many ways. Music being a staple in my life, an opportunity arose for me to grow as a live performance photographer. I have found that by combining my love for travel, music and photography, I have really been able to shine. I am immensely thankful to everyone who has supported me, given me opportunities and believed in me throughout my journey. I now run and own my own media company, Life By Tay Media, offering both photography and videography. I currently have my own photography studio here in Denver. I am continually being inspired by those around me. And I am so excited for the future. Being the “year without live music”, I have since continued to expand my knowledge and my business.

In addition, to live performance and landscape photo/video, I am now offering engagement, lifestyle or portrait shoots as well as events including, weddings, retreats and whatever else I am able to create with you! I hope to dive deeper into working with local brands and events to create with those I support and am inspired by. To all of my supporters, cheerleaders, mentors, clients and those that have referred me to others, I am internally gratefully and feel so blessed to live somewhere, where uplifting others is so ubiquitous. I am thankful to my parents, who support me in any endeavor, all of my wonderful friends throughout the Denver music scene who support my work. My best friends here in Denver and from back home in STL, and my roommates who push me to work hard every single day. I am in awe of this world we can create together. By staying humble and driven, I have become the resilient, creative businesswomen I have strived to be, and I am continually working to better myself and my business.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would say it hasn’t always been easy, but it has always been worth it. I truly never thought I would be able to combine two of my favorite pass times, into a career choice that has so much room for opportunity and growth. The good outweighs the bad in so many ways. At the start of seriously deciding to turn a hobby, into a career, so many obstacles came my way. In the form of self-doubt, feeling less business savvy than needed, grounding myself enough to stay on path and not even knowing where or how to start. Finding my place in the music scene and media scene took strength and resilience. I find that the hardest of challenges bring the best results, which is my favorite lesson from this journey I am on.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
Life By Tay Media is a photography and videography media company. I specialize in Live performance photography. Unfortunately, with COVID hitting right before summer, most of my work has been put on hold. Being so, I am grateful for the time to transform and grow my company in so many ways. Live performance and festival photography holds a special place in my heart and I am now able to offer videography! When I’m not spending my time doing that, I am thoroughly enjoying my time with lifestyle/portrait shoots, weddings & engagements, event photography such as retreats, real estate and anything else I am able to create with you! I am able to extend to my clients the option of studio sessions as well, some of my favorites being newborn/toddler photography and working with artists/bands. It is my pleasure to give top quality and fast turn around.

Something that makes me really proud of my company is the continual growth and transformation with the intention to grow while supporting those who support me as well. I believe what sets my company apart from others is my drive and dedication, being able to adapt to any job a client may want to hire me for and learning what I don’t know to show up for not only myself and my company fully, but for my client as well. I am genuinely passionate and through my work, I feel this truly shines.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
One word to define a quality/characteristic most important to my success would be resilience. Being resilient is my secret to being successful as an entrepreneur. I feel that when times are tough, I am gifted with the best lessons, which have helped me grow into the business women I am today. Working in such a male-dominant industry, I definitely had to learn fast to believe in my work and stay tough. It is important to remember your worth and never let anyone else define it. I’ve always been independent and driven for what I want, but gaining the resilience to succeed and continue on even when I’ve had doubts or felt overwhelmed is my superpower. Overcoming any obstacle is just one more step of continually recharging your resilience batteries. Anything you put your mind, heart and sweat into, consistently, even in the hardest of times, with patiences and gratitude will bring the most amazing results.

Contact Info:

• Website: Lifebytay.com
• Email: imagine@lifebytay.com

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