Meet Trailblazer Caroline Howard

Today we’d like to introduce you to Caroline Howard.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Caroline. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Gosh, that’s a loaded question! When I was sixteen, I had an older mentor connect me with her friend that was a photographer. Like a lot of kids, I simply ‘liked taking pictures,’ but probably didn’t realize at the time that this was the beginning of a long career. So, as a high schooler, I started tagging along to weddings with this photographer. I had no idea what I was doing but knew that I LOVED it. I even skipped my junior prom to shoot a wedding with this photographer! Moving into college, I kept up my pattern of working at weddings, shooting both my own weddings and weddings for photographer friends. I remember the moment after my last day of classes when I realized that life was going to continue in the same way it had been… I simply wouldn’t have to go to class anymore! Since then, I’ve shifted my business from having a home base in Charleston, SC to Denver, CO, traveling all over the country for about 80% of my weddings. In addition to weddings, I’ve been able to work with a good number of non-profits over the years across the globe from anti-human trafficking groups to children’s homes in Honduras and Haiti. Currently, I’m the photographer for a non-profit women’s retail clothing line called Francis+Benedict based both in the US and in Togo, West Africa. We employ nine seamstresses who are the sole providers for their families, hand choosing African wax-print fabric and selling them all over the world. I’m headed back to Togo for the third time in August and have worked with their team for seventeen in-country editorial shoots so I’m invested, to say the least. Even though I’m still in love with weddings, establishing relationships with these women and their children in Togo and working alongside the stateside team in the US has been such an honor.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
If anyone has said their journey of self-employment been an easy ride, I don’t think I’d believe them! I think the biggest struggle is the loneliness that running a business can bring. I’ve made some incredible friends in the wedding and photography world over the years, but at the end of the day, you’re the only one running your business. Every day, I go to sleep with job security on my shoulders. In addition, it may not be seen up front, but the wedding industry is a world that is comprised completely of service; it’s the job of all wedding vendors to catch problems before they happen and for me, in particular, to do whatever possible to tell a couples’ story as truthfully and as beautifully I can. Managing that for twenty couples’ every year all over the country can be overwhelming and exhausting.

My advice to other women at the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey is to put people first. Always. In wedding photography especially, our only responsibility is to make pictures for our couples that make them feel seen, heard and known. It’s not to follow trends, to shoot in a way that will get more attention on social media or in a cookie cutter way that worked for a past couple. Serve your heart out, truly care for your couples, their stories, and their communities and you’re bound to stand out. To sum it up: love people well and success will follow.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
Foremost, I’m a wedding photographer, through and through.

In addition to weddings, I shoot about five commercial editorials every year for the non-profit I work with and have worked in a good handful of developing countries over the years.

Regardless if I’m interacting with a bride’s mom on a rooftop in NYC or strangers of a totally different culture in the bush of Africa, my number one goal is to make people feel seen, heard and known. Anyone can take a picture on an iPhone; but the success of a true professional can be defined in how they capture their subjects and also, how they felt in that process. It’s one of the biggest compliments for me to be told that I captured who a couple truly is, not just a dressed up version of themselves. Pertaining to weddings, I believe that wedding pictures are a passport to the past and often, reminders of why a couple said yes to one another in the first place. And to have the honor of CREATING that for someone… I take that (beautiful) weight seriously.

What’s the most important piece of advice you could give to a young woman just starting her career?
Regardless if a woman is working for a Fortune 500 company or starting her own venture, putting relationships first will get you far. Prioritizing people and serving others is never a waste or time or energy and (I believe) is what will take you far.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.carolinero.com
• Email: caroline@carolinero.com
• Instagram: @carolineroro

Image Credit:
Caroline Ro

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