Meet Danielle Berrill | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Danielle Berrill and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Danielle, every day, we talk about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
My life’s passion has always been photo and film, but I have spent the greater half of my life wearing many hats to gain the freedom I finally have today working as a small business owner pursuing my passion. I grew up in the second poorest city in the nation (according to the 386 U.S. metro areas with available data) working a small farm with my family which included harvesting cane fields by hand every year from a very young age. We never had a lot of money. I even secretly cleaned the bathrooms at my school with my parents every evening to help pay for my schooling after everyone had gone home for the day, but at age eight my grandfather gave me my first 35mm camera which became my most prized possession. It was that one gift that would open every door in my life. Upon graduation of high school and due to limited financial ability, I did not have access to art school, much less the financial ability to put myself entirely through college on the pay from my waitressing and lifeguarding jobs so I did what most people do and that is work for others with the idea that I would be able to earn enough to start my own business one day. Well, the years pass quickly don’t they. By the time I turned 30 I was still working for other people and my goal had started to feel more like a dream that was too far out of reach. At the time I had just re-enrolled in college to pursue a film degree having resigned from my position as an Associate Producer for a major news company in which I had been bartending in any time off to save extra money and prior to that I had spent nearly eight years working as a Combat Photographer for the US Army. I had always been somewhat of a workaholic taking on multiple jobs at once, but by this time I already felt exhausted and realized I was not any closer to my goals than when I started. To add to that I was really burned out. Life seemed to agree and I suddenly found myself at square one in life from serious illness. I know it’s still seemingly taboo in society to talk so openly about struggle, but I think it’s important to share because most of us experience it at some point and maybe there is someone out there reading this right now who needs to hear that it’s never too late and the light is still always at the end of the tunnel even if you can’t see it yet. I spent two years fighting for my life, had an organ removed, and then spent six months in a wheelchair, unable to walk or see. At the time I thought that I’d never walk again and thought my life was over. This very difficult time would end up inspiring me and bringing me to beginning my journey towards the one goal I had always worked towards, but never achieved. When I reached the beginning of remission, I was at square one and had no idea how I would go on with my life when able. I had no idea of which direction to go in, what I would do with my life, where I would work, or how I would work. I had physical limitations now, no resume for two years, and I couldn’t return to college as I had lost my gpa while hospitalized. For the first time as someone who always had a plan, I had no plan, but what I learned is sometimes rock bottom can also be the blank slate we didn’t even know we needed. During this process I started to ask myself many questions such as what makes me happy? How did I recover from my last period of illness? What have been the best conditions for success during my life in the past? Most of the answers to those questions really brought me back to the basic subject of happiness and finding happiness after everything felt even more paramount than simply seeking success. Happiness had always provided me with the best conditions for success and when I thought about what made me most happy, I immediately thought of my great desire to still work in photography. I still had/have this photograph my closest friend gave me 16 years ago of a famous Vogue photographer cut out of a magazine that I kept on my locker wall during basic training. On it she had scribbled out the caption to write in red, “this will be you one day”. I found that photograph while organizing my things one day when I was still unsure of my next step. It became the final anchor of creating the idea and goal of starting my own photography business. It was the necessary constant reminder of how happy photography had always made me, how much work I had put into learning my field, and it inspired me to keep going, to keep asking myself questions, and to keep my focus forward. It’s really what pushed me to take that step to starting my own business instead of going back to work for others.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a photographer, videographer, and editor. I shoot various types of content, but my favorite art to create is portraits that give people a different view of themselves that maybe they haven’t seen before. I always hope that what sets me apart is my kindness and the ability to make people feel good about themselves through my work and through our interactions. It was not easy to reach where I am today mostly due to coming from a very low income background and encountering great phyiscal health challenges, but I overcame by persevering and by being consistently inspired by the many talented artists out there today. I am where I am today professionally in large part due to my grandfather who was also a photographer, but also in part due to all of the people that helped contribute to my life along the way. I always say I am a product of my community. There have been so many people who have consistently believed in me, helped me, and supported me along my journey. Those are the people who helped me grow into the person I am today and I wouldn’t be here without them. The lessons I have learned along the way is it’s ok to say no. It’s ok to take a break in life, and it’s ok to take care of your physical and mental wellbeing. Listen to your intution, it’s usually right. I have learned the most that community is everything. It can make or break your experience and its so important to find community and to be community for others as well. Don’t take more than you give and always be willing to pay forward that same kindness, mentorship, and leadership to others. What I’d like for others to know about my story is that your dreams are never too far out of reach and while so many do suffer or work themselves too hard to reach their goals, that’s only something we’ve been conditioned to believe we must go through; however it’s not something we must absolutely experience to reach our goals and we shouldn’t determine how much value someone has by whether or not their experiences have been “hard enough”. Routine maintenance to your work life balance, staying committed to your path and goals, will help you just as much to reach your goals and likely with less adversity. And always remember that even if you do face adversity as we can’t control everything in life, that the light at the tunnel never ceases to exist. It’s important to remember the light still remains even if you can’t see it at the time and it’s ok if it takes time to find it. If you need, take a day off and go back to the drawing board tomorrow. The best thing about tomorrow is it’s always a new chance to start over and do everything differently than you did it the day before.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I had a friend visiting the area, being a lover of the Arizona wilderness I would probably take them to one of our beautiful hikes near the city (my favorite hike is the Ranger Trail on South Mountain) or enjoy some time strolling through the beautiful Desert Botanical Garden. I love to sit at the top of South Mountain as the sun goes down over our city of lights. It’s one of the most beautiful views. I’d then say we must head over to the Wilderness Brewery for some great craft beers and awesome burgers. Wilderness has some of the best burgers! While you’re here forgo the chains and don’t forget to check out the great many international local eateries such as Cafe Lalibela in Tempe, Chennai Fusion in Chandler, Mido ran by Captain in Chandler, and Haji-Baba in Tempe. I think Phoenix has so many eclectic places where you can find something fun to do in any part of the city for anyone in your group no matter how much their taste varies. Our local weekend farmer’s markets are a fantastic way to see locals creations brought to life and we are home to so many fabulous museums to include Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West which is currently home to the work of Edward Sheriff Curtis who photographed over seventy native tribes.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I could not have and would not have been able to pursue my love of photography without the support of my family and close friends. I’d also like to thank Don Young for his kindness and time mentoring me throughout my journey in addition to the photography community here who have really had such a positive impact on my life in various ways.

Website: https://danielleberrillphotography.mypixieset.com/home/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielleberrillphotography/

Image Credits
Model credits: Didi Lizette, Mark Lazano, Grace Aaron Walker, Sav, Alex Hamblin, Sarah Yong, Leonard Winstanley Gym and business credits: Rage In The Cage, Dan’s Gym, That 70’s House Scottsdale, Hagen’s Farm HMUA: Miranda Strange Lighting credit: Frankie Ruiz