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

Hi Sidney, how do you think about risk?
Taking risk is absolutely terrifying. But with good risk, comes great reward. At such a young age, I was afraid I wasn’t capable or good enough of starting my own business. Especially with no degree. But after some time of easing my way into it, I got the courage to quit my Dental Assisting career and work part time as a social media manager. I then thought that I would always be working that part time job while photography would remain my side hustle. But then shortly after, I found myself not having enough time for my part-time job, and took the leap to focus on photography full-time. It was so scary & invigorating at the same time! I started off my full time photography career with 5 weddings scheduled for 2022 which was terrifying. But to my surprise, we booked 15 more weddings for 2022 & many more projects. And so far we have 20 weddings scheduled in 2023 and definitely have more to come.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I focus on not only giving my clients their photos, but a great experience. I do my best in making sure they feel comfortable with me before their wedding day by doing engagement shoots, keeping in contact with them along the way, helping with the wedding planning process in any way that I can, & hyping them up on their day. I am also so proud & excited for my husband Josh to be offering videography services now, it’s such a fun dynamic to have him by my side and capturing our clients most important memories in every way possible through storytelling photos AND videos.

Was it easy? No. there was a lot of practice trying to balance everything out and remembering what my purpose is as photographer. And after realizing what that purpose was, I knew what I wanted my brand to be. I want my clients to feel beautiful & confident, enjoy the wedding planning process, have fun on their day & on their engagement shoots, feel comfortable with me, & for them to love their photos and look at them for years to come.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My best friend & I made up a route in central Phoenix that we love to do all the time with people! We go to Lux central for coffee & pastries, then down the street you have the coolest stores/boutiques such as Frances, Stinkweeds Records, & Changing hands bookstore. Then we finish it off with tacos & margaritas at Joyride or Ice Cream at Churn. Josh and I are huge fans of Sedona & hiking. Some of our favorite hikes that we like to take people on are Devils Bridge, West Fork, & Seven Sacred Pools & finishing off the day trip at the Chai Spot at the Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village. We also love to make pottery at Pip Coffee & Clay or at Desert Dragon pottery.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband, Josh, has been a huge part in encouraging me and cheering me on to continue. As fun as this job may be, there are a lot of hard moments such as creative ruts & burn outs, and Josh never fails to help snap me out of those moments, and I always come out of them stronger. Also, my boss from my part time job, Jade McClendon (owner of Studio BB Designs), gave me A LOT of education on running a small business and lots of pep talks & positive energy that pushed me to do this full time. She supported me & gave me my pathway into my new full-time career.

 

Website: Capturedbysidney.com

Instagram: @captured.by.sidney

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