Meet Mandi O’Connor | Business Owner & Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mandi O’Connor and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mandi, we’d love to hear what makes you happy.
I feel genuine happiness when I know that I am capturing memories for people and making others happy. As wedding photographers, we often remind our couples that their wedding is perhaps one of the only times everyone they love and cherish will be together (both sides of their families, distant friends…etc.) and being able to capture photos of that time is an honor we don’t take lightly. I know that both the traditionally posed family portraits and the candids of the day are something that they will be able to look back on and feel happiness when they are reminded of that time.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a photographer and small business owner. My husband and I mainly photograph weddings and families, but we also photograph just about any event or milestone that takes place in our clients’ lives. What sets us apart is that we are a husband and wife team, we have a true-to-life and timeless style of photography and we genuinely care about our clients. We also care about capturing genuine emotion and telling a story through our photos. As a small business owner I don’t think that starting a business is ever really easy. It takes a lot of courage, sacrifice and willingness to be humble enough to receive criticism but also confident enough to make hard decisions and to bet on yourself. I have been told that in some situations I have “blind confidence” in the sense that I’m not one hundred percent sure what I’m doing, but I have enough confidence that I can one hundred percent figure any situation out. I think you have to have blind confidence in yourself and your abilities to be truly successful. A lesson I have learned along the way is to let others into your life and letting others help you which can keep you from small business owner burnout. You don’t have to go at it alone. I am also a believer so of course I also rely heavily on God and my faith to get me through difficult moments. I would like the world to know Mandi O’Connor Photography as a brand that captures important memories for people through beautiful timeless photographs.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic and could spend sometime out and about in Macon, I would take someone to one of our favorite local parks like Amerson River Park or Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park. We love to kayak so we would probably take them kayaking on the Ocmulgee River. There are so many great local places to eat, but Chico and Chang is a local Korean fusion restaurant and one of our favorite places so we would definitely go there. Macon has a rich musical history so we could check out The Allman Brothers Band Museum at The Big House and head over to The Society Garden for some live music.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
So many of my friends and family members have helped in our success in someway, whether it be through booking us for an event or photoshoot, sending referrals our way, simply sharing our website or engaging with our social media posts. First and foremost, my husband Luke who photographs weddings and builds relationships with our couples with me is a crucial part of the business and my sister, Brandi, has quite literally done it all to help me build my business from the ground up. For networking, growing and building relationships with other small business owners in our area, the Macon chapter of the Rising Tide Society and Tuesday’s Together have been so great. If others are interested in finding a group near them, they can check out the Rising Tide Society’s website.

Website: https://www.mandioconnor.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mandioconnorphotography/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mandioconnorphoto

Image Credits
Mandi O’Connor Photography