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

Hi Tracy, how do you think about risk?
My husband and I are very much of the mindset that we’d prefer to take a risk than wonder if we ever could have done it. One of my favorite inspiration talks are from Steve Harvey, when he talks about jumping~ “The only difference between you and the successful people you see in your life every day is that they have jumped. You cannot just exist in this life, you have GOT to try to live.”

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I gave up my corporate retail mgmt career in August of 2011, and worked hard to grow our photography business, which was previously the random wedding and family sessions for family & friends. We quickly opened a photography studio which we kept for 18 months before realizing our hearts were in the wedding industry. We eventually taught ourselves videography and continued to put ourselves and our work out there. It wasn’t easy, or extremely profitable at first, but it was always fun, and that kept the motivation going. After nearly 10 years of traveling the country and beyond capturing weddings, we started thinking about retirement. We didn’t want to leave the wedding industry completely, so we purchased our wedding venue in 2019, and have slowly started transitioning from our travel work to more regional photo/video work outside of our venue.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Varsity feels like a “must” because it’s iconic Atlanta. Then, of course, Waffle House, because who doesn’t crash a waffle house after a wedding night!!! We’d visit places like Little Five Points, Stone Mountain, Ponce City Market and Atlantic Station. – If we wanted to slow down a bit, we could drive south of Columbus towards our new neck of the woods and visit Providence Canyon State Park for some hiking or Omaha Brewing.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband Mark & I have always had the same vision in life, the same goals and we aren’t afraid to take risks and work hard to achieve our goals. There are hard times, and high times, and it’s facing it all together that makes it worthwhile. I’d also add my parents and my kids for sticking through the ups and downs with us!

Website: www.thisisyou.net

Instagram: www.instagram.com/thisisyou_net

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thisisyounet

Other: www.englundestate.com

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutAtlanta is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.