When she had to shut down her successful invitations business, Rita discovered a passion for creating photo books and launched her new venture, Photovation, where she helps people tell their stories through their photo collections.
Tell us a little about your background…
I was born in Seattle, Washington; our family moved to Kennewick, Washington, when I was nine. I graduated high school in Kennewick and spent my first year of college at Gonzaga (go Zags). While I loved the people and the school, I had a deeper desire to pursue a passion in Fashion Merchandising. I had worked at Foxmoor’s and Jay Jacobs department stores all through high school and was really good at helping people with styling. So at 19, I transferred to Bassist College in Portland, Oregon and graduated one year later with an Associate’s degree in Fashion Merchandising. In search of a well-rounded education, I then attended the University of San Diego, where I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance.
After graduation, I worked briefly in a couple of jobs and then moved back home with the goal to save money to travel overseas. I spent four and a half months backpacking through Europe and it was the very best experience of my life! Back in the states, I was finally ready to work and ended up in Portland in 2000. I chose Portland on a whim. My mom and I drove to Portland and gave ourselves one day to find me somewhere to live. If I came up empty handed, then I was going to move to Seattle. The last place we looked at met our criteria and it turned out to be the place where I met my husband, Jim.
I actually reinvented myself in my 30s and again in my 40s. My one and only corporate job was at a high tech company as a financial analyst, then marketing manager, culminating as a program manager. I had my first child while I was employed and, although my company offered daycare onsite, it was still a very difficult transition. I remember crying as I drove home from my first day back at work (from maternity leave) my sweet baby boy in the back, happy as a clam. At that point, I decided I needed to do something where I could work from home.
Fast forward two years and, just months after the birth of my daughter, in 1998, I left my corporate job and launched an online invitations and announcements business, which was one of the first online companies to use photos in birth announcements. The company grew quickly, my husband quit his job to help run the business, and I hired two employees. I was at home with my kids and making a great income.
With the kids in 2000
When did you start to think about making a change?
My company’s success lasted about 10 years, until 2008, when the online world became saturated with competitors with deep pockets and I fell behind on the dynamic technology required. My #1 rankings in Google for multiple keywords slowly disappeared. I struggled emotionally and financially. By 2010, I finally started to accept that my invitations business was not going to rebound and shut the business down. It was not an option to “do nothing;” I needed to make money for our family and I needed to rebuild my confidence.
In 2010, my husband and I bought a small photography business, Digital Picture People. We were both interested in the profession and started taking photos for the local sports clubs that our children were involved in. Not only did we take formal team and individual sports photos, but we also took action shots. I received a lot of positive feedback from the teams that saw the action photos and was contacted to make photo books. Those requests prompted me to Google “photo organizing” and I found that there was an association that supported this emerging industry.
When we started planning another geographical move, something had to give, so we shut down Digital Picture People earlier this year. Running a photography business is much more work than people realize. Our shoots required a team of three people for every shoot and then after the shoot there is a tremendous amount of time on post processing, order administration, and fulfillment. I will miss this business, but we will continue to do photo shoots of our kids and their sports.
2015 family trip to Venice
What is your next act?
I am a professional photo organizer. I established my new business, Photovation, in 2011 at the age of 46. I manage my clients’ photo collections, which can mean a variety of things. Most often, I will organize a client’s printed and digital photos into a core file structure (a year/month system for photos that can easily be maintained), ensure that all photos are backed-up, and then help them tell the stories by making “year in review” digital photobooks or video slideshows to be played via a DVD or on a flash drive. Slideshows are popular for many occasions, including graduations, anniversaries, and memorial services.
Photos are filled with stories and for some people these stories are difficult to get through. The part I love about being a photo organizer is that I am making a difference in people’s lives. I play many roles as I work with my clients and I think the one that I like the best is the role of photo therapist.
In this profession you need to really listen to what the client wants and needs. Some clients will have a lot of grief associated with their photos and they need you to just listen as they tell their stories. I had a client who had alienated a lot of people after the death of her husband. It had been 17 years and she hired me to help her organize her printed photos. We completed the project and four months later she died. However, the gift she left her children, and the peace she felt talking about her success and failures, were priceless. Her memorial slideshow was exactly how she would want people to remember her with special photos of people she had lost touch with long ago but always had a place in her heart. It was her way of embracing and acknowledging the love that she had pushed away for so many years.
This client was in her mid-60s but most of my clients are busy professionals who are harboring guilt about not having completed their high school senior’s baby book!
Here is how I’m often handed photos
Why did you choose this next act?
I feel like this next act chose me. It aligned so well with the photography business and people were asking me to make photo books. This prompted me to do some research and ask people what they did with their photos. The universal answer was “nothing.”
We have all experienced trying to find a specific photo and, with the massive number of digital photos taken today, that is no easy feat. In addition, we hear stories of computer crashes, floods, fires, and natural disasters—all of them resulting in the loss of precious memories.
How did you get started?
I paid homage to my invitations business by using the same company name. When I first started my invitations business in 1998, I called it Photovation – combining the words “photo” and “innovation.” In 2000, I changed the company name to one that was more directly aligned with the style of announcements and invitations I was selling, but I kept the rights to the name and domain for Photovation. As it turned out, I thought it was a perfect name for my photo organizing business.
My own passion for photos was great preparation. I had already owned a business for 10+ years so I knew the different business components I needed to have in place. I also had relationships with two local print companies, so sharing my new business with them and having their professional support was key in validating that there was a demand for this service and in convincing me to move forward.
My friends and family were very supportive. Everyone can easily relate to photos, the stories tied to them, and the lack of organization most people’s collections are in.
Carting off photos from a client after starting to organize them with her
What challenges did you encounter?
The biggest challenge was finding training and tools to do the necessary work seamlessly. To rectify that problem, I designed a timeline form to streamline my workflow. The timeline form allows you to collect and store the client’s (and their family’s) pertinent information. For example, when looking through a client’s photos, you need to know names of family members, birth dates, and other key information in order to properly sort and then eventually rename the photos once they are digitized.
The form I designed is dynamic – allowing one to input the birth dates of family members and then calculating their ages throughout their life. It is a lot easier and quicker to look at one form and see that in 2008 Mary was 10, Erin was 4, and Tommy was 2 and then order and name the photos accordingly, versus constantly calculating that in your head or using a myriad of sticky notes. That form is now part of an upsell option that you can find by visiting PPO Studio’s Starter System.
PPO Studio is the product of my work with my new business partner, Sherra. Sherra and I discovered we were both trying to figure out ways to improve our own workflow and at the same time develop tools to help train other photo organizers so that best practices were practiced across the industry. In order to help new business owners start with the right tools, custom forms and a proven workflow we created a Photo Organizing Starter System™ .
With Sherra
What did you learn about yourself through this process?
I was really sad about the demise of my invitations business and scared to start another business. What I learned is that when one door closes, another one opens. Such a cliché, but I could have easily given up and went back to a corporate job. What I really learned is that I am cut out to be an entrepreneur!
What advice do you have for women seeking to reinvent themselves in midlife?
Follow your inner voice. Take time for yourself, time to learn. I believe things happen at the right time but you have to allow yourself to try many new things and to be patient. Never be afraid to try and don’t give up. You can create your own magic.
A sample spread from a client’s trip to Italy
What advice do you have for those interested in becoming photo organizers?
Connect with other business professionals. Sometimes being a solo entrepreneur can get lonely, so make sure to take advantage of opportunities to meet other professionals. Local women’s groups, your city’s chamber of commerce, and SCORE are all good places to meet other entrepreneurs. I read a lot and I have a slew of business/inspirational websites that I follow; my favorite is Marie Forleo.
Invest in training and tools: Do not reinvent the wheel. Be comfortable with technology and confident with your services. Learn the area of the profession you are passio