Meet Melyssa Gonzalez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melyssa Gonzalez.

Hi Melyssa, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I began my interest in photography ten years ago when I started interning for a local photographer at his studio in Solana Beach. What I thought was just going to be a fun little side gig to kill time ended up becoming my passion and favorite thing in the world to do. Right time, right place, and the right mentor who taught me his magical ways!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When I branched out to start my own company, The Sacred Wild, the hardest part was learning how to value my own time and talents. Doing art as a career is full of its weird quirks and one of those is constantly feeling like I have Imposter Syndrome – like there’s someone on your shoulder telling you you don’t deserve to ask for money to create art, or you aren’t good enough. Over time it’s gotten easier for sure, and I think that mostly just comes with confidence and experience.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Every day that I go to “work” is so unique and should be always treated that way. Every client is different and has specific visions, needs, and desired outcomes and sometimes they don’t even know what those are! Part of the fun for me is getting to know the magical people I work with – discovering what it is that makes them light up and what it is that they want from their session and then being able to discover and achieve that with them. It’s such an intimate job. It’s weird and personal and every day is different than the day before. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. I specialize in weddings, family, children and newborn photography. I’ve thought about trimming down my niche but always come back to how much I love the great variety that I get to enjoy by offering all these different services and I truly love doing each different type of session. It’s also such a joy to get to know these people and families and they grow and change over the years and getting to experience different seasons of life with them. I’m proud of the experience that I give people when they work with me. I truly care about each client and give them my whole energy.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Being intuitive with my clients is so important to my success. Knowing what they want to achieve sometimes before they even know it and having the knowledge and experience to gently guide them with needed.

Contact Info:

• Email: melyssa@thesacredwildphotography.com
• Website: www.thesacredwildphotography.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/thesacredwildphotography
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thesacredwildphotography