On A Urban Adventure with Let's Frolic Together

I met magic.  She goes by the name of Jasmine.  She's a storyteller through imagery and has a beautiful photography business called, Let's Frolic Together.   We met a little more than a year ago on an urban rooftop on a cool eve, at the lovely San Diego meet up called Creative Connection.   (Note: San Diego creative peeps, if you haven't jumped on that CCSD bandwagon, please, I implore you! it is to your benefit! I've met, connected, and collaborated with dozens of fabulous creative people because of this group. Can you tell I love Creative Connection a wee bit?)

Alright, back to business.  So the lovely Jasmine and I started talking about our businesses on that said eve; hers: an exploring, wandering, creative, adventurous (and oh, so, talented!) photography business.  Mine: a baby bud of a style blog and a wardrobe styling business idea in my head...And we chatted, and we warmly asked each other all the lovely types of questions that made me feel like she was a person of character, of motivation, and intrigue.   We exchanged business cards and followed one another on social media, slowly developing a creative friendship.

In the last few months we've forged a blog/photo friendship and I've seen Jasmine work her creative magic in photographic form.  For part of my fashion styling on the blog, she photographed me in this outfit.  I saw the images and immediately, in my heart of hearts, knew she. nailed. it.   And I received such great feedback from my blog readers that I had to gush to her about it!  People, let me tell you, she. knows. how. to. do. it. She speaks photography like it's coming out of her pores.

Today, on Art in the Find, I interview Jasmine, of Let's Frolic Together.  I'm excited for you to get to know her too and I hope that you become friends with this lovely darling of a powerhouse photographer.  Like I said, she's magic.

Interview with Jasmine of Let's Frolic Together

Art in the Find:  How did you come up with the name of your business?  What's the story behind how you got started? 

Jasmine: Let's Frolic Together was definitely a slow evolution of my business. It started with a different name but my web address was always www.letsfrolictogether.com. I wanted to do a brand overhaul and one day, I had a lightbulb moment where I realized it just made so much sense to use the URL I'd had all along as my brand name. It's a warm, inviting call-to-action to hang out and have an adventure together, which is really what's at the very core of my business.

My background is actually in strategic brand identity development—I was a designer for many years shooting photography on the side as my passion-hobby. I was slowly becoming disillusioned with the corporate/agency design world , though. The disingenuousness paired with few opportunities to connect and have real impact made me realize it was the wrong domain for me, as much as I love design. All along, I'd been shooting photographs part time—six years ago, I had one request for a shoot that led to another, and it grew from there into shooting weddings, events, editorial work, and all sorts of fun stuff. In late 2012 I left my design day job, and in 2013 I launched the rebrand and went full-time as a photographer. I am so much happier—I still get to tell stories and communicate on behalf of others, it's just a lot more direct, now. I really love what I do, and I am crazy about the people I work with.

AF:  What are some struggles you've faced when first starting out?  Any advice to give to Art in the Find readers starting out in their own business?

J:  The toughest thing in starting my business? Well, accounting has never been my strong suit, but I think the truly toughest part was having the self confidence to leave the security of a regular paycheck and pursue what I was passionate about, knowing there is no regular paycheck coming through. It took me months to muster the courage and put a plan in place.  Most freelance creatives have a tough time facing the fact that you've gotta bust your ass nonstop, and wear about 20 different hats to pull off running your own business. You only get to do the part you love about 30% of the time, really, and that's something many people dreaming of turning their passion into their business forget to consider. So, I work about 80 hours a week now, way more than I ever did at my day job. But it's far more satisfying, creative work with no middle man and no playing politics—just me my clients, and the awesome experiences we share, that I get to craft into a story. I mean—that's absolutely worth it.

AF:  Wow, I have to say, I totally resonate with that!  What is one of the favorite parts to what you?

J: Apologies if I sound like a broken record, but it's definitely connecting with people. My old job featured a lot of marketing and shmoozing and razzle-dazzle with little substance. So substance has kind of become the defining principle of my work. I'm about connecting to people, understanding them, and telling a story about who they really are. I had an awesome bride ask me yesterday if I wanted to scout out possible locations for an upcoming Puerto Vallarta shoot, and it occurred to me that it's a bit counter to who I am and what I do, this 'scouting'. I don't scout, because I am not looking for places that are cool to ME—I'm looking to celebrate others in places that are cool to THEM. Getting to have others share their stories with me, getting to share adventures with them, letting them lead me on their story, not me lead them—I guess that's my favorite thing, just about ever.

AF: Who would you love to collaborate with, besides me, I mean..just kidding, wink, wink...?

J:  Oh man, that is seriously a tough one to narrow down—there are too many! Love Joy Cho of Oh Joy, Jordan Ferney of Oh Happy Day, and Grace Bonney of Design Sponge. I just love bubbling up inspiration with others! I have made 2014 the year of the collaboration, so I am doing some very cool things with a bunch of talented ladies this year (Art in the Find being among them!).

AF:  What would you say is the essence of your brand, Let's Frolic Together?

J: That's an easy one. Connection, authenticity, storytelling, and adventure. It always comes down to those!

AF:  How does style fit into your business?  How would you describe your brand's style aesthetic?

J:  Style definitely impacts me on several levels. First, every photo I take of someone is attempting to tell a story about their style, inside and out. Nailing it down, getting at the heart of their style—not just what they wear, but how they wear it, and why—well, that matters to me bigtime. Secondly, environmental style is what drives me. My office is the most well-styled part of my home, and that's because that kind of inspiration and ambiance is buoyant to me—keeps me pumped and inspired. So basically, I am feeding off my clients' style to keep me inspired. I'm also a sucker for a pastiche of midcentury, victorian, and modern sensibilities. As such, I'd say the style of my brand is very carefree, adventurous, comfortable, relaxed, bright, playful, and with a major celebration of the past.

AF:  Any fun facts or tidbits coming up that Art in the Find readers should know about?

J:  Well, my new website launch is a MAJOR exciting development, and I am over the moon about it. It has taken almost a year of intense brand development getting there, but it's going to be such an earnest representation of what I do (and even features a choose-your-own-adventure section!). It will launch in the next couple of weeks, so I would totally love to have folks stay tuned to check it out and let me know what they think!

Thank you so much for sharing a piece of Let's Frolic Together with Art in the Find today, Jasmine!  To connect with Jasmine, visit her blog, find her on Instagram, and to see more of her work, visit her lovely website.

Photo Credit:  Let's Frolic Together (naturally!)