Meet Stephanie Wagner | Wedding Photographer/Videographer – Flourish Creative Co

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

Hi Stephanie, what inspires you?
The human experience. Laughing, crying and every emotion in between just feels so beautiful to me. There’s something about capturing raw moments of emotion that feels so surreal, like time truly stops. And the concept that at anytime you can look at that photo and it will jet you back to the emotion you felt when the photo was taken, that’s truly magical to me. I watch my daughter who is getting older and my parents who aren’t getting any younger and I know someday I’ll crave to relive these moments with them. That’s what I love to capture — moments & memories that will outlive us all. Photographs that your grandchildren’s children will sit around and look at someday. The concept of freezing emotion and reliving it is what inspires me.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
There is so many ebs and flows within building a business. There’s exciting seasons with a lot of movement and opportunities. Then there’s discouraging seasons where you question everything you’re doing. Before I understood both seasons are part of the process, the discouraging seasons really took a toll on me mentally. Owning a business has surfaced things within me I never really struggled with before. Things like comparison and self doubt. I’m so hard on myself because I set the bar really high in everything I do. That’s been my greatest strength but also my biggest weakness. I’ve had to learn how to give myself grace while also pushing towards my goals. I’ve had to learn that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. And I’ve had to learn how to celebrate myself in accomplishments behind the scenes that no one sees. No one talks about the mental toll entrepreneurship takes on you, so learning how to stay healthy mentally during the process is the number one thing I’m most proud of in building my business.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Bar hopping and eating is a must when the girls get together! But of course we would sprinkle in a little shopping and end the day on the dance floor.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without my daughter. She is the driving force behind everything I do and also my best teammate. Building a business as a single mother hasn’t been easy, but together we’re building our dream life. Her independence and understanding when mommy is working has allowed me to be home with her instead of sitting at a 9-5 office job all day. We have so many dreams for our future and I have no doubts that together we will experience them all.

Website: https://www.flourishcreativeco.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flourishcreative.co/