Check Out Nicole Lesperance’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Lesperance.

Hi Nicole, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
It was kismet how my business began. At the beginning of the pandemic, while I was laid off from my full-time job at the daycare I work at, I was finishing up my online schooling for Graphic Design, learning all about the Adobe Suite during the process. Someone approached me to take some maternity photos for a close friend of theirs (her husband was too cheap to pay) and offered to reimburse me for my efforts. I told her I wasn’t a photographer and had never done anything like this before, but she insisted. Needless to say, I agreed to do the session for a bottle of wine. I fell IN LOVE with photography during that first session. I ended up going home and building myself a website and Instagram page that very night! I’m now going three years strong with steady clientele, falling more in love with my career each step of the way. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think anyone can say the road through photography is a smooth one. It winds in every direction with cracks, bumps, accidents, detours, and construction every 30 kilometres… did I cover all the clichés? The journey starts off in perpetual debt. Good photography gear is expensive… and although the gear will eventually pay itself off, it hurts my little underpaid Early Childhood Educator’s heart to cough up the money for it. Just when you think your debt is close to being paid off, something breaks, or you need to upgrade your gear, and the process starts all over again. After three years, I’m still in debt, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It took a lot of navigation to get to where I am today. I almost destroyed my mental health and my relationship in the beginning. I have four jobs and felt so guilty turning clients down in the beginning. I said yes to everything that came my way and not saving myself enough time to edit, let alone provide quality time for my partner. I have since found a better routine for balancing my multiple careers while still making my relationship a priority. One of our favorite things to do when we are both slammed with work is have what we call a “Work-Night-Date-Night,” where we head to a local brewery with our laptops and work together. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My sessions range anywhere from parties, weddings, behind-the-scenes for music video shoots, and even the occasional cake smash. However, as I work at a daycare full-time still, my true calling is my knack for family sessions! I love providing families with prompts to encourage more natural and candid shots as opposed to your standard pose and shoot. One of my latest obsessions is to provide families with homemade GIFs wherever possible as well.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
I can’t say I have on specific favorite childhood memory, but what sticks with me the most as an adult was all of the quality time I was fortunate enough to spend with my grandparents. They used to collectively watch my cousin, sister, and I three days a week every summer, and each week felt like a new adventure. They really encouraged my creativity from a young age. My grandmother had a new craft idea each day for us to create, and my poor mother had these hideous seashell and dried floral crafts displayed all around the house for years because of it. My grandparents even indulged us when we decided we wanted our childhood dog to marry our cousin’s dog and helped us create rings, a wedding dress, and even flower bouquets for the ceremony. The day of the grand dog wedding, my grandmother baked a cake and placed their wedding topper on it. My grandfather walked our dog down the aisle as he sang “Here Comes The Bride” like the good sport he was, and we filmed the entire ceremony. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.magnoliadesignstudio.ca/
• Instagram: themagnoliadesignstudio