Wander Creative Content

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Wander is a creative agency...

that produces inspiring marketing content for small businesses and brands because powerful imagery evokes emotion and propels action.

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Business

Portrait

Food + drink

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Products

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Business

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Wedding

Continuing on with the beginnings of Wander: I wanted to create a business apart from my name (which is all I've ever done) to allow growth. Growth in numbers, purpose, passion, workload, and in people. ⁠⠀
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I've been a solopreneur always, so the idea of having a team felt like a distant dream. I dream of Wander Creative Content being a small creative agency with passionate and local freelancers coming together to serve local businesses. And guess what? It's begun.⁠⠀
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Meet Lauren + David, two wonderful freelancers who have joined the team. Lauren has a background in UX design, and we met while working on a website design project through a Whittier City Councilman. Lauren is organized, creative, a process-lover, and an all around awesome team player. I'm so grateful we crossed paths and now get to collaborate weekly.⁠⠀
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David is born and raised Whittier, and was already in the social media management world when we connected. He also brings a skillset of film photography, video editing, and meme hunting (it's a thing, promise.) ⁠⠀
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I'm grateful for these two. It's been a sweet, slow, gradual growth. My dream is to introduce you to many new faces in the years to come. ⁠⠀
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So when you see Wander at work, just know there's a local team of us trying to create killer content for your business. Have a fantastic weekend!⁠⠀
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And if you recognize these two, drop them a line won't you? 👇

We’re home and settled. Laundry is put away, bags are in the closet, work is back in action. Life keeps moving. But we are grateful for that once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip to the UK (with dear friends, too. Hi Medinas.) These moments are sweet for many reasons, and here’s a tiny window into the trip.
I’m excited to share more about the beginnings of Wander + the different business model I’m striving to create which is different than my last business. (Hint: it involves a team!) I was able to take this trip for a few reasons, and I’m excited to share what that looked like.

Come back tomorrow to learn more about what that looks like. And would you be interested in seeing more trip photos? Thinking of a travel blog post. #wandercreativecontent

These two tied the knot in San Diego last Saturday and we felt lucky to be there to capture it all. I met Yana a lifetime ago back in MA and it was sweet to have my east coast + west coast roots overlap. This was my last wedding of the year, which is always a little bittersweet.⁠⠀
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When I started Wander last fall, I knew that I would be intentionally scaling back on my wedding marketing and overall focus. But this year has been amazing with the weddings that have come along and it's been the right workload. Thanks to everyone that has included me in your wedding day this year! It means the world, and it's a job that brings joy, purpose, and pleasure in my corner of the world.⁠⠀
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This path of what to pursue, what to say yes to, what to say no to, and how to navigate freelance life has not been straightforward. I used to put a LOT of pressure on myself to book a certain number of weddings.⁠⠀
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Wander was born out of a desire (and a million other things combined) to create consistency in the work week, while allowing flexibility with weddings as they come. ⁠⠀
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For about 5 years wedding photography was my main source of income. Now it's back to a secondary focus as social media management and creative content for small businesses is the primary.⁠⠀
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That switch (which I mentioned a few posts back) was painful for me to come to terms with: why is doing the right thing so hard at times? I kept feeling a nudge to make the change, and in the end I'm incredibly thankful I did. I think that's something as a freelancer I'm working on: staying patient, but being flexible. It's a good reminder, too, that all of our career paths look different. There was no blueprint for this journey. That challenges me to trust Jesus even more so, and to process it with other loved ones who can remind me of his faithfulness along the way.

Continuing with my last post: what did I need to let go of in order to let Wander start and flourish?

I was desiring more structure to my workflow. Freelancing is so fantastic, but comes with it’s challenges. I was ultimately looking to cut back on weekend work to prioritize time with loved ones. Less work and shoots on the weekends, and more time with family. More time for church and ministry and life. The things that really mattered. Work of course matters. And that was becoming an idol and a priority in my life. Work and life balance has felt like this distant goal that others have reached, and I could never get there.

To start something new, it felt good (and wise) to pursue more of a structured schedule. That meant letting go of family shoots. Which was a sad and hard decision to make and come to terms with. I’ve enjoyed photographing families all over Southern CA for the last 8 years. It was a big staple of my business. And this time of year in particular (Sept - Dec) was full of shoots. I knew that I needed to let go of a piece of work in order to create space for the new. And to allow real rest.

It was the right decision, and I feel confident in it. Some days I’m sad about it but most of the time I am grateful for the small progress. Experts say to hone in on your passions and focus early on. Find your niche and run with it. It took me years to find it. And it’s alright if it changes (whoever is out there that needs to hear that, hi.) I wanted to try and do all the things early on, and I did for the most part. But taking a step back and allowing more space to really focus on branding content has been a sweet spot.
Small business folks, have you ever made a change in your business that felt a bit scary or intimidating? Change has been so good around here, I’ve just been slow to embrace it.
I’ve got 3 more reasons why I started Wander coming your way this week! Stick around.
Ps, 📷 from our time in Paris on our honeymoon. Heading back there this month and can’t wait to experience it all over again.

: a personable creative agency that provides content for brands and businesses in the city of Whittier.

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: a photographer with a passion for brand storytelling, marketing, and generating cohesive creative content.

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