Meet Makenzie Hollar of Makenzie Photography in Bakersfield

Today we’d like to introduce you to Makenzie Hollar.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a creative at heart! I was that girl in junior high and high school that always had a camera – so when I was asked to photograph a wedding at just sixteen years old I was SO honored. I was ecstatic that someone would trust and believe in me to capture their most important memories!

So at sixteen, shortly after photographing my first wedding I began photographing anything and everything… while other kids in high school were saving up thousands of dollars to by a car, I was saving up to by a brand new DSLR camera!

I went to college to pursue a double major in Business and Graphic Design since there were no degrees specifically for photography in my area. Throughout the pursuit of my education I continued running by business, and working full time, however, in at twenty-one years old, in 2013 I got in a major car accident that resulted in breaking my pelvis in three places, broken ribs, lacerated organs – including my brain – and I wondered if I would ever be able to continue being a photographer. I remember thinking, “I can still be a photographer from a wheelchair! I can do this!” Surviving a near death car accident showed me just how precious life really is… that we are not in control of our timeline, and this accident ignited a new fire inside of me. By a complete miracle, three weeks after my car accident I was walking without assistance and I wasted no time in starting a new aspect of my business that changed the trajectory of my business and life!

One month after my car accident, I started taking applications for my Makenzie Photography Senior Rep Program, the first of its kind in my area. My passion was made clear to me – I wanted to remind others just how beautiful and powerful they truly are and the first tangible way I could do this is through pictures, the second, through mentoring young women in high school. Just a few short months after my car accident I took the leap and went full time with my photography business at twenty-one years old, and never looked back!

I’ve been a photographer for eleven years, full time for six and a half years, and started specializing in graduates and weddings a few years ago! With the encouragement and inspiration of my senior reps each year, I started an annual conference for high school ladies that remind them of their worth and value.

Has it been a smooth road?
Being self-employed is never a smooth road! The most difficult time for me was when I was younger… I wasn’t taken as seriously. I had to very quickly find other ways for potential brides to trust me. I had to say no to a lot of social activities when I was younger for the betterment of my business. While I was pursuing my career, some friends didn’t understand the sacrifices I was making. But the hard work has been so worth it!

I had family members and other people discourage me from being self-employed… that it is not sustainable, that it isn’t smart of a family, or I wouldn’t make enough money. I didn’t let it stop me!

We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am a wedding and portrait photographer that specializes in Senior Portraits for high school graduates. My heart is to remind others, specifically women, just how beautiful and powerful they truly are. Sometimes, it takes another person coming alongside of you and pointing out the gold for us to realize that we are special and we do have something to offer to the world.

I’ve become known in my area for my senior portraits, my senior rep program, and my heart for young women. Everything I do is connected to my heart or inspired by something or someone else that was a part of my business.

What I’m most proud of is my Makenzie Photography Senior Rep Program. The way I run my senior rep program is what I believe sets me apart from others. For those wondering, a “senior rep” is a senior in high school that represents my photography company. I remind these girls just how beautiful and powerful they are in TWO ways… first… is obviously through pictures and the second is by mentoring them throughout their senior year in a group setting. Not only do we do a big photoshoot at the beginning of the year, but we meet once a month at my home, or at a local coffee shop, and we talk about things that they don’t necessarily talk about in school, or they may be to scared to talk to their peers about. Topics have ranged anywhere from rejection, body image, college, communications, boundaries, time management, lies they have believed about themselves, just to name a few.

My goal is to get a variety of girls that come from different backgrounds, different schools, have different stories, get them in one room and then show them that underneath it all, we aren’t that much different from one another. There are so many social assumptions made these days based on what we look like, what school we went to, etc., that we build walls around each other… I want to break those social assumptions down and show these girls that our differences to separate us, they can actually bring us together. It’s really quite beautiful. The girls arrive as strangers and acquaintances and then leave tat the end of the year as friends!

It was these annual groups of Senior Reps that inspired me to start something on a broader scale to reach more young women in the community, and out birthed the annual conference I host, The Adoration Conference!

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I also recommend to people to follow what they are passionate about. If someone isn’t doing it… DO IT. If someone is already doing it… do it YOUR way and add your flare to it! No one else is like you, and that is what sets you and your business apart.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.makenziephoto.com
• Phone: 661-333-9549
• Email: makenziephotography@gmail.com
• Instagram: @makenziephotography
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/makenziephotography/

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