Today we’d like to introduce you to Nardia and Dan Niles.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
When Dan and I were first married, I was pursuing a career in law enforcement and he was a recovering musician acting as a graphic designer in a stuffy corporate office, haha. We never planned to be doing what we are doing now. It kinda, happened to us at first and then we pursued it as hard as we could once we saw the potential… and most of all, we saw how much we loved building it together.
Dan had moved his way up the “corporate ladder” to the role of creative director, overseeing the photo, video, creative content, design, and social media departments. Along his way to that role he had discovered a love for video and had created a few commercials for the company where he was employed. So, when one of his best friends, (also a recovering musician, the drummer from his old band) called and said he loved his work and asked if he’d film their wedding, he figured why not, should be fun! It is such a unique experience being the photographer/filmmaker for a wedding because you’re spending more time with the couple than most of their closest friends and family. I think we loved being in that unique position where we could celebrate with the couple and be a part of the group… not sitting in the crowd waiting for your 30 seconds to congratulate the couple.
From there it really took off quickly. Couple after couple kept asking for our help on their wedding day and we started traveling to exciting places together… it was just 100x more fun than being separate from each other all day. And he hated feeling trapped for eight, however, every day to a desk, well, probably everyone does. So, we saw a way out and knew if we didn’t give it a 100% effort, we would always regret it.
The turning point was when Dan’s friends from Oahu had us film their wedding (haha again, another musician. this time it was the lead singer of the band). That was when we realized two things, videographers are booked last for weddings… almost a budget afterthought. But photographers are booked 1st or 2nd. If we wanted to really build our business so that we could both quit our jobs, we had to really nail the photo thing and do it at the same level of branding that the films were already at. and second, we realized we had to invest a lot of time + money into building a brand and online presence.
So, we named ourselves Foolishly Rushing In because Dan had proposed to me four months after meeting me and our first dance was to the Elvis Song “Can’t help falling in love.” Ya know, only fools rush in. We knew that our target demographic would be booking us because they felt close to our brand and safe. So, we always branded ourselves around our real relationship. We always took the time to meet each couple and get to know them as friends first, before we even started talking about wedding stuff. We really want to know each couple and tell their story uniquely. Also, we want to be friends celebrating, freaking even drinking with them on their wedding day. We don’t want to simply be the “hired help.” Because, although we are definitely hired and have to conduct ourselves very professionally, organized, and have to take care of our customers, we also put our hearts into each story. We know our greatest tools are our own emotions and hearts that pays attention to their love and gets just freaking excited about who they are. Then, the final product shows it. It’s not just “wedding video” and “wedding photos.” We hope that you can actually get a sense of “who” the couple is and why their relationship is so unique.
So, to circle back to what I said earlier, I was not a photographer professionally. Dan had a good amount of experience but couldn’t say he was a professional photographer either, but he really believed in me. I think that’s key. You need someone to believe in your potential. It’s like a sort of sight, it allows you to see what’s not even there yet. I was practicing constantly. If there’s one thing about me, everyone that knows me knows that I’m a studier. I LOVE to study. I will pour myself into a textbook, I got my reading glasses on 24/7 till I know the subject, haha. So, photography was and is the same for me. You never stop learning how to take photos, so it’s something that I love doing. I’m always studying as I create and pushing myself to get better. But we had booked our first photo wedding in Santa Barbara just three months after I had started.
Ok, there are probably tons of questions left on this thing… I better save some of this for those haha
Has it been a smooth road?
I think the hardest part, and there are tons of challenges. But the hardest part is starting. But I don’t mean just trying it out. Like, jump off the ledge, commit yourself to it for at least the next six months type of starting out. Cause whatever you’re doing, you gotta actually give it a shot and dignity, your dream deserves no? So, I really wonder if I would have ever believed it could happen if I didn’t have my husband next to me telling me that he believed in me. But one thing I can say is that I learned something from having a partner next to me. I couldn’t have done it without him, but I wouldn’t have seen it… like believed it, seen it without him. So, my advice to other women is to believe it. Whether you have someone encouraging you or someone discouraging you, you should believe it.
Let me go back to our conversation that started it all and qualifies that “believe it” statement now. I don’t believe it like that airy fairy bs. Like you can be anything you want to be, believe it. No, you can’t. You can be a lot of things. So, real belief has to be rooted in reality. Firm reality. Like I said, I was in law enforcement and wanted to be a detective (now, I have kids and I don’t want to die, haha. But I have respect for all the women serving us daily out there!). So, for belief, you have to start with the evidence. Start putting the pieces together. What are you naturally good at? What compliments have you received through your life? Those compliments are clues to what other people have recognized through the years. How do you stand out from your friends? Are you the fashionable one, the bookworm one, the athletic one? I mean, those are just ways of seeing your natural, built in skills, take shape in the world so that you can understand yourself… ok, back to the conversation.
This is what Dan had told me that started the whole thing. #1 Everybody that has “succeeded” feels a bit like they are faking it. Everyone is trying to “figure it out.” So first, don’t disqualify yourself just yet. See yourself as equal, in at least some ways, to the person you admire the most and realize they had to start from scratch too with the same doubts. #2 Everyone that has succeeded did so by failing and failing and failing. It’s simply a matter of determination that decides the outcome. #3 So, “if you want this… you can do it,” he said. “Because you are naturally built to be creative through a camera. You naturally see the world creatively naturally have a sense of design and style. So, if you WANT it. Want it enough to push yourself every day, then you’ll be successful.” Cause honestly you can’t teach someone who is just naturally terrible at a thing to be the best. But if you take realistic stock of how you are made and what you’re good at, you look at those clues, and you can honestly say: “I am built to possibly be really good at this”… then, the only question is, how bad do I want it? If you want it too… then, believe it! and do it. But gosh, I hope you have some there beside you because there are so many confusing moments along the way that will completely derail you.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Foolishly Rushing In – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I really think that the most important aspect is outlined in the first question. We truly get to know each couple, we tell their story with the uniqueness that each couple deserves, and we love doing what we are doing (and doing it together). The additional part that I haven’t talked about too much is the photo + film aspect. Our photography style grew out of our filming style. So, NOTHING is posed, pose, pose. It’s very fluid, very real, and our goal is to let each couple be themselves, move around, have fun. With that, comes some really unique things. #1 the wedding films are actually not just about the wedding day. Each couple we work with, we’ll shoot an engagement day as well. So, the wedding film is mixed with footage from their relationship on those engagement shoot dates. #2 the photos and the film really complement each other and match completely in style, color, etc… #3 It’s so easy for a bride to book us. We 1 vendor, not 2. There fewer contracts, fewer phone calls, fewer emails, fewer payments, etc… it just makes a lot of sense to have 1 vendor who does both photo and video. There are so many horror stories out there of photo and video teams clashing at weddings cause they don’t work well together for whatever reason. With Dan and I, we know what the other person is thinking, we can anticipate the scene together without having to say a thing. It’s just so much more efficient.
Also, when it comes to film, there are a lot of styles out there. And that’s good! But our style is very emotional. A lot of guys film in a way of “documenting” the day. It’s shot wide and really clean, but you feel like your simply observing the events happen. Like a narrator telling a story. But Dan has a way of making you feel like you are the couple, you can feel what they feel, you can get a sense of who they are. So, to have a photo and film team that can make it easier, more personal, and deliver something creative and beautiful… well, that’s what we hear from our couples that they really love about our process and style.
Who have you been inspired by?
Definitely my grandmother. She’s a ‘chancla’ wielding, assertive woman, that protects and loves her family. One of my largest motivations for pursuing a career so aggressively was to provide for my family. I think she and my mother taught me that value.
Professionally, I really look up to Melissa Marshall from Oklahoma, who I’ve been able to meet and shoot with recently. She is so down to earth and humble yet a creative powerhouse at the same time. She also sees the world in a beautiful and minimalistic design style like myself.
Lastly, would be Cher Horowitz, from the true-life classic Clueless. Which, as any native valley girl like myself can attest to, is basically a real-life documentary/survival guide to high school and growing up in the valley.
Pricing:
- Photo + Film Wedding collection $6000 + travel
- Photo + Film Elopement collection $3000 + travel
Contact Info:
- Website: foolishlyrushingin.com
- Phone: 7142705779
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @foolishlyrushingin
- Facebook: @foolishlyrushingin
Image Credit:
Foolishly Rushing In
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