Today we’d like to introduce you to Kaila Savarese.
Hi Kaila, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Photography has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. There are photos of me as a little girl photographing my own toes. On a family trip to Disney, during a Lion King show, I vividly remember my dad saying, “Kaila, put the camera down and enjoy the moment.” I remember thinking, ‘But this is how I see it.’ I’ve always viewed life cinematically and felt compelled to capture it as I experienced it.
I originally went to school to become a pharmacist, with plans to do medical mission work overseas. Throughout school, I traveled to the Dominican Republic, Honduras, India, and Africa, always bringing a camera with me. I found myself torn between being fully present in the mission work and wanting to document the extraordinary people and places around me.
The summer before I started my first year of graduate school, I was raped by a man while on vacation with my family. I sought a counselor quickly because I was determined not to let that circumstance define me, and I knew God could use it if I allowed Him to.
Two weeks after it occurred, I began my first year of graduate school while attending trauma counseling. It was a lot to handle mentally and emotionally. Trauma can cause the logical and emotional sides of the brain to stop communicating because the mind can’t make sense of what happened. One part of counseling focused on encouraging that connection again. My counselor gave me a list of tools to help, and photography was on that list.
I began with small things—taking pictures of my turtle and doing “Turtle Tuesday,” where I dressed him up and posed him for different seasons. That creative outlet unexpectedly led to my first senior session, then my first engagement session, and slowly, a business began to form.
The next summer, I started a more specialized counseling program that was incredibly challenging. I also got married late that summer and began my fifth year of school the following week. When you have PTSD and are triggered by multiple stressors, it can split into bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. I could feel that happening in my body, especially during exams. I began experiencing brain blackouts and flashes of that night. My mental health deteriorated quickly. I started treatment for all three—PTSD, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia—and I was in a very dark place.
One morning, my husband frantically woke me up on his way out the door for work. I was late for class, something that hadn’t happened before that day. I looked at him and said, “I don’t think I’m going to go back.” He asked, “What are you going to do?” I replied, “I’m going to be a photographer.” And that was that.
Though my school offered time off, I knew something changed in me. Photography became my lifeline—something that gave me purpose, hope, and direction. I spent the rest of that year learning my craft through small sessions and styled shoots. The following year, I booked 40 weddings and matched my projected income as a pharmacist.
That was in 2017, with my first sessions and my “official” business page opening in 2016. After seven intensive years of counseling and now a decade as a photographer, my business has grown in more ways than I could have imagined. More importantly, photography helped rewire my brain, restore my sense of self, and become a powerful part of my continual healing. It’s allowed me to look for the good, despite how a circumstance may seem, and capture it- building legacies of joy and beauty in all of life’s circumstances.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Running a business is never an easy road. During my white coat ceremony, I asked a professor what percentage of graduates end up in their desired field. He said, “Everyone who has pursued a position has gotten one- the success rate is very high. But some don’t end up in the field at all.” I asked, “How could you spend another seven years in school and not do the job?” He replied, “Pharmacy school is so hard that many people go through the most difficult years (the years I made it through after being assaulted) and realize there’s nothing they can’t do.” That always stuck with me.
There are countless challenges that come with running a business, along with unexpected challenges like a worldwide pandemic, an incredibly difficult pregnancy and birth, and the everyday challenges of being human. Still, it has never crossed my mind that these were obstacles I couldn’t meet- even if it meant pivoting my approach.
I’ve had some amazing mentors along the way- people who have been doing it longer and made it through the ebbs and flows, people who stretch me creatively, and some who aren’t photographers at all but are small business owners and can relate to struggling with work life balance.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Kaila and Company began as Kaila Sarene Photography, but I pivoted to include more avenues. My main niche is wedding photography, but I also offer family photography, birth and newborn photography, boudoir, hair and makeup to my elopement brides, wedding officiating (via my husband), and have previously offered day of coordination (via my sister).
I think what sets me apart is my history. My years in the medical field and then years of therapy have really helped me be able to understand people. It’s given me the ability to predict situational outcomes, communicate with my client, and coordinate details amongst multiple parties.
I’m proud of the traits I feel like I’ve always had making impacts on my couples. That feedback is invaluable to me. Making people feeling safe, seen, and understood, attention to the details they care about, feeling like a friend, those are all things that make me proud my couples feel working with me. In the best way, they trust me with their vision, their favorite people, and an incredibly important day, and I take that very seriously.
I want readers to know that they should hold those standard too for someone you invite into those spaces. I also want them to know that no matter their past circumstances, whether in their control or not, that there is more for them. It may take some grit and getting uncomfortable, but it’s worth it to fight for the things you deserve.
What’s next?
I have one little, and another on the way, but my journal is full of dreams. For now, I’m on a path of consistency. A place that gives me space to create, but also allows me to be there while they’re little. My faith is also very important to me, and the group of people that we’ve built into our “tribe”. That’s something I want to continue investing into, because even though success is fun, people are who really matter.
Knowing myself, when space opens to allow those dreams to flourish, the possibilities are endless. I love teaching, and would love that to be a part of my story too. I love creating out of the box, pushing boundaries of tradition, going to new places and finding the best way to do it. I’m always challenging my own thinking, and that pushes me to grow. Like my professor said, I feel like there’s really nothing I can’t do! That gives a wide open space to dream.
Pricing:
- Pricing information is available on my website!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kailaandcompany.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kailaandco
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kailaandco
