Pursuing excellence means doing your best work for others, not just yourself.
Hannah Bjorndal
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Hannah never meant to be a wedding photographer. She thought she’d be in film – maybe on a movie set, maybe in post-production. But then during her last semester of college she landed an internship with a fashion photographer. It wasn’t glamorous. Mostly it was watching someone work: planning shoots, editing in silence, talking with clients over coffee. But something just felt right to her. The pace. The autonomy. The feeling that you could shape your days around creativity, not the other way around.
That internship didn’t just change her career path. It gave her a whole new picture of what a creative life could look like. Not chaotic. Not all-consuming. Just honest, flexible and well-designed.
Over the years she’s built La Vie en Rose into a team of wedding photographers who work with intention and kindness. She’s let go of the idea that she has to do it all herself, and she’s gotten really good at making space for others to grow alongside her.
In this episode Hannah talks about the years it took to feel confident in that role. About why she stopped calling her team “associates” and how she keeps the bar high without burning anyone out. We get into the weeds: timelines, prep work, navigating family dynamics and what it actually takes to create calm on a day that’s wired for stress.
Some things we cover:
- What held her back from getting started (and how she pushed through it anyway)
- How she plans for wedding days like a film shoot – sun angles, walk-throughs and all
- Why she thinks “high standards” isn’t the same as excellence
- Why she stopped shooting and doubled down on team-building
- What she wishes more creative business owners did before hiring anyone
This episode’s less about gear and more about the guts of running a values-driven business. If you’re curious about leadership, team culture or just how to do great work without losing your weekends forever, you’ll want to listen to what Hannah has to say! Enjoy!
Q: What were the first challenges that you had to overcome? Was it the photography aspect, the business aspect, or working with people?
Hannah: I think the biggest challenge was just putting myself out there, honestly, because I had a lot of imposter syndrome. I had a lot of fears of what people who didn’t know I was even interested in photography would think. I was really afraid of being seen as a poser, and I have high standards for most things in life, so I knew I wasn’t going to be the best starting out-and that bothered me. Overcoming that fear of what others might think was the most important step.
Q: Do you ever find that the high standards are detrimental?
Hannah: I think I’ve attracted people to my team who also have really high standards, which helps. But being a wedding photographer is a balance between being an artist and someone in the service industry. You might want to take portraits for an hour and a half to get the best shots, but the couple might only want to do photos for 15 minutes. You have to balance excellence with the client’s experience.
Q: What is your secret sauce for creating that relaxed and celebratory atmosphere for couples on their wedding day?
Hannah: Primarily, it’s planning and experience. We plan like crazy in advance-photo timelines, venue walkthroughs, sun angle research, and team meetings months ahead. That planning sets the tone. Then on the day, I show up confident and kind. One of our team values is to be the kindest person in the room. That mindset helps everyone feel at ease, especially during such a high-stress day.
🔗 Connect with Hannah Bjorndal
🧭 What We Talked About
🎼 The Leap From Hobby to Career
- Hannah got her start with a film Minolta camera, developing photos in a darkroom as a teen.
- Though she loved photography, it wasn’t until an internship with a fashion/editorial photographer that she saw a career path emerge.
- Working with that mentor helped her realize photography could be a sustainable business, not just an art form.
- After college, she joined WeddingWire in a sales role, an experience that gave her deep insight into the wedding industry and vendor pain points.
📖 Philosophy, Storytelling & Balancing Art with Service
- Hannah is driven by a commitment to excellence over ego: she emphasizes being a service provider first, not just an artist.
- She explains how posing (or rather, direction) learned from fashion photography became essential for helping clients feel their best.
- A quote from Ira Glass deeply influenced her early mindset: your taste might exceed your skill, but practice bridges the gap.
- Wedding photography is “not just about creating the most beautiful photo, it’s about creating a beautiful experience that the couple remembers fondly.”
📷 Gear, Tools & Planning for the Perfect Wedding Day
- Uses tools like Google Maps sun angle overlays and thorough venue walkthroughs to plan ahead.
- Implements standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prepare each lead photographer and ensure team-wide consistency.
- Core values like being “the kindest person in the room” guide how she and her team approach high-stress moments and family dynamics.
- Buffer time is intentionally built into every schedule to avoid rushed shoots and create a relaxed, celebratory atmosphere.
🔁 Building a Team & Scaling a Vision
- Founded La Vie En Rose Photographers to transition from a solo photographer to a leader of a deeply collaborative team.
- No longer uses the term “associate” to describe team members, instead they’re lead photographers, equally valued and invested.
- Created a business that can scale sustainably, support women returning to the workforce, and align with her personal life goals.
- She emphasizes leadership through humility, saying “hire for character first” – skills can be trained, but heart and passion matter most.
💬 Advice for Creatives Looking to Grow
- Her course, How to Hire Your First Associate, walks through every step of the hiring and onboarding journey.
- First module includes a powerful exercise in writing a personal and business vision statement – a process that doubled her revenue in just two years.
- Advice for others: dream big, lead with kindness, and give yourself permission to fail and course correct.
🌍 People, Places & Creative Influences
- Husband and original second-shooter is an engineer and team leader, and their shared conversations around strategy and leadership shaped her approach.
- SOP inspiration and business coaching comes from her father, now her personal business coach.
- Favorite internal motto: Carpe Diem, inspired by their most connected clients who deeply value presence and storytelling.
🔮 What’s Next for Hannah
- Spending five weeks in London and another week in Italy to celebrate her 10-year wedding anniversary and reassess what’s next.
- Exploring a broader identity as a business coach and educator, expanding beyond photography to help more creatives build values-driven businesses.
- Continuing to refine her personal vision for a life led by intention, joy, and service.
