Wyatt Juggles Photography, Motherhood

Photo by Ann-Marie Wyatt

Ann-Marie Wyatt is a working Oxford mother who has successfully started her own photography business, Taylor Square. But getting to where she is now wasn’t a snap-and-shoot.

Wyatt has been taking pictures since she was 16. After graduating high school, she attended Northeast Community College before coming to Ole Miss. There, Wyatt majored in magazine journalism and continued to take photographs while working on the yearbook staff.

After she graduated from Ole Miss, she returned to a legal office, where she had contributed as an administrator since her teenage days. An Ole Miss friend suggested they team up to form their own photography studio, Sweet Water Images.

“My good friend moved to Montana to attend photography school,” Wyatt said. “She worked for a studio in North Carolina but had a desire to move back home to Memphis. So I talked her into coming back and opening a business with me.”

The partners communicated mainly via Skype and email. Wyatt drove from Oxford back and forth to Memphis regularly.

With three kids at home under age 7 the drive became a huge problem and Wyatt decided that it was time to make a change.

“We owned Sweet Water Images for five years, but last October I realized I was tired of driving to Memphis and back,” Wyatt said. “It was really hard on my family, so I decided to open Taylor Square on my own.”

Photo by Ann-Marie Wyatt

So far the response has been a positive. In addition to photography Wyatt has stayed involved in law as a paralegal at a law firm. Juggling two jobs in addition to being a mother, is a constant challenge.

“Balancing my life is hard to do because I’m getting busier,” Wyatt said. “I work eight to five every day. Then I come home and do mommy duty until they’re all in bed. Then I edit until one in the morning. I’ve been doing this for about six years now and every year it seems to get harder because I get busier and busier.”

Accommodating employees help Wyatt manage her duties. Most of her photo assignments are evening or weekend shoots when she is off her law firm job. She works for several magazines and does wedding and engagement photography as well.

In the future, Wyatt hopes to focus full-time on her photography business. With business growing every day, that goal is almost a reality.

“I would love nothing more than to focus only on photography and build a company,” Wyatt said. “But until I get the business where I want it to be, I’ll definitely be working two jobs. My family comes first, and the more opportunities I can provide for them, the better off we will all be.”

—Justin Taylor, Associate Editor, HottyToddy.com

–You can email Justin at justin.taylor@hottytoddy.com