I’ve had so much trouble coming up with a name idea for my photography business. No one can pronounce my last name, so that won’t work. My first name is so very common, and my initial spell AG so that’s also out, ha! I’ve played around with different things but have had no ah-ha moments with satisfactory results.

Except one.

Recently I had a dream that another photographer and I decided to partner together. Their name starts with a Z, so my dream-brain was so excited about the name A to Z Photography. Ha! In reality, I know nothing about this other photographer’s skill or experience level, nor what kind of photography they specialize (or want to specialize) in. We barely know each other, definitely not well enough for a collaboration. Not to mention the name “A to Z Photography” is FAR less mind-blowing once awake. That’s a business name that exists many times over.

Waking up from this dream made me realize something important, however: I am far more excited about the idea of partnering with someone, being on a team, than going at this alone. Just like when I was writing, I’m not very good at self-promotion. I could tell anyone and everyone about my books, but the second I was trying to tell an agent about it – the second my enthusiasm could potentially profit me – it suddenly felt disingenuous. The whole thing was ridiculous. Agents want to find the right author. They profit too! But there is something about promoting myself that feels fundamentally wrong, likely to do with my upbringing. I’ve tried to change that in adulthood, but can’t seem to budge it, it’s so deeply engrained.

In any case, advocating for my team does not feel disingenuous. Even though I’ll profit just the same. Advocating for a team means that I’m advocating for another person in addition to myself, and that feels good. Not just okay, but good. The logic isn’t there. I know. Something about a partnership circumvents my hardwired self-deprecating brake system.

It’s not just about the sales/promotion bit, though. I like teams. I like people. Working together with someone – the right someone – feels better than working alone. Unfortunately, I don’t know who that someone is. I know very few photographers in person, and most of them specialize in event photography or photojournalism. The only photographers I generally see working in teams are event photographers (like for weddings or sports). So yeah, I know, this might be an unrealistic dream of mine. But I can hope, while I’m still trying to figure out what to call this business so I can make a website and all that businessy stuff…