With the price of college on the rise, high school students here in Reno are coming up with new and creative ways to save for college. Reno Youth Radio’s Kelsey Reynolds is looking into this trend.
I met Ally Bertani during an Instagram livestream about her business profile. I was instantly intrigued…a high school student business owner.
“I specialize in doing portraits for people,” she says. “I do senior portraits, photo shoots. One of my friends models, so I do all the photos for him, just stuff like that.”
Ally was inspired by her dad. He had his own photography side-hustle when he was in college. Her dad gave her some tips, but she is mostly self-taught.
“The rare chances I do get to hang out with my dad, we sit down and we go over things and techniques and filters,” Ally said.
She struggles with the workload. She edits pictures for 4 to 10 hours, studies for high school classes and after all that, she is struggling to learn the business ropes.
“I feel like I’m too nice when it comes to charging. Every other photographer I know charges over $100 for any shoot, and I charge $40 to $200 tops for senior pictures out of town,” She said.
She developing a style that stands out in today’s world of photography. Ally said, “It’s hard to see a picture on Instagram or Facebook and be, like, ‘I know who took that because it’s warmer.’ It’s hard to have distinct style.”
Ally is a picture of business savvy, well adept in marketing her hustle on social media, and here’s her advice for anyone interested in starting a business:
“Have a plan,” Ally explains. “Don’t allow people to push you around when it comes to something like, ‘Oh, hey, I want to do this, but I can only do it if its $10.’ Be firm because most of the time people aren’t valuing you as a creator.”
