6:00 p.m. Feed Cooper dinner.
7:00 p.m. Cooper goes to sleep.
7:15 p.m. My husband, Lucas, and I take turns making dinner (or getting take out) and clean up the house.
8:00 p.m. Back on my laptop, but this time sitting in front of the TV with Lucas. Continue to edit my photo shoot from the weekend.
10:30 p.m. Time for ice cream! Unfortunately, it is becoming a habit for us.
11:00–midnight. Peek in at Cooper and go to bed.
I should probably tell you that when I am at my home office, there are two kids talking, crying, and screaming, and my nanny is listening to gospel music on the stereo. My office does not have a door and overlooks the living room, so, I have learned how to tune everything out or plug myself into my iPod. I also help her with the kids if she needs it.
It’s a huge distraction, but worth it. I sometimes tell people I run a daycare on the side.
AC: How’d you get where you are?
Hatch: Becoming a wedding photographer took a lot of hard work. I had been a hobbyist photographer since high school, but didn’t become serious about it as a career until 2004. At that point, I enrolled in classes at the Academy of Art in San Francisco and began assisting photographers on the weekend. It was not that easy to find photographers who would take on a rookie, but I somehow lucked out and talked my way into quite a few jobs. By 2006, I was shooting for a studio as an associate photographer part-time, assisting other photographers part-time, and still maintaining a full-time job in an entirely different field and somehow managed to keep my sanity. Last year I quit the studio and started shooting under my own name. I have only advertised through word-of-mouth and my business has taken off like a wildfire.
AC: What’s the best thing about your job?
Hatch: If I had to pick just one, I’d say that being my own boss and having the independence and flexibility to do whatever I want is the best thing about my job.
