Alex Otto
Alex is a creative portrait photographer and educator based in Charleston, South Carolina.
With big ambitions and massive drive, Alex is building a reality that was once a dream. Whether it’s running her own company, hosting a podcast, or empowering ministry, Alex puts all her faith into everything she does. With Alex, dreams have always been more than just an outcome, but an opportunity to make a positive difference.
What dream are you currently turning into reality?
What is a reality in my life right now is something I probably wouldn’t have said was my dream because I didn’t fully know what I wanted. But, as I am currently living it, I look back and see where God has been leading me to this place. It’s 100% a life made for me!
My dream turned reality is getting to be a full time creative portrait photographer in Charleston, South Carolina, and an educator for creative entrepreneurs on the Get Focused Podcast. I also have the opportunity to do ministry in a unique way (My husband and I launch home churches around the Charleston area through our church in Northeast Atlanta called 12Stone Church).
When did you first realize you discovered your dream?
When I was in the 7th grade, I was called to ministry. Even as young as I was, it was clear and I knew it was what God had for me. There was nothing more that I could have dreamed of than getting to talk to people about Jesus. In 2013, right after I graduated high school, that became real and I was in full time ministry all through my young adult years.
In 2015, I got my first camera and started learning just for fun on the side. I brought it everywhere, but mainly just took photos of my friends. In 2020, though, I had nothing else to do when the world stopped, so I hunkered down and decided to make a “little side hustle”. Little did I know all that was to come! Towards the end of that year, my husband Zach and I began to feel a shift in how God wanted us to live our lives. We had worked at a fairly large church outside of Atlanta, but our specific roles didn’t allow us to do ministry side-by-side as much as we wanted. We felt like God was calling us to do life as ministry, not just have jobs that are ministry.
What’s super cool is that our church launched home gatherings around the same time. When we began meeting in person again, our campuses thrived, but so did the avenue of house churches. It was like we were seeing fruit in different ways from a different demographic of people. Some had been hurt by the Church, felt marginalized, never found community in church, or just never really explored their faith in general.
Over the next few years, we continued to do life as normal but my photography had amped up so much that I was shooting at most 7 sessions on a Saturday (I don’t recommend this…I was tired haha). But, I felt so torn between the ministry job I loved and the creative job I loved. I would tell Zach all the time, I want so badly to be able to do full time photography in a way that is also ministry. Before it was a reality, that season of feeling torn and worn out was the birth of the dream I now get to live.
How does your faith go hand in hand with pursuing your dream?
Everything we now walk in is a result of prayer. I also try really hard to implement my faith in Jesus into my photography as much as I can. I don’t shy away from talking about my faith on my social media. My mission statement for my business is, “To create beauty and art through photos in such a way that it reveals the love of Jesus to every model, senior, or brand I work with.”
What’s one or two practical steps you take to keep moving forward?
I LOVE a good routine!!! I have been working on holding a morning routine (coffee/time with Jesus, gym, shower, work) and a night time routine (yoga, shower, skincare, read before bed). It’s been so helpful for my emotional health and helps me to stay focused when I work!
What encouragement would you share with someone who’s going after their dream?
One thing we always say on our podcast is that you should always have someone ahead of you, teaching you, and someone behind you to pour into. Who are those people for you? If your dream is to be a creative portrait photographer, find one that inspires you and learn from them! If you want to be a singer/songwriter, shoot your shot with one you like on TikTok and see if they will grab coffee with you! Always be a learner, and never forget to be generous with the things you’ve learned.