Entrepreneur Jasmine Star ’02 has heard a lot of noes throughout her career. Today, she is recognized as one of the top 10 wedding photographers in the world and runs her own company.
Unbeknownst to her at the time, Star’s career began as an undergraduate business student at Whittier College. During her junior year, she took a sociology photography course with Associate Professor of Sociology sal johnston and discovered her creative side.
“Whittier was priming me to use different parts of my mind, body, and soul to create something,” she said.
After Whittier, she attended law school but decided to take some time off to care for her mother, who had been diagnosed with brain cancer a few years prior. Against all odds, her mom went into remission and beat cancer, and it was during this time that Star realized a career in law was not for her and decided to pursue a career as a photographer. Through Google and YouTube tutorials, she taught herself how to properly use her camera and launched her photography business.
Without any prior experience or clients, Star heard the word “no” many times, but continued to follow her passion. Throughout her journey, she decided to blog about her experience and gained a strong following. That blog would eventually be the launching pad for her business, Social Curator.
In a recent interview for the podcast Success Unfiltered, Star shares her story about overcoming obstacles to build an internationally recognized award-winning business.
Her mission today is to empower small business owners to grow their brand on social media and help them “live their best life.” Every month, she creates marketing plans along with photos and captions for her clients to help them achieve their own success.
