Today we’d like to introduce you to Teresa Peek.
Teresa, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Originally from Ohio, I’ve just celebrated my 18-year anniversary of living in Chicago.
Much of my career has been as a meeting & convention planner. That career provided me the opportunity to travel, often taking photos any chance I had, and meeting people from around the world. As long as I can remember, I’ve had friends from other countries, leading me to a degree in International Business. When that industry was hard hit by the recession, it was time to take stock in all the attributes I’d collected over the years and consider a new path.
Photography had always been an unpronounced passion of mine, forging time on every meeting trip to take photos. After being laid off at the start of the recession, I signed up for a Chicago photography Meetup.com group – second largest US Meetup to NYC – and began my journey of making photography a serious endeavor learning through mentors, borrowing various cameras and online workshops. Very soon, I was asked to join the team of organizers for our group.
I relied on my planning background to create meetups that were well-liked and appreciated, often filling up within 24 hours of posting. My last year as an organizer, I created an impromptu Winter exploration meetup on a very cold day. One person showed – a young Korean woman in town for a couple months and eager to explore. I found myself not only taking photos with her but acting as her tour guide. This woman, still a friend now back on the other side of the globe, was the catalyst for Tour Through A Lens.
By combining my meeting planning skills with a passion for photography, travel and Chicago, creating custom photography tours is the perfect blend. Learning to be an entrepreneur, continuous learning about the city and photography, meeting people from places I never dreamed are all dynamics beyond my imagination and, yet in a sense, continuing what I’ve always done.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not! Unlike most entrepreneurs we hear about, I wasn’t working a high-paying job, maybe moonlighting to turn my “passion” project into a business, waiting until the right time to leave and make it a full-time dream. I started Tour Through A Lens from a long-term layoff after unemployment and all the recession extensions ran dry.
The greatest challenges have been learning how to start a business when entrepreneurship was never on my radar and operating, marketing and growing with nearly zero dollars. While it’s not yet self-sufficient, the momentum keeps me pressing forward and it’s paying off.
My most unexpected challenge and little talked about by entrepreneurs was facing my own “giants”. Those things we push aside when we go to work for someone because we can keep them hidden. As a solopreneur, any fears, doubts and underlying emotions are unavoidable. Going into this, I was unprepared for the reality that starting a business from scratch isn’t just the business. It’s also about becoming the person to and operate the business. Crushing my fears and transforming into the person my business needs is still very real and happening every day.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Tour Through A Lens – what should we know?
Tour Through A Lens (TTAL) is an intense, urban photography adventure, and each custom tour is built with clients’ goals, interests and photography equipment in mind. As the local guide, I take clients to places they want to see, whether iconic or local gems, at the right time of light. Along the way, they hear “Chicagoisms”, fun facts, some quirky stories and experience visual examples of the city’s rich architectural history.
It’s not an instructional session to learn how to use a camera, rather time spent fueling their photography passion, helping them create their travel story in photos. When clients book a tour, they place their trust in me to accomplish their goal and exceed their expectations. They don’t know where I’ll take them or what they’ll see but they’re excited to experience the adventure. In 2017, Tour Through A Lens was awarded TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence, a proud accomplishment, for sure.
I find I’m most proud when a client shares on social media a photo from a tour that makes them beam with pride or they say the tour was the highlight of their Chicago visit. I’ve also found a host of small things clients pick up that stay with them long after they’ve returned home and changes their visual perspective or their photos. The company is woman-owned and operated, and the only tour company of its kind in Chicago!
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I truly don’t know if I’d be as skilled planning routes for complete strangers had it not been for the years in meeting planning. That role required me to foresee and plan (and contingency plan) nearly everything people were going to do while in our care.
Anticipating their actions, factoring in a keen understanding of human nature, made me a strong planner then and, I believe, helps me build these experiences for my clients now.
In addition to skill, enjoying my clients is something I find important. They have booked time to explore and fuel their passion, time to have fun. I must remember that during my time with them or they’ll feel a more rigidly structured tour. It helps that I have the most awesome clients!
Contact Info:
- Website: tourthroughalens.com
- Phone: 312-291-1064
- Email: info@tourthroughalens.com
- Instagram: @tourthroughalens
- Facebook: tourthroughalens
- Twitter: @tourthroughlens
Image Credit:
Teresa Peek, Adam Dooley Photography, Magda Orsag Photography
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