Eastern Mennonite University junior and entrepreneur Andrea Cable has been awarded a $2,500 scholarship in Insureon’s Small Business, Big Impact essay contest.
Small-business insurer Insureon awards the scholarship once each semester to college students “whose lives have been impacted by small businesses.” Cable wrote in her winning essay entry that the business that has impacted her is her own: Andrea Cable Photography.
Four years ago, as a high school junior in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Cable began taking senior portraits. Later she expanded to also capture weddings and engagements. She is now studying business administration, accounting and photography at EMU – and is continuing her “previously-baby-now-toddler” business.
The business has been a vehicle for building relationships with clients and connecting with others in her field – as well as developing business savvy and skills. “I get to wear so many different hats. I’m a photographer one day, an accountant the next, and a sales and marketing rep the following,” she wrote. “There is not one day that passes where I do the same thing.”
She is also “still learning the fine line that stands between being a business owner and college student. Deciding whether I’m going to study for an exam or do my taxes is just one of the debates.”
Cable has grown not only in responsibility over the years, but also in her sense of what makes good photography.
“I didn’t realize until later in my career that there is no such thing as a perfect picture, which is what makes photography so incredibly beautiful,” she wrote. “When I’m capturing the first look between a couple on their wedding day, the last thing I want to say is, ‘Hey, groom. Hold your soon-to-be wife’s hand and pretend to cry when you see her for the first time.’ … My favorite times are when I get to capture the emotion and reality that is going on in that moment.”
During her freshman year, Cable interned with Andrew Strack, photography and videography manager in EMU’s marketing and communications department.
“Andrea arrived with a healthy foundation of experience and interest in learning how imagery works in marketing efforts,” Strack said. “Her pursuit of education in both business and photography demonstrates an uncommon understanding of what it will take to succeed in the current marketplace. With her motivation and liberal arts education, Andrea is poised for success.”