Parentpreneur: How do they do it?

By: Jen Wainwright

Entrepreneur: the owner or manager of a business enterprise who, by risk and initiative, attempts to make profit.

Parentpreneur: See above, and also juggles the day-to-day demands of parenting, provides income for one’s family and attempts to live out one’s dreams.

Welcome to Parentpreneurs: How do they do it?

A husband and father of two, he worked a full-time job as a mechanical engineer in automotive tooling. He made decent money, had a 401(k) in place…and then the economy took a downward spiral.

And he was laid off.

He got another job. And got laid off, again.

And…again.

And then he had a heart attack.

Life, Lay Offs, and Love

Meet Mike Sonnenberg, 44, of Saginaw, owner of Huron Photo, located at 301 South Hamilton in Saginaw, and artist behind photography websites Pure Saginaw and Lost In Michigan. Sonnenberg didn’t plan on being a photographer when he grew up – or a Parentpreneur.

While passionate about photography since high school, he considered his role as a mechanical engineer to be his career for almost 20 years. Yet after 9/11, when “downsizing” and “company restructurings” took hold, Sonnenberg says lay-offs became more steady in his industry than paychecks.

“My dad worked for 36 years at GM,” says Mike Sonnenberg. “That’s just the way it was. I started realizing I couldn’t necessarily depend on a job the way you once could. GM filed for bankruptcy, Dow Chemical laid off thousands.”

He considered moving out of state for work, but his wife had a full-time job in place in Saginaw and his children were rooted. While working, and being laid off…and working, and being laid off…Sonnenberg began to look toward his love of photography less as a hobby and more as a potential side income and means of economic survival for his family.

He began shooting photos from his home, and selling his photos (some 3,000 photos) to micro-stock companies, earning a percentage of the royalties each time the photo was used. Yet when the photo company made a change, lowering the royalty rate photographers received, Sonnenberg said he realized, once again, that his success was at the mercy of a company – a company was, once again, deciding his fate and income.

And then he lost his “real” job…again…and suffered a heart attack.

Sonnenberg says he knew he needed to make a lifestyle change – working 10 to 12 hour days sitting at a desk for 20 years, stress and unhealthy choices had taken a toll on his physical and mental health – and he no longer wanted his livelihood dependent on a company who dictated his success or a job he couldn’t trust would remain.

“I decided rather than going to look for another job, I was going to look for clients.”

His wife, Chris, was on board with Sonnenberg pursuing his passion for photography. As a photographer with a flexible schedule/stay-at-home parent, the couple rationalized that they could save on gas (without a commute) and childcare for their two children, at the time ages 8 and 10, and they wouldn’t have to constantly juggle who would take time off for dentist appointments/sick care.

“I told her, ‘Let’s try it for a while, and see how it goes.”

“It Looks Like a Post Card.”

Three years later, it’s going quite well. Sonnenberg specializes in portraits and senior photos at his studio, Huron Photo. He also found a love in capturing images of infamous and lesser-known locations unique to his hometown of Saginaw, which he showcases and sells at Pure Saginaw and through a blog posted Facebook that has garnered over 6,000 followers.

“Before I began the [Pure Saginaw] blog, I’d show people my work and hear, ‘It looks like a postcard’,” Sonnenberg says. “People seemed to like the pictures, and I love taking the pictures, so I thought I’d try it.”

Playing off the moniker “Pure Michigan”, Pure Saginaw photos represent purely Saginaw – whether displaying backgrounds of radiant colors and sunsets behind, say, the iconic-to-Saginaw “Beans” sign, or a more dark and haunting representation of the true, decrepit and worn-down state of some of Saginaw’s buildings and locations.

“I consider my photos to be kind of like stories,” Sonnenberg says, “and in a way, I’m telling history through the photos.”

His most recent endeavor, Lost In Michigan, both a website and Facebook page, allows Sonnenberg to shoot and sell photos of buildings, barns, well-known and remote locations from all over the state of Michigan. Sonnenberg says Lost In Michigan.net began organically – his fans were asking for pictures of places outside of Saginaw. So, when his son would have a track meet somewhere or his family would take a vacation, he would bring his camera.

“Lost In Michigan.net was a way for me to incorporate what I’m doing now with what my family is doing, too,” Sonnenberg says.

Sonnenberg says 2015 is the year he plans to rev the business side of his love of photography into action. He’s been working on, and will begin selling this fall, Pure Saginaw and Lost in Michigan calendars, self-published and locally printed in Saginaw.

Just The facts – How Does He Do It?

• “I don’t advertise, I socialize,” Sonnenberg says. Sonnenberg relies on word of mouth to bring traffic to his websites in-turn bringing clients to Huron Photo, and visa versa (Huron photo clients buy prints from his websites).
• Sonnenberg says he works around 40 hours per week, but in blocks – he’ll edit some in the morning, and then attend to his kids. In the afternoon, he may shoot some, possibly taking his kids with him. He may set up a photo session at the studio in the evening or on a weekend when his wife is free. He may get up very early and shoot before his wife leaves for work, or edit photos at night. Every day is different.
• Sonnenberg’s wife creates his family’s main source of income, and Sonnenberg says “things may have worked out differently” for him if his wife’s job were not present. “I am very fortunate to have a supportive partner.”
• Less $, More Happiness. Sonnenberg says that while his family had more money when he and his wife both had full-time incomes – they also spent more money to essentially buy happiness. Picking the kids of up after daycare, slamming home at 5:30 starving, they often went out to dinner or grabbed fast food, etc. Now, Sonnenberg says, he earns less, but has gained more time with his family, more daily physical activity and more quality of life.

“To me,” Sonnenberg says, “this has been a lifestyle change more than anything. Like people who love golf, I’m getting paid to do something I love — taking pictures. I’m creating my own stuff. I’m lucky, and I’m happy.”

To Aspiring Parentpreneurs:

Sonnenberg is quick to point out that quitting one’s job to live the dream sounds great, but it’s not always feasible for parents supporting families.

“Some days, I’d trade with my wife,” Sonnenberg says. “I’d work a traditional job and she could stay home with the kids…but it didn’t go that way for us. I didn’t up and quit my job, my job left me.”

He recommends pursuing one’s passion alongside a steady paycheck, if possible, and working hard to make the passion successful.