Sisters Alex and Emily Goldman of Congregation Beth Torah are like many Jewish teens in the Kansas City area — they’re involved in school and outside activities, are driven in their academic pursuits and are always up for having a good time with friends.
However, that’s where the Goldman girls’ path diverges from their peers. The twosome started a business together — an endeavor in which they don’t make any money.
Alex, a senior at Blue Valley North High School, and her sophomore sister, Emily, started Photos4Good a little over a year ago. Photos4Good provides no-cost professional photography services for non-profit organizations. The business venture is a combination of both girls’ interests.
“I have been doing community service — about 100-plus hours — for the past several years,” Emily said. “Alex is very into photography, so we were looking for a way to do something together.”
Alex and Emily knew how non-profits struggle to afford good photographic services because of their tight budgets. So rather than charge for photography services, the girls — and the other teens they have recruited to work with them — earn community service hours and the organizations get some great photos. It was their “tikkun olam” solution — helping repair the world using one photo at a time for other organizations working to accomplish the same goal.
“It incorporated both our passions,” Alex said.
Helping in the community was a concept about which Alex and Emily were very familiar.
“Our parents have always encouraged us to get involved,” Alex said. “We do family community service together. Now that we’re old enough to have a skill set that’s useful, we’re doing it,” she said.
“They taught us to recognize how lucky we are to live where we do,” Emily said.
The Goldman girls came up with the idea in the spring of 2010 and talked the idea over with their father, Max Goldman, who has his own consulting business.
“I thought it was a terrific idea because so many of these organizations struggle in this area,” Goldman said.
The girls’ father provided additional advice — when asked — but otherwise, was pretty hands’ off.
“I helped them brainstorm and to be a sounding board,” he said. “It’s been great working with them.”
The matter in which Photos4Good operates is simple. Once a contact is made, the sisters meet with its staff to talk about the photo needs. They shoot each event using a single-lens reflex camera that can take up to 60 images in a second.
In the beginning, the two would go out together on “assignment,” with Alex shooting the photos and Emily in charge of gathering and grouping people. Then the girls review the images they captured.
“We delete the ones we don’t like and edit them,” Emily said. “Within a few days we put them on Dropbox for them to pick up on line.”
Organizations that hire Photos4Good get listed on its website providing added visibility for the non-profit.
Since starting in the summer of 2010, Photos4Good has been quite busy. Their first assignment was for the Children’s Place followed by the Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired, where their father had served on the board of directors. Traci Todd-Murphy was looking for an inexpensive, quality option for photos at an event.
“They were fantastic,” said Todd-Murphy, CCVI’s marketing and communications manager. “They needed little direction and did a very good job.”
The photos have been used on CCVI’s website, Facebook page and in local publications.
“They’re so independent ... and they’re really mature for their age. We just swap emails on what is needed and we get great turn-around time,” Todd-Murphy said. “I’ve been very pleased with what they’ve shot for us.”
Through word of mouth, additional assignments have come in. Photos4Good has worked with a number of clients including the Ronald McDonald House, Jewish Family Services, the Will to Succeed Foundation, SAFEHOME and Harvesters.
Things are so busy that the sisters have recruited friends to help out including Jewish teens Jonathan Bush, Lily Lieberman and their younger brother, Jake.
Emily and Alex have spent very little to get their business up and running.
Their dad provided the initial camera; other volunteer shooters check out equipment from their school. The graphics on the website were free. With the photos being digital, there is no printing costs other than providing a CD of the images, if the client prefers. The website domain was $40 and they have spent a small sum on a limited printing of a brochure. Recently, they hooked up with another website, Smugmug.com, where they send clients who want to purchase photos. A portion of those proceeds goes back to the event sponsor.
The sisters have been balancing their business endeavor with other activities. Alex is co-editor of the BVN newspaper, is involved in debate and cross country. She’s completed her college search and will attend the University of Pennsylvania in the fall. Once settled in, Alex hopes to continue some form of Photos4Good at Penn. As for Emily, she’s active in Saadia BBG as well as the BVN tennis team and Spanish Club. In April, Emily is going to Israel to attend school for two months through the Alexander Muss program; she’ll even miss Alex’s high school graduation. When she gets back in town, Emily will jump right back into action with Photos4Good.
Both teens have enjoyed their new endeavor, but for slightly different reasons.
“I like the photography so much,” Alex said. “I enjoy looking at all the photos. You get cool angles and all the people are so sweet. ... And I like the people watching.”
Alex and Emily aren’t bothered at all that they won’t make money from this adventure.
“It wasn’t why we started this,” Emily said.
“I’m really proud of what they’re doing and their initiative,” their father said. “It’s been a very good learning experience for them.”