Jim Olson was at a crossroads. It was 1987, and he and wife Susan’s first son was due in June.  The future Nokesville residents had been transferred to Dulles from Memphis.

“I had the airline job I always wanted, but it had been seven tough years working the ticket counter and gates,” Jim, a Minnesota native, said. “I wanted to be around for my kids, and I knew the airline hours would make that hard.”

He considered starting different businesses, anything that would replace his airline salary and afford them flexibility.

“I saw a magazine ad offering youth sports photography in another city, and that seemed interesting.” Jim liked photography but had no experience outside one semester of photography class in school.

Nonetheless, he founded Olson Photography in March 1987, months before the couple’s first son was born.

“The driving force was not missing our kids growing up – it could have been a car wash or really any type of business!” he laughed.

Jim stayed with his airline position until July of that year while Susan kept her job.

“Here we were, having our first baby, and I announced to my father-in-law, a successful football coach and businessman, that I was quitting my job to start a business. Initially, it didn’t go over so well!” Jim said. “The pressure of a new baby and a new business was a lot to take on. But sometimes when your back is against the wall, that is when you do your best,” he said.

“When you start a business, you wonder – will the phone ever ring?” Jim said. “The first call I got was from a travel soccer team in Sterling with 15 players. I was so excited, I put a suit on to hand deliver the order envelopes. I took those team pictures, and that is how it all began!”

Launching a business comes with challenges, and Jim recalls one that still makes him smile.

“Early on, I head out to Chantilly Youth Association (CYA) softball, where there are 15-20 teams,” Jim recalls. “At this point, I have one set of equipment. Everything is going well, until part way through the shoot when my camera stopped working. I told them I needed to get my other camera – but I didn’t have another camera!

“I drove to Fair Oaks Mall to buy a new camera that I couldn’t afford. Thankfully, they were able to adjust my battery and my camera worked! I still do CYA’s pictures today, so they cut me some slack.”

For the first five years, Olson Photography used an outside photo processing lab in Pennsylvania to fulfill orders.

“Honesty and integrity are very important to me,” Jim said. “I promised a three-week delivery to my leagues. Sometimes our order wouldn’t be ready, and that wasn’t good enough for me.”

The lab was over three hours away, and Jim would drive to pick up the pictures on Friday so he could deliver by Saturday’s deadline. So, in 1992, he took a chance and invested $100,000 to open his own lab.

“It turned out to be the best thing – but at the time it was a scary step,” he said. “I didn’t have a background in photo finishing or running a lab. I was renting office space and had one full-time employee, and we had to learn how to work the machine and manage a fair amount of volume during the season.” 

Jim states the biggest challenge is replenishing the photography staff due to the part-time, seasonal nature of the jobs.

“Employees are definitely the most important part of any business; we could not have grown without the many exceptional people working with us over the years,” Jim said. “They are the backbone and we have been blessed to work with many quality individuals.” 

Reflecting, Jim adds, “I see us providing memories and products for families to cherish for a lifetime. It’s very humbling and rewarding. They will have our photos for the rest of their lives – what an honor to be part of that. We are grateful for the continued support from so many youth sports organizations in our community and from the parents that make our success possible.”

Thirty-nine years, three adult children and two grandkids, three full-time employees (one of which is their eldest son, John), and a lifetime of family and photographic memories later, and Jim is humbled and thankful.

“I love every minute of it – I never missed a practice or game with my own kids, and during our season I now write over sixty paychecks! It’s amazing what has happened since 1987.” 

And his father-in-law?

“He was not good at handing out compliments, but he eventually came around, and said I was the most successful person he knew!”

This feature appeared in the October 2023 issue of Haymarket-Gainesville Lifestyle Magazine. You can read the entire issue here and pick up copies at these locations.