While photos are the medium, Nicole Smith is in the business of memories.
Smith was working in global marketing for Microsoft when a work trip to Paris allowed her to reconnect with her best friend, who was in Copenhagen at the time. Spending “the weekend strolling the streets, walking and talking, it was just magical,” she says.
As most travellers do, they asked the odd stranger to snap a photo or two, and added a few selfies to the mix, but it wasn’t capturing the experience.
When another friend joined them, Smith asked her to take candid photos as they toured around the city, and the resulting images yielded the nugget of an idea.
“I got goosebumps because she captured the spirit of the trip from the vantage point that only a third party could do,” Smith says.
Flytographer connects travellers with photographers in their destination. Because the photographers are local, they’re often passionate about their city and travellers gain the added advantage of their insider knowledge, says Smith, who hears “it just really (captured) their vacation in a way they didn’t anticipate.”
As with any new business idea, initial reactions were mixed, but the Oak Bay woman was certain she had landed on a winner.
Rather than a vanity exercise of simply having photos taken in a beautiful city, it’s often the meaning behind the trip, or the photos’ importance to a loved one that sparks the call to Flytographer. Seeing the photos and hearing the stories, it’s frequently about their children or parent, Smith says. “It really matters to them to have these memories.”
She recalls one trip where a group of women flew their friend who had just beaten cancer to Chicago for a girls’ weekend and wanted to capture the celebration. “This was back in 2013 when I did all the bookings myself,” Smith says. “I remember fast-tracking opening Chicago, specifically to make sure these women could capture this moment.”
Working in “stolen moments” initially, she took the leap to work at Flytographer full time. She hired her first employee in 2014 and ramped up significantly in 2015.
“I really believe in the idea so passionately … I always saw its potential from the beginning,” Smith says. “I couldn’t not do it. I had to see it through.”
About the same time, she was approached by Dragon’s Den to bring her story to the show. “Dragon’s Den called me up and said do you want to be on the show next May?” recalls Smith, who had three days to come up with a pitch, get her materials ready and fly to Toronto. “It was a pretty nice surprise.”
Smith entered the den asking for a $175,000 investment for five per cent of the business. Dragon Michele Romanow initially offered Smith the investment for 5.8 per cent, an offer later amended with Joe Mimran with the two offering to work together with Flytographer in exchange for 10 per cent of the business.
Smith turned down the offer, and as she left the stage, Jim Treliving commented that she was making mistake.
Today, the Oak Bay High grad has 12 employees and 400 photographers working in 200 cities on six continents. She returns to the Den in a “where are they now?” episode airing March. 8.
“It feels wonderful to be able to see these things I’m passionate about taking off and … see this amazing team do even greater things,” Smith says.
