Erin Thompson, Air Force Spouse

When it comes to the challenges associated with military life, so often our military connected family members innovate effective and enduring solutions. This is certainly true for Erin Thompson, military spouse and photographer.

After pivoting from a career in education to that of an entrepreneurial photographer, Erin was faced with the challenges of frequent moves:  how to build a client base, how to find shooting locations, learning where permits are required, and where to find local resources. After connecting with a fellow milspouse photographer who happened to be swapping locations with her, Erin realized that she was not alone in facing these challenges. Both photographers had the insights that the other needed.  

Building upon the special bond milspouses share that comes from mutual understanding, Erin created Photographers Changing Stations. It is a free community and resource for milspouse photographers. Her Facebook group provides a place for community and resources sharing. Erin also partners with fellow photographers to create location guides including favorite places to shoot and relevant local knowledge to help someone who will be moving their business there. They currently have over 30 location guides in the US, Europe and Asia, with the goal of eventually publishing a guide for every base around the world. Even further, the community decided it would be helpful to have a way to keep track of who has experience where so that when someone has a question about a place they're moving, they have a contact to reach out to. Erin and her husband created an interactive list of photographers that responds to different filters so photographers can easily find the connections they need. Finally, as a teacher at heart, Erin created a YouTube channel to teach milspouse photographers about business topics that aren't specific to a particular location. She launched an online shop with detailed marketing resources that cover marketing tasks and strategies to create a seamless transition between duty stations. Her goal is simple: to make moving and running a photography business easier.

Reflecting on everything she has built, Erin says “Moving a business is hard, but I've also learned that community is really powerful. I'm so encouraged by how Photographers Changing Stations is growing and love seeing how members are already helping each other. I am honored to lead it and can't wait to see what we accomplish together in the future.”