Glenn Jay Paulus:  

Dear family and friends, I¿ve written a quick overview of my life since Alhambra, and I hope you¿ll enjoy it. During college at Biola University in La Mirada, Ca and at Arizona Bible College and College del Rey in Phx. I worked as a photographer in East L.A. and then for my Dad's company (Candid Wedding Photographers on West Camelback Road). After college and through the Spring of 1977, I worked full-time for my father. After being contacted by a headhunter I moved my family to Northern California and worked for Keith Cole Photography in Redwood City. A year and a half later, that company was sold and I decided it was time to open my own. So, in June of 1978 I became self-employed and remain so to this day. Glenn Jay Photography started in the garage of my home in San Mateo. In 1981 I moved the business into the Laurelwood Shopping Center. For over 21 years in the same location (through May, 2002) we grew and were recognized by many in the San Francisco Bay Area as being a leader in our photographic community. In the early 90's I changed the name of the company to Choice Photographic to reflect the fact that the company had grown and now had many really good photographers whose work was being represented out of my studio. In June, 2008 I celebrated my 30th year in business. I am proud to say that over the years, myself, my staff, and the photographers that put their lot in with me have served literally hundreds of corporate clientele including Nordstrom, Visa, Apple and Oracle, plus thousands more clients who trusted us with their family portraits, or their wedding, Mitzvah, and Quinceanera events. In the past decade much has changed in business and in photography especially. Since the infamy of 9/11 whole industries have seen a shift of their market fundamentals...including mine. In response, the storefront studio was closed in May of '02. To further lower overhead and to take advantage of booming real estate values in the San Joaquin Valley I moved to Stockton, CA. I then further reduced the complexity of my life and the business' overhead by working from my new home and doing the marketing and sales through the Internet. I was now the only the only employee of Choice Photographic. Amazingly, after so many years of being a high profile photographer in San Francisco, I was totally happy with the change. I really loved the "commute": downstairs to work, upstairs to bed...Ha-Ha. The challenge was finding new clients. The dynamics of a "one-man-band" working from home were really different than being in a store-front, having employees and having that visibility. I had to work really hard to find the balance between not enough cash flow and pushing too hard to keep the business from exploding again beyond one person's capability to cope with it. To do this, I was able to maintain my relationships with my Bay Area clientele, and begin new friendships with the many wonderful folks I met in my new city of Stockton. And yes, I still traveled throughout Northern California (and sometimes beyond) doing Corporate PR, event photography, and personal photography for weddings, Mitzvahs, and Quinceaneras. I am grateful for the thousands of former clients who continued to remember me when new events came up in their lives. Between their support and the changes in how and where I ran my business, I was blessed to be able to stay in business, even when so many of my peers had thrown in the towel. On the "Personal" side, if you view the photos on my profile, you'll also know about my 3 grown daughters, 8 granddaughters, my wife Melani...Expand for more