photographer

area manager

medical sales executive

site manager

commissioner

Mom365

I worked here for a year in 2013-2014. A typical day here would be visiting moms who just had a baby a day or two ago. Talking to her about the photography services, the session is free and your whole way of making money is trying to get them to place an order that day, so you can get a 20% comm. Otherwise, your commission is cut if they order online which is what most people want to do because they're tired and want to go home. Of course who blames them being stuck days at a hospital and here comes someone wanting you to buy photos. Women are supposed to be healing. When you are able to get someone to buy, the more they buy the more commission you make. Not everyone is able to buy a $400.00 photo package. If you are not constantly selling the district manager comes and tells you that you need to sell more and retrains you on how to throw sale pitches. There is an hourly wage of $10/hr but that's if you don't have any sales. If your commission is more than your hourly then they give you that. So you can make anywhere from $100.00 to $400.00 a week.
This job is good if your a salesperson and you don't mind bugging people. Photography is not the main focus here, they have a standard of poses you have to follow. I really did enjoy photographing the mothers and their babies/ families. I enjoyed watching them watch a slideshow of the photographs I had just taken. At times the mothers would cry of joy especially when you got to photograph the babies in the NICU. The photos you took brought them so much joy and it brought me joy to create that joy. But unfortunately the pay wasn't enough to live off of and it was challenging, most of the doctors don't respect you, your lucky if the nurses do because they'll just barge in the middle of a photo shoot and most of the time a session can take hours because you have to wait for the doctor or nurse or blood test person or hearing test person to finish. Sometimes the baby would be fussy and you'd have to come back, some moms wouldn't feed their babies because they'd want their eyes open during the session I would have to tell them that they'll be more relaxed after they eat but sometimes that wasn't even enough.
I think they should pay you per session on top of commission and hourly. You really have to go thru a lot some parents want some outrageous studio photography and they'll show you photos on their photo of these professional photos and I had to remind them that those photos were taken in a photo studio and we just set up the bed with pillows and blankets and call it a day. You were not allowed to bring in anything into the hospital room, they wanted you to use what the mother had in the hospital room.
I wasn't a salesperson but I was a photographer and I had a good reputation at the hospital I worked at but some days you couldn't get to every mother, I was the only photographer and some days I'd have to see 15 to 20 mothers a day. For a few weeks, I worked 7 days straight! Because there was no one else to cover me. People came and went from this job, and now I know why. So if you're looking to work here good luck.

I was excited about starting my job at Mom365.  I was warned that the training process would take a while, which it most certainly did.  I went for all of my shots, tests and did a lot of paperwork on the computer.  It took about 2 months to get me into the hospital where I would be training.  There is an extensive set up process for the day.  Picture this, you're at home with your little ones- cooking, cleaning, managing, etc... there is a knock at your door every 5 minutes from all different types of people... including sales people.  You're tired, annoyed, but continue to answer the door because you don't want to seem rude.  That's kind of what these hospital rooms are like.  People constantly coming in and out, right after a MAJOR change has just happened in your life.  You are tired, breastfeeding or hoping the baby will stop crying but not sure why he/she is crying in the first place... and in we come to push you to stop visiting with family or friends to take pictures of your precious new baby.  We claim it's free but then do a whole sales pitch after we are done taking the pictures.  We present the video we've made of your baby and then start spitting out hundreds of dollars worth of stuff you can buy from us.  (Think, the lady in the mall with the camera who is trying to take a picture of your child and then selling you that said picture on a coffee mug).  I just found it to be very pushy.  You then either get a little percentage of that sale or you get $10 an hour, which ever is more.  It's a toss up of what kinds of people you will be deal with also.  There is the mom and dad who text the whole time you are doing photos, who could care less that you are doing them, and you just know they won't be buying anything.  There is the nice family who converses with you and actually appreciates what you are doing for them, and then there's the overbearing parents who are very very cautious of you handling their newborn, which makes you extremely nervous.
They don't necessary train you at the hospital you will be working for.  And since each hospital is different, you are lost and confused.  I did my training for a week at one hospital and was then told to go to another hospital to start working there and that I would be moved to a different one after a couple of weeks of being at this new one.  The processes are different. Everything except the photography aspect was the same.  I was told after being at my new hospital for a day that I would be working on my own the next time I was there, but it was all so overwhelming that I didn't return.  There has to be a better way of doing things.  My trainer was AMAZING but that doesn't account for anything when nothing I got thrown into was the same as what I had learned.  
I applied to be a part-time employee, but I ended up working from 945 a.m. until 7 p.m. just about everyday during my training.  That was not what I signed up for.  They explained that it was because it was busy and that hours do change but I can't even imagine being asked to work full-time hours when I specifically stated that that is not what I wanted to do.

Any art students who may have graduated with a degree in the arts, this may be a good first job to simply gain photography experience for your resume. But believe me, you will be "under employed", as the full potential of your creativity  and education will not be put to use here. 

First off, photographers aren't provided with their own office from Mom365 to work from at the hospital. You're just shoved in the nursery room sharing a small space with hospital staff or whatever small, leftover office nurses/doctors aren't using. 
 
If you're in the middle of a photo session and nurses need to examine the baby, you have to stop whatever you're doing, which takes time away from completing your session. At times, doctors will come in the room and just talk to mom and ignore your presence, as if you're invisible!

The company places WAY too MUCH pressure on the photographer to sell expensive packages to families. If your hospital is located in a low income neighborhood, moms find it difficult to grasp why they should spend $500 on a package, when they can do the same thing way cheaper at Walmart, etc! So good luck with that. The job is minimum wage with hardly any benefits. Over worked and underpaid!!! As expensive as these packages are, and the amount of work you do to capture beautiful, professional photos for these families, the lack of compensaton/ benefits given back to employees is very disappointing. We are providing these families with professional photography services, so our pay should reflect that!

The main objective at the end of the day it's to MAKE THE SALE. If you're in it simply because you like taking pictures, then this commissioned-based job may not be a good fit for you in the long run. You can be the best photographer in the world, but if you can't convince moms to buy photos, you're waisting your time unnecessarily. I would go elsewhere, where people actually request your services, instead of you coming into rooms, begging mothers to spend money, and to let you take her baby's pictures when she's already exhausted from giving birth.
 
If you're a natural born sales person and like the challenge of making commission, then apply. If you're just starting out in your career, or just need a source of extra income at the moment, then apply. Otherwise, keep looking.

Mom365 was acquired by an investment firm in 2018 and from what I can tell has been struggling to stay afloat since then.

My direct manager has been amazing as well as any other coworkers I've engaged with.

As an area manager your role is to build relationships with hospital staff, train and hire new part time photographers, build schedules, and manage time cards. Beyond that you also photograph babies and sell photo packages.

The problem is the state of performing those duties. The computers we use are extremely dated - like 10 years +. Some of the laptops I've seen are even still running Windows 7... And are beat up or missing physical parts.

The cameras we had are just as old, with some of them having similar cosmetic issues as the laptops. Beyond that the company uses a custom proprietary software for the photographers in hospital and it also feels extremely outdated. All of these things supposedly are going to be improved on in the future but I'm skeptical that is true.

The last and most glaring issue is the pay. The positions are advertised as "Up to 'X' amount per hour". They're vague for a reason... And it's not morally okay I think. The pay is a fallback pay of $13/hr for part time photographers and $17/hr for area managers. It's a "fallback" pay because they want you working off of commission instead of the fallback pay. Commission ranges per hospital and position typically between 22%-30%. 

The problem is you're going in and selling hundreds of dollars worth of photography to mom's in hospital who are emotional, just had a baby, in a new financial situation supporting sajd new baby, etc. so it can feel a bit aggressive or invasive sometimes asking to do photos and also asking for the sale. 

The other thing is that in my experience, there is not enough babies to make the commission part of the job with it in any measure, so you end up with fallback pay instead. They look at the fallback pay and the commission you've earned in a pay period and pay you whichever one is higher. You don't get both.

Beyond the issues I mentioned already with equipment and software, the pay is the nail in the coffin for me. 

For a specialized job like photography and sales you'd think you would be paid better but you're not. Its sad to think an employee could go work in fast food and make much more money.

If they updated the equipment and software then revamped the pay system, this would be a great job. Photographing newborn babies is a lot of fun and the families you do connect with are a fantastic experience for everyone involved.

If you work at a bigger hospital maybe your experience will be more positive. This job is definitely not for everyone. For some context, I went to school for art and had taken several photography courses, so I thought this would be a great fit. The job itself is not bad- you get to take pictures of cute newborn babies and put together a slideshow of your handiwork for the new parents. The bad part is your workday is obviously based on how many babies you can photograph in a day, and you have to hope that the new parents want to purchase a huge portrait package. Your base hourly pay rate is so meager there is no way you can afford to make this your only job. At the hospital I worked at, they only allowed the photographer to come in on certain days and hours, so that really restricted the amount of money I was guaranteed to make each week. You do get a commission on all the portrait packages you sell- but that’s only if you can sell them. In our modern times where everyone has a high quality camera on their phone and dozens of picture editing apps are available, everyone thinks they are as good as a professional photographer. People usually will just purchase the digital copies of your photos, which is one of the least expensive options, which means very little commission for you. Or worse, they say they will purchase them online with the code you email them during your sales pitch, but in reality they have no real intention of making any purchase and are just letting you down easy. I had countless moms who would cry so many happy tears when I would be playing them the slideshow of the pictures I took of their beautiful new baby, only to balk at the photo package prices when the time came. Maybe this was just my experience in this particular hospital. When I was hired for the job the company made it seem like you could make your own schedule and if you did a great job on your pictures you would be successful in this role. This is not at all the case. This is why actual professional photographers will charge clients a base rate upfront and have a payment contract in place before taking photographs. You just can’t rely on new parents to want to throw down hundreds of dollars that they hadn’t planned on spending in this economy. I could see this being an okay part-time job for a college photography major, but not as a full time job for someone trying to make a living.

When I applied for this job it was never advertised as a "sales" position. It was advertised as a "photography" position. After applying and having a phone interview, then a Skype interview I was offered the position. I had to get a series of vaccines to work in the hospital (not an issue). Once I started my hands on "training" they supplied me with a plastic baby doll that wasn't even able to hold the positions that they want you to capture when handling the real babies. It's an awkward setting while training. They have a chart  that you have to follow with the positions that you are required to capture. All this said, what made me very uncomfortable with this company is the fact that they are very invasive and pushy to the families when trying to take photos. We were literally told that if a family says that they do not what their babies photos taken we are supposed to "persuade" them into getting them taken anyway. For example, I was training and my mentor went into a room and asked the family if they wanted their pictures taken. The mother said no, they were just about to eat and wanted to relax. My mentor then proceeded to say, "Okay no problem, we can come back in about an hour and try again." The mother again declined the offer. At that point my initial response would have been to say alright no problem, have a great day. But my mentor tried a THIRD time saying, "Well even if you don't want to buy a package just for letting us take the photos you get a free complimentary gift." By this point the mother was very annoyed and the father stepped in and asked us to leave. I was so uncomfortable I asked to go home. She insisted that I stay and that it gets easier. I proceeded to tell her no, I was leaving. I emailed my manager (whom I have never even met in person) telling her that I didn't think this position was for me, I thanked her for the opportunity. I never heard from her again. She never replied to my email.

A typical day at work would be arriving at your hospital (depending on your district) 8-9am and there is no set finish time. You will be on your feet the whole time and it can be a very fast paced environment depending on what hospital you are working at. You need to be a people person and be able to take control or your environment. If you are soft spoken or very shy you wont make it. You need to be a fast learner and be able to follow policies and procedures.  You get your list of babies and you must see each and every one of them. Your objective is to get in the rooms and do a full photo session(THIS IS A SALES JOB). Your job is to sell your work and TOP DOWN SELL.  What can be frustrating is when you do so many photoshoots and no one buys anything! Each hospital has a daily $ expectation that you need to meet.

Management favored and did not inforce policies. With this being done, photographers were not reliable and it made my job much harder. Also you may be called in to work on your days off if a photographer calls in sick or just doesn't show up at all. You also may not be limited to one hospital so keep that in mind as well.
The hardest part of my job is not having support from other photographers, being on my feet the whole time. The pay is not stable.  If you are looking for  a small part time thing, this may work for you but when you have bills it doesn't work so much. If you know how to sell and are a quick thinker, you can make more on commission but if not its hourly which is like $9-10.
The most enjoyable part of my job is seeing the babies and capturing those first moments with the families.

When I started here in the spring I made a ton of sales and it was easy to hit my goals, but I didn't realize that was only because it was the "busy season" for newborns. And once your sales slowed down management would harp about numbers, as though you could control the number of newborns? 

It can be a lonely job when you're the only photographer in the hospital, and previous photographers and managers had not established a good relationship with hospital staff. Luckily I had a photography background, or I'm sure I would have struggled with lack of guidance once training was over.

The money dried up quickly with less births and few mothers willing to pay for expensive packages, and hospitals in my area withdrew from their contracts apparently due to unpleasant interactions with the old district manager, or a general dislike for the business model.

I also didn't like the business model of selling to tired and hormonal mothers who were emotional and already had a ton financial woes on their plate. I'm sure sales vary widely within this company depending on the demographics of your area. 

If you are new to photography this might help introduce you to that world and give you some VERY BASIC skills, so maybe you can transition to a better photo job later. A job with this company just doesn't seem sustainable given how unpredictable and exhausting the sales are.

This company has A LOT of potential, however, they severely lack any knowledge of how to actually operate. Upper management is absolutely horrendous and does not listen to any of your concerns. Instead they talk in circles because they don’t want their photographers to “know too much.” The training is an absolute joke. They basically just throw you in. They operate as a photography company, yet they use bottom of the line cameras and kit lenses that constantly break from being refurbished so often. When you call in to replace said equipment you are constantly blamed for breaking it, and treated like a bother for making field support do their job. You operate on a severely outdated operating system and the computers you use constantly break as well. They want you to sell over priced low quality JPEG images and outdated add ons to new parents. You do not get any bonuses for your good sales every now and then they will throw in a five dollar incentive. They pay everyone a different commission percentage. You are overworked because the company hires incompetent people who a. Quit immediately, b. Refuse to show up to work, or c. Show up and do the bare minimum. And they refuse to fire them. They also do not have management at hospitals, which creates the perfect environment for a free for all for the employees that don’t want to show up for shifts etc. our manager doesn’t even live in the same state. Needless to say the only good thing is if you are good at sales and take decent photos you can make decent money.

I worked with Mom365 for about two years. I only stopped, because a family member's serious illness came back. During the time that I worked there, I discovered that what I thought might get a bit redundant (always following the same poses) actually was a life-saver and could become quite challenging depending on the newborn's and family's needs. I loved the opportunities I had to practice speaking Spanish and became more fluent. I also gained many additional photography skill sets, while I often faced challenging lighting situations. No room was the same & I developed great friendships with the hospital staff. Fallback pay could have been a bit more, but in retrospect it was a lot more than what I made when minimum wage was $5.25. We should always heed our blessings, no matter how small they are. Connecting to and holding the newborns, aside from helping mom to get to know her bundle of joy and share precious moments with her as I photographed her bundle of joy was best of all. When I encountered communication difficulties with fellow photographers, I brought it up at our weekly conference call and it got resolved. This job will not pay all of your bills, but it is a great part time opportunity to learn new skills, make people and yourself smile & meet fascinating people and cultures, since you never know who you will meet in those hospital rooms. Photographing in NICU was my favorite thing to do.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Photographer 960 salaries reported	$17.67 per hour
Area manager 13 salaries reported	$29.15 per hour
Medical sales executive 25 salaries reported	$16.30 per hour
Site manager 15 salaries reported	$29.72 per hour
Commissioner 18 salaries reported	$17.71 per hour

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