In late December 1985, with no experience
or knowledge about developing film, Jesslyn
got to work learning her way into the job. What
she lacked in knowledge and experience, she
more than made up for with commitment and
the hard work to show for it. It was just the
way she was raised. Her father was a farmer.
Her mother, a homemaker. Surely, two of the
most challenging and demanding jobs on earth.
When Jesslyn was older, her mother started
taking in sewing. “She could make anything
with a sewing machine. She even made wedding
dresses.”
With a strong work ethic and commitment
that perhaps only farmers and mothers fully
understand, Jesslyn worked Monday through
Saturday from 8:00 in the morning until 8:00
at night. “I think I was making about $125 a
week,” she laughed.
The first task was to learn how to operate
72 Toombs County Magazine
the processing machinery. “Film had to go
through eight or nine tanks of chemicals before
it came out dry and you could print from it. It
wasn’t just a push of a button. We had to learn
how to adjust density and color. Those first few
weeks, we just let people bring in their film and
printed their pictures for free. If we messed up,
we were like, ‘Sorry.’ We weren’t really officially
open for business until the next year,” said
Jesslyn.
“Reid was in and out, but he couldn’t
just leave his business. William would come
Mondays and stay all day because we were
so busy. Everybody dropped off their film on
Mondays, so we never got out of there until
about 10:00 at night trying to catch up.”
On Wednesdays when she closed up shop,
Jesslyn helped William with portrait sessions
he took at The Advance. “He had always had
that interest,” she said. Before long, one night
turned into two. “Pretty soon, I was there
several nights a week and helping with Rec
Department pictures, too.” And as she worked,
Jesslyn learned. “Pretty soon, I was doing the
Rec Department pictures instead of William.”
The business continued to grow, and Jesslyn
was working almost around the clock. She
hired Brian Roberson, a high school student, to
come in at three when he got out of school and
bought an enlarger so they could make bigger
prints in house. In 1988, Jesslyn hired her
first full-time employee, Luan Newman, who
continues to work with her to this day.
In addition to everything else she was doing,
Jesslyn also kept the books. She decided to ask
Reid and William about expanding. “There was
a store front next to us available. I thought it
would be great to have the space to do photo
shoots right there. They were kind of scared
to take that next step, so they said, ‘If you can
save enough money, we’ll talk about it.’ That
was when I started putting money aside in an
empty paper box. When I thought it looked like
enough, I went to see William. As soon as he
said something about having enough money, I
reached down and pulled that box full of cash
out from under my chair. I had no idea how
much was in there, but when he counted it out
and realized how much was there, he agreed.”
She laughed.
Two years after opening, Jesslyn asked
Reid if he would be willing to sell his half of
the business to her, which he agreed to do. In
addition to the experience she gained working
with William, Jesslyn also attended a weeklong
school put on by the Georgia Professional
Photographers Association in Clarksville,
Jesslyn and her
team work hard to
capture moments
of people's
lives that will be
treasured for
generations.