In a country full of entrepreneurs and more and more small businesses opening up daily, there has undoubtedly been a rise in the number of husband-and-wife teams working together within their businesses. Well-known KZN Wedding DJ Jarryd Sunkel and his wife Emma recently joined forces to focus on and strengthen the photobooth side of their company.
If you’ve ever booked Jarryd for one of your events, you’ll know that apart from the quality of his work, his greatest asset is his ability to connect with his clients on a personal level. Now with his wife Emma having joined the Photobooth Lab side, things are getting even more personal and more professional!
Let’s face it, sometimes couples working together is a good idea – and sometimes it is not! But in the case of newlyweds Jarryd and Emma, their synergy, different personality strengths and ability to connect and bounce ideas off one another are what make this power couple a force to be reckoned with in the photobooth industry.
A primary school teacher by profession, Emma made the decision to leave the teaching world and join forces with her husband towards the end of last year. Although they had spoken about it for a while, her decision to actually resign and ‘give it a go’, she says, was quite an impulsive one.
“I just felt like I needed a change and wanted to try something different. I really do still love teaching though,” she says.
Born in the UK, Emma moved to South Africa when she was just three years old. She studied teaching after school in Durban and went on to teach at Appleton Primary and Crawford North Coast. She and Jarryd met on an online dating site in 2016 and got married last year.
Jarryd has been deejaying at weddings for over 18 years, and has grown his business into a thriving and highly successful wedding and event deejay and photobooth company.
“The photobooth, or ‘Instabooth’ as it used to be called, side of the business started out as an ‘add-on’ to the deejay offering, but it soon grew in popularity and often people who had already booked another deejay would ask for just our photobooth services,” he says.
Jarryd has now rebranded this side of the business to Photobooth Lab and currently has four photobooths out at any one time. “We pride ourselves on our unique, high quality service and offerings,” he says. “We have exclusive backdrops and green screens and customised templates, as well as digital links and hashtag printing both on or off site.”
Photobooth Lab booths are open air, offering a more professional photographic experience than the traditional ‘closed curtain’ or inflatable options. They have professional studio lights and Jarryd makes sure they are up-to-date with technological advances and offerings. “A photobooth is such a great accessory to have at your wedding, birthday celebration or corporate event,” says Jarryd.
Although there are minor challenges now and then, both Jarryd and Emma say that working together as a couple has so far been a wonderful experience. With him more focussed on the technical side of things, Emma is better at organising keeping things focussed. “She has a calming effect and has brought balance to my life and business. Our personalities are quite different, but somehow, we are really in sync and just complement each other.”
Asked what makes them ‘work’ as a couple working together, Jarryd says one of the most important things has been retaining balance in their lives and relationship. They keep relatively strict working hours and set aside time to have lunch or go for a run together. “Working with your wife is awesome. We have complete honesty and both of us are putting in two hundred percent 200% all of the time. We just work better together.”
Details: Photobooth Lab: 0723218821, https://www.photoboothlab.co.za/ https://www.facebook.com/photoboothlab, https://www.instagram.com/photoboothlab
TEXT: Leah Shone
