Melissa Sullivan
Photo Manager & Digital Organizer
Hi, my name is Melissa, although most people call me Mel. I have always had a passion for photos, keepsakes, and preserving family memories. My kids can tell you that I was that Mom who always had her phone camera ready, and I don’t think there was a day of their childhood I didn’t snap at least one pic. Now that they’re grown, I had to find a way to organize those thousands of photos and get them out of the cloud so we can all view and enjoy them. Along the way, I discovered that my passion for photos and organizing could help other families find joy in their camera rolls too. I love to see the smiles on people’s faces when they’re able to enjoy their newly organized photo collections and share their precious photos with their family and friends.
In addition to photos, I also help people organize other aspects of their digital lives. Some projects I've done for clients include setting up email workflows and automatic sorting rules to help achieve inbox zero -- and stay there! I also set up filing systems for digital documents and help clients go paperless.
When I’m not helping families with preserve their photos or clean up their digital disasters, I enjoy knitting, reading, and watching too much television. I also like being outdoors enjoying the beauty of Northcentral Wisconsin’s forests and lakes, although you’ll never find me camping because I require A/C and wifi after a day spent in nature. I live with my husband Shawn, our three cats – Paddy, Seamus, and Doug – and our college-aged kids Emma and Owen when they come home for laundry and food.
Why You Need a Photo Manager
Yes, you can manage your own photo collection, but will you? People hire a Photo Manager for the same reason they hire other service professionals like a house painter, a landscaper, or a cleaning service — because they don’t have the time, expertise, equipment, or desire to do the job themselves.
It’s true that Photo Managers didn’t exist a couple of decades ago, but the way we take and view photos has changed drastically in recent years too. Some of us are old enough to remember buying a roll of 24-exposure film, carefully choosing which 24 photos to take, then bringing that film to the drugstore to be developed. Later, we’d pick up the envelope of printed photos and flip through them hopefully, inevitably finding a few that were unusable with thumbs in front of the lens, closed eyes, or lighting issues.
Fast forward to 2023, and many of us take at least a dozen photos a day including screenshots, photos of meals, or a series of shots of the dog doing something cute. Having powerful cameras in the palm of our hands is amazing, but often we snap pics willy-nilly and then forget to go back later and edit and organize them. Before you know it, you’ve got camera roll chaos. It’s possible to manage this chaos yourself, but some people choose to hire an expert so they can spend more time out in the world making new memories rather than sitting in front of their computer organizing their old ones.
My Qualifications
I’m a member of both the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO) and The Photo Managers, a professional association for photo managers from around the world. I continually invest in training to stay up-to-date on the latest technology and techniques, and I have a network of colleagues and experts I can reach out to for collaboration or advice when needed. I abide by The Photo Managers Code of Ethics and respect the confidentiality of my clients’ photos and files.