03/02/2026
We’re proud to be to the 1st with this cool young business woman. Looking forward to a bright future.
In honor of International Women’s Month, we’re resharing the story of our founder because it’s a story that never gets old.
Melissa Tash started in photography as many do, capturing family photos on weekends while working full-time. She was an industrial engineer on the International Space Station Project when her friend asked if she’d consider doing photos at a local preschool.
Melissa had no idea what ‘school photography’ was about when she reached out to the preschool, but when they said yes to her proposal, she decided to just do what she knew: custom, interactive portrait sessions.
She asked parents to register their kids and share a bit about their personalities ahead of the photoshoot. Taking a friend with her to help on the big day, Melissa spent the day playing with the children and creating a gallery of beautiful photos that really captured their personalities.
It wasn’t the typical sit, say cheese, and next type of school photos, and the parents and kids absolutely loved the upscale, custom experience. Melissa organized the galleries online so the parents could view and order multiple photos.
In that very first session, over 80% of the parents bought packages. They ordered large images to put on their walls and loved being able to select multiple poses in their custom package.
Melissa knew she was on to something. She started to look at how she could make that same process even better and more efficient. She explored training others who loved children and photography so they could do the same thing.
In 2009, she quit her job working with NASA and started working on building the systems she needed to franchise. A proof-of-concept location opened in 2012, and the first two franchise locations opened in 2013.
From there, the Spoiled Rotten Photography team has continued to grow, innovate, and improve into the beautiful, fun franchise family they are today. You will find Spoiled Rotten Photography in 41 territories and 18 states, and growing across the country!
