When it comes to a holiday wish list for creative female entrepreneur, what you’re going to get from me is NOT a bunch of planners, things to help you manage your time, get more done, or drive yourself to the bone. NOT HERE, my friends!

As a female business owner, the way that I’m able to show up best for my business and my big dreams to make sure that I am taking care of myself in ALL THE WAYS. That my work space is inspiring and beautiful (to me), that I’m physically comfortable when I work, that I take time for myself to dream, to relax, to watch dumb TV, to process my emotions, to dig for the roots of my triggers, to be with friends who hear my heart - to do what needs to be done to follow what lights me up, and to be present for every single part of my life (as best I can) in the process.

So, this holiday gift guide for my fellow heart-centered women business owners with big dreams on their hearts, this is for YOU.

BOOK: PLAYING BIG by Tara Mohr

• Every woman should read this book. Hands down. It’s about trusting the voice inside, handing that inner critic like a boss, standing up for your big dreams and showing up for the things that are calling you like a siren song. Any female big dreamer in your life will thank you for this!

Candles: P.F. Candle Co.

• Look, candles just make the space better, okay? Their soft, flickering glow, their comforting scents - ah, I love candles. And P.F. Candle Co. is hands-down one of my favorite candle companies. I have adored every scent I’ve ever ordered (and it’s a lot). Get one that your creative entrepreneur can light while she works. Get one she can light during self-care time. Get one that’s just fun to light any time!

Wick Trimmer

• This might seem to dumb, but if you’ve got a candle fan on your hands, a wick trimmer is a MUST. You know how sometimes you’ll light a candle and the flame will have some black soot in it that doesn’t stop? That’s simply because the wick was too long when you lit it! Each time you light your candle, you should trim it. And trying to trim it with a regular pair of scissors is a frustrating mess. This one is easy to order on Amazon, but you can find them at candle stores and on Etsy as well!

Cool Candle Lighter

• Candle theme, anyone? LOOK, I LIKE CANDLES, OKAY?! And I know I’m not the only one. And if you’ve got an entrepreneur friend who lights candles every day like I do, then they’re probably over taking out that ugly lighter that looks like it was made for ugly camping things. Anyone who appreciates a beautiful aesthetic will LOVE these awesome lighters. They’re rechargeable! No butane! It’s eco-conscious!

• Check out their CANDLE LIGHTERS - 13 colors!

• Check out their MOTLI LIGHTERS (like the one pictured!) - 23 colors!

Moon Bath Book

• OMG I just ordered this and I cannot WAIT to get it! For any bath lovers who also love or are interested in the lunar cycle, this is for THEM!

Mala Beads Bracelet

• These beaded bracelets are hands-down my favorites. I love that they each have a mantra with them. “I am grounded,” “I am love,” and “I am healing” are just some of the ones you can find. Plus, they email you a meditation to go with whichever ones your purchase. SO COOL. They also have mala necklaces, meditation mats and cushions, and lots of good stuff. Check them out!

Hilarious Throwback Shirt from Saturday Morning Pancakes

• I freaking love Saturday Morning Pancakes! So many hilarious shirts!! Honestly, they’re not the SOFTEST, but for seasonal fun stuff (or fun brand photos - hint, hint!) they’re totally worth it. My favorite one that I have right now is a sweatshirt that says, “Snow Diggity Snow Doubt.” Because No Diggity is a song I can seriously get down to. Ok, now I want to dance. Anyone want to dance with me?

Swig Tumbler - Coffee, Tea, Wine, Cocktail!

• Swigs are the BEST. I’m currently totally into the mugs with the handles. You can put anything in it and it’s just so dang easy to tote around!

My Most Favorite GIANT Calendar!

• I’ve used this sucker to plan my year for the past 3 years. I mount it on foam core board and organize my whole year with it!

Want to know what Jamie here did in 2020 while we were all stuffing our faces and trying not to touch anything? She started her own wedding dress design company. I mean, C’MON! I was like, “Ok, wow, well…I made sure my Amazon box sat by itself for an hour before I opened it, which was REALLY HARD!” haha!

Amazing productivity, inspiration and creativity aside, I was so excited to work with Jamie! So often my brand photography clients are online entrepreneurs, meaning the bulk of their business is done online - course creators, coaches, and marketers for example - so it can be a really fun way to mix things up when I have a client that creates physical products.

Jamie had a room rented in a co-working space that was actually in the back of a large church. It was old and had been painted white and was filled with natural light, so even though her space was small, it was still beautiful to photograph. We also got to use the church, which was SO COOL and worked so well as a backdrop for a wedding dress designer - I mean, that’s where so many weddings take place! It was super cool to be able to bring in the moodiness of the dark old church and combine it with the brightness and light of her space and her dresses. Really helps tell a full story!

We also had access to common spaces, which was perfect for those “I’m designing, talking to clients and in my creative zone” shots. As I do in all my brand photography sessions, we made sure to get great headshots, mid-length shots, full body shots, shots of her working, the space itself, and fun details. A great variety for your final brand photography gallery is so important!

One of Jamie’s biggest concerns was the same that most women come to me with - she didn’t really like photos of herself that much, especially after some of 2020 comfort eating if you get my drift. BUT, I was super proud of her because, while she felt those things, she was still willing to show up for her business and put her face out there. Her dream was more important than her fear and I’ve got to applaud that!

So, here’s the question: when you look at her photos, do you see anything awkward or uncomfortable? Nope. I only see a gorgeous woman. If you’ve put yourself in the “I don’t like photos of myself” or “I’m not photogenic” category, know that you aren’t alone. And also know that it’s highly likely that others are only going to see a beautiful woman, especially if you work with the right photographer who can not only help you find angles that feel good, but who will speak goodness and beauty over you as well!

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Need some help putting more YOU into your personal brand? Check out this post!

You’re ready to finally face the lens and get yourself an awesome set of images that you can use for all the things in your business and then you wonder, “Who can actually take all the photos I need? Who understands what I need? Who can I trust with my insecurities in front of a camera?”

Do NOT just go for the first photographer you come across. When it comes to getting brand photos that you not only adore, but are also ridiculously useful, it’s really important to make sure that your brand photographer totally gets your brand AND that you get along with him/her.

Here are three stellar tips to help you choose the perfect brand photographer for you.

1 - Only use a brand photographer.

This is KEY. Seriously. Your wedding photographer, family photographer or newborn photographer may be award-winning, but that doesn’t mean she understands all the photos that you need to launch your course, for example. It’s so important to realize that being able to take good photos is NOT ENOUGH. You need someone who has been working with brands for a while and who can hear about your brand/business and discern what you do and don’t need, and come to the table with lots of visual ideas.

2 - Look at their portfolios with a discerning eye.

It’s easy for a photographer to put “brand photographer” on their website and still not be as useful as you need them to be. When it comes to creating a bank of images for you - especially if you’re going to be using them for something as visual and in need of regular updating as Instagram - the last thing you want is 30 images of you standing in the center of the frame smiling. You need VARIETY! It’s the spice of life, right? Oh, and also of your website and your Instagram feed and anything else you plan on putting more than 2 photos on.

So, be on the lookout for variety in their portfolio. Look to see that the subject isn’t always in the center. Look for creative angles. Look for creative use of of objects, color and texture. Make sure that there is a variety of EMOTION in their portfolio. It shouldn’t all just be standing and smiling - you want to be able to tell ALL the pieces of your brand story as well as speak to your client’s pain points. Think of the things you want to talk about in your business and look at a photographer’s photos while asking yourself, “Does it look like she could photograph everything I need?”

3 - Get on a discovery call.

Hopefully, you’ve found a few personal brand photographers that look like they can give you what you need! Whoop! But now it’s time to hop on a discovery call with each of them. None of this, “I don’t feel like talking on the phone” stuff. The two of you will be spending several hours together creating images that you’re hoping to use for months (or longer). The last thing you want is to get together and realize that she is NOT your cup of tea. Your photos will look forced, stiff, uninviting - and you’ll probably hate using them, and that’s just a waste of money and time.

So, take advantage of that discovery call, share your vision, your hopes and your worries and make sure that you vibe with your photographer. You want to be as comfortable as possible in front of the camera and have tons of fun, so take the time to find a brand photographer who’s your kind of people!

And that’s it! Looking for more brand photos and tips? Come follow me on Instagram!

Local to Nashville or coming for a visit and ready for a brand shoot?! Contact me to set up a discovery call!

In her British accent she exclaims, “Hello, dah-ling!”

Working with Karen Sinclair Drake on her brand photoshoot was an absolute delight. She’s passionate, all about philanthropy, hilarious and totally gorgeous to photograph - plus her home (where we did her shoot) is off-the-charts magazine worthy, so that was a magnificent bonus!

Karen is the brains behind Flowering Pharmacy where she uses her decades of knowledge and experience in the skincare industry and combines it with her knowledge and passion for flowers and all things of-the-earth and creates custom fragrances for small businesses and personalities! How cool is that?!

It was awesome to work with someone in the green science space since I haven’t done any brand photography for anyone in that industry before this. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how much I loved working with a female entrepreneur over the age of 50. Being around her, her energy, hearing the story of her career - it was all really awesome. I felt that I was both in the presence of a peer AND a mentor. (Oh, and it was so fun to be given some of her all natural & luxury skincare line! I loved it so much that I’ve ordered it on my own several times now! haha! I love when I get to be a client of my client’s!).

Karen, in particular, is a special client to me because we started to work together just as we were having to put our dog down. He was almost 18 and it was time. I had told Karen because I didn’t know exactly what day it would be and she and I were trying to schedule a planning call. She was beyond gracious. She had put her cat down a few months before and sent me a voice memo with the most beautiful words of compassion and wisdom. She was so open and flexible with scheduling. She really treated the situation the way that we should 100% treat women in business - that we can still be total badasses at what we do AND we’re human and go through sucky things sometimes. She held space for both - I was her brand photographer AND a human. THIS is how we overcome hustle culture and move into our feminine flow of self-care and true self-awareness - to allow other women in business to do the same.

We’re in the process of booking another shoot and I can’t wait!

Want to know the thing that sets you apart from the hundreds or thousands of others offering the same thing you are? Guess what? It’s YOU. Yes, your unique journey, perspective, experiences, triumphs and trials! Your personality, your enneagram, your astrological sign, however you want to think of it! Whether you are a health coach, life coach, business coach, artist, real estate agent, course creator, social media guru or marketing manager extraordinaire, you’re likely not in an industry all by your lonesome. So it’s really all about YOUR way of approaching things, the way you treat your clients and customers, and then those quirky things that make you YOU.

When you’re out there sharing your one-of-a-kind story as it relates to your business, you set yourself to be an authority and you definitely want people to think you know what you’re doing!

So, then HOW do you build a personal brand?!

Let’s get into the 3 Steps to Add More YOU Into Your Personal Brand!

STEP 1: Create an “About Me” document

Don’t worry about what makes sense for your business or the things you don’t want to bring up, just write down the following:

Write down the fun stuff about you:

• Simple pleasures

• Guilty pleasures

• Favorite vacation spots

• Fun facts

• Makes you laugh

• Lights you up

Write down the deeper stuff:

• Overall journey

• Smaller pieces of the journey

• Values

• What do you stand for

• What is most important to you in the whole world

What you love & hate as it relates to your 5 senses:

• Taste (ex: love chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven / hate raw coconut)

• Smell

• Hear

• Feel

• See

What are your super powers?!

• Personal

• In your business

STEP 2: Create commonalities and endearment

• Go back to your “about me” document and circle the things you would like to have in common with your audience

• As you look at your list, create a set of VALUES from it. For example, personally, I had my implants taken out in early 2021. Now, it would be ridiculous to want to have that exact thing in common with my audience. BUT, that act was from self-love and self-care, and those are definitely VALUES that I want to have in common with my audience. So, you can begin to identify values that you would like to have in common with your ideal clients.

• Ask yourself, “What do I want my audience to know about me?” What makes you likable, cool, fun, approachable, relatable, endearing, smart, etc. How do you want your audience to think of you and what pieces of your story convey that?

STEP 3: APPLY IT TO YOUR BRAND

• In captions and photos - ex: do you work from home? with kids? That’s personal, consider sharing it!

• Brand color palette - is everything more joyful? Or do you need some depth to your colors? They should make sense with who you are and what you want to get across!

• Brand elements - are you more whimsical or preppy or formal or casual? Bring that in!

WANT TO DIVE IN A LITTLE DEEPER? WATCH THE VIDEO TRAINING HERE! (You’ll have to request to join the Facebook group first.)

Now that you have this wonderful list for your personal brand and you’ve narrowed down what you want parts of it you want to show up in your brand, you can use this information for things like your about page, writing bios, social media posts and captions, emails for your newsletter and more. You can weave it into your products and services, your branding and really stand out!! Go get ‘em!!

Working with Madison was an absolute joy. She is so centered and calm, but also joyful and always looking to become the best version of herself. She is truly the embodiment of grace and growth.

I love working with full-hearted and creative women entrepreneurs, for I am one and I thrive when I feel my client and I are not only on the same page, but that we could talk for hours. Helping these kinds of women to show up as the face of their brand inside their business is truly an honor and, honestly, is just so damn fun!

Like many of my clients, Madison rented a beautiful home rental for her personal brand photo shoot. This option makes a lot of sense if your home and/or work space is dark or doesn’t align with the message you want to convey. The bright home with mainly light decor, woods and plants, combined with some pops of color really went along well with Madison’s brand of down-to-earth, positive, hopeful, and welcoming.

For her wardrobe, we stuck to light yellow, neutrals, denim, and some maroon.

The “struggle” - and I put that in quotes because very brand shoot has a struggle, but it’s not REALLY a struggle for me, it’s usually something that the client comes in with that we need to break through a little bit.

For Madison, she wanted to bring in some of her playful side, but she’s naturally shy in front of the camera. In this case, it’s all about making sure you have a connection with your branding photographer and being able to trust her. Personally, I’m all about being a goofball on my shoots and that really tends to put people at ease and help them open up so that we can really capture who they are!

Her website is beautiful - so centered and peaceful - and you can also see how she used her brand photos on it! I LOVE seeing how my clients use their photos on their website!

Scroll down to see some screenshots from her website!

SCREENSHOTS OF MADISON’S WEBSITE & HOW SHE’S USING HER BRAND PHOTOS:

What’s the deal with morning routines, anyway? Just get up and make some coffee and jot some things down in your “go for your dreams” journal?

A morning routine needs a PURPOSE. Yes, a good morning routine can definitely help give you some clarity for what to focus on for the day, but a GREAT morning routine will help you discover and dissolve those sneaky invisible blocks that keep you in endless procrastination mode and away from making progress toward your goals and dreams. 

Those hidden blocks lurk in your subconscious, where all things unknown lie - and also where our mind takes orders from.

So, your conscious mind might be like, “I’m totally gonna get through that course and create my own program and I’m doing it in SIX WEEKS!” 

And your subconscious is like, “hahahahahahaha! But for real. Doesn’t that sound scary? What happens if you actually do it? Will it be like that time you achieved something in 7th grade? With the bad ending? That was awful. What happens if you don’t?! It’ll be a repeat of when you fell on your face during field day and everyone called you Mud Butt for the next several years.  ALSO? Someone else is probably doing it. Let’s skip it.”

And the part of your brain that tells you to actually take effective action or not - THAT part, you guys, is the subconscious.

And if we’re not working to make big strides there, we’re just perpetually stuck.

But this is where a kick-ass morning routine comes in. Sounds weird? Well, being consistent with one changed my life - and the way I show up in my business. And I KNOW it can change yours as well.

When it comes to a morning routine, you need to have THREE KEY PARTS in order to get to that hidden voice and start to shift it. 

The bonus about using a morning routine to shift your blocks is that isn’t not scary! You’re not doing it in public, you’re not even in a group. You can’t fail in front of others, you can’t get judged by others - it’s just you. It’s an amazing place to start healing and taking your own risks - it’s like a baby-proofed healing playground. 

Ok, let’s get to it.

THE THREE MUST-HAVE PHASES OF A BLOCKS-BUSTING MORNING ROUTINE

1. BODY

   1. It’s just movement. That’s it! Just waking your body up! You can even start before you get out of bed, gently moving each part of your body and saying good morning to it. For my body work, I do simple stretches. Whatever is tight that morning, I take a couple of minutes to stretch it out. Neck rolls, bends, rolling down always feels good on my back. 

   2. Body work serves to help keep you from going straight to your head for all the answers, all the to-do lists, all the things. When you start the day by listening to your body and giving it some stretches where it needs it, you start to train yourself to listen to your body throughout the day, which is key for a lot of things.

   3. You can absolutely get more involved in this - going for a walk, yoga, full-on workout, a run, dancing - anything that moves your body is FANTASTIC. The only way to fail here is to not do anything more than walking around your house like usual. 

1. BREATH

   1. It’s just breathing. That’s it!  But the trick is that it’s intentional breathing where, instead of being completely unaware that you’re breathing, you’re actually focused on it. I only do focused breathing for about 90 seconds, so you don’t have to get too intense here!

   2. If you have a yoga practice, you might already know things like Lion’s Breath, Bee Breath or Breath of Fire. But if those sound like nicknames for your partner in the morning, all you really have to do is set a time for 60-90 seconds, put your hand on your tummy, and feel your breath moving your hand.

   3. Tip: if you’re working through some strong emotions like anger, you can also punch the air and breathe out with a loud “ha!” every time you punch!

1. DEPTH

   1. Alright, you guys, this is where the MAGIC happens. You’ve moved your body and done your breathing, which encourages more blood flow and movement of energy, and primes your body for your depth work. This is where we’re gonna hit up that subconscious bullshit that’s set up shop in there. 

   2. Depth work is designed to access the deeper levels of your subconscious and begin to shift your current autopilot patterns to things that are way more exciting, fulfilling and beneficial to you and everyone around you.

   3. Meditation is great for this. I know it’s hard to sit there and “think of nothing” which is why visualization is a brilliant alternative. It gives you mind something to do. Here are some ideas for visualizing:

      1. Create a “safe space” in nature where you can “spend time” just being safe and being you.

      2. Visualize yourself going through an ideal day - what does each part look like.

      3. From Tony Robbins Priming: visualize a light coming from the sky/the Heavens, having it shoot down through you deep into the earth and then shooting back up through you into the sky again. Each time it passes through imaging it strengthening the best parts of you.

   4. There are lots of other depth work options as well, such as journaling, mirror work, Vipassana meditation, and more!

If you’re thinking, “Wow, I’d love a GUIDE to help me create my own personalized morning routine to help me bust through my own blocks,” then guess what?! I’ve got just the guide for you!

Download The Brave Business Gal’s Guide to a Badass Morning Routine for FREE right now!

When you get the guide, you’ll also be given a few little treats in some subsequent emails!

Working with this wizard of words was an absolute blast. She’s a copywriter and her whole business framework is around theatre and theatre themes (note: you totally don’t have to have anything to do with theatre to work with this brilliant woman) .

For this personal brand photoshoot we rented an AirBNB in Nashville. We were able to utilize the room itself, the lobby area as well as the outside entertainment area, which was great!

I’m always a fan of confetti, especially when using those photos to welcome people in, whether it’s for a course, a program or just a 1:1 client. This particular use of confetti was hilarious. We just kept throwing it and making a confetti mess in this AirBNB, but it was okay because I brought my shop vac! haha!

Usually by the end of a brand shoot we’re having a blast, which was absolutely the case when Alex was sitting on the floor and pouring champagne into an Alice in Wonderland tea pot. Because why not?!

Working on branding and brand photos for creative female entrepreneurs is definitely a source of joy for me, and this shoot was no exception!

Aw, this family was so sweet, you guys. It was a beautiful fall day and mom did an excellent job keeping everyone’s outfits in cream and blue tones! So pretty!

As can happen with kiddos, this little girl just wasn’t having it for a while, but I never ever find that a problem. I’m all about letting kiddos be in whatever mood they want to be in. Often, just allowing them to be a little cranky or clingy for a bit is enough to pull them right out of it. Plus, clingy (aka snuggly) photos can be some of the absolute sweetest!

This particular family photoshoot was at Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin, which is a great choice! And probably why it’s so popular! Lots of space for littles to run and roam freely without worry.

Father

I’m a complete sucker for all things moody, so when this mama was like, “I’m thinking I want to do a rainy day,” I pretty much gave her no other option than to stick to her word! ha!

It actually turned out to be a perfect moody day for a family lifestyle photoshoot in that it rained JUST ENOUGH. No one got soaked, but there was enough drizzle to wet the umbrella and turn hair into a moody dream.

It’s hard to say no when someone says, “I have access to a private jet. Wouldn’t it be so fun to do birthday photos there?" So I said OF COURSE!

This was our 4th Gia birthday shoot! Not that she was turning four, but that this was the fourth time we’ve done a shoot for her birthday. And every year gets more fun!

You guys, this destination elopement wedding + gender reveal photoshoot was a DREAM. Joanna contacted me from her home in England saying she and her then fiancé (now husband) absolutely LOVED country music and were coming to Nashville for CMA FEST (country music festival here in Nashville.) Just to be clear, I am WAAAAY behind posting this shoot. This was like a year before Coronavirus. So. Yeah. Moving on.

They would be in Nashville for CMA Fest and they wanted to get married here, AND she was pregnant, didn’t know what they were having and wanted to do a gender reveal as well! They had two cups with either pink or blue confetti (they hadn’t looked) and we were going to toss it up and surprise them!

We had to meet EARLY for their elopement. CMA Fest gets PACKED, so I think we met at like 5:30 or 6:00am so they could get married on the Pedestrian Bridge without a crowd. They found this awesome diner that they had breakfast at first.

It was a rainy day, which I think they were slightly disappointed by mainly because it’s so rainy normally where they live, but, you guys, I was like THIS IS GORGEOUS!! hahah!! I was digging ALLL the moody rainy vibes for this wedding photoshoot! I grabbed my clear umbrella on the way out of my house, and that sucker came in super handy - both practically and creatively. And, really, there were just the most laid back couple that I’ve ever worked with, so the rain didn’t seem to bother them too much.

After breakfast, we all walked up to the Pedestrian Bridge in Nashville and met their officiant. And they got married!

It was kind of wild personally to be present for this. To be the ONLY person aside from the officiant. Knowing they had family and friends back home who loved them dearly and then it was ME that got to witness this event. While I obviously wanted to do the best job capturing this day beautifully for them, I also took on an energetic responsibility to be present and full of love for them!! I cheered for them and proclaimed my congratulations and tried to channel some energy from a family back home that I had never met.

After they exchanged rings, vows and a husband & wife smooch, we headed into the streets of Nashville to try to find a spot for the gender reveal photos!

AND YOU GUYS, did we find a spot! There was this unbelievable balloon wall just waiting for us! We took some photos there, then we had to figure out the logistics of me throwing confetti while ALSO taking photos. So, there was a group of people passing by (an extended family, I think) and they were asking what we were doing, so I asked them if they wanted to be part of the reveal! There were 2 women from the group who each took one of the cups with confetti. They stood on the sides of the newly married couple, Joanna and Rob closed their eyes, and when I counted to 3 the confetti was tossed and the couple opened their eyes to see…

PINK!!!

Actually, they said at first the pink was so light colored and there was a glare in their eyes and they couldn’t see the color at all!! haha!

We ended back at the diner since they had kindly held on to some jackets and things for us, and we all hugged and parted ways!

Jamie Trull and I met shortly before the cusp of her gigantic business blow-up. She was talking to an out-of-state friend who told her that she should attend the Blissdom Conference. So, Jamie looks it up, sees me listed as a speaker, recognizes me from our neighborhood Facebook page, and BOOM! The rest is history.

Well, almost.

When I first met with Jamie, she was doing 1-on-1 small business finance coaching for women owned business, so I asked her to send me her pricing info. OMG, you guys. The PDF that she sent me was the ugliest thing I’d ever seen. We’d literally just met hours prior, and I sent her a message saying, “You can’t charge these prices looking like this.” HA! And I redesigned her PDF.

From there, I officially took on her visual branding - colors, fonts, patterns (ever see Jamie wearing animal prints? Yeah.) and her brand photography.

When we got around to her personal brand photoshoot, I knew she was going to be creating at least one course, and that it was going to be about finances in business. I’m not the kind of photographer that just takes photos of you with a mug and laptop and moves on. NOPE, I take a look your brand story, your promotions, your products/services and think: HOW CAN WE SAY ALL THIS IN PHOTOS? This means we shot for each module in her course, we shot images that would work for FB ads, her sales page, her website, her Facebook group and more. We shot to tell the story of her motivation, we shot the “mompreneur” storyline - all of it. And LET ME TELL YOU, Jamie is a MASTER of utilizing each and every image to TELL & SELL!

Check out how she uses her images:

ON HER WEBSITE

ON HER INSTAGRAM

ON A SALES PAGE

And, if you’re not already in her group that hit 30,000 members as of the time of this writing, then you might want to check it out! It’s a FREE Facebook group called Financial Literacy for Women Business Owners and it is a rockin’ hoppin’ place full of information, help, celebration and resources!

Check out what Jamie has to say about working with me!

Kristina and I have been friends for a few years now. She is one of the most kind-hearted people I have ever met in my life. She is HONESTLY just as beautiful inside as she is outside. And her art is equally as beautiful.

I had wanted an art piece from her for a while, so I was like, “HI. Do you want to trade?!” I got a gorgeous and giant painting that hangs in our entry way and she got all these gorgeous photos of her beautiful self, family and art!

She’s the third painter I’ve worked with, and it’s just so fun. I get so inspired by other artists and it becomes to use the look and feeling an artist’s paintings to help me in creating a concept and look for their brand photos. Kristina’s home matches her artist vibes so well (clean and cool) that it was easy to shoot in her home and have it mesh with her work photos.

When I work with a brand client with kids, we always have a conversation about how the kids fit into the brand. Some clients don’t want their kids in at all and it’s not necessary to do to connect with their ideal client. Some only want a little and for other clients the family almost IS the brand.

For Kristina, family is hugely important for her and her kids are her life. She loves encouraging them creatively, so it made sense to include them in part of our brand photoshoot. She got out some watercolors for the kids and they enjoyed painting while we captured some creative time with kids!

As with any brand shoot, we make sure to capture a mix of headshots, behind-the-scenes, “working” shots, details, some more thoughtful shots that let the individual talk about deeper thoughts and feelings, family time and fun!

If you want to check out more about Kristina and her beautiful art, she’s over on IG and she keeps her stories updated when she has sales! You can also contact her about commission work. She’s amazing!

Mary is a writer, she’s had two books published to date and she teaches others to go from idea to book in no time! What I loved about her right away is that her focus was to help people discover their creativity by loosening the constraints of the “rules.”

We had a lot of fun figuring out her brand photography session! We only used her home for the shoot (no other locations, but look at all the variety!) and it was perfect. It’s common to use someone’s home as part of their shoot, especially if they also work from home. People love to see your workspace!

This was the FIRST photoshoot I’d done since COVID-19 quarantine, so I wore a mask the whole time, which was INTERESTING for sure! It kept causing my eyepiece on my camera to fog up, and I didn’t have much peripheral vision below me, so I ran into some things a few times! But we still had a really amazing brand session!

Since she does work from home and is also a mom, we brought her son in at the end of the shoot. She is often teaching other work-from-home moms so it’s important to show that she GETS IT!

One of the things I always make sure of is that wardrobe choices & elements in each photo point to each other. So, she’s got the yellow striped shirt, which also goes with the lemons, and the vase from the lemonade matches the pillows that are outdoors when she’s journaling! These are the kinds of things that will keep her brand photos looking consistent no matter where she uses them!

SHE HAS USED HER PHOTOS BRILLIANTLY ON HER WEBSITE! Check it out to see what’s possible with the RIGHT brand photography!

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Working on creating your own brand?
Let me help you!!

You stare at your Instagram feed wondering what to do next. You’re not getting new followers. You’re not getting comments, you’re barely getting likes.

You come across those beautiful Instagram feeds and wonder how they did it, where they got their ideas. Maybe you’ve even started a whole Pinterest board devoted to Instagram feed design inspiration.

You check in with yourself. “Self, I love what I do. I love the gifts I’ve been given & I’m trying to share them with the world, but this dang Instagram is just standing in my way!!”

You stand up, slam your laptop closed, wave your fist at the heavens…and shuffle off to the pantry to dig for your secret dark chocolate stash. (Oh, yeah. I know.)

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Ready for a deeper dive that will have you INSTANTLY knowing what’s working, what isn’t, and what to do about it when it comes to your Instagram?
I’ve got a free 17-page guide + worksheets for you!

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My friend, I get it. I’ve spent a long time mentally wrestling with what the heck to do on Instagram. I went through phases where I felt that FOR SURE I had it on lock, this was it! My following & thus my sales would grow! And then nothing.

Sure, celebrity Instagram feeds have a lot of followers, but that’s TOTALLY different than being a creative business owner. We have to show up very differently.

I started to realize that there were some recurring themes in the more successful personal brands I was following.

These successful & drool-worthy Instagram personal brand feeds were each hitting on 5 categories of sorts, I realized, that made them look professional, good at what they do, trustworthy, very personable & easy to connect to.

I started to analyze what I saw & I created my 5Qs Assessment.

This 5 Question Instagram Assessment goes over everything that a brand needs to be covering in order to ensure growth.

When you can answer affirmatively to all 5 questions, you’re on the road to growing your Instagram.

And, I guarantee, you’ll have the confidence & excitement to stay consistent in your Instagram posting.

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(It’s all ready for you to pin, you guys!)

1. Do I quickly know what service or product is being offered? Do I know what this person or business does?

2. Does this feed give me confidence that the service or product is good? Great? Professional?

3. If I didn’t need this product or service TODAY, is there something about this feed that would make me follow? Or share?

4. If this was the first time I ever saw this feed, how would it make me feel? What would my first reaction be?

5. Do I know anything about the person offering this product or service? Is there something that gives me an instant human connection?

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Now that you’ve got some insight as to where the gaps might be, let’s get you rolling with ideas of HOW to fix them and WHAT to post, yeah? I cover ALL THAT in my 17-page guide called “Is Your Instagram Repelling Your Ideal Client?” C’mon girl, hop on this Instagram train with me, pull that horn loud and let’s gooooooo!

Looking for even MORE inspo? Come follow me (where else?) on INSTAGRAM! Giving you all kinds of tips and goodies and loud-clapping-from-the-stands!

Hey, I’m Liza. I’m a personal brand photographer and I’m here to give you the TOP SECRETS to creating beautiful, cohesive photos for your Instagram feed! Why would I do that?! Because I’m all for making things look prettier - I’m obsessed with all things visual - and because I believe in YOU even though I don’t even know you! If you want to use Instagram, I’m guessing it’s for GOOD and I want to help you STAND OUT because you are full of amazingness. I just know it. 💖

You want a cohesive look for all your photos, right?! YES! I know you do! You’re drooling over all those gorgeous Instagram feeds - the white & black aesthetics, the light and airy aesthetics & those moody & retro ones - AH! They have you like, “OMG, how do I DO THAT?”

So, you run off figure out what filters from A ColorStory everyone is using or you download Lightroom and get lost trying to figure out how the heck to purchase and install presets - and then, when you’re like, “Ok! I got my filters, my presets, I’m ready to rock!” and you apply them…and they don’t look quite right on every photo.

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Once you learn about the BIG FOUR to consistency here in this post, you’ll be ready to find out if you’re accidentally REPELLING your ideal client on Instagram! This guide gives you instant insight on how to find out & what to do about it - and will give you clarity on what things to focus on in YOUR Big Four!

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What’s up with that?! You were hoping that the FILTER would be the answer! But it’s not. Yes, it helps, for SURE, but ONLY if you have these things in place FIRST.

You need to have a consistent look to your photos BEFORE applying a filter or preset.

How do you do that?

You need to be consistent with AT LEAST THREE of the following BIG FOUR:

1. LIGHTING

2. LOCATIONS

3. COLOR

4. SUBJECT

If you can be consistent with each of these, you can end up with photos that produce feeds like these:

(We’ll break each one down in a minute!)

Let’s look at a feed that violates each category of consistency. And, you guys, all of these are PROFESSIONAL photos. So, even professional photos not put together thoughtfully will be a mess:

LIGHTING

If you’re posting photos with all kinds of light - bright daylight, sunset, indoors with lamps, diffused window light - you’re creating a lighting mess. Also, if you’re posting photos taken at all different times of day - early morning light, midday light, golden hour and blue hour (just after sunset) - you’re creating the same mess.

Let’s analyze the lighting in the feed here. In order from left to right, top to bottom, these are the types of light we’re looking at:

1. Direct sunlight

2. Diffused sunlight (but direct in the background)

3. Diffused, rainy day

4. Backlight

5. Direct, sunset

6. Dappled (mix of direct & diffused

7. Direct, sunset

8. Backlight, sunset

9. Indoor, lamps, early evening

10. Diffused, midday

11. Artificial light, night

12. Diffused, inside, morning

13. Direct, golden hour

14. Direct, midday

15. Direct, afternoon

When we choose to post so many different types of lighting on our Instagram feeds, it doesn’t matter how great the photos are, it starts to look a little messy.

It really helps if you can stick to 1-3 types of light at the same time of day. That will help your consistency IMMENSELY. Make sure the lighting you use conveys the message that you want - bright day is more fun, cloudy days and diffused light inside can be calmer for instance.

LOCATIONS

Want to know the biggest secret for consistency? As a brand photographer, I shoot all my clients in the same several locations and then they just use those photos OVER AND OVER. So, it might be: kitchen, home office, a green field and living room. If you travel and that’s part of your feed, you’ll notice that travel Instagrams also stick to the same TYPES of locations. So, beaches, boats and sand. Or buildings from around the world.

If we look at the same not-so-pretty Instagram feed above, we see that there are 15 different locations!! They range from backyards to a train track to a bee farm, boat in the Bahamas, living rooms and more! What kind of consistency can we find there?! Not so much!

color

Knowing your brand/feed colors and sticking to them is a HUGE piece of consistency.

Colors can show up in all kinds of places: backgrounds, patterns, clothing, props

You might have brand colors that are yellow, orange and blue, but only want them to show up in wardrobe choices, for instance.

It’s important to stick to a color palette that is pleasing to the eye (meaning, they all go well together) and that represents your brand style.

Once you know your colors, make sure you stick to those. Each photo doesn’t need every color, but the colors should show up together around your grid.

subjects

It’s important to keep the same or similar subject in your Instagram feed. If you take photos of kids and then adults and then cats and then mugs and then pillows - it’s going to get a little crazy! But if you can keep the same or similar FACES in each of your photos, you’re on a great path. There are lots of influencers and other personal brands that will travel around and thus won’t always have access to the same locations each time, but the fact that they still use the same kind of lighting, color palette and THEY show up as the subject of the MAJORITY of their photos, then consistency isn’t a problem!

Let’s look at a feed that’s consistent with the Big Four & see WHY IT WORKS:

LIGHTING:

Everything is diffused light.

When outside, this means it’s either cloudy outside or our subject is in the shade. When inside, this means all the lights are off and subject is lit by soft window light. (ie: sun isn’t directly streaming in)

LOCATION:

Three main locations throughout.

OUTSIDE: Colorful murals serve as different-but-similar backgrounds.
OUTSIDE: Coffee shop
INSIDE: Living room couch
INSIDE: Bedroom
Since inside was all her home, the aesthetic there is very similar.

COLORs:

MAIN: Blues, Teals, Orange, Yellow, White (even the dogs fit in to the white & orange/bown color theme!)

SUPPORTING POPS:
Red: her bag strap in a few and the Coca Cola fridge she’s sitting against, the words on her clutch. So that’s something that can come up now and then in small pops.
Pink: the “hello gorgeous” sign and some on the murals.

SUBJECTS:

It’s just her and her dogs the whole time!

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Let’s look at another feed that’s consistent with the Big Four & see WHY IT WORKS:

LIGHTING:

Mix of diffused light & direct outdoor light. Indoor is mid-day. Outdoor direct is late afternoon as the sun lowers.

LOCATIONs:

All indoor locations are her home & each room has a very clean white aesthetic with black accents. Pops of color look more like confetti than true blocks of color.

Outdoor location uses same black/white aesthetic with white brick and black garage doors. Keeps consistent with indoor color scheme.

COLORs:

MAIN: White, Yellow, Black, a neutral palette with confetti-style pops of bright colors. Color pops show up in playroom area and match with the color pops in her art studio & paint.

SUPPORTING POPS:
Blue Jeans & some army green.

SUBJECTS/PROPS:

Family, Family Connection
Her
Paint & Paint Supplies
Kids Toys

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Let’s look at one more feed that’s consistent with the Big Four & see WHY IT WORKS:

LIGHTING:

Mix of diffused indoor & outdoor.
Late afternoon + early evening light.

LOCATIONs:

AirBNB apartment rental + common areas.
All one central location = consistency because apartment complex is decorated and designed cohesively.
Apartment room itself.
Oudoor common area.
Indoor common area, upstairs & downstairs.

COLORs:

MAIN: Yellow, Rose Gold, White, Woods/Camel

SUPPORTING POPS:
Blue Jeans & some greenery

SUBJECTS/PROPS:

Her
Laptop
Books
Bracelets

As long as you are consistent with AT LEAST THREE of THE BIG FOUR, you’re well on your way to a gloriously cohesive & gorgeous Instagram feed!

Q&A:

• So what do you do if your look has been diffused light so far because you took photos on a cloudy day, and now you’ve run out of photos so you’re doing a new shoot and it’s SUNNY? Well, then you make sure you take a ton of photos in the new light (or in the new location or whatever) and then your IG will shift a bit, but it will still be consistent as you keep sharing the updated look! It helps if you only change 1-2 of the BIG FOUR at a time so the shift is gradual and natural!

• Example of 3 out of the four: you might have different locations, but they’re all white aesthetic with bright natural light, keeping with colors in wardrobe and props, and keeping with same subject - and you’re STILL all set!

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Now that you know about the BIG FOUR when it comes to consistency, you ready to find out if you’re accidentally REPELLING your ideal client on Instagram? This guide gives you instant insight on how to find out & what to do about it - and will give you clarity on what things to focus on in YOUR Big Four!

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Now, for fun, let’s look at what happens when you take your colors and bring them into some quote graphics using the above feeds as examples!!

Is Your Instagram REPELLING Your Ideal Client?!
Get the workbook & find out!

Looking for more branding support & inspiration?! I’ve got options for you!

• Come join my Create Your Badass Brand Facebook Group!

• Submit your Instagram feed via IG DM to be reviewed by me! Weekly reviews in my stories!

• Get the “Is Your Instagram Repelling Your Ideal Client” Workbook!

These hilarious scavenger hunts all started when my kids would have playdates at our house, which I wanted to use as time to get my own things done, but they kept asking me to do things! So, I finally came up with the idea to create these crazy & fun scavenger hunts that would keep the kids busy for a while. Not only did they have to take photos of things, I made it so they had to CREATE something to take a photo or video of FIRST! I tried to think of things that had them inside, outside, drawing, dancing, and using their imaginations.

All the kiddos thought it was just the GREATEST!

I created THREE printable photo/video scavenger hunts for you to download! One is for inside & outside, one is just for indoors & one is for outdoors!

What I love about these hunts is that they’re awesome for when kids are bored and they’re great things to do when kids are outside, inside or on rainy days.

So, I thought it made a ton of sense to share them with YOU!

⭐ Here’s an example of some of the things I have on my lists. You’re free to use them to create your own lists or you can download the three that I’ve created for you! So many can be done indoors or outside!

• 💥 Draw a photo of a rainbow and take a photo of it.

• 💥 Make up a cheer about cupcakes & take a video of it.

• 💥 Do your best yoga pose and take a picture.

• 💥 Give a video of your favorite book.

• 💥 Arrange your stuffed animals or action figures in a circle and take a photo.

⭐ Whether you make your own or use mine or a combo of both, here are some tips to make it the most fun!

1. Have kids work together and then sit down for a “showing” with the parents!

2. Put kids in teams and see who can get done faster! But it’s actually more fun if there’s not a time limit and the teams just show each other at the end and laugh!

3. Do the hunts with the family - creating teams works great here, too!

I’d love to see some photos if you do the scavenger hunt! Tag me on Instagram @lizahippler

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Looking for something else for your kids to do?
Check out my ONLINE LIVE 5-day Kids Photography Camp!

“I want to do something fun. I want to show that I’m fun to work with. Oh, and I usually don’t like photos of myself.”

Yes! This is what I am SO USED TO HEARING and I am always up for the challenge! Basically, women want someone who can capture their true, authentic selves (often, the lightheartedness and laughter) and also make them look good. ;) OF COURSE we want those things! I want those things FOR you! Which is why I make sure that I have a connection with all the clients I work with so that we both feel free to be ourselves and get a little silly, so we can have a great shoot AND a good time.

Lauren and I had a blast at her short brand session - probably because we’re both Jersey/NYC and both have two daughters that are the same age! She moved to Nashville not too long ago and came down here with her passion for clean-palette New York City fashion and a desire help on all levels of fashion! She has some serious knowledge of top brands & a keen eye for what goes together in super cool ways. Since she really wanted her and her outfits to be the feature of this shoot, we went with a clean white background for all her personal brand photography!

If you want to see how she’s using some photos on her website, just click here!

And if you’re looking for even white background brand photography inspiration, check out my Pinterest board all about it!

Looking for more personal brand shoots? Check these out!

See anything that inspires you? Make sure to save it to a Pinterest board!

“I hope this isn’t weird. I just wanted to tell you that what you do is so important. My son never smiles in photos and he’s smiling in these. Please keep doing what you do.”

Those were some of the first things that Courtney ever said to me when she called me, out of the blue, after receiving her son’s school photos from the Montessori school that I work with every year.

THAT, my friends, is an ideal client. From then on Courtney and I connected and talked of being creatives and the joy and struggles of those gifts. She’s an amazing human for so many reasons, not the least of which is that she simply cannot do fluff talk and gets right to the hearts of things. She hears you, she’s honest, she’s raw, vulnerable, full of faith and ridiculously talented and passionate. She would fit right in with the coolest art scenes of NYC, but instead navigates suburban life outside Nashville, TN.

When she said she wanted to do a personal brand photoshoot, I was practically jumping up and down. After the planning session we had (that I have with all my On Fire clients), I could barely contain myself. I was beyond stoked for this brand shoot.

Her art is dark, deep, soulful; it makes you a little uncomfortable - and that’s the way Courtney wants it. She wants you to feel moved out of your comfort zone, but also so in love with the paintings that you must have them on your wall. I knew this is what I wanted for our shoot. I wanted to make the majority of our shots a little off - maybe the horizon would be a little crooked or I’d miss getting a foot in the frame or the composition would be not quite right. Something so that the viewer would go, “Hmm…there’s something off about this.”

Her brand photography shoot also needed to be moody, have a touch of angst, struggle, and passion. In short, it needed to match her brand dead on so that the images would serve as award-winning supporting actors in the story of her artwork.

She was my first personal brand photoshoot that was an artist/painter, and I have since done 2 more, and I am in love. Artists allow me to bring out my own artistry even further, and each has her own unique style, and creating inside of that is just the coolest.

So, this is some of her shoot. To see how she’s doing an UNBELIEVABLE job using her brand photos & incorporating her own photos of her work and other photos from her phone, check out her Instagram.

Want more brand inspiration?!
Check out these blog posts!