Purpose, Passion, and Fashion with Leslie Andrews

March 9, 2022 Artist Spotlight

Episode 116: Leslie Andrews

When you follow your passion to discover your life’s purpose, thinking big can turn obstacles into even bigger opportunities.

In Episode 116 of the Portrait System Podcast, Nikki Closser chats with Leslie Andrews. Leslie is a portrait and branding photographer who has integrated fashion photography into her portrait brand to make her one of the most desirable portrait photographers in Atlanta.

Be sure to listen to the whole podcast to hear how Leslie hasn’t let not living in New York City or London stop her from her passionate pursuit of fashion photography. Even though, because of her location, only 15% of her business comes from fashion agencies, maintaining her high-fashion aesthetic creates a high-demand niche for her portrait photography services.

Additionally, embracing the challenge of the expense of renting a studio led Leslie and her husband to embark upon an extremely profitable side-business of renting her photography studios to other photographers and for events. When Leslie first rented out her studio, she had it in mind to make ends meet while building her client base. But soon she realized her small thinking was limiting her. At her husband’s encouragement, she rented out a second larger studio, so that they could accommodate bigger events. This has been so successful that they have just leased a third studio for even larger gatherings. Now, Leslie always challenges herself to think big and bigger, and she encourages everyone else to do the same. If this piques your curiosity, stay tuned for the course Leslie is creating in how to rent studios for events. It will be available from her website.

You might also appreciate hearing how Leslie’s professional standard of treating everyone she encounters with the utmost respect has helped her bring in clients who at first thought she was too pricey for them. As always, Nikki brings great perspective, reminding us that a “no,” is oftentimes really a “not yet.” As long as you treat everyone with positivity, they will remember how you made them feel and will want to come back to be your client.

Here are links to some things mentioned in this conversation:

In this blog, you’ll find some of Leslie’s chic portraits, links to her websites, and answers to some bonus questions.

Get to Know Leslie Andrews

Q: For someone starting out on their photography journey what advice would you have for them?

A: Invest in yourself and know your worth!

Q: Do you regret any decisions you have made in your business?

A: My biggest regret in business is taking such a long time to know my worth and finding the confidence to charge what I’m worth.

Q: Everyone has a favorite shoot – tell us about yours and why it’s your favorite.

A: One of my favorite shoots was a commercial campaign for one of L’Oreal’s brands. It was a major campaign and my photos were featured in billboard and print.

Q: How has Sue Bryce Education changed your life for the better?

A: Sue Bryce changed my life when she invited me to her studio along with 20 other photographers for an Empowerment Weekend. During that weekend, I connected with other women photographers, and we formed a bond. It is something that I will never forget.

Q: Where do you see your business in the next 5 years?

A: In the next five years, I see my business growing and expanding. I recently purchased a 3rd studio, and my hope is to remodel & grow that business into a full production studio.


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Leslie Andrews

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Transcript

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FULL TRANSCRIPT: Please note this transcript was generated by AI and may contain errors.

00:00:00:02 – 00:00:02:08

You’re listening to the Portrait System podcast.

00:00:03:01 – 00:00:19:20

We all have a purpose. There’s something that we all are destined for, and that’s kind of how I’ve lived my life after that, after discovering what my purpose was, what I’m good at, and that’s what I teach others now like, follow your passion.

00:00:23:02 – 00:00:39:20

This is the Portrait System podcast, a show that helps portrait photographers and people hoping to become one. Navigate the world of photography, business money and so much more. We totally keep it real. We share stories about the incredible ups and the very difficult downs when running a photography business. I’m your host, Nikki Closser

00:00:39:22 – 00:00:47:04

and the point of this podcast is for you to learn actionable steps that you can take to grow your own business and also to feel inspired and empowered

00:00:47:06 – 00:01:24:01

by the stories you hear. This week on The Portrait System, my guest is Leslie Andrews and she is an incredible person and photographer. When Leslie started her photography career, she was really interested in the fashion genre. But once she realized she likely wasn’t going to be able to do fashion photography full time in Atlanta, she started to photograph her portrait and branding clients in the same way that she was photographing her fashion clients. And because of this, she made herself such a great niche with fashion portraiture in Atlanta. Leslie also talks about her growth as a business owner and how focusing on more than just the creative part was crucial for her.

00:01:24:11 – 00:01:52:19

She and her husband now have studios that they rent to other photographers, and it’s very lucrative, and they’re about to open their third studio, which will be huge, and it’ll be available for photographers, creatives in general and events. After we ended our chat, I just felt so happy to have met Leslie. She’s such a beautiful energy and she shared so much, and I’m really excited for you to listen. OK, let’s get started with Leslie Andrews. Hey, Leslie, welcome to the portrait system, how are you today?

00:01:53:15 – 00:01:55:03

I’m great. How are you?

00:01:55:21 – 00:01:59:04

I’m good. I’m cold. It’s cold in Michigan.

00:01:59:15 – 00:02:02:03

Oh yeah, I can imagine Midwest.

00:02:02:20 – 00:02:04:07

I don’t miss it. You’re in Atlanta, right?

00:02:04:25 – 00:02:09:19

I am. But I’m originally from Wisconsin, so I know all about cold weather.

00:02:10:00 – 00:02:30:23

Oh yeah, you totally do. Totally do. That’s so funny because I just interviewed Kate Timmins, Caitlin. I don’t know if you know Kate. She was Sue’s assistant for a long time. She does like a lot of the videos and things for portrait masters. Anyway, she’s from Wisconsin. I just interviewed her last week to two Wisconsin girls. How long have you lived in Atlanta?

00:02:31:04 – 00:02:32:04

Seven years.

00:02:32:18 – 00:02:35:01

Oh, OK. What brought you there? If you don’t mind my asking

00:02:35:19 – 00:03:04:13

a couple of different reasons. Just starting over. And actually, I had lived in California for about five years. My family’s out there and then I came back to Atlanta as my second time living here got married and my husband wanted it to be up here and so moved out here again. And so now it’s gone on eight years with the new year, so it’ll be eight years in June.

00:03:04:29 – 00:03:09:04

And have you been a photographer this whole time that you’ve been in Atlanta?

00:03:09:18 – 00:03:13:27

Yes, I have been a photographer for approximately 17 years.

00:03:14:10 – 00:03:16:13

Oh, so you’ve been doing this for a very long time?

00:03:16:26 – 00:03:17:11

Yes.

00:03:17:25 – 00:03:27:05

Yeah. OK. All right. Cool. So, all right. Well, let’s back up. What? What started you in photography to begin with and you must have been really young when you started?

00:03:27:29 – 00:03:29:19

Well, thank you.

00:03:31:15 – 00:03:57:27

Am I wrong? Well, believe it or not, I’m in my mid 40s, so it wasn’t something that I got into, like right out of high school, OK? It’s a hobby that I had had in my mid-twenties, and it was just something that I kind of did on the side. And it sort of just Segued into a career in. A part of that was being laid off from the job that I had at the time.

00:03:58:11 – 00:03:59:12

Oh, OK.

00:03:59:29 – 00:04:30:20

I got laid off. Fired, laid off in a good way since, you know, and my manager owner of the company is actually who sparks that in me because he knew that I enjoy doing photography and that I was very passionate about it. But literally, at that point in my photography journey, I was just taking pictures of random objects. My daughter, flowers, just, it was just very random.

00:04:30:22 – 00:05:04:25

It was just honestly just an outlet, something to do that kind of took my mind off of work. And at the time, I was living in Minnesota, which very cold, not a lot of activities that you can do in the wintertime. And that’s when I started with photography and it was a I had a film camera black and white. I took a black and white photography course at a local art school in the dark room, just developing film and taking pictures of just whatever I could see.

00:05:05:15 – 00:05:33:18

And I would bring in these photos to the office, so I had a lot of little pictures of just random stuff on my desk. And he’s the one who said as he is laying me off. Oh, you should think about being a photographer. And I’m like, what would I do that I really I would I do. Why would I think about being a photographer? I’m a single parent. I need to actually have a source of income like, where is this coming from?

00:05:35:08 – 00:05:41:02

You can’t make money with photography. I thought the same thing, you know, way back when, like, how? How is that even a career? I lived it.

00:05:41:04 – 00:06:15:17

Yeah, right? So like, I don’t want to be a struggling artist. Like, What are you talking about? Like, he’s like, No, he’s like, I see how passionate you are when you talk about photography and you should really think about it. He’s. And he said it reminded him of how passionate he was about the company that we worked at. He was kind of a self-made man, started his own company off nothing, and he was like, I had that passion initially starting his company. He’s like, You have that little spark in your eyes whenever you’re talking to me about photography.

00:06:16:06 – 00:07:00:21

And it just kind of came from that. Like, I went home, I was online looking for another job and I’m like, How to be a photographer like googling different things? And I’m like, Oh my God, what am I doing? Like I’m thinking about this. And pretty much from there, I could not get the thought out of my mind. I kept thinking, like, what if that is something that I could be successful at? What if? What if that’s my destiny? What if that’s what I’m supposed to be doing and I’m just not pursuing it because I don’t feel like it is something that’s possible? Because I hadn’t I didn’t really know any entrepreneurs or photographers or anyone like successful doing something in the creative sector, I guess at the time.

00:07:00:23 – 00:07:01:08

So I’m.

00:07:02:23 – 00:07:10:20

That could be a possibility, and I just started from there like researching it. Wow. And never looked back.

00:07:11:14 – 00:07:34:10

Isn’t that crazy like how I’m sure at the time and correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m sure it was quite stressful. Like you said, you’re a single mom and you’re being laid off from your income source. And it’s like, sometimes these things happen. Not to us, but for us, like had he not laid you off? Who would this ever be? Would you have ever become this incredible photographer? You know, it’s like, it’s interesting.

00:07:35:03 – 00:08:06:29

That is actually why I pursued it, because I kept saying, What if he’s right? What if this is what I’m supposed to be doing? And yeah, he he was very resourceful with a lot of advice that he gave me while I was working for him. And he gave me a little plaque that I had on my desk during the years that I worked with him, and it said serendipity on it. And before that, that was not even a word that I ever even used in my vocabulary. And I kind of thought about that throughout my life.

00:08:07:01 – 00:08:37:24

Like, we all have a purpose there, something that we all are destined for. And that’s kind of how I’ve lived my life after that, after discovering what my purpose was, what I’m good at and what I’m passionate about. And that’s what I teach others now like, follow your passion, follow you. Whatever it is that you’re passionate about, you can make a career out of it. It’s something that you can do. It’s possible. Like there, there’s nothing that would be considered impossible.

00:08:37:26 – 00:08:38:11

So.

00:08:39:16 – 00:08:57:02

Yeah, that’s really powerful. It’s a really powerful. Well, Leslie, will you tell our our viewers just currently what your business, what do you focus on most as far as you know, what do you shoot and typical clients and that sort of thing just so people know where you’re at now? And then we’ll kind of back up a little bit.

00:08:57:22 – 00:09:37:17

So right now, my client base, I have mainly sort of niche myself into like branding and beauty photography. So I know a lot of people are like, What’s branding basically is just I marketing myself to other businesses and entrepreneurs and people that need photography to kind of advance what they’re doing in life. So whether they have their own business or they could even be a photographer, someone in the creative sector, photos that would take what they’re doing to the next level as well as beauty.

00:09:37:19 – 00:10:15:06

So with that, I have as percentage of commercial clients that come to me in the beauty field, so it could be someone with a product haircare. Make just anything that kind of falls underneath that, because that’s what I feel like is my strongest is my beauty work. And then within that, the branding aspect of it. So because I’ve had such a long journey with the business side of things and running a business and being an entrepreneur, I wanted to kind of combine that in with photography.

00:10:15:19 – 00:10:49:00

So a lot of the clients that I take on, they’re either getting started in business or they want to kind of rebrand themselves. So anything that falls underneath that anything, anyone either from like a real estate agent to someone with a product or just anything underneath that. And I use my resources that have helped me throughout the years and starting my business and still running a business successfully all these years to offer them the whole package.

00:10:49:02 – 00:11:09:22

Like I have a session that’s called the rebrand session. It could include photos of them, like really top notch kind of just not your just ordinary headshot, but photos that show us who they are. Photos that. Show their products and kind of roll it all into one package.

00:11:10:05 – 00:11:28:29

Yeah. OK, so when I look at your work, I see a heavy fashion influence like it’s really like I see your branding work and I see it all. It also feels like there’s a fashion influence to it. Is that more of your commercial work, or is that just more of what your clients look for when they’re booking you?

00:11:29:20 – 00:12:04:12

Yes. So you’re right. For many years, that was what my focus was fashion photography, and I’m very heavily influenced by fashion. It was something that I discovered that I loved when I went to the art institute. So in school, I got approached initially by a model and he needed a portfolio and he and so I did this amazing portfolio. The photos ended up getting published. And from there, I just got contacted by several agencies that wanted me to work with models.

00:12:04:14 – 00:12:36:15

And so I always I strive to like that was my main focus. Oh, I want to be a fashion photographer, but honestly, it was really a struggle. And I believe, you know, you can do pretty much any type of photography wherever you are and be successful. But for fashion, it’s just one of those things that if you’re not in the like a New York, I’m not even going to say L.A. because L.A. doesn’t have a heavy fashion influence anymore like it used to.

00:12:37:07 – 00:13:10:19

It’s pretty much you need to be in New York or London if you want to be if you want to be considered a full time fashion photographer, that is your core work. And so with me not living in either of those places, it was quite a struggle. And because I was just solely so focused on that specific type of work, my journey with photography was very long and kind of like just struggling artists for many years because I knew that that was what I enjoyed doing.

00:13:10:21 – 00:13:33:08

And there were other genres of photography that I was just like, I don’t really want to do that. And so I would turn down work until I finally figured out how to use that fashion influence in my work without having to just rely on. Being hired by models, first of all, models don’t have a lot of money, so

00:13:35:15 – 00:13:36:00

it’s really

00:13:36:02 – 00:14:28:06

hard unless you are working for in the fashion industry, like for a different fashion brands and things like that. So if you’re looking to just be employed by models, it’s going to be a huge struggle because models don’t have very high budgets for doing model portfolio work. And so that is really maybe right now about 15 percent of the work that I take on. I still have a relationship with quite a few agencies, and every now and then they will send models my way. And honestly, because my portfolio packages are a little bit higher than the average photographer that shoots that type of work, I’ll get only about maybe 15 or 20 percent of work from that because a lot of the newer photographers that are just starting out, they have very low rates when it comes to that.

00:14:28:12 – 00:15:37:20

Like, the testing rates is what they call them, right? So I basically choose not to rely on that as a source of income. If a model wants to come to me and have me do their model packages, the Sue Bryce Education in helping me kind of understand that about branding. And when people look at your work, that’s what they’re hiring you for.

00:15:37:22 – 00:16:15:11

There’s no need for you to change. So whatever you’re shooting, you can still shoot it with that same element because that’s what they want. They want what they see on your website. And throughout the years, there were so many times that I was trying to change that and then it wasn’t that successful. They were like, Well, these photos don’t look like what’s on your website, and I don’t know where that came from in my head, like, Oh, I need to shoot it this way because this is not fashion, but now pretty much everything that I shoot, I still shoot with that same lighting, that fashion influence. I do like the very kind of almost moody lighting little drama to it, is what I call it.

00:16:15:13 – 00:16:17:14

So yeah, I keep that influence and all my work.

00:16:18:03 – 00:16:36:10

I love it. I really love it. It’s genius, really. I mean, like you said, maybe the commercial fashion photography full time thing wasn’t what was going to be your journey, but you kept what you love to shoot. And then it’s like, I know this sounds so cheesy and cliché, but if you build it, they will come.

00:16:36:12 – 00:16:39:15

And it does. That is so true.

00:16:41:04 – 00:17:05:27

Yeah. So it’s really awesome. I love it. Now, would you share a little bit how how your business runs? Because I know you said you spent some time really developing your business and growing it. And so like, how how does it work if I reach out to you and I say, OK, I want to book a photo shoot for, let’s say, branding and I’m let’s say I’m a life coach or something. What would what would your services look like for me?

00:17:06:17 – 00:17:42:25

So with something like that, I have three different branding packages. I have my revive session. It’s kind of just like an intro into branding, and it’s for somebody that is maybe looking to just get a few photos to get them started. Or maybe they’re launching a new product. So I the first step is I would do a consultation and discuss what it is that you do. So your life coach, what are you going to be using the photos for and what platforms? What are you hoping that these photos will help you achieve? And I’m very hands on now.

00:17:42:27 – 00:18:14:29

It’s a totally like 180 from how I used to run my business back in the day. I would just pretty much someone would call me, I didn’t do a lot of back in work. No consultation. Just, Oh, you need this? Let me grab my camera and go kind of thing. And now I’m very more like so much more hands on than what I used to be. So I start off with the consultation. I go over everything about what their intentions are with the photos, and I explain the different types of packages that I have.

00:18:15:01 – 00:18:47:29

I explain my pricing and very detailed why it’s this much. What’s included. What I will help you achieve. So I like to think of myself as more than just a photographer. I’m going to do more than just take pictures. I’m going to get to know who you are, your brand, what your needs are, what you want from me, how I can help you, and I’m able to do that through my years of experience, in years of making so many mistakes throughout. When I was running a business, I didn’t run it the business way.

00:18:48:01 – 00:19:22:17

I just ran it as an artist, so I just ran as strictly as I’m a photographer. Now I look at myself as I’m a business, so I help other people with their businesses. So I would start with the consultation from there. Once I secure the deposit, I put together a whole. Mood boards of ideas for them, and it includes hair and makeup. I walk them through the session, answer any questions that they need. We do a Zoom consult after they booked me to go over everything to make sure that they’re prepared.

00:19:22:27 – 00:19:53:04

And then we do this the day of the shoot and then afterwards we either do it in-person or virtual. Where they’re able to go over their photos? I give my input on what photos I feel like will be the best for them and pretty much just hold their hand through the whole process is very hands on. But it is why I’m able to charge more than just the person that just kind of grabs their camera and goes because it is very time consuming. They’re paying for more than just the photography side of it.

00:19:53:14 – 00:19:59:21

They’re paying for my time, my ideas and all of that wrapped into one package.

00:20:00:09 – 00:20:34:06

It’s so great, and we talk about this a lot about being the photographer that people want to book because I’m sure there are a lot of branding photographers in Atlanta, right? Yes. Yeah, I figured. So. It’s like, how do you set yourself apart? So so if I have this amazing experience with you and you make it so easy because let’s be real, like getting a photoshoot done is it’s overwhelming for our clients. They don’t know what to wear. You know, they kind of know what they want, but they want suggestions and they want to make sure you’re making them look their best, but also still looking like them.

00:20:34:08 – 00:20:53:09

I mean, there’s so many different things that they’re worried about, and it sounds like you make the process really seamless and easy for them. And I guarantee you your clients are sharing that with their friends, with their colleagues. You know, anytime they hear of someone needing photos, they’re going to be like, Yeah. Leslie Andrews, that’s who you need because of what you provide them.

00:20:53:24 – 00:21:32:29

Yeah, I mean, that’s that’s basically what what I do, because that’s how I set myself apart. And even when someone comes to me, if they’re they might come to me. I’ve had people come to me and their budget is like three or four hundred dollars. Like, unfortunately, you know, there’s not a lot that I can do with that. It’s basically nothing that I can do with that. But what I can help you with is why the cost is what it is. Can I refer you to someone else that will just kind of shoot it and they’re not going to give you all the insight that I will? They’re not going to have 17 years worth of experience to offer you what’s best for your business.

00:21:33:01 – 00:22:09:10

They’re going to shoot whatever it is you tell them to shoot. For me, I offer suggestions on what I believe will be good for the shoot. So and my approach to it is that that might work for your photos now, but you’ll be back later on because you’re not going to get everything you need from someone that is just going to shoot and not gain the insight on what it is your business needs. And I have so many people come to me after they’ve done one shoot or multiple shoots, or sometimes they just believe in my process and come back and say, You know what? I have the money now.

00:22:09:12 – 00:22:41:08

I saved up because I believe in what everything that you basically said during our consultation and I want us to just go straight from, you know, I wanted to kind of bypass all of everything else and go straight to you. And I literally have been shocked like I had someone come to me and their budget was $500 and they wanted a total rebrand. My rebranding sessions are fifty five hundred dollars and I was thinking, You know, I don’t treat anyone any different if they have a lower budget because I’ve been there.

00:22:41:10 – 00:23:16:22

I’ve been that struggling person. Same. I know I need it. And so I give everyone the same consultation, what’s included, what the price is. And you know, we get to the end of the consultation. They’re like, Yeah, that is like way out of my budget. I don’t have that. And like I said, I had someone that that’s what their budget was and like, What is your budget? Maybe we can suggest another a lower session. And she told me her budget was five hundred dollars and I’m like, Oh my God, you know, I’m really sorry. Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do with that budget, but later, not even that much.

00:23:16:24 – 00:23:48:11

Later, two months later, she came back to me and she said, I’m ready. And I was like, Wow, really? I was kind of shocked, but she was like, Yeah, I’m ready. You know, I really thought about everything that you said, what’s included? And I want these images for my business and I want to invest in myself. And a big part of how I sell people is that you need to invest in yourself. For many years, I never really invested in myself as a photographer, and I always wondered why I couldn’t get to that level of where I wanted to be financially.

00:23:48:13 – 00:24:19:12

Why can I make one hundred thousand dollars a year? Why was I just struggling throughout my years, even though I knew I had good work? It was because I was not investing in myself. I wasn’t putting myself in the right, around the right people, taking classes, just investing in. My equipment and all of that, I was still doing the same thing for basically about the first seven years of my career. I wasn’t putting any money into myself and what I was doing. So I feel like that’s key.

00:24:19:14 – 00:24:35:28

You have to invest in yourself for other people to invest in what you’re doing right now. I have two studios. I just signed on a third space. And so I’m constantly investing in myself like, I’m not afraid to put money into my business because I know it will come back in the end to me.

00:24:36:10 – 00:24:52:17

I love this. I have so many questions to ask you. OK, so just real quickly, let’s I know people will be wondering about your pricing. I know you said the 5500. Is your full rebrand package right? Yes. Tell me about the three different packages.

00:24:53:11 – 00:25:24:18

So for twenty five hundred, that is kind of, I call it my revive session. That’s kind of where they just need, I believe what that says. When you get five total photos with that session, I do include hair and makeup and all of my sessions because I feel like it is just going to take your photography to the next level. So the minute they walk into the studio, like we do it on location, they are getting their hair and makeup done and just kind of puts you into the element of. Feeling good about yourself and looking good.

00:25:25:10 – 00:25:53:29

And then I have a middle session and that session is thirty five hundred and then the larger question is fifty five hundred, OK awesome. So whatever level they feel that they’re at, if they feel like sometimes they base it on how many photos they meet with the package, sometimes they based solely on their budget and then they’ll come back and do more. But through the consultation, I kind of make a suggestion and what I feel will be the best when they tell me about their business and what they’re trying to achieve.

00:25:54:14 – 00:26:35:13

Right, right, right. It’s funny when you talk about how people can come back and now they’re ready to spend the money, I funnels it through the same experience. Sometimes it’s two or three years later that they’re coming back and I’m like, Wow. And maybe they just didn’t have a great experience with someone else or, like you said, they’re finally investing in themselves. It’s like, it’s great. And I want to remind people listening that when someone says, no, it’s not necessarily a no, it could be a not yet. And it’s so important, like you said, think to treat them with respect and and not be like annoyed is that you’re out of their budget, you know, just like, really give that positive energy and they’re going to remember you and a lot of times are going to come back.

00:26:35:15 – 00:26:36:24

So I love that you brought that up.

00:26:37:09 – 00:27:07:19

And I I’m really big on relationship building. So even if someone doesn’t have the budget to work with me, I still extend myself as a resource. So if you have any questions, especially if it’s something that can help you with that, I can point you in the right direction and just keeping that mindset, people like that, they like that. You know, I didn’t look at it like, Oh, this is what this is, what my pricing is. You can’t afford it. Click, I still give everyone the same consultation.

00:27:07:21 – 00:27:37:26

You know, sometimes people will disclose, you know, I don’t want to waste your time. That’s not in my budget. I still follow up with them. I still keep them on my email list, and I’m always following up to try to either bring back a client that didn’t book or or even retaining clients that happened. So it’s like an ongoing relationship that I build in that is throughout the years. Like, I still follow up with client retention and all of that. And those were things that early in my career, I didn’t really fully understand.

00:27:38:14 – 00:28:10:26

It was pretty much just like survival mode. This is what I need to do. I’m back at the session. Boom, get paid. That’s it. And I was like, Oh, I’ve done great. Like over shoots over great. I got a I’m on my way, and getting out of that way of thinking is how I am able to do what it is that I do now, like just getting out of my own head on. Things like thinking of it is just like, Oh, I’m going to. I got hired to do something. I did the work, I got paid and then I’m on my way.

00:28:10:28 – 00:28:37:29

I’m always following up. I’m always making sure that if my clients need anything else. Or can I even with referring them in staying in the same circles? So if I meet someone else and they might need a real estate agent or someone else that needs that product or something like that, I’m sending referrals their way. And. It’s just great because I’m always building relationships with people.

00:28:38:14 – 00:28:41:05

Totally. And that’s how you build lifelong clients.

00:28:41:20 – 00:28:45:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they continue to come back throughout the years.

00:28:46:02 – 00:28:56:04

Yeah. Very cool. So you mentioned you have your going on your third studio space where you tell us about the first few spaces and what you know, what made you decide to get a third one?

00:28:56:19 – 00:29:15:21

So I should also disclose that a second entity just outside of me being a photographer is that I also sublet my studio out for events and events productions, and I have photography members that also use my space. Smart.

00:29:15:26 – 00:29:18:05

So smart to leverage that. Yeah, and

00:29:18:13 – 00:29:57:00

I can’t take full credit for that. That was actually my husband’s idea when I got my first studio space. He said, Well, I know it’s going to take you a minute to really build up your clients. We could use the space in the interim of that to kind of sublet out to people that need like, like other photographers, first of all, that needed to use the space and then productions. And then it kind of parlayed from there into like intimate events and so dinner parties and things like that. So that started off at my very first studio and then we found out, Oh, we’re not going to be able to actually do events out of this studio space.

00:29:58:05 – 00:30:03:27

No. So was it like a licensing thing or a commercial like it needed to be commercial or something like that?

00:30:04:08 – 00:30:40:28

No, it it was a commercial space. The thing about it was that they were live work spaces and we didn’t have it written in our lease that we could do events. So the space worked well. There was a commercial space. It was beautiful. The owner of the building didn’t want us doing events because of the complaints that the other people in the building didn’t want. So we moved from there into a space that would allow it. And then we started to actually turn down people that had like, say, if they came to us and they’re like, Well, we want to book a party for like 100 people.

00:30:41:11 – 00:31:12:12

And so obviously my my first studio second studio that allowed the event was only about eighteen hundred square feet. So we could only have like parties at twenty five fifty standing and small things. And so another space became available in the building and my husband was like, We got to get this space because that could be more events that we could do. And so we ended up taking on the second space. And I was a little bit on the fence.

00:31:12:14 – 00:31:44:01

I’m not going to lie. I’m like a second space in there. He like our release. Our business relationship has been very pivotal in me kind of getting out of my own head and thinking small all the time. Now it’s I’ve totally done a 180. I’m always thinking bigger. What else could I be doing? And so we recently just signed on a fifty five hundred square foot space. Wow. So we’ll be able to do weddings like, like all kinds of things.

00:31:44:12 – 00:32:16:15

And so his theory is he’s in finance, so he’s a little bit about his background. Like, if your mind can conceive it like anything is possible. And so I’ve kind of taken on that way of thinking now too, like there’s nothing too small. There’s no thought there’s too small. Ten years ago, I would have never even imagined signing on a space, a studio space that’s almost six thousand square feet. Never in my life I would not have been a virgin that I would been like, You’re crazy. Like, Why would I do that? That’s way too much.

00:32:16:17 – 00:32:47:12

But now I’m like, It’s just going to be so major. And we even want to teach a class on how other people can create a revenue stream by owning an event space and owning an event venue and how to make it work. And what our secret sauce is and how we’ve been able to secure commercial leases and have it written in that we can do events because a lot of people get scared when you do a commercial lease that people are going to be doing events because it’s a liability.

00:32:47:24 – 00:32:55:12

And so there’s a way to go about doing it. And so now we’re working on actually creating a course that teaches other people and how to do that.

00:32:55:27 – 00:33:02:02

So awesome because I think there really is a market for that. There really is. I think that’s genius. Yeah.

00:33:02:15 – 00:33:37:16

I don’t want to just think of myself ever as just a photographer. I want to think of how many different revenue streams can I come up with to make my life easier and to make money work for me? And I still shoot. I still do photo shoots. I do about two or three shoots per week on a good week. Some weeks I might only have like one shoot a week, but because I have multiple streams of income coming in, it’s never at a loss. I’m never thinking, Oh, I have to do something that I don’t want to do, or I have to go out and get another job because I don’t have money coming in. I’m always thinking about multiple streams of ways to make money and how to make my money work for me.

00:33:37:18 – 00:34:09:03

And even with investing. And that’s the business hat that I had to develop. It’s not something that I was born with. Honestly, I had to embrace it because I was the type of person that would literally run from business. I didn’t want to have anything to do with business, anything, not even crunching numbers. I’m the type of person that didn’t even want to look at my account, maybe once a month. I relate. I cringe that, Oh, I don’t want to see how much money is not in my account. Now I check my account like five times a day.

00:34:09:14 – 00:34:33:17

I want to be on top of how I can make my money work for me. What am I? What can I do to better the business side of things? And just embracing that, I spend so much time now. I spend more time on business now, then photography because. That is the professional photographer. It’s 50 percent the professional and the other 50 percent is the photographer.

00:34:34:10 – 00:35:12:11

Yeah, I absolutely love everything you’re saying here and it’s so smart to have multiple income streams. It really is. And I mean, obviously you’ve been shooting for a really long time. I’ve been shooting for a really long time. Sometimes we just, you know, decide we don’t want to solely do photo shoots anymore. So it’s like looking at those those different income streams. And yeah, you can still shoot when you want to, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be your full income anymore. Now that you like, built this great business, you’ve learned so much about business and you can like just branch out into so many other parts of your business that just make it so fun and exciting again.

00:35:12:13 – 00:35:23:22

And and like you said, you don’t have to constantly be shooting all the time. Not that that wasn’t good at one time. Like, I used to love doing 10 shoots a month and now I’m like, totally good with three a month because I’ve got these other income streams. So yeah,

00:35:24:03 – 00:36:10:22

yeah. And you know what? I recently, I don’t I don’t know if Sue mentioned it, but I recently went out to Sue’s studio in Phoenix, and that was something that she kind of shared with me. She said, I don’t shoot anymore. She and then I was like listening to everything that she was saying, and I was like, she just gave me so many gems and really thinking about different streams and still being passionate about photography. It’s still something that we love. But there’s so many other ways to make money work for you in the business, just with having different relationships, having multiple streams, working on something right now that is still involved, like pretty much everything that I do still comes back to photography.

00:36:11:01 – 00:36:23:21

But it may not just involve just me being the photographer. So you have to just put out, you have to wear multiple hats and just think of creative ways to really make your money work for you.

00:36:23:28 – 00:36:52:11

Totally. Yeah, absolutely. I ended up taking a lot of the money that I made through photography and investing in commercial real estate, and I know it’s not necessarily photography, but all of the business skills that I’ve learned how to network. Like I can go to real estate networking meetings and like a boss like I know exactly what to do because Lord knows I spent enough time and enough, like women’s networking groups to sell my photography that I know exactly what to do. It’s just doing, you know, with real estate, whatever. Anyways, it’s

00:36:52:23 – 00:36:54:19

I need to pick your brain on that.

00:36:54:24 – 00:37:12:03

Oh, I could talk about it all day long. Hadonica who was also on this podcast, who, you know, because I know she was also in at Sue’s in Phoenix and real quick, you made a huge impact on Sue. She was like, You’ve got to interview Leslie. And I was like, done and done. So you made a big impact on her as well.

00:37:12:06 – 00:37:48:02

Oh my god, she is such. Such an inspiration when I discovered her network and her educational platform, it was just an eye opener, even though I was kind of on my journey of I need to think business wise if I’m going to be serious about this because I was at a pivotal point in my career when I discovered Sue and her platform, I knew who she was and I loved her photography. But when I actually discovered her educational platform and listen to all of the information that she had online about the business side of things, it was just an eye opener.

00:37:48:04 – 00:38:20:15

I was like, I need to get cracking on what I’ve been doing wrong all these years, and I need to really understand and know my worth. And that was one of the things that I kind of struggled with throughout my career. Oh my god, I can’t charge this. No one’s going to pay this. And honestly, I probably discovered Sue way before and was just looking at her shooting because I was just, like, so enamored with her beautiful portrait work. And I went back and I’m like, Someone came to me and they were like, Well, if you’re struggling with the business side of things, you need to go and check out Sue Bryce.

00:38:20:17 – 00:38:51:04

And I’m like, I already know these devices. I love her work and they’re like, No, you need to check out her talks on the business side of things. And I like I went back and like I told you, I always ran from like, I don’t want to sit and talk and hear someone talk about business, and I know what they’re doing behind the scenes. I want to look at the pretty lighting setups. I want to look at the pictures in the studio, and I went back and I’m like, Really? She has this whole all these other videos too, and really looked and listened and took it all in.

00:38:51:06 – 00:39:21:12

And I was like, I got a lot of work to do. I got it. I got some catching up and I got, I’m changing my pricing. I’m doing this like, what have I been thinking all these years? Just hearing it just like reinforcing everything about knowing your worth. And I’m so big on that now. Like, yeah, it’s like a million people could tell me, Oh, your work is so good, I can’t believe you’re this cheap and it just won’t hit. And after just like realizing it, it’s kind of like a pivotal moment. Like, almost like.

00:39:22:14 – 00:39:32:06

You’re just like, what have I been doing all these years, just changing the way that you think? And it was nothing that anyone else could have told me I needed to believe in for myself.

00:39:32:12 – 00:39:35:23

Totally. You were ready when you heard it from Sue it was your time.

00:39:36:03 – 00:40:06:28

Once the light bulb went off and I’m like. This I need to change my thought and that thought process on everything. And when I did, when I started believing it and in confirmation of it, my whole life changed. Money just started flowing to me after that. Like, I think it was like my thought, I was like turning down money, like not wanting to accept wealth because maybe I thought, like just been taught the wrong things about money. Like, for some reason I thought, money’s bad. Like, I don’t need money. I don’t need this.

00:40:07:00 – 00:40:27:25

I want to be an artist. And I just had to switch that way of thinking like, there’s nothing wrong with having a nice lifestyle, knowing your worth with charging people how much you’re worth. And it’s just really I want to be able to provide for my kids. I want to be able to at one point in my life, retire and have a nice lifestyle. I don’t want to struggle.

00:40:28:16 – 00:41:01:14

Yep, yep, I can. Everything you’re saying, I’m like, Yes, I’m over here nodding, OK? Just one more thing about what I was going to say about Hadonica And then we’ll move on because I want to hear more about how you run these studios, who I think people are really interested will be really interested in that. Is that Hadonica and I and that’s another thing, too, that you can make so many amazing connections. I’ve made so many incredible friends, the photography industry. We Hadonica and I will Voxer back and forth about real estate, about, you know, just, you know, everything. It’s just so much fun and I’m just so grateful and thankful for this industry.

00:41:01:16 – 00:41:12:18

It’s opened so many, so many amazing doors for me, not just within photography, but outside of photography, too. And it’s just so it’s just so incredible. I love it. OK, so I said at that

00:41:13:09 – 00:41:13:24

meeting,

00:41:15:04 – 00:41:23:20

OK, so let’s talk a little bit more about the studio. So this new one, you said you already have it right or you’re in the process of getting it the 5500 square foot one?

00:41:24:06 – 00:41:56:15

Yes. So I’ve recently signed all the paperwork on it. And because it was like kind of an empty warehouse space right now we’re doing the renovations of it. The renovations are going to take about two to three months. So everything’s confirmed now. We’re just like they literally had to go in and do everything from put in their h vacs and the floors, the wires, the bottom work rooms get bathroom build out. So it’s a whole whole process. But when I tell you when it’s finished, it’s going to be amazing.

00:41:56:26 – 00:41:57:12

Well, I’m going to

00:41:57:14 – 00:41:59:05

add we so exciting, bring

00:41:59:07 – 00:42:32:19

in a bunch of photographers and have a huge meet and greet and just kind of like a welcoming session. And one of the things that I also, that it’s been a major goal for me is teaching and networking. Just last month, I did speak at PPA Imaging in D.C. I was a speaker and that was my first time being on a platform that big. And the class that I held was the business of photography, how to start and grow your business, and that’s what I want to teach others.

00:42:32:21 – 00:43:12:17

And so I feel like as artists, as photographers and as creative people, we sometimes have the knowledge of business and how to run a business if we’re coming from that background. But if you don’t, you just kind of pick up your camera. You may take some photography classes, but no one ever gives us the knowledge of the business. You have to learn that aspect if you want to run a successful business. I mean, it’s fine, too if you just want to be a hobbyist. But I feel like taking that extra step once you decide I want to be a photographer, I want to run a studio or I want to be a professional photographer, and this is how I want to make the core of my money.

00:43:12:19 – 00:43:27:06

I want to make more than 50 percent of my income from this. It’s important to learn the business side of things and run it like a business, not as a kind of freelancer or, you know, run it as a business

00:43:27:20 – 00:43:28:21

or as a charity

00:43:30:08 – 00:43:33:06

or even at, yeah, because I was doing that for many years.

00:43:34:26 – 00:44:07:09

So I want to teach others that. And so once you understand that, it makes it easier for you to focus on the creative side of things you’re not worried about. Well, you don’t have any money, so you got to go and do a wedding. And maybe you’re not a wedding photographer or you have to go and shoot someone’s dog and you don’t even like dogs because we need to make money. So you’re doing whatever it is. And even though it’s photography, you’re telling yourself, well, it’s photography. It’s still something that is under the umbrella, but you’re not passionate about it and you’re not delivering a good service.

00:44:07:15 – 00:44:38:07

And people are seeing that and you get eventually get burnt out and then you hate photography and you don’t want to even talk about it anymore. You probably throw your camera at people, but I want to just kind of take that out of the like. Even going through that, no one has to go through everything that I went through over my long journey because when I started, I didn’t have YouTube. There were photography workshops and I was I actually when I was Googling how to become a photographer, the only thing that popped up.

00:44:38:09 – 00:45:08:18

For me, 20 years ago, it was school like taking an actual class on photography, and they didn’t teach me anything about business, it was all photo focused. And so I think the only business class that I got was how to write a resume. Well, my background was literally in admin. I was an administrative assistant. I had like 18 resumes. I could write resumes for other people. And that was the one business class that I got was resume writing. Now, granted, that was many years ago.

00:45:08:24 – 00:45:50:10

There’s so much information that is out there now — online, YouTube, university. There are other photographers that offer their help to in the business side of things. A couple of years ago, I had the business of photography brunch where I invited a bunch of photographers into my studio and we had brunch and I was just like, Tell me everything that you’re having frustrations with. And on the business side of things, tell me the things that you are not getting like, whether it be pricing yourself appropriately or having a business account or getting a business license down to the basics.

00:45:50:12 – 00:46:24:14

There were some photographers that I met that I’ve been quote photographers for seven years and didn’t even have a business license. They didn’t even have a separate bank account. They were like co-mingling their money. They had no idea how much money they had made throughout the years. And it’s important to know those things so you can have projections on what you want to do for the next year and have goals for yourself. And if you are not doing all the business stuff, none of that’s going to click for you. You’re just going to be kind of frustrated and like, it’s going to be one of those things where you eventually hate it.

00:46:25:00 – 00:46:58:04

Mm-Hmm. The class that I taught at Imaging on running a business, I literally had several of the people in the class come up to me in tears because they were like, This makes sense. I haven’t been doing any of these things. I hadn’t been pricing myself appropriately. I didn’t feel like I could. I didn’t know that I needed to invest this amount of money into my marketing in order to bring on new clients, like it’s a lot that goes into it. And once you figure it out, it’s not something that you need to kind of like fret like, Oh, that’s just too much.

00:46:58:19 – 00:47:18:22

Once you figure it out, it’s just something that is a part of your day to day process for me. Like, it’s not even something that I have to stay up late thinking about in night anymore. It’s just something that comes second nature to me once I figured out how to learn it and if I can figure it out because I am like a creative to my core, I feel like anyone can.

00:47:19:13 – 00:47:30:04

Yeah, this is such great advice. I I like when I tell people to rewind that and listen to it again. What you just said, this is so important. It’s so important. I feel like you just nailed it. It’s

00:47:32:01 – 00:47:56:25

especially, like you said, being a full blown creator, it’s that business side is so important. And that self value, like you said too, is so important. It’s like there’s three parts to it. It’s the creative part, the self value part, the business part, and they all have to be nurtured. And if you don’t, if you let one slide, it’s just it’s not going to work out. It’s like the trifecta of things you have to focus on.

00:47:57:23 – 00:48:23:13

Yeah, it’s it’s just the the complete circle of everything for it to become successful and you have to decide, do you want to be a successful photographer or do you want to invest in yourself? The first part, I feel like you have to invest in yourself. You have to see the value in who you are and what you want to provide to someone. And then other people will see that value.

00:48:24:12 – 00:48:46:10

Yeah, definitely. OK, one last question before we move on to the final segment is is will you tell me a little bit about and I know you’re coming out with a full course on this at some point, but just we give like a little overview of how you run the other studio that you have that you run out to other photographers, like is it by the hour or as you said, there was a membership, can you just briefly go through that?

00:48:46:23 – 00:49:18:09

So right now, I have the two spaces and they’re actually on in the same building. So I have two suites that I rent in the same and in the same address. And I have photography members and I have three levels of membership just based on how how many hours you feel like you want to shoot. It starts off at 10 hours and that is at four hundred dollar rate and then it just goes up from there. And I have about 10 members right now. I scaled down a little bit, but they get access to both studios.

00:49:18:21 – 00:49:51:12

They have lighting equipment, I have storage area, they want to store things and then we have just like an open calendar where they can go in and book their hours and. They have keypads on the doors where they can let themselves in, and they pretty much have full access to everything in the studio. Multiple backdrops and lighting equipment and a ton of modifiers and things like that that they have use of. And so or you can come in if you don’t want to commit to a membership, you can rent it hourly and it’s a two hour minimum.

00:49:51:14 – 00:50:22:21

So say you just say you’re just starting off or for whatever reason, your studio is not available and you say, Well, I’m going to need a studio. And sometimes we even have clients that rent the studio for their photographer. So we’re on a platform copier space, and that’s how we get a lot of our hourly bookings. We have clear space as well as space and space for the arts. So we’re on these multiple platforms so people can go on and look at our calendar and make an inquiry.

00:50:22:23 – 00:50:59:23

They want to, but sometimes they might want to book it for the full day or two or three hours, and then we just accept the payment through those platforms. Or we get referrals from other people, oh, I found out about your spaces available, so it’s on different platforms right now, as well as word of mouth referrals as well as social media. We do Facebook marketing and. Instagram marketing, where we run ads to get more members once we bring on the once the new studio is fully renovated, we’ll be able to have more members that will just have exclusive access to that studio.

00:50:59:25 – 00:51:07:21

We’re going to build a huge Sequoia or we’re going to have dressing rooms. That one’s going to have all the bells and whistles to it because it’s a lot more space

00:51:08:07 – 00:51:16:03

on a scale of one to 10. How much work is it to to run that studio in that way? I mean, is it like manageable?

00:51:16:18 – 00:51:49:02

Yeah, it’s well. My husband actually runs all the studio stuff. I don’t really do much with it. Not that I couldn’t, but it was just like he has his way of doing things. And for the sake of like running a successful marriage and business partner, I kind of let him take it over. We started off where we were both doing things, and then we literally were like, We run things different, like our way of thinking is very different.

00:51:49:09 – 00:52:22:27

So at one point after like a year that of going back and forth, and why did you do it this way or your wording? I would never have said this like just the semantics of just stuff. Like I said, I’m going to let you just fully take over the studios. And so he quit his job, and I’m going to let you just run the rental side of things. If it were just me as a sole, just by myself, as a single person, I probably would hire on a studio manager to do the work that he does and just have him as a salary studio manager.

00:52:23:03 – 00:52:38:23

I just had one studio. I’m pretty sure I could just handle it myself, but with multiple spaces, it’s a lot of work. So if someone was interested in doing that and they were also a full time photographer, I would just suggest hiring on someone to manage that.

00:52:40:09 – 00:53:01:15

And then you just kind of working with that person. I let him do it because I trust him and I know that, you know, he is on my side. I don’t know if if I hired on a manager, if I would just let them solely do everything, you kind of still would have to oversee it because they work for you. Verses with him being my husband, your partner?

00:53:01:17 – 00:53:03:03

Yeah, a totally partner.

00:53:03:05 – 00:53:09:15

So I know that, you know, everything that he’s doing is going to be for one, 100 percent benefit of the company.

00:53:09:21 – 00:53:11:20

Totally. That makes so much sense.

00:53:12:10 – 00:53:42:16

So, yeah, we have two entities, though we have my. We kind of split it into two entities, the event rental side of things and then my photography side. So I do all of the like taxes and everything all together, but we just split it so we know how much money each side is making. Gotcha. But it’s definitely something that if someone wanted to have take on a multiple stream of income, that is definitely something that is manageable and extremely profitable.

00:53:43:01 – 00:53:55:09

Just to give you a little insight, the event side of things made about three times as much as my photography side. Wow. So, yeah, yeah,

00:53:55:26 – 00:53:56:11

Huge.

00:53:56:13 – 00:53:57:21

half a million dollars.

00:53:57:23 – 00:54:00:10

So half million dollars.

00:54:00:19 – 00:54:02:05

Yeah, doing it. Wow.

00:54:03:28 – 00:54:05:13

Yeah, it’s pretty profitable.

00:54:06:01 – 00:54:23:02

Yeah, pretty profitable. I was actually shocked at the numbers because I hadn’t gone in and just like, looked at the numbers until we got to the end of the year and my accountant gave me all the profit and loss of everything. I was like, Oh my God, what I’m like as far as how much taxes I’m going to be paying.

00:54:23:11 – 00:54:37:17

I know that was me this year like, Oh shit, right? I saved enough. Luckily, I did, but I was like, Oh, good lord. Yeah, but yeah, when you’re making money and you’re paying, I mean, that means you’re making money. If you’re paying tax and lots of taxes, it’s good.

00:54:38:12 – 00:54:46:04

So, yeah, it’s doing good, very cool that if you have any questions about that, feel free to just like reach out and

00:54:47:20 – 00:54:50:16

email me and kind of pick my brain. I’m fine with that

00:54:50:29 – 00:54:53:13

because you do mentor mentorships, right? As well?

00:54:54:01 – 00:54:54:21

Yes, I do.

00:54:55:03 – 00:54:57:17

Tell us a little bit about that and where people can find you.

00:54:58:04 – 00:55:24:03

So right now, it’ll be on my website under photographers and they can kind of click on that. And I do one on one mentorships where we can do like a Zoom call. And kind of they can just call and kind of pick my brain and ask me anything, you know, they fill out a little questionnaire of what they’re having issues with or what they want to discuss. And that’s we go over Zoom. And then I also do lighting

00:55:25:22 – 00:56:02:19

like a one day lighting workshop where they’re struggling with lighting. They can come in. I will have a model or they can bring their own model and then we’ll just work on lighting all day. That’s what I love doing. But I also love talking about the business side of things too, because I feel like it’s very important. But so, yeah, I have where they can learn the lighting side of things. And then I have where they’re kind of struggling with business or want to just talk about the paperwork side of photography that they can zoom call and we can do like a two hour Zoom consultation and go over anything that they’re struggling with.

00:56:03:20 – 00:56:44:16

I would love to take on like ongoing kind of like having mentoring as well, so that’s something that I’m working on now. Awesome. Eventually, I want to come out with an online lighting class where if they had where they can just go on and download it and see kind of all of my behind the scenes lighting. So, yeah, that’s something that I’m working on now. I want to eventually come out with something that people can just do from wherever they’re at and do something online, as well as a downloadable e-book, too.

00:56:44:18 – 00:56:47:29

So those are a couple of things that I’ve been kind of working on now. I’m just, Oh

00:56:48:01 – 00:56:49:15

my gosh, you’re busy. Busy.

00:56:52:06 – 00:57:03:14

I love it. Very cool. Well, no, I shouldn’t say I love that you’re busy. I love all your ideas. I love that you have all of these like amazing ideas and things you’re creating. Very cool.

00:57:04:13 – 00:57:20:20

Yeah, it’s so amazing to be on this platform I’ve been following Sue for so long now, and she is such a inspiration to me and it’s such an honor just to be on this platform and discuss what it is that I do with other people and just share my knowledge.

00:57:21:12 – 00:57:38:06

Oh, thank you. Thank you. It’s an honor for us to have you so awesome. You’ll have one once you get your your new space up and running and everything will have to. I’m trying to do these like, where are they now? So like a year from now, we’ll have you come back on and maybe tell us about how it’s going sort of thing.

00:57:38:20 – 00:57:40:18

I would love that. Oh, I would love to.

00:57:41:01 – 00:57:53:25

Cool. OK, so but I don’t want to forget to ask you. I have a couple more questions that I always ask at the end of each episode. And the first one is what is something you cannot live without when you’re doing a photo shoot,

00:57:55:11 – 00:58:04:19

something I can’t live without when I’m doing a photo shoot would probably be a lot of it. There’s just one thing, but my lighting and reflector.

00:58:06:12 – 00:58:36:25

I am huge on like that kind of that like huge light, like soft octabox. The. That’s something that I use at pretty much every photoshoot, like every now and then I’ll add a little razzle dazzle. But at one point, I’m always going to use the octabox. I just feel like that’s kind of my go to and combine that with the reflector. Yeah, those are my go to has to be in the studio. Nice. And some good music doesn’t have to be there.

00:58:38:11 – 00:58:57:14

just brings on just kind of like puts you in the right mood. So when people come into the studio, I’ll often say, what do you want to listen to or do anything in the kind of loosen you up? So that’s a big for me, too. I don’t know if it’s like half have because some people were like, Oh, I’m good, but

00:58:59:08 – 00:59:03:18

it does kind of break the mood of things to have some good music as well.

00:59:03:27 – 00:59:10:07

Yeah, for sure. For sure. All right. And number two is how do you spend your time when you’re not working?

00:59:11:06 – 00:59:41:21

I’m a bit of a foodie. When I’m not working, I’m in the. You can catch me in the kitchen, nice cooking and whipping up something with my little one. I’ll get her in the kitchen and you’re spending time around the house. You know, I felt like I would be out and about a lot. But ever since this darn COVID hit, I like being at home. I’ve just created a lot of different things for me to be comfortable in my home. So I’ve recently become a plant mom

00:59:42:10 – 00:59:50:17

Same. We have so much in common name. I’m like obsessed. My husband’s like, Stop. OK, sorry, this is about. I’m sorry. I just got really excited.

00:59:51:18 – 01:00:07:26

I went. I recently got a fiddle leaf tree, a huge one, and so I wake up and I kind of spray the leaves. I don’t know if that’s what that’s doing for it, but I’ll get up and I’ll just like spray all my plants in the morning so you can catch me doing that.

01:00:07:29 – 01:00:13:02

You know, there’s a mister. Do you have a mister for your plants? I just found out about this mister.

01:00:13:04 – 01:01:05:15

So I missed my plans every morning with a nice mist to just get them in the, you know, I love you. I love you. And I recently bought my first home last year and. Congratulations with you. Thank you. I feel like I feel like I was a late bloomer. But like everyone else is like, Oh no, like you, you got into your first home. It’s your dream. It’s like your dream home. So just making it comfortable and decor like doing like little decor, things around like interior design and things like that, and just making it homey in whipping up something in the kitchen, I’m a simple cook.L ike a nice meal, a little glass of wine and just kind of hanging out relaxing.

01:01:06:04 – 01:01:08:06

Sounds perfect. Exactly my speed.

01:01:09:17 – 01:01:10:11

The perfect.

01:01:11:26 – 01:01:17:24

Oh, I love it. OK, and then let’s see. Number three is what is your favorite inspirational quote?

01:01:19:00 – 01:01:20:15

Oh,

01:01:22:11 – 01:01:24:02

I was I was going to say,

01:01:25:24 – 01:01:59:24

change your thoughts, change your life. But yeah, that that was I don’t know if you’re familiar with the secret, but that was kind of like a really big moment when I discovered the secret. And so the whole basis of that is like your way of thinking if you change how you think you can change your life. Yes, Totally. Yeah. And so that that’s my favorite. There’s another quote by Oprah that anything you can imagine you can create.

01:02:00:12 – 01:02:18:06

And so it’s really just opening your mind. It’s almost just like a play on the your thoughts, like whatever your mind can conceive, there’s nothing impossible like. And I base my life. That’s how I live my life. Like, if I can think of something, it’s not impossible.

01:02:19:00 – 01:02:29:03

Absolutely. And it’s true. I love it. Very cool. OK, last question is, what would you tell people who are just starting out?

01:02:30:14 – 01:03:02:05

I would say A, learn your craft. Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself. Mm-Hmm. And learn the business side of things. Always be thinking as a business person. Yeah, and always treat your clients with anyone, it doesn’t matter who they are, treat everyone the same when you’re starting off, that’s going to be very key because you never know who you could be talking to.

01:03:02:18 – 01:03:29:06

And so, yeah, and so. Get a good team and base those new relationships often when you’re just starting out and creating that team of people and creating your clients. That’s what’s going to carry your career through the years. You return clients in your team of people that you’ve had that believe in you. Surround yourself around people that believe in what you’re doing.

01:03:30:03 – 01:03:45:08

Absolutely. I can’t recall what you the last thing is that I can’t recommend that enough. We’ve got to have that. You can talk to you about it and who you can share these big successes with, who are truly, genuinely happy for you because they’re successful as well. You know, like

01:03:46:11 – 01:04:17:28

then surround yourself around like minded people, people that understand what it is to be passionate about something, because you’re going to have a lot of hard moments, you know where you may have a bad day. And if you’re not surrounding yourself around people that are positive and that believe in what you’re doing. Someone could say the wrong thing to you, and you could give up on something that could change your life.

01:04:18:13 – 01:04:28:04

So surround yourself around people that think like you, that are positive, that want you to be successful, that are successful and that believe in what you believe in.

01:04:28:17 – 01:04:31:16

Absolutely. I love it. So important.

01:04:32:16 – 01:05:04:05

Yeah, that that’s what I would say. I wish I would have known these things in the beginning of my career. Like I know I. What would I say? I would tell my younger self. All of this stuff, like jeez, when I think about it, why do not like, you know, it’s just the journey learning the journey? Always learning to, you know. Hmm. Don’t ever think you know everything. Oh, totally, even twenty years of experience. I do. I ever. Someone walks into my studio.

01:05:04:07 – 01:05:35:21

They could be first time picking up a camera could drop a gem on me. You know, I don’t. I always have an open mind. Like, I’m always listening to what others are saying, you know? And having being able to look at things through a different perspective. My way is not always the right way, someone could literally drop a gem. And it could open my eyes to something else. So I always feel like always have an open mind and always take in whatever someone says to you. You can filter out the B.S.,

01:05:35:23 – 01:05:39:24

but just always have your mind open to receive.

01:05:40:26 – 01:05:42:03

It’s such great advice.

01:05:42:27 – 01:05:55:11

Yeah, I just always thought that way, you know, and I’ve met people that I’ve tried to tell them something, and they’re just so close minded and I’m like, OK. You can’t teach it to everyone at this time has got to make sense, you know, like,

01:05:55:26 – 01:05:57:12

they have to want it to be

01:05:57:22 – 01:06:29:06

the one to receive it. Yeah. But I’m just like such a receiver of information like what can I learn today? When I wake up, I’m thinking, can I learn something new today and when my daughter comes home from school? What did you learn today? Did you learn anything new? You know, she’s seven, so it’s like she’s going to learn new things every day. I’m in my forties. I want to learn something new every day, too. I don’t ever want to just say, you know, I didn’t learn anything. I know the same amount of information that I did 10 years ago. I want to be constantly learning something new.

01:06:29:21 – 01:06:32:23

The brain never stops taking in things, really.

01:06:34:11 – 01:06:47:27

Oh yeah, it’s never too late to follow your passion, no matter how old you are, you know, it’s never too late. You can start today, you can start tomorrow, or you can wait 10 years because you think that it’s too late and then start 10 years from now.

01:06:48:00 – 01:06:49:24

So. You are not kidding.

01:06:52:12 – 01:06:55:16

Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This was so great.

01:06:56:05 – 01:06:58:14

It was so wonderful, Oh,

01:06:58:16 – 01:07:04:12

I forgot to ask, where do people find you online? Let’s give us your Instagram and your website and where people can find you.

01:07:04:16 – 01:07:35:15

So my website is LeslieAndrewsphotography.com. My Instagram is LeslieAndrewsPhoto. At the bottom of my website. You’ll see all my social media links, though, so you can just click on that straight from my website. But yeah, the Instagram is LeslieAndrewsPhoto, and I’m always on Instagram constantly, so that’s a good way to connect with me as well as email. And then all my contact information is on my website as well.

01:07:36:10 – 01:07:41:05

Perfect. Well, thank you again. I really, really appreciate you taking the time to come on with me.

01:07:41:26 – 01:07:43:07

Oh yeah, yeah.

01:07:44:22 – 01:07:59:02

The November issue of Professional Photographer features an article, a six page article on my whole life journey on how I’ve gotten this far. Well, that’s cool, you

01:08:01:06 – 01:08:01:26

know? Yeah.

01:08:03:08 – 01:08:05:27

Very cool. Awesome. And that’s out now.

01:08:06:23 – 01:08:22:09

Yes, that is. That came out on November 2021. OK, and it’s available. You can you can view it online. It’s it’s a digital magazine as well, OK? And I’m in the rights group. If anybody wants to hit me up in there for all the other Suebees

01:08:23:16 – 01:08:24:16

feeling they will

01:08:25:02 – 01:08:27:22

get in their group, I’m a lurker.

01:08:29:09 – 01:08:37:01

Awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you again. And hopefully we’ll get to meet in person one day. That would be amazing. That would be

01:08:37:03 – 01:08:38:11

amazing.

01:08:38:28 – 01:08:40:06

It’s so cool.

01:08:41:08 – 01:09:14:00

Thank you so much for listening to the Portrait System Podcast. Your five-star reviews really help us to continue what we do. So, if you like listening, would you mind giving us a review wherever you listen? I also encourage you to head over to SueBryceEducation.com, where you can find all of the education you need to be a successful photographer. There are over 1,000 on-demand educational videos on things like posing, lighting, styling, retouching, shooting, marketing, sales, business, and self-value

There’s also the 90 Day Startup Challenge, plus so many downloads showing hundreds of different poses. We have to-do checklists for your business, lighting PDFs, I mean truly everything to help make you a better photographer and to make you more money. Once again, that’s SueBryceEducation.com