Ep. 041 - Valentina Pardi-MacGregor: Balance, Boudoir, and Big Dreams
Valentina Pardi-MacGregor is a total gem in the photography world, and she's here to discuss how she helps women over 40 reconnect with their inner fabulousness through intimate portraiture. It's all about boosting confidence and weaving powerful stories that really transform how her clients see themselves. We dive into everything from the ups and downs of social media life to the magic of creative retreats and the crucial role of building a supportive community in this industry. Valentina dreams of splitting her time between Majorca and New York, and she shares some killer advice on how focusing on what you want (instead of stressing about the details) can unlock unexpected opportunities. If you're itching for some inspiration and a nudge to dream big, you've landed in the right spot.
Podcast Title: Generator
Episode Title: Balance, Boudoir, and Big Dreams
Episode Number: 41
Publish Date: 28 March 2025
Episode Overview
Valentina Pardi-MacGregor is not your average photographer; she's a creative powerhouse who helps women over 40 reconnect with their essence through intimate portraiture. Starting her journey in fashion design and studying in the heart of Milan, she's perfectly blended her artistic background into her current work. In our conversation, Valentina opens up about the struggles of social media, the importance of community in the creative industry, and her dreams of splitting her time between the sun-drenched shores of Majorca and the buzzing streets of New York City. This episode is packed with insights on how to cultivate confidence through photography, the transformative power of storytelling, and why sometimes it’s best to focus on the ‘what’ over the ‘how’ to achieve your dreams.
Takeaways:
- Valentina's journey from fashion design in Milan to intimate photography is inspiring, showcasing how creativity can evolve over time.
- She emphasizes the importance of helping women over 40 reconnect with their self-confidence through portraiture, focusing on their unique stories.
- The podcast dives into the challenges of social media and the necessity of community support for creatives in any industry.
- Valentina shares her dreams of living part-time in Mallorca and New York, highlighting the power of dreaming big without stressing about the 'how.'
- Building a supportive network and hosting workshops fosters creativity and connections among photographers, which Valentina finds essential for personal growth.
- Clients often find empowerment through photography sessions, allowing them to embrace their identities and celebrate their journeys.
Resources and Links
- WEBSITE: https://valentinaportraiture.com
- FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/valentinamacgregor
- INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/valentina.portraiture
Calls to Action
- Website: https://generatorpodcast.com
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- Follow on Social Media: Connect with us on Instagram or TikTok @generatorpodcast or on YouTube @stonetreecreative
Transcript
It's really good to see you again.
Speaker A:You ever meet someone who just seems to get it?
Speaker A:Like they figured out how to blend creativity and business and life in a way that actually makes sense?
Speaker A:Well, that's Valentina Pardi McGregor.
Speaker A:She started in fashion design, studied in Milan, and now she's running a beautiful home studio where she helps women over 40 reconnect with themselves through intimate portraiture.
Speaker A:It's not just about taking these beautiful pictures, though.
Speaker A:It's about focusing on confidence and storytelling and creating an experience that transforms how her clients see themselves.
Speaker A:So in this episode, we talk about a whole bunch of topics, from social media struggles to the value of creative retreats, why building a supportive community is everything in this industry.
Speaker A:And Valentina shares her approach to workshops, her big dreams of living part time in Mallorca, and how focusing on what you want rather than stressing about how to get there can open doors you never expected.
Speaker A:I love this conversation because if you're looking for inspiration, a fresh perspective on running your creative business, or just a reminder that you can dream big and actually go for it, well, this is the one for you.
Speaker A:Valentina always makes me smile.
Speaker A:And I know by the end of this, you'll be smiling too.
Speaker A:So on with the show.
Speaker A:We haven't had a chance to catch up in forever.
Speaker B:I was gonna say since Phoenix.
Speaker B:Yeah, we were in Phoenix for.
Speaker B:Yeah, for that content creation, I think.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, it was content curated.
Speaker A:That's what it was when we were in the same place at the same time.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, we have a lot to catch up on, it sounds like.
Speaker A:Then how have you been?
Speaker B:I've been great.
Speaker B:I've been crazy busy.
Speaker B:And it was so serendipitous to see, you know, that you are so busy in your podcast.
Speaker B:Because I've been.
Speaker B:I've had it as one of my goals to be a little bit more visible with my brand and.
Speaker B:And it's just felt like such a great thing.
Speaker B:So I'm so glad to be here.
Speaker A:You know, being visible in the brand is, I think, something that I know we all are challenged with.
Speaker A:We like to be behind the camera, not in front of it.
Speaker A:What are you doing?
Speaker A:Because I know it's a struggle for all of us.
Speaker B:Yeah, it is a struggle.
Speaker B:And I really think it's almost generational.
Speaker B:I think you and I are part of the same generation, and I find I do a lot of in person networking and I have no problem doing that.
Speaker B:That is not a problem for me.
Speaker B:But somehow the moment I'm in front of a camera or I have to hear my own voice or anything like that.
Speaker B:It's just like, it's so much more grating or nerve wracking and makes me so much more self conscious.
Speaker B:So I've made it a point to just, just do it.
Speaker B:And the more I, I get in my head about it, the more I go back to, it's not about me, it's about the service or the content or the information that I'm providing.
Speaker B:It's not about me.
Speaker B:But I think in part it's generational for us because we didn't grow up with these devices in our faces.
Speaker B:You know, for, for millennials or, you know, younger, they kind of got exposed to that relatively young, so they're okay with it.
Speaker B:They don't, you know, my kids actually enjoy taking terrible pictures of each other and then posting them.
Speaker B:And I'm like, that's horrifying.
Speaker B:Like, that's been part of their culture.
Speaker B:So for us, it's, so it's, it's such a, like, brain thing that we just need to work on because there's no way around it nowadays.
Speaker A:I find it really interesting that you bring that up.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So the Gen X thing, right.
Speaker A:I'm 51.
Speaker A:There's this knowledge of the world existing before the Internet, and now I get to see over the past 25 years how destructive it's kind of become.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But it's the necessary evil.
Speaker A:But that's my perspective.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like you said, teens, millennials.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Everybody is so used to just being online and living life online that it really isn't as jarring to their, I guess, their internal workings, their psyche to be putting yourself out there all the time.
Speaker A:And it's, it's just another communications channel.
Speaker A:I think for those of us that might be a little bit older, we just struggle with like, all right, I get it, it's cool, it's fun.
Speaker A:I'm watching TikTok.
Speaker A:But you're not going to see me dancing or in my kitchen in a negligee and doing dishes and hoping for a thirst trap.
Speaker A:Like, no one wants to see any of that for me.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So again, it comes back to market for that.
Speaker A:Oh, there's a market.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But I can't Monet it quick enough.
Speaker A:I think there's always going to be that little bit of ickiness trying to do that.
Speaker A:But the way past it is the service, so I'm glad you brought that up.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Are you doing anything in particular to kind of focus on that service piece?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:When?
Speaker B:I mean, before I put, I do a lot of, on Instagram stories just kind of.
Speaker B:I call it talking to my phone, you know, and I really do visualize one of my clients.
Speaker B:Like, I, I think about one of my clients and, you know, I'm just telling her about my day or telling her about this client that I had come in and.
Speaker B:And it connects with people.
Speaker B:I get a lot of DMs saying, I love, you know, I love seeing you on there.
Speaker B:You're so authentic or warm.
Speaker B:And I think in part it is because I'm like, it's about me.
Speaker B:I'm just talking to my client.
Speaker B:And so it does totally help.
Speaker B:And yeah, I'm not getting in our heads about that because it's, it's not conducive for, for anyone.
Speaker B:And essentially my goal is to grow my creativity, my brand, my, you know, my ability to reach more women.
Speaker B:And I can't do that if I don't get out of my own head.
Speaker B:So it's not about me.
Speaker A:Do you find you get any good ideas from the networking meetings down there in Austin?
Speaker A:Like, do you find that someone come, you might say something to you and you're like, oh, that make a great video.
Speaker A:I should, I should do something like that.
Speaker A:Does that ever happen to you?
Speaker B:And, you know, it's interesting to say that I'm actually hosting for a networking group that I'm a part of, a co content day, because so many of them are women our age that again, get in their own heads about being the voice.
Speaker B:And so I've gone on all of their Instagrams and followed them as we do networking, and I've noticed none of them are the face of their brand.
Speaker B:And I'm like, okay, I'm going to give you guys a day where you get to, for free, come into my studio and just use my studio with your phones to create content.
Speaker B:I'll help guide you through it.
Speaker B:Because to me, I'm like, guys, we need to, we need to just do, you know, whatever we can to really represent our customers and for them to see us and like us and trust us and so forth.
Speaker B:But it does take time to build that confidence.
Speaker B:I'm still working on it.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm still, I, I still worry and listen to it and cringe and do all the things, but it's, again, it's not about me, so.
Speaker B:But yeah, that's probably the biggest thing I do is that whenever I am in a networking situation or a networking event, I think about that person's brand and how could that be represented either in video or in pictures.
Speaker B:I don't really shoot video at all.
Speaker B:But I think, I mean, if we're just using them for social media, our phones are plenty good enough so you know just how to better connect.
Speaker B:They can connect with their customers from a visual standpoint, you know, you and I are visual, we have visual brands.
Speaker B:So it's much easier for us to be able to visualize that than for like a mechanic that is trying to grow their brand and they just have no idea.
Speaker B:They're like, I don't know, I just will fix your car.
Speaker A:Right, right.
Speaker A:No, it is so true.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We, we tend to overthink things.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Make things a little bit more complicated than they need to be.
Speaker A:However, the majority of folks don't care about what mic or light or camera you're using.
Speaker A:They just hold their phone up and go for it.
Speaker A:And then there's another class of folks that are intimidated even by that and that's probably the larger group out of anybody.
Speaker A:And so for you to be able to host this and give them your guidance right now, kind of, you're, you're overthinking all the ideas, all the lighting, all the composition things, they don't know anything and you're kind of meeting in the middle to help them produce content for their brand.
Speaker A:I think that's such a wonderful act of service for what you can do in your community and your network.
Speaker A:And I'm blatantly ripping that off, without a doubt.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:No reason being.
Speaker B:Love that.
Speaker A:No, I love it because there's, I've been trying to figure out how to get more people into the studio.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You have a home, you have a home studio, correct?
Speaker B:Yeah, it's connected to my house.
Speaker B:So I'm limited.
Speaker B:You know, I've had to be a little bit more creative.
Speaker B:And how do I get people in my studio?
Speaker B:Because I can't host 30, 40, 50 people events.
Speaker B:I just can't.
Speaker B:You know, it's a neighborhood but, but I can host intimate gatherings.
Speaker B:And so I created a calendar and each person selects their 30 minute time slot.
Speaker B:That also means they get into my system.
Speaker B:So now they get kind of my email.
Speaker B:So in a way it's, it opens them up to my studio, whether or not they become clients.
Speaker B:That's not the point, but it opens the door to a conversation that maybe I wouldn't have had.
Speaker B:So and it for then it's an opportunity to do what I'm kind of encouraged, like I feel really empowered to help women our age do this.
Speaker B:Because especially women, which is who I work with.
Speaker A:It's amazing because a lot of times it's stepping in front of the camera for the first time.
Speaker A:It's just getting that permission to be yourself, getting that permission to be on screen, removing some of the obstacles.
Speaker A:Because I know for me, I can have everything scripted out.
Speaker A:I know exactly what the shot list is going to be.
Speaker A:And then I still get in my own head about like, my hair is a mess or I, I'm having a fat day or why I haven't slept in a week and my eyes are down here.
Speaker A:And then there's an excuse to not do it.
Speaker A:It's the resistance that we always feel, right, that, that are resistance.
Speaker A:And so outside of the content, you're helping people get past that just to get the ball rolling.
Speaker A:And I love that.
Speaker A:I love that.
Speaker A:And then gently pushing them into it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:To that.
Speaker B:Like I had one person today reach out to me and was like, I don't really know what kind of content I would create.
Speaker B:You know, she works with businesses kind of on saving them money.
Speaker B:And I'm like, book your saw and I will help you.
Speaker B:So I created a series of questions about their business that can help kind of help me figure out who their customer is and then I can help guide them.
Speaker B:It also helps them think differently from their customer's point of view and then again, just get out of their own head.
Speaker B:But also accountability, because once you book that slot, I'm expecting you here because otherwise someone else could have had that slot.
Speaker B:So in a way, now you're coming in and whether or not you'd like to be in front of the camera is.
Speaker B:So it's on their phone, so they have the option whether or not they're going to post it, but at least it gets the follow.
Speaker A:All right, so you're going to, you're going to treat me like one of, one of your women that comes in.
Speaker A:I own a small business.
Speaker A:I make pottery mugs and I want to be the face of my brand, but I have no idea where to start.
Speaker A:You're advising me in this 30 minute crash session.
Speaker A:Where do you start?
Speaker A:Where you know, what are the.
Speaker A:Some of the tips that you give to your clients or prospective clients or people that you're trying to help with the, with the content?
Speaker A:How do you pitch them on this in terms of getting them going?
Speaker A:Where do they start?
Speaker B:First of all, I want them to think about who their client is because I want them to have kind of that avatar for them to speak to.
Speaker B:Who's been your ideal client.
Speaker B:Have you had a client that you're like, oh, absolutely.
Speaker B:Love that client.
Speaker B:She was so happy with the end result and she paid me a bunch of money and it was, everyone was happy walking away.
Speaker B:We've all had those clients.
Speaker B:So it's.
Speaker B:If they can visualize that, that will help.
Speaker B:And it'll also help me kind of know who we're talking to.
Speaker B:And then from there I would probably tell her, okay, think of props that can help connect with that client and your business.
Speaker B:So if you're bringing clay, you know, if you're bringing, depending on your industry, if you're someone that's about saving people money and maybe you're bringing a calculator and a laptop, you know, you know, different props to kind of help connect those things.
Speaker B:And then the next thing I would talk about is think about wardrobe.
Speaker B:Like bring a few options that can help make it look like two different days.
Speaker B:So we are only booking 30 minute slots.
Speaker B:So they have time for about two outfits, I would say to get some real, you know, a few variety.
Speaker B:Like I'm creating different sets in the studio.
Speaker B:And so these, these two wardrobe options.
Speaker B:I tell them, think of a day that you're meeting with clients so you're front facing and then a day where then maybe you're just like in a ponytail and in jeans because you're, you're into your designer, you're talking to your contractors.
Speaker B:So I've done that with clients repeatedly on branding shoots, but I've never even, I never even thought like, oh my gosh, I should be doing that in my in studio shots as well when we're creating like headshots and things like that.
Speaker B:So that's what gave me the idea to start.
Speaker B:When we do this content day, I'm like, okay, this is, this is good.
Speaker B:This is, this is going to help them.
Speaker B:And I'm excited about it.
Speaker B:I'm excited to see the results they get from that as well and how much more confident or comfortable they feel afterwards getting in front of the camera and, and doing it themselves.
Speaker B:Like, yes.
Speaker B:But I love for them all to book a branding shoot and, and become my clients.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:But also a lot of small business owners are just starting out.
Speaker B:They don't have thousands of dollars to spend on portraits.
Speaker B:So how can I kind of help them, but not necessarily expect them to become my clients?
Speaker B:So I'm excited about it.
Speaker A:Do you give them homework or anything?
Speaker A:Or set up a second time to come back like, hey, you did great today, but I know we didn't accomplish everything.
Speaker A:So here's your homework.
Speaker A:Do these couple of things, then come in with a better script or come in with some more ideas.
Speaker A:Do you give them homework or do you just kind of send them on their way and say, you know, via con Dios and, you know, I wish.
Speaker B:You the best time to thought it through, man.
Speaker B:Now you're making me think about it.
Speaker B:I, I, I'm doing homework before they come in, so I don't know, but I, I definitely want, I'm going to create a questionnaire for, like, what could have been better?
Speaker B:What do you feel like you got out of it versus not.
Speaker B:And I think that'll help guide, I guess, the next thing, because this is literally the first time I'm doing this, so I'm excited to see.
Speaker B:And then I'll be like, well, you know, my friend Matt says I should give you so.
Speaker A:Well, you know, the only reason I ask is I do video, right?
Speaker A:And a lot of people come to me, photographers, civilians, right?
Speaker A:You can call them civilians.
Speaker A:Photographers, civilians.
Speaker A:Other video folks come to me and ask me about either editing or how do I film this, or what mics do I use, or what cameras do I use or lights and all that sort of stuff.
Speaker A:And I'm, I'm an open book.
Speaker A:I'll tell anybody anything.
Speaker A:But I've never really packaged it up like this.
Speaker A:I've never thought about it.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I'm just very reactive because it's something that I do and I just know the stuff.
Speaker A:So, you know, it never occurs to me to think that people would be into something like this.
Speaker A:So, yeah, no, if you, if you want to develop this, I, my brain is going haywire right now, and I'm like, oh, I can make this big thing for you.
Speaker A:And this is where I just need to slow down, just hear how it goes first.
Speaker B:Yeah, we're going to need a separate zoom call for that.
Speaker A:I think this is my brain.
Speaker A:This is my brain.
Speaker A:I hear one good idea and then suddenly it's in entire campaign and, you know, documents and websites and I need help.
Speaker B:I need a lot of help.
Speaker B:I don't know if you've ever had this conversation with other creatives, but I am super curious.
Speaker B:So I did not sleep well at all the night before last because this happened.
Speaker B:Like, I had all these ideas going through my brain and I just couldn't shut them off.
Speaker B:I was like, I could do this and that, and then I got to create, like, all the canva visuals for that.
Speaker B:And then what about this other thing?
Speaker B:And I need to do all the social media stuff for that.
Speaker B:When, when I was young, when I was in, I studied fashion design.
Speaker B:For that I could just stay up and just like I had roommates but like nobody cared.
Speaker B:We were just all on weird schedules because we're, you know, 20 and so.
Speaker B:And we would stay up and we stay till 3, 4am and I feel like as creatives that's such a common thing.
Speaker B:Like we think a lot of creativity comes at night.
Speaker B:But now, like I have teenage kids that I.
Speaker B:A teenager daughter that I need to stay to school.
Speaker B:I have, you know, obviously clients that I might be meeting with at 9am or and I have a husband that sits next to me who would probably kill me if I did any of that.
Speaker B:Like, how do we carve out that time to be creative?
Speaker B:How do you do that?
Speaker B:I'm curious.
Speaker A:I don't have a husband that sleeps next to me and I don't have teenage kids.
Speaker A:So for me, I don't have any of the, I guess human restrictions, right.
Speaker A:Which is a good and a bad thing because I can stay up till four in the morning if I want.
Speaker A:I don't, I'm usually in bed by like 7:30 because old guy.
Speaker A:But I think for me, I never really consider work work.
Speaker A:When I was corporate, work was a grind and I was doing it.
Speaker A:And then I had my separate life since I found photography.
Speaker A:So now 13, 14 years ago, I've never felt like work is work.
Speaker A:It just kind of fits into my life and I'm always doing something, but it never feels like I'm working.
Speaker A:I think when I'm at a beach or if I'm mountain biking, I'm like, oh my God, I, I didn't realize how much I have been working.
Speaker A:But it just never feels that way, right.
Speaker A:Because the ideas are incessant.
Speaker A:The, the, the possibilities are endless.
Speaker A:The opportunities are whatever you want to create.
Speaker A:So I just keep legal pads and brain maps full of ideas.
Speaker A:I've got a journal around here somewhere that, that says on the front like ideas for a highly caffeinated introvert.
Speaker A:It's where I just jot down all of my crazy things.
Speaker A:Sometimes it's just a few words.
Speaker A:Content creation day for civilians.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Might be something like that.
Speaker A:And then it sits there in the book.
Speaker A:And then whenever I'm like, oh, I have tons of free time, I'll go back and look at that.
Speaker B:I mean it's specific book catered to.
Speaker B:Just ideas.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, I love that because it's separate from all my work.
Speaker A:Notes.
Speaker A:And whenever I have that, it's this act of writing the thing down into this journal.
Speaker A:And so I've got notebooks and journals and stuff everywhere.
Speaker A:Sometimes those ideas just go into the ether and I like, I'll write them down and then I'll go back a couple of days later.
Speaker A:I was just like, how high was I when I thought of that?
Speaker A:Because there's no way that that was a good idea.
Speaker A:I think for me, it's the only way that I can control the chaos in my head.
Speaker A:And once I purge it out and I get the idea out, then it kind of lives on its own.
Speaker A:It either survives or it doesn't.
Speaker A:I found that the best ideas are the ones that I can't stop thinking about.
Speaker A:And whether it's small or large.
Speaker A:And the large ones, you know, become a little bit intimidating because it's a longer process and a lot more detail.
Speaker A:And so, yeah, that's how I do it.
Speaker A:I just write everything down.
Speaker A:And then usually about once a month, I take all the random post it notes and legal pads and I transfer it to digital notes on my phone or a brain map or something so that I can start to see visually what I have in front of me.
Speaker A:I have hundreds of tasks that I can do, but it's just too much.
Speaker B:Yes, same.
Speaker B:And I have a really bad habit of keeping like 10 of these little like notepads that then have.
Speaker B:Make no sense.
Speaker B:And then I go back and read and I'm like, what was that?
Speaker B:Notes from like what?
Speaker B:I don't even know.
Speaker B:That's a good tip.
Speaker B:I like the, the creating different.
Speaker B:Yeah, like notebook for ideas.
Speaker A:And then, you know, the, the hard part is you lose the journal and then you start writing in another journal.
Speaker A:And now you've got 37 journals with the first four pages written in and nothing else in the rest of the journal.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So it is what it is.
Speaker A:Let's talk a little bit about where you started.
Speaker A:I had no idea you were part Argentinian.
Speaker A:I knew you were Italian.
Speaker A:I knew you had lived in Italy.
Speaker A:I didn't realize you had studied in Milan doing.
Speaker A:Was it.
Speaker A:Was it fashion design?
Speaker A:Was it like a graphic design thing?
Speaker A:Tell me a little bit about that.
Speaker A:And then how that went from whatever you were studying into photography and having a home studio.
Speaker A:I want people to understand that the journey is never from A to B, a straight line.
Speaker A:And I'd love to hear.
Speaker A:We never really got into this before, so I'd love to hear kind of how you found your way into this weird Little world that we live in.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's never linear.
Speaker B:I like to think about that now that I have, you know, a 20 year old and an 18 year old because it's.
Speaker B:It's a little stressful.
Speaker B:So I.
Speaker B:My parents are both Argentinian.
Speaker B:I was born in Argentina when they were moving from Italy to Venezuela.
Speaker B:So I was actually born in Argentina, but we moved immediately after, when I was three months old to Venezuela.
Speaker B:So I was raised in Venezuela until I was 12 years old.
Speaker B:And then we moved to Texas.
Speaker B:My parents still live here as well, and so we moved to Texas.
Speaker B:And when I was 18, they always used to speak Italian in the house to each other when they didn't want us to understand.
Speaker B:We spoke Spanish in the house and it infuriated me.
Speaker B:So I was like, I need to learn her in Italian.
Speaker B:Like, this is bs.
Speaker B:Like, what is this secret language you guys get to have?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:And so I wanted to study fashion.
Speaker B:And at the time it was.
Speaker B:It was the 90s.
Speaker B:I'm 47, so I, you know, I graduated in 96.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And at the time, New York was dangerous and I really wanted to go to New York.
Speaker B:My.
Speaker B:My mom said, absolutely not.
Speaker B:It's so dangerous.
Speaker B:So, but you can go to Milan because I have a friend that lives in Milan from the days that they used to live there.
Speaker B:And so anyway, so I went for three years to study fashion design.
Speaker B:And it turned out, at the time, I didn't know it, I thought I was compromising.
Speaker B:But it was actually the best fashion design school in the country outside of central Saint Martin's in the country.
Speaker B:In the world.
Speaker B:Sorry.
Speaker B:Outside of Central St Martin's in London, Instituto Marangoni in Milan.
Speaker B:And it still now has, I don't know, seven other schools all over Tokyo and Miami and New York and all.
Speaker B:But at the time, it was the only one.
Speaker B:And it was an amazing experience.
Speaker B:I was there for three years, obviously learned Italian.
Speaker B:So now it's our secret language.
Speaker B:They cannot no longer speak it without they're behind my back and I'm actually more fluent than them.
Speaker B:But yeah, it was amazing.
Speaker B:It was.
Speaker B:I moved back and I started working for a company that did.
Speaker B:So I did that product development for an athleisure company.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:And because it was a smaller company, they needed help with every aspect.
Speaker B:So, like from obviously, I did their product development, their sizing, their everything, and then they needed help with the shoots.
Speaker B:And so I would get involved with helping with a shoot.
Speaker B:And we had this makeshift photographer that somebody had trained in house, and I Had no eye for it.
Speaker B:And so I kept helping him until I was like, here, let me, let me use the camera.
Speaker B:And, and then I was helping with sitting next to him while he was doing Photoshop.
Speaker B:So then I taught myself Photoshop and that's kind of how I realized, like, wow.
Speaker B:I really actually like this part way more than designing the clothes and thinking of the, of the, you know, of the patterns and all of that.
Speaker B:So, yeah, so that's kind of how, how I started playing around with the camera.
Speaker A:How did it spark the creativity in you looking at everything that goes into a line of styles that you're creating?
Speaker A:It's not as creative really as people would think it is.
Speaker A:Right, because it's more of a manufacturing and logistics and operations role than it is, you know, the head in the clouds, designer, couture type of role.
Speaker A:So when you're in that and you're feeling that lack of creativity, right, and you're, you kind of set your sights on photography, what was the thing that really stuck out to you?
Speaker A:Was it the images?
Speaker A:Was it the process?
Speaker A:Was it the end result?
Speaker A:Was it the, you know, pre production, post production?
Speaker A:What was the thing that really got you going to really look at photography seriously?
Speaker B:So I think, I think when I was designing the clothes, that was obviously the most fun part of that whole process that you're describing.
Speaker B:And it is true in this country, design is not what it is.
Speaker B:Like in Italy, where that's all you do, you just design.
Speaker B:You, you know, there's a whole different.
Speaker B:And here it's a little bit more encompassing, Many, many rules.
Speaker B:So when I was doing that, when I was designing the clothes, when we would select the fabrics, when we would look at the fit and all things, like, I just have this vision of what those clothes should look like in a magazine.
Speaker B:Like, I could just visualize that.
Speaker B:I used to devour fashion magazines.
Speaker B:So I just could see that, how it should be portrayed.
Speaker B:And so it, I guess that's the aspect that translated so perfectly to photography into what I do now that when I, you know, when I have a client come in and when I see the clothes that they brought, I can very quickly see, okay, I know exactly how we're going to shoot this, where, how I'm going to pose them, where we're going to, you know, but that, that whole connection, I didn't see it at the time, but I, whenever we were in the photo shoot, I was like, no, this can't be shot like this.
Speaker B:It has to be, you know, it has to be in this setting, or it has to be, you know, with this kind of body.
Speaker B:Or the photographer was like, okay, lady, like, just, you know, but.
Speaker B:But I think that that became really obvious to me.
Speaker B:But it was just the.
Speaker B:The visual.
Speaker B:For me, it was just the visual aspect of that.
Speaker B:That wardrobe, the item of clothing and how it should be represented so that a client could see it and see herself in it.
Speaker B:And I think.
Speaker B:I think of that whenever I have a client come in that I'm like, how does she want to see herself in these pictures or in these, you know, items including, or lack thereof?
Speaker A:I was wondering how you brought that over into your client work.
Speaker A:I was wondering what you carried over into that and what perspective it gave you.
Speaker A:And it sounds like it gave you a little bit of empathy for your clients so that you can kind of understand what they're going through.
Speaker A:It gave you breadth of understanding that there's more than just one type of body out there.
Speaker A:So as people come into your home, do you find that there are things that.
Speaker A:That are common between all of your clients that you can pull from your past and give to them as a, you know, as a gift of your creativity?
Speaker A:Meaning you're able to pose them or do set design or do clothing design.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Wardrobe consultations, whatever it might be.
Speaker A:What do you think you carry over most into your clients?
Speaker B:I think the biggest carryover is probably confidence.
Speaker B:You know, I'm.
Speaker B:It's kind of a crazy thing, but a lot of clients that come in, they see pictures of, or, you know, some of the visuals, some of the pictures that they see, whether it's on my social media or on my website, and they really connect with how confident or how, you know, just like, natural, it.
Speaker B:It looks and feels.
Speaker B:And I explained to them every single woman, and this.
Speaker B:I do actually still do a styling consultation, which I know so many photographers have kind of removed from their workflow.
Speaker B:I do it on Zoom now, but I think it's so valuable because my clients are still so nervous about their shoot.
Speaker B:They're so uncertain.
Speaker B:They're not sure what to bring.
Speaker B:And even if it's for lingerie, like, it matters because you're giving them that confidence of, like, absolutely, that's going to look amazing.
Speaker B:I can totally see how that.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:And they feel that confidence coming from me, so then they trust me that much more.
Speaker B:And so when they come into the studio full of nerves, because, you know, that's probably the most common thing for all of us.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Very few people are super confident getting their picture taken.
Speaker B:So so when they come in and they.
Speaker B:They're so nervous and they're not, you know, they're putting this stuff.
Speaker B:Remember we talked about this?
Speaker B:And I'm like, I know.
Speaker B:I remember that.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I had just perfect set design.
Speaker B:Like, I remember exactly how we're going to shoot that.
Speaker B:So they get that confidence from me.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And it, you know, it does translate to a better experience for them.
Speaker B:They let go, that they're able to trust.
Speaker B:Because, you know, you.
Speaker B:We all have gotten.
Speaker B:Well, if you're a photographer, you know, like, you get those clients that are really tense, and that's probably the hardest when they don't give you anything.
Speaker B:Like, they just don't.
Speaker B:Don't.
Speaker B:Opening up.
Speaker B:I had a client not long ago be like that, and she was so sweet, so great that she's not opening up, not opening up until about the last 30 minutes of the shoot.
Speaker B:So my shoots are about an hour and a half, and that's.
Speaker B:It just took that much longer with her.
Speaker B:But I did the exact same process.
Speaker B:But I don't think I've ever had someone that can't connect with.
Speaker B:And I think that's why, like, be able.
Speaker B:Whether it's my international travels, being having to move around and, you know, kind of.
Speaker B:I would change accents in Spanish.
Speaker B:Like, I.
Speaker B:People still think it's crazy that.
Speaker B:That I can sketch from Argentinian, Venezuelan or Mexican accent just by hearing someone else speak it.
Speaker B:Because it's that adapting to your surroundings and making others comfortable that, you know, I don't know, it's definitely a skill I've.
Speaker B:I've worked through.
Speaker A:Yeah, you know, the connection thing is really the most important part, I think, for any portrait photographer.
Speaker A:And it doesn't have to be a deep, soulful connection.
Speaker A:You don't have to be lifelong friends at the end of it or anything like that.
Speaker A:But there is a level of empathy and common ground that you search for.
Speaker A:And sometimes you get it like that.
Speaker A:And then, you know, I was similar.
Speaker A:I had a client the other day that I just could not connect with.
Speaker A:She was wonderful and sweet, and we created beautiful photos.
Speaker A:But there's this weird thing in me that if I don't get a little bit of that connection, I start to doubt myself.
Speaker A:Did I say something wrong?
Speaker A:Am I doing something wrong?
Speaker A:And I'm sure on their end, if they don't feel connected to me, they're feeling, you know, too directed, or they might be more intimidated or nervous no matter how much I try to disarm that.
Speaker A:So that connection point, I find I Don't like to try to do in the studio.
Speaker A:I do it beforehand.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:The initial phone call, all the prep, you know, education.
Speaker A:How much of that do you emphasize with your clients?
Speaker A:How much are you talking to them before the shoot, planning all this out?
Speaker A:Does it get in depth, or do you give them the basics?
Speaker A:They show up and then you wing it from there?
Speaker B:No, I do.
Speaker B:I do.
Speaker B:I do a phone call to.
Speaker B:To for booking this shoot.
Speaker B:I don't ever book a client again.
Speaker B:I'm in my.
Speaker B:You know, they're coming into my home, so I want to make sure that this is a real person.
Speaker B:So they.
Speaker B:We talk on the phone, and then we book the styling session and so forth.
Speaker B:But I think you definitely get a feel even on a phone call.
Speaker B:Like, I love a good old 90s phone call.
Speaker B:That's what I call them now because, you know, millennials don't like to.
Speaker B:Don't like to be on the phone.
Speaker B:But, like, it's.
Speaker B:It's a thing guys like, scoop dress.
Speaker A:You got to do it, you know, and it's really hard.
Speaker A:I've.
Speaker A:I've definitely slid into the.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's just easier to text or send an email.
Speaker A:So I want to talk a little bit about having a home studio.
Speaker A:I do not.
Speaker A:And it's something I've always considered either building a separate building on my property.
Speaker A:I've got.
Speaker A:I'm super rural, so I have, like, some acreage.
Speaker A:So I was going to build a building or bring them into my home.
Speaker A:I know with costs these days, the economy being the way it is, a lot of folks are closing their studios and doing something in the home or renting hotel rooms or just renting a studio on a daily basis, whatever it might be.
Speaker A:I want to ask you a couple of questions about this.
Speaker A:One, why your house versus getting a small space or a studio?
Speaker A:And then two, talk me through some of the things that I wouldn't consider when you have home, like inviting people into the home.
Speaker A:What do you do?
Speaker A:Or I should say, where are your concerns with a home studio that someone might not think about after you've been doing this for so long?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So the first question, like, why was.
Speaker B:I tried everything.
Speaker B:So we.
Speaker B:I started studio photography out of my nose when I.
Speaker B:Away from chasing children around in parks.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And I started learning kind of that style of working with women in our.
Speaker B:My husband's super supportive, so we moved ourselves into the guest room.
Speaker B:We were lucky enough to have a guest room, and so we moved ourselves into the guest room.
Speaker B:And I Was shooting in our.
Speaker B:At the time would have been our master bedroom.
Speaker B:And because I had the best lighting in the house.
Speaker B:So that master bedroom was upstairs.
Speaker B:But I hated that I had to kind of drag all my clients through my whole house.
Speaker B:They have two big dogs and, you know, hiding things that the kids left and so forth.
Speaker B:So that was one.
Speaker B:And once I was clear, it was clear to me that I could be profitable doing this.
Speaker B:And I was starting to make money.
Speaker B:I decided and, like, reached out to a photographer that was in my area, and I was like, hey, any chance you're going to share your studio?
Speaker B:And she actually said, absolutely, I would love that.
Speaker B:So we paid half the rent.
Speaker B:I paid half the rent.
Speaker B:And it was a retail space, so it was great because it was obviously super accessible.
Speaker B:It was handicapped and all the things that you want, and had a private bathroom and everything.
Speaker B:And it had great lighting.
Speaker B:However, it was retail, so it was totally exposed.
Speaker B:So I had started shooting my over 40 campaign.
Speaker B:At the time, it was mostly shooting a strobe, But I had started transitioning into doing a little more boudoir with some of my clients.
Speaker B:And I found that.
Speaker B:So I put kind of a wall of curtains, but you still get the odd person outside.
Speaker B:Just felt very not boutique experience.
Speaker B:So I found a separate place that was an office space, and that was great.
Speaker B:But I had very low ceilings.
Speaker B:So the retail space had high ceilings, great lighting, no privacy.
Speaker B:And once I was in the office space, I realized it has lower ceilings, lighting is good, and it was more private, but again, it just felt more cold.
Speaker B:So that was when we actually spoke to one of our closest friends as an architect and asked him, like, what do you think?
Speaker B:We bought our house and very cheap.
Speaker B:We bought it as a foreclosure nine years ago, and we have completed completely get at this house ourselves mostly.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And we're not afraid.
Speaker B:Afraid of the little elbow grease.
Speaker B:And we're like, okay.
Speaker B:We had a contractor come out and it made sense.
Speaker B:I'm like, the value of the property will go up.
Speaker B: We actually added: Speaker B:800 is studio only.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:The rest is like a monster.
Speaker B:So we took advantage and we were like, okay, we are in Texas.
Speaker B:Everything's bigger here.
Speaker B:And that house was not.
Speaker B:So we could make it bigger.
Speaker B:And we did.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's been great.
Speaker B:You know, there's definitely been things that have been an adjustment.
Speaker B:Parking was a thing.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:When we did this addition, we added a new driveway, but we kept a piece of the old driveway.
Speaker B:So I have One parking spot dedicated to.
Speaker B:And anyone that has a studio in a downtown area of any city probably laughs at me for, you know, because I have one dedicated spot and.
Speaker B:And then I have my makeup artist kind of park on the street.
Speaker B:But.
Speaker B:And that's always a challenge if I host events or if I host anything that I have kind of a cap of like 12.
Speaker B:12 invites, 12 to 15 people at a time, because otherwise the cars get out of control.
Speaker B:Everyone comes in a separate car in Texas.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And yeah, no one cars here.
Speaker A:No car.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:And everyone drives huge trucks.
Speaker B:So, like, we're taking up all the space.
Speaker B:And yeah, so there is that.
Speaker B:There was obviously the sense of privacy.
Speaker B:So I don't have my location listed really anywhere.
Speaker B:I have it as Lake Way, Texas, which is the outskirts of Austin where I am.
Speaker B:But I don't have it as I don't have the actual address.
Speaker B:So that was important to me.
Speaker B:So that was one thing to think about.
Speaker B:And then separating the spaces we have.
Speaker B:I have an accessible entrance for my clients that is completely separate from the house.
Speaker B:So it has its own entrance, it has its own ac, because that was again, another.
Speaker B:We wanted to make sure that we could turn it off if we didn't need the air conditioning.
Speaker B:And then also, can I access it through the house?
Speaker B:I didn't want to have to leave the house to come out back in.
Speaker B:You know, most of the time here it's over 100 degrees.
Speaker B:So we.
Speaker B:I was like, I don't want to have to go outside if I don't have to.
Speaker B:So we.
Speaker B:It is connected to the house.
Speaker B:And the.
Speaker B:The thought of later, like, we kept looking at our house, it has to make sense to be able to resale value.
Speaker B:And so this space could be converted very easily into two other bedrooms.
Speaker B:So if somebody wanted to come and partition it and, you know, convert it into something else, it very well could be.
Speaker B:And it really did add value to our property because we had an extra bedroom and so forth.
Speaker B:As for me.
Speaker B:So, yeah, our.
Speaker B:My studio is upstairs.
Speaker B:So it's just so nice because I have 12 vaulted ceilings, they're 12ft high, and I had RX6 windows, and one of them is giant.
Speaker B:So, yeah, it's a real luxury.
Speaker B:I mean, we were.
Speaker B:I was able to design it from scratch, and then I need to redid a lot of the finish out.
Speaker B:My husband installed the windows.
Speaker B:So, yeah, it's been a labor of love.
Speaker A:It's a dream, really, because there's so many folks that don't have access to a space like that and aren't fortunate enough to have it in their home.
Speaker A:And you didn't even have it in your home to begin with, but you were able to kind of dream it up and build it out and have exactly what you want.
Speaker A:It's such a dream.
Speaker A:A lot of times, so many photographers are just trying to adapt to their space rather than having a space that shoots that.
Speaker A:That shoots similar to their style.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So if you want that intimacy, but you're stuck in a storefront, it just.
Speaker A:It doesn't feel right.
Speaker A:And it sounds like you've been able to craft this dream studio for yourself where every, like, you're going in and it's comfortable and your clients are comfortable and it's separate from your family and you've got the security.
Speaker A:I'm just ticking the boxes going, oh, oh, I'm so jealous.
Speaker A:So jealous.
Speaker B:Honestly, I am not.
Speaker B:It's not awesome every single day when I, Yeah.
Speaker B:With my coffee, like, and I got the stairs and I connect, you know, go through the house to the.
Speaker B:My work.
Speaker B:And it's no loss of me.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I know I'm very lucky.
Speaker B:I do have this thing they call it manifesting now, but I used to call it obsessing.
Speaker B:Like, when we bought this property, like, I visualized this house immediately.
Speaker B:I visualized, like, this addition that it could be.
Speaker B:At the time, I didn't see it as a studio, but I.
Speaker B:I knew I wanted us to have at some.
Speaker B:Some point a swimming pool.
Speaker B:Like, these are all things that I just.
Speaker B:Success over until.
Speaker B:And I kind of create these visuals in my head and.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it kind of.
Speaker B:And it.
Speaker B:They all start happening little by little.
Speaker B:I just never let it go till it does.
Speaker B:I will say, like, you know, for us, there was a lot of things that happened appropriately, like, you know, our value.
Speaker B:We bought our house really cheap.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:We were able.
Speaker B:Because we got our house really cheap, we were able to, you know, remortgage and.
Speaker B:And get.
Speaker B:Use that equity towards the addition.
Speaker B:So it was.
Speaker B:No, it was not a financial drain for us.
Speaker B:And also, there's something to be said also about being limited.
Speaker B:Like, I am very spoiled, but because I'm very spoiled, it could be very easy to get very lazy.
Speaker B:You know, having limitations in your studio, whether it's lack of light or, you know, low ceilings, all those things, like in the different studios that I was in really also help me adapt and figure shit out.
Speaker B:What are the limitations that I'm comfortable with?
Speaker B:What are the ones that are making me uncomfortable?
Speaker B:And also, why am I uncomfortable.
Speaker B:Like, what about is making me uncomfortable and is that somewhere I need to stretch myself?
Speaker B:And it's a, that's a good thing as well as.
Speaker B:As a creative.
Speaker B:So if people are not in a position, if you're not in a position to do that, know that there's also great value in that, is that you're having to do things that I'm not even trying.
Speaker A:So it was going to be a question of mine of how you balance client work, business, your, your day to day, got to make some money business versus the personal projects and the art.
Speaker A:Do you find that having a studio in your home, you're able to do that the same way that you would if you had a studio somewhere else?
Speaker A:And might sound like a pretty dumb question, but I find that when I'm here at home and again, don't have a home studio.
Speaker A:I've got my studio downtown.
Speaker A:I find that when I'm home, I like to be at home.
Speaker A:Forget about what I said at the beginning, which is like, I'm working 24 7.
Speaker A:I do have some commits, but when I'm here, I don't really do a lot of personal work.
Speaker A:Did you find that there was any sort of shift between how much personal work you did versus regular business work when you have a home studio or do you produce just as much being at home?
Speaker B:Okay, so I'm actually very guilty of just working.
Speaker B:I'm like, I'm very guilty of just feeling like, is this going to give me any results or anything that's going to help move the needle?
Speaker B:Because I have been so focused now on like moving the needle for the last couple of years.
Speaker B:So I'm very guilty of like.
Speaker B:And I do this with everything in my life.
Speaker B:I'm not a person that just does things for the joy of it.
Speaker B:You know, reading creative books helps me because it reminds me that I need to just let things be and just do things for the sake of doing things.
Speaker B:And my daughter is now painting and she's 18 and she paints for fun.
Speaker B:And a lot of times she'll paint something.
Speaker B:I'm like, oh, what is that for?
Speaker B:And she's like, well, I just wanted to paint it, but I'm like, are you going to do anything with it?
Speaker B:Like, for some reason, I don't know again, if it's generational, but I feel like there has to be a reason why you're like, you're going to do something to put that, like, what was the point otherwise?
Speaker B:But that is my, that's totally my flaw.
Speaker B:So I have to carve.
Speaker B:I have to schedule it, and I'm not as good about doing that.
Speaker B:And, like, cancel everything and, like, leave my phone downstairs and, you know, like, anybody, I have all the distractions that we all do from being busy and notifications and things that, you know, appointments and.
Speaker B:Yeah, I definitely need to get better about it, but I think once I'm up here, I'm in, like, okay, how can.
Speaker B:How else can I create in here?
Speaker B:And it's not been so much for just one.
Speaker A:What do you find that you're doing more these days?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I know you do boudoir.
Speaker A:I know you do some branding work.
Speaker A:What do you find that you're doing more of these days?
Speaker A:And where does your heart lie?
Speaker A:I know for me, I've been doing a lot more headshots lately.
Speaker A:I'm not going to write on my gravestone, amazing headshot photographer, because my heart's not there.
Speaker A:But it keeps the business running.
Speaker A:Is there.
Speaker A:Is there a place where your heart really lies?
Speaker A:Like, when you get a client that comes in and says, you know, I need to do an over 40 boudoir shoot, you're like, girl, I got you.
Speaker A:Where is it that your heart lies?
Speaker A:Is it boudoir?
Speaker B:That's it.
Speaker B:You nailed it.
Speaker B:So it's, it's, you know, it's hard to kind of name it boudoir alone, because it's women over 40 that come to me that are.
Speaker B:Something happens to women when we turn 40.
Speaker B:Like, we've been hard on ourselves for many, many years, decades from the moment we're teenagers, where we're comparing ourselves to our friends and we're never skinny enough, we're never tall enough, we're never pretty enough, or never our hair is never right and all those things.
Speaker B:And then we have 40.
Speaker B:And something happens where you're like, why have I cared?
Speaker B:Like, why?
Speaker B:You know, what.
Speaker B:What am I?
Speaker B:And you just let go of all of that and you start not caring and just be like, I don't give a fuck now.
Speaker B:Like, I just want to enter this phase in my life.
Speaker B:And a lot of us have at this point either had had successful careers or focused on our children or spouses.
Speaker B:We give so much to others.
Speaker B:And that's kind of.
Speaker B:I think that's just a woman's.
Speaker B:Like, that's just what women tend to do.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And we want to give back to ourselves in our 40, like, we just kind of.
Speaker B:Something clicks and we're like, no.
Speaker B:Like, I've not done anything for me in a long Time.
Speaker B:And so for me to be able to give this woman the space and the, like, guidance and everything to.
Speaker B:For her to allow herself that experience.
Speaker B:This experience, to be willing to spend the money on herself and kind of, like, not have to apologize for it nor feel like she has to explain it to anyone, and then to give her that experience of like, oh, my gosh, I felt amazing.
Speaker B:Like, I just got a text while we were chatting about from my client yesterday.
Speaker B:I was like, I'm still reeling from yesterday.
Speaker B:Like, she hasn't even seen her pictures.
Speaker B:But it's just like that, to me, is everything she was.
Speaker B:She's 52 years old, and she's never done anything like this.
Speaker B:And a lot of them come after a hard divorce or beating breast cancer, losing a child.
Speaker B:Like, these are all women that I've connected or that have been my clients.
Speaker B:And something happens that you want to see yourself again and you really want to remember that badass that you were in your 20s that you didn't appreciate, you know, and.
Speaker B:And connect with that again and remember who you are.
Speaker B:So it's.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's super.
Speaker B:That's definitely where my heart sights.
Speaker B:So, yeah, we make cool pictures, but it's like giving them that time, that experience, that, like, freedom to.
Speaker B:To be and to be seen, and when they trust me enough to really, really do it.
Speaker B:Like, you know, I've had clients that dance here in the studio because that's what they did when they were in their late, late teens, and they just connect with music in that way.
Speaker B:I've had clients bring instruments or.
Speaker B:That's so special to me.
Speaker B:So, yeah, the.
Speaker B:The clothes are optional, but, you know, that's.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's not just about creating beautiful, sexy pictures.
Speaker B:I mean, that's kind of the byproduct of.
Speaker B:Of really connecting that woman, that they.
Speaker B:That they are really still inside.
Speaker B:It's just been sometimes buried a little bit.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think that happens with a lot of things.
Speaker A:Life just kind of takes over.
Speaker A:There's a lot of photographers down where you are.
Speaker A:How are you differentiating yourself from other boudoir photographers, from other portrait photographers?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So in a crowded market like Austin, I've got to believe with the success that you've had, that there is something that you do that differentiates you, that that is a magnetic part of your business, that people see something, whether it's in the connection that they see in the photos, whether it's your process.
Speaker A:What do you think it is that differentiates you from the other photographers in the area?
Speaker B:I mean, I really don't know.
Speaker B:I think I don't know what everybody else is doing and maybe that helps me and I just, I just do what I think feels right and I, and I just get out and I do network a lot.
Speaker B:And I think that when you connect with someone on a personal level, like you meet them in person and you know them in person, you get a different feel.
Speaker B:So the person that I might attract will be very different from the person that maybe Felicia Reed will attract.
Speaker B:Sure, I love and she's a dear friend, but you know, it's, it's.
Speaker B:I'm not checking to see what she's doing to see if I should be doing.
Speaker B:It's just not, that's just not.
Speaker B:I think for any creative that's like such a downward, like downward spiral that you can get into that.
Speaker B:I don't do that.
Speaker B:I do follow people that inspire me that I think that I could, you know, just like that, help me see the world differently or think differently, whether it's about my business or about business in general or about being creative.
Speaker B:But I don't know, I just, I guess I'm just, I just try to focus on what I'm doing and to be myself and really authentic with people.
Speaker B:And I'm sure there's people that don't like me and have not booked with me and booked elsewhere and that's okay.
Speaker A:And it is.
Speaker A:And I think that's the most probably honest answer that you can give.
Speaker A:And, and probably one of the most balanced answers of I just don't pay attention.
Speaker A:Which is great.
Speaker A:And I wanted to hear what you were going to say because there are so many, especially photographers that are starting out.
Speaker A:Any creative that's starting out, forget about just photography, but just any creative industry.
Speaker A:A lot of times when we're starting, we're looking around, what is this person doing, what are they charging, how are they getting their clients right?
Speaker A:We feel we have to do it that way and we get trapped into these cycles and habits that, all right, well now I'm here, but oh, they've leveled up over here.
Speaker A:Now I've got to keep up with them.
Speaker A:And it's a very ego based thing, but it's easy to get into, especially in smaller markets.
Speaker A:My guess is that in larger markets I don't live in one, but my guess is in larger markets there are so many folks that it's impossible to try to compare yourself to everybody.
Speaker A:And it's, it's probably more destructive to try to do something like that than to Just do you just put your voice out there and you're going to attract the clients with the service, with your personality, with being the face of your brand, letting people connect to you, you know, asynchronously.
Speaker A:So I think it was a.
Speaker A:It was an interesting question because from market to market, I tend to hear certain things.
Speaker A:Big markets, I don't care.
Speaker A:There's enough room for everybody.
Speaker A:Smaller markets is this person is doing mini sessions for $125 and how do I compete with that?
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And you get.
Speaker A:You get caught up in some of the things, losing sight of your own business and why you're doing the art thing in the first place.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Great answer.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I find.
Speaker B:I do find it was a good question.
Speaker B:I think that I find that I.
Speaker B:I've always followed people that really inspire me with how they work, both in their business and in their, you know, their end results, like their photography.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And that has helped trigger.
Speaker B:And I definitely did the comparison game early on, but for.
Speaker B:In that way, like, more to learn, like, what else could I be doing?
Speaker B:How else.
Speaker B:And there were some things that I picked up that I tried and then quickly was like, that's just not me.
Speaker B:I can't.
Speaker B:I can't.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's not me.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:That's not who I am.
Speaker B:That doesn't work for me.
Speaker B:For some people, it really works.
Speaker B:Just like booking online and, you know, just through email and they never even talk to their clients until they walk in the door.
Speaker B:I could not do that.
Speaker B:To me, that was just so weird because I'm like, I struggled with that if I was the one booking, if I was the client.
Speaker B:So I always have put myself, since I am my own client in that way.
Speaker B:Like, my avatar is women like me.
Speaker B:So I look at that and, And I think that for anyone starting out, like, that is a big part of it.
Speaker B:You're gonna compare.
Speaker B:But compare to learn and to.
Speaker B:To try different things rather than to.
Speaker B:I don't know, like, even if you compare with people that are not in your market.
Speaker B:I was told not long ago that there's like, Austin has one of the largest amount of boudoir photographers.
Speaker B:And I'm like, really?
Speaker B:I had no clue.
Speaker B:I had no clue.
Speaker B:And honestly, I really have never.
Speaker B:I still haven't looked that up, but I'm sure it's true.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker A:No one wants to wear clothes.
Speaker A:It's just too hot down there.
Speaker A:It's easier to take them off, take my picture.
Speaker A:I'm just sweaty.
Speaker B:Who's.
Speaker A:Who's inspiring you these days.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:There is a photographer in Italy that I've kind of really started following not long ago that I'm really inspired by.
Speaker B:His name is Vincent Peters.
Speaker B:I read.
Speaker B:Yeah, Vincent Peters.
Speaker B:And I'm just in awe of his work.
Speaker B:There is.
Speaker B:Oh, gosh.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker B:I'm inspired by a lot of the women in my network that are building businesses and doing it with children on their laps and, you know, and, like, babies at their hips and a toddler pulling on their leg.
Speaker B:And I just think it's amazing.
Speaker B:And I'm inspired by my husband as well.
Speaker B:He's one of the most consistently hardworking people I've ever met.
Speaker B:So I always think, like, what would he be doing?
Speaker B:What is it?
Speaker B:You're like, what would Jesus do?
Speaker B:You know, he's from Scotland.
Speaker B:He.
Speaker B:His name is Ian, but he is.
Speaker B:He.
Speaker B:He's.
Speaker B:He's a physical therapist.
Speaker B:And, you know, he just works.
Speaker B:And then we end the weekends.
Speaker B:We always have projects or things we're finishing around the house.
Speaker B:And he is like, wakes up in the morning and just gets on it.
Speaker B:And I'm like, that work ethic is incredible.
Speaker B:So, yeah, he does inspire me to do something.
Speaker B:Like, I just relax and he's, you know, outside building a deck.
Speaker A:I'm like, see, there's the comparison.
Speaker A:Stop comparing yourself to your.
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker B:That's just his.
Speaker B:That's just his character.
Speaker B:He can't help it.
Speaker A:What are you doing for fun?
Speaker B:What am I doing for fun?
Speaker B:I am looking to book a trip right now.
Speaker B:We are going to be going to.
Speaker B:My husband's running the marathon.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:The California.
Speaker B:I forget which one it's called.
Speaker B:It's the Big Source.
Speaker B:That's the marathon and Big Source.
Speaker B:So he's running dad.
Speaker B:So we're taking a weekend, like, a long weekend away.
Speaker B:For me.
Speaker B:It's like I'll be at the spa, but he'll be running a marathon, so that'll be fun.
Speaker B:And I'm actually trying to book a long weekend with a few photographers, friends that we have in common, kind of as a little, like, retreat, you know, kind of not a mastermind because I.
Speaker B:It's just friends and we, like, talk shop, but also have fun and maybe shoot each other and travel.
Speaker B:So we're trying to figure that out.
Speaker B:And lastly, I'm actually planning a couple of workshops in my studio, so I'm super excited about that.
Speaker B:I'm actually bringing in other photographers to teach.
Speaker A:So you're hosting.
Speaker B:I'm hosting.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:I hosted Kiara Marie last year.
Speaker A:She's incredible.
Speaker B:I know she is incredible and she's been a big sourcing inspiration always for me since I found her.
Speaker B:And she's shot quite a few of my branding pictures that I use all the time.
Speaker B:But we, I host.
Speaker B:I was lucky enough to host her fine art Boudoir Fine art workshop last year and this year I'm looking at hosting an underwater workshop with a photographer that is a dear friend out of la and then we'll see after that.
Speaker B:I'm looking to do another one.
Speaker B:So yeah, I think those are fun for me.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That feels because I get to host and I love hosting friends and family.
Speaker B:That's what that feels like.
Speaker B:But in a creative and yeah, I've.
Speaker A:Found that a lot of photographers in our circles were starting to gravitate more towards these just a bunch of friends getting together.
Speaker A:Rather than traveling the world and going to a workshop and trying to learn more techniques.
Speaker A:I found that I was going on some of those trips just to meet the people and just to hang out with new friends.
Speaker A:But now I'm much more in line with what you're doing, which is let's just get a bunch of us together and rent a big Airbnb somewhere and just be creative and learn from each other rather than it being a more structured type of retreat.
Speaker A:It's really just a hangout.
Speaker A:And I love that because it gives me that sense of community that I don't necessarily get on a daily basis with other driven creatives and ambitious business owners.
Speaker A:And I'm not even saying all photographers.
Speaker A:It could be any artists, right?
Speaker A:Copywriters, videographers, anything.
Speaker A:I'm just finding that these smaller pop up groups are starting to happen and I love that because it's a chance for all of us to experience different studios and go to different places without the overhang of a conference or a workshop or, you know, I have to spend all this money and go out of country and whatever it is, I think I'm seeing more of these intimate gatherings of friends that I haven't really seen in the past.
Speaker A:And I don't know if that's because the era of the big conference is starting to decline or people are burned out on workshops or people just don't have the cash to do what they want to do or what they've done in the past.
Speaker A:So I love the way you're thinking and again, you're one step ahead of me.
Speaker A:I keep looking at how do I bring people into the studio to experience a smaller workshop Right again, I'm back to your content.
Speaker A:Creation day.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker A:I'm ripping that off.
Speaker A:Blatantly.
Speaker A:I'll say it yet again, being where I am.
Speaker A:Fall is a wonderful time.
Speaker A:I was thinking about renting a big ski house up here as the seasons change, bringing people out, going to Acadia national park.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Going up into the mountains.
Speaker A:All these different places in Maine that are just kind of undiscovered for the rest of the country.
Speaker A:I'd love to bring some folks out and just have that type of hang without it being so formal.
Speaker B:And I think it takes away the pressure off the you or totally.
Speaker B:You know, if you're the one kind of organizing.
Speaker B:It takes a lot of the pressure.
Speaker B:You're literally just there to hang out.
Speaker B:And the expectations are.
Speaker B:Are such that we're just hanging out and we're going to create together and we're.
Speaker B:I think there's more room for creativity when that.
Speaker B:That expectation is removed of like, oh, I put in money.
Speaker B:So how is this.
Speaker B:Or is it organized?
Speaker B:Well, does the food good?
Speaker B:Is, you know, like, there's just so many variables that in the end, the more you pay, the more had the higher the expectation of everything being a certain way.
Speaker B:Whereas if you're just like, well, I'm just booking this trip and all it cost me was, you know, my.
Speaker B:My cost.
Speaker B:And you're like, whatever, I don't care what I eat.
Speaker B:I'll eat a sandwich.
Speaker B:And, you know, it's.
Speaker B:It's all good.
Speaker B:And I love that.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker B:Let me know if you do that in me.
Speaker A:I will.
Speaker A:No, absolutely.
Speaker A:Do you feel like.
Speaker A:Do you feel like you create well in that environment?
Speaker A:Sometimes I do.
Speaker A:I have produced some of my best work when I'm at kind of casual workshop or there's really no pressure to create or learn.
Speaker A:It's just really that.
Speaker A:That artistic hangout, I've done some of the best work that I've ever shot in those environments.
Speaker A:Do you feel like you do well, or do you just get caught up in the hangout and it's more of a.
Speaker A:An interpersonal connection that you get more satisfaction from?
Speaker B:Oh, I probably 50, 50.
Speaker B:Like, I definitely love it because I get to have that interpersonal connection, you know, with either friends or new friends.
Speaker B:But I think some of those conversations can spark some of that creativity to then be like, now you're making me think this, like, how about we do this tomorrow?
Speaker B:Like, would you be after being my model?
Speaker B:Or, you know, and I think as creatives, we're much more up for, like, oh, sure, whatever, you know, than.
Speaker B:Than.
Speaker B:Than other.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I think both.
Speaker B:I think I could do both.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And I think I don't get caught up in one too much that.
Speaker B:That the other is neglected.
Speaker B:I think I have a fairly good balance of wanting to connect with people, but also now I've got all these ideas that I just need to make happen.
Speaker B:And I've loved, you know, I've loved some of the workshops that I've gone on that were smaller for that reason and made some of my closest friends from that, including, you know, we were talking about our friend Tina.
Speaker B:But compared to some of the big other conferences, I'd love to conferences, but once I tried, like, the shootout situation, like, that was such a.
Speaker B:That just was not for me.
Speaker B:And that was, you know, I've not created any work that I feel like I could even show in.
Speaker B:I mean, I can show it and it's beautiful, but it's not.
Speaker B:It's representative of what I create in my studio, what I want to create.
Speaker B:So it's not.
Speaker A:I found a lot of people tell me the same thing, especially more experienced photographers, maybe advanced folks that have been doing this a while and have developed their own style, their own voice.
Speaker A:They've been either running a business or just being a photographer and having a certain style that conferences, whether it's shooting bays that are formally set up or, you know, little photo walks or whatever it is that the more experienced folks that are there don't necessarily participate as much just because they're not getting from it what they would be able to, you know, season to their taste.
Speaker A:They can't salt and pepper the lights right the way that they might want to because everything's been set up.
Speaker A:There's absolutely a place for it.
Speaker A:And believe me, it's been a monumental task for these conferences to do that.
Speaker A:Modeling and lighting and all that.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:It's monumental the amount of work that goes into it, and there's a huge benefit from it.
Speaker A:But I found, especially over the past couple of years that I'm shooting less and less in those bays only because this isn't my clientele.
Speaker A:It's not the style that I shoot in.
Speaker A:It's not the type of connection that I like to make with the model.
Speaker A:And I'm creating things that, quite frankly, everybody else at that conference is going to have.
Speaker A:And I've always got this thing in me.
Speaker A:I don't know if you have it, but I want to be different in whatever way that I Can.
Speaker A:If everyone is shooting a model with the same lighting setup, I want to shut one light off.
Speaker A:I want to, you know, do something so different that it looks unique, that it looks individual.
Speaker A:Do you find that you gravitate towards anything like that or do you not even participate?
Speaker A:You're just like, you know what, I'll just make my own shaded out.
Speaker B:Yeah, I kind of didn't participate in the last kind of few conferences like that.
Speaker B:I just kind of.
Speaker B:And I, you know, don't get me wrong for creating a portfolio when I first started doing studio that was so helpful.
Speaker B:But once I, once I kind of, you know, knew what I was doing a little bit more and I just, I felt, I don't know, I'm kind of a control freak.
Speaker B:I'm a scope.
Speaker B:Are you really has anything to do with it.
Speaker B:But I am a little bit of a control freak and I just have a hard time when I'm like.
Speaker B:And not only a control figure but a little bit of issues with authorities.
Speaker B:So it's like someone telling me this is how it needs to be done and needs to stay this way.
Speaker A:I'm like, that's a Gen X thing.
Speaker A:I'm telling you.
Speaker A:It's a Gen X thing.
Speaker A:Fuck the man.
Speaker A:Like, I want nothing to do.
Speaker A:Whatever you tell me, I'm doing the exact opposite because I will not be controlled.
Speaker A:I was raised a feral kid in the woods.
Speaker A:No one's going to tell me what to do.
Speaker B:Oh my God.
Speaker B:I homeschooled for 10 years before I really got into photography.
Speaker B:And I'm always asked like, why did you start homeschooling schooling.
Speaker B:And I'm like, because I didn't like someone telling me at what time I needed to wake up like six year old, five year old and drag them out of bed and like the hot and the cold and all things.
Speaker B:So to me it was like that very same reason.
Speaker B:I just don't, don't tell me what to do and how to do it and I'm all for.
Speaker A:So yeah, I love that there's part of that confidence, right that comes through with clients that might be a little bit younger and don't have that attitude yet because believe me, it's coming, it's coming.
Speaker A:You're going to hit 35, 40 and then suddenly it's zero given right.
Speaker A:You just kind of like you were saying earlier, you just kind of get to this point, you wake up and you go, no one's going to tell me what to do.
Speaker A:No one's going to tell me how to feel.
Speaker A:I'm going to feel about myself the way that I want to.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I love that empower.
Speaker A:And I don't know when it happened for me, I think it was in my early 40s, maybe my mid-40s, that I finally got to the point where I was just like, yeah, I'm not listening to anybody else.
Speaker A:I'm going to ride this ride on my own terms.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I am not trying to be controlled by anybody.
Speaker A:And it gives you this, this feeling of power.
Speaker A:Now, looking at it from the outside, I probably look like a crazy person.
Speaker A:And I'll freely admit that that's why.
Speaker B:We don't give a shit.
Speaker A:We don't.
Speaker A:But you know, quite.
Speaker A:I was having this conversation yesterday with a friend of mine.
Speaker A:It's probably done me more harm than good because I don't play the game.
Speaker A:But whenever I feel that sense of the game creeping in, in any industry, whether it's corporate, whether it's photography, whatever it is, when I feel like I have to kiss an ass or play a game, I'm instantly against it.
Speaker A:There is absolutely no way that I'm going to just go in there and tell you what you want to hear.
Speaker A:I'm almost going to try to be contrarian just to see what your reaction is.
Speaker A:Just to get a little bit of her eyes out of you.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's, it's funny.
Speaker A:I don't know if that's a generational thing or maybe I'm just an asshole.
Speaker A:Like that could very well be right.
Speaker B:That could be well too.
Speaker B:But you know what, there's something for everyone.
Speaker B:Like I love an asshole.
Speaker B:So I'm like, you know, I'm dear to you.
Speaker B:But, but there's definitely.
Speaker B:No, I'm not, I'm probably not as, as rebellious as you in that sense, but I like, I'm okay with it being that if I'm playing a game, but I'm well aware of this is the game I'm playing, I kind of take it more as a challenge and.
Speaker B:But I'm well aware that I'm playing games game.
Speaker A:Like I like that.
Speaker B:You know, I'm not pretending to be anyone else, but I am going to play the game just to my advantage.
Speaker A:What's next for you?
Speaker A:And I'm not putting you on the spot in terms of like, give me your 1, 3, 5 year plan.
Speaker A:But I know a lot of folks change every couple of years, right?
Speaker A:They just kind of get bored doing what they're doing.
Speaker A:For me, it's a major life shift about every seven or Eight years.
Speaker A:Are you at any point like that where you're thinking forward and saying, you know what, maybe I want to be just running the business and not shooting, or maybe I want to get into underwater photography like you were talking about and put boudoir in the back burner.
Speaker A:Where do you see yourself kind of heading?
Speaker A:What, what pulls at your gut to be like, oh, I want to do more and more and more of that.
Speaker B:So yeah, I definitely want to continue to grow in the workshop, hosting workshops.
Speaker B:I want photo.
Speaker B:You know, Austin's a great, great location.
Speaker B:I have a blank studio.
Speaker B:It also feels very private in the outskirts of Austin.
Speaker B:And, and I would love to be able to host more intimate workshops like that where it's just, you know, 10 to 12 people and one instructor.
Speaker B:And I think it, it's a great setup.
Speaker B:So I would love to have those four year of those.
Speaker B: sing at this, about this like: Speaker B:I think about us potentially living part time in Mallorca.
Speaker B:So my husband is from Scotland.
Speaker B:So whenever, you know, often, obviously we want to go see his family.
Speaker B:It's a long ways and we always go to Scotland and it's always cold and rainy.
Speaker B:So we learn very quickly that if we book a trip to Europe, anytime we booked a trip to Europe, they couldn't meet us wherever we are.
Speaker B:And so that has become the goal now.
Speaker B:So, so they will, you know, different times.
Speaker B:Sisters will come, dad will come.
Speaker B:And so the goal for the, we have our youngest is graduating high school in three years.
Speaker B:So we'll be empty nesters and we can start looking at potentially living part time in Mallorca.
Speaker B:And I would love to continue to shoot over there.
Speaker B:I don't know exactly what that would look like, but that's part of the reason why maybe I'm interested in water in photography.
Speaker B:But it's just been like an obsession.
Speaker B:I have this idea in mind of what Mallorca can look like for us partly living or there.
Speaker A:So yeah, write it down in your little idea book.
Speaker A:Make it real.
Speaker B:Oh, it's, it's, it's in green.
Speaker B:It's in here.
Speaker B:Like I visualize it every day.
Speaker A:I love, love, love that it's, I don't see a lot of people at this point.
Speaker A:It feels like everybody's just on a hamster wheel these days and that they're not really planning out like we used to.
Speaker A:Two, three, five years.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Setting goals the way that we used to.
Speaker A:It feels like people are just trying to like, what day is today?
Speaker A:Today's.
Speaker A:Today's Tuesday.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:I'm just trying to get to Wednesday.
Speaker A:And so hearing that you've got this plan, hearing Mallorca, good Lord, please host a workshop out there.
Speaker A:Give me the link.
Speaker A:I'll be there in a heartbeat.
Speaker A:But having that goal, do you find that that is something that inspires you every day?
Speaker A:Like, oh, yeah, no, I'm doing this because we're going to make this a reality.
Speaker A:We're going to have this happen and it goes from being less of a dream to more of a concrete goal.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Does it feel like a goal, like this is absolutely going to happen, or does it feel a bit out of reach?
Speaker B:Well, I'll tell you something.
Speaker B:I don't know what it is about me, and maybe it's.
Speaker B:It is down to the fact that I was, you know, raised in a pretty privileged setup with my family and I went to study in Italy.
Speaker B:Like, who did that?
Speaker B: You know, in: Speaker B:Like, nobody did that.
Speaker B:And so for me, dreaming and scheming and like, thinking of big, big crazy dreams is just like, it's.
Speaker B:I'm not intimidated or I don't shy away from it.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:That's like just always been part of my life.
Speaker B:And I came back from Italy and then I wanted to go back to Europe and I somehow landed a job that was opening of offices in London.
Speaker B:Like that all these things have happened in my life.
Speaker B:So I, I just dream big.
Speaker B:I love dreaming big.
Speaker B:I just think that the moment I feel like I'm not dreaming or I don't have something I'm super excited about, I.
Speaker B:I can't, like, I just have to shape something like I.
Speaker B:In my life.
Speaker B:So I either quit something or I join a new workout class or I do something crazy because I just don't work that way.
Speaker B:I can't.
Speaker B:Can't do it.
Speaker B:So I would encourage everybody to just think of a crazy dream and just don't let it go.
Speaker B:Like you don't know how it will work out.
Speaker B:I just, I just have that always.
Speaker B:Those visions in my head and I.
Speaker B:I have no idea how it's going to work.
Speaker B:I had no idea that when we bought this house, we bought it as a foreclosure because the neighborhood we live in was way above what we could afford.
Speaker B:And I envisioned that the house would look differently, that we would have a swimming pool, had no Idea how we afford all those things.
Speaker B:At the time, I was not shooting full time, so I homeschooled, and we had.
Speaker B:We were living on one income.
Speaker B:You have to have those big dreams so that you make space as and when the opportunities come.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I don't know how else to put it.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's.
Speaker B:It doesn't feel that big or crazy to me because now it's been three years, and now it feels super normal.
Speaker B:We actually went to Mallorca a few years ago to look at, you know, what it is, what is it like, and how do we feel about it, and.
Speaker B:And we'll probably go back and start looking at, you know, where, what city and where.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, I love that you're focusing on the what, not the how.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:A lot of people get stuck in the details of the how.
Speaker A:Oh, I want to have my own business, but how do I do it?
Speaker A:How do I set up a business?
Speaker A:How do I get this stuff going instead of just focusing on the what?
Speaker A:The how kind of shows itself.
Speaker A:That path is, like you said, not linear.
Speaker A:And how do you get there?
Speaker A:Who knows?
Speaker A:But if you focus on the what instead of the how, you can at least keep that goal there.
Speaker A:And then it's small steps every day.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker A:That compound interest.
Speaker A:You get there and then suddenly you're there.
Speaker A:You've got your villa in Mallorca and you're shooting underwater and you're hosting workshops and just living life as an international traveler.
Speaker A:I think I love it.
Speaker A:This has been amazing.
Speaker A:Where can everybody find your stuff?
Speaker A:Website, Instagram handle, podcast, address?
Speaker A:No, not the address, but where can folks find you?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So Valentina Portraiture on everything.
Speaker B:If you can spell portraiture, then you're already ahead of most people.
Speaker B:Valentina Portraiture on Instagram is my handle.
Speaker B:And Valentina portraiture on LinkedIn, Facebook, website, all of the things dot com.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I have so enjoyed having you here.
Speaker A:I'm so glad we have a chance to catch up.
Speaker A:And I know I don't want to wait another three years in a pandemic to do this again.
Speaker A:So if we can just schedule a zoom, maybe in the next six months, that would be fantastic, because I really do want to keep up with what you're doing.
Speaker A:I love the passion and just the commitment that you have to yourself to make this all work and to help your clients see themselves in a different way.
Speaker A:I think it's absolutely beautiful, and the service that you provide is incredible.
Speaker A:Your work speaks for itself.
Speaker A:I don't have to blow any smoke anywhere.
Speaker A:To look at your work.
Speaker A:You can see just how gorgeous it is by going to your website and going following you on Instagram.
Speaker A:I want to see what else you come up with as the face of your brand.
Speaker A:I want to see you doing TikToks spinning plates or lip syncing or in a dance battle with somebody.
Speaker A:It's going to happen.
Speaker A:I guarantee it.
Speaker B:I will be the face of my brand, but I will stay authentic.
Speaker B:To know that'll be Dan Sager doing any of that, but I love it.
Speaker A:Valentina, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker A:Hang here for just a second.
Speaker A:I will talk to you soon and I can't wait for people to hear what you had to say.
Speaker A:So thanks again.
Speaker B:Thank you so much, Matt.
Speaker B:It's been a delight.
