Tell us a little about yourself
I am a professional photographer based in Toronto, and I’ve been in business for over 25 years now.
I started off in commercial photography, but over those 25 plus years I have ended up mostly photographing people for business branding and marketing communications purposes. So that could be anything from authors to executives to staff, anyone who needs to have marketing imagery.
That’s an interesting progression through your career.
It was partly due to changes within our industry. You know, when I started, we shot using film, and it was an entirely different world. There was no stock photography, when I started, no digital photography. Those two things really changed the marketplace.
Basically there was a lot of pivoting required over the years. It was also a matter of just kind of finding that place within the realm of professional photography that was the best fit for my personality and skills.
What’s an achievement you’re particularly proud of?
Well actually, one of the things I’m most proud of is just staying in business for this long!
Those industry changes I mentioned, when they happened, were pretty excruciating for a lot of photographers, and some people left the industry. Lord knows I considered doing that myself.
It has been a very long, winding path, lots of pivoting. But I’ve always circled back to the famous quote from Galaxy Quest, “never give up, never surrender” – it was kind of my motto.
I’ve ended up shooting everything from weddings to pet portraits to food, and I even did some acting in TV commercials. I’ve photographed some really interesting people. Everybody that I photograph is interesting. It’s fun to be able to say that I’ve photographed some notable individuals like Hazel McCallion, and some of the dragons and Bruce McCullough, people like that.
The other thing I’m really proud of is that I’ve worked a lot with people who really hate having their picture taken, they’re dreading the entire experience. But people say to me, once it’s over, that they actually enjoyed it, and they love the results.
So what’s one piece of advice that you could offer others who would like to follow in your, in your steps?
I think that the most important thing I can suggest is to be aware that in creative fields, it’s more about your acumen as a business person than it really is about your skill, creativity, and excellence as a photographer.
And another thing: make sure that you have confidence in your product. In the case of a photographer, that’s going to be both you and your finished product; it’s incredibly hard to sell a product that you don’t believe in.
What kept you feeling driven and motivated during those harder parts of your entrepreneurship?
Well, I’ve definitely put way more than 10,000 hours into becoming an expert. Because honestly, there’s always one more picture to take, one more interesting person to meet.
I always feel like my best photo is still waiting to be taken. So for me, it’s not really about being an entrepreneur, which I never really wanted to be in the first place. It’s more about creating work that I can really be proud of, and just always seeking to be better.
How would you like to see your business grow?
Well, the pandemic really set me back a lot, because I work almost exclusively with people. I also photograph dogs, but way more way more people than dogs. And so now I’m rebuilding by just continuing to be out there.
The only social media I use is LinkedIn. But on LinkedIn, for the past six months, I’ve been posting one tip per week on how to prepare for and get the most out of your next professional portrait session. And that’s gotten me a lot of visibility and referrals.
And the really nice surprise is that I’m getting referrals now from people that I haven’t worked with for 10 years. But I believe they’re seeing me because of my engagement on LinkedIn. And so I’m just building my way back up to the critical mass that I kind of had before the pandemic, as people kind of come back slowly to work.
So your area of expertise is photographing people…and dogs. Tell me a bit about that?
Well, many years ago, there used to be a Dogs in Canada Magazine, and I used to shoot for them regularly.
For the last few years, I’ve been working with CAMH shooting their therapy dog calendar, which they’ve done for the last three or four years. I’ve been so fortunate to get to work with them, because it’s supporting such a fantastic cause that I really believe in, plus I get to work with all these amazing dogs.
Is there a message you’d like to share with other women entrepreneurs?
I want to suggest to the world to opt for phone calls whenever they can, because you can accomplish so much in a phone call, relative to what you can sort of partially get answered through emails going back and forth.
It’s something I noticed in my business all the time. And I would just really implore people to pick up the phone, you just can get through a process so much more efficiently if you just pick up the phone.
What made you join or sign up for the Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce?
Well, I think connecting with motivated women, and you know, and people who identify as women. And while I photograph all kinds of people, I have a real affinity for and I particularly enjoy working with people that I can relate to and feel inspired by.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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