Canvas Rebel reached out to me recently for an interview on being a creative in business. Check it out below!
Kellie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
I have been earning a full-time living from this creative work for about 8 years now! It started off pretty slow, and then when I got pregnant, I took a year off to focus on being a first time mom and savor it all. My work was pretty slow paced at that time, so it was an easy decision. My husband was able to support us, and I didn’t have a huge client base anyway. Once I had my second baby, I leaned really hard into documenting my babies together, and my motherhood journey with them. I think sharing that part of our lives resonated with friends and strangers alike, and through the power of word of mouth, things just started taking off. I was booking more sessions with moms who also wanted similar photographs of their journey, and then those clients would tell their friends, and so on! I still work with some of my very first clients! I truthfully don’t know if I would have sped up any part of the process, looking back at it now. I learned and grew so much every year, both personally and professionally. I learned how to love myself and my kids enough to allow myself to be a part of their story in photographs. I learned about growing too fast and not coming up for air, and how that affected me and my family. And I learned how to allow myself the freedom to create. I wouldn’t be where or who I am without everything happening the way that it did!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m Kellie, a family + newborn photographer in Metro Detroit, MI, specializing in documenting families in an authentic, connected and joyful way. I believe in photographing my clients in an honest way, exactly as they are- without forced smiles, without stress, and without pretending real life doesn’t exist. The mess, the movement, and the connection are part of the story, and they deserve to be documented. Over the years with my own kids, I’ve realized that the photos I treasure most aren’t the perfectly styled ones; they’re the messy, real photos, that I probably placed into a discard pile, and came back to a while later. Over time, that just became the heart of my work. My hope is that the images I produce become something my clients can return to years from now- when the house feels different, when the details have softened; so that they can remember not just what this season of their life looked like, but how it felt to be in it.
View the full interview with Canvas Rebel here!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think just showing up and being who I am? Sometimes I’m not really sure haha but I have clients who have been with me for 8-9 years, and still continue to want to work with me every year. I’m not that cool, but I do know that I’m honest and thoughtful, and I’d like to think that that comes through when you get to know me. I genuinely care about my clients feelings, thoughts, expectations, and really want to get to know who they are before we ever even start working together. Most of the time, when I meet a new client for the first time, it already feels like we’ve known each other for years, and then we end up actually being friends beyond their session. I love having that kind of connection with people!
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Word of mouth, always! Which is also the biggest compliment. Families who like my work so much that they tell their friends about me? The best feeling!
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