Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in photography but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Brian Gayley, Owner of Brian Gayley Photography, located in Overland Park, Kansas, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Brian Gayley Photography is a premier headshot studio serving the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. My clients range from individuals wanting to hit the professional workforce with a personal brand to allow them to stand out to large law firms and corporations needing to update their corporate branding and online presence for platforms like websites, advertising, LinkedIn, etc. My clients are people who desire a branding headshot that portrays confidence, compassion, approachability, and engagement with their audience. Each client receives coaching on the psychology behind what is said with facial expressions and how to achieve the perfect balance of confidence and approachability. I work one on one with each person in front of my camera to get a look that empowers them and builds both their confidence and the confidence of the audience they desire to influence.
Tell us about yourself
I started my photography journey in a unique way. I was a professional camera flyer at several of Kansas City's top skydiving drop zones. I had a video, and still camera mounted on my helmet and shot, edited, and produced custom skydiving videos for our tandem skydiving customers. This experience gave me the opportunity to work with a vast range of people, from laborers to lawyers and politicians. I quickly realized I really enjoyed interacting with such a broad range of human beings. My ability to communicate, educate and relate with such a wide range of personalities gave me the courage to pursue portrait photography. After 10+ years of Freefall photography and booking individual sessions for high school seniors, families and a few weddings I developed extensive knowledge of the fundamentals of digital photography capture and editing. When COVID entered the scene in late 2019, my photography dried up. I Had one booking in 2019. It was then several events collided. I realized the world was going virtual, and people needed great headshots to represent them in video conferencing. I was introduced to Peter Hurley, the renowned headshot photographer and mentor based in New York City. Studying under Peter increased my knowledge of advanced headshot processes and gave me the confidence to pursue my own studio. In two short years, I have gone from a dabbler in professional photography to owning a very successful headshot photography studio.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest accomplishment as a business owner has to be perseverance. Although my studio has experienced exponential growth in two short years, it took over a decade of trial and error, success and failure, and keeping up the momentum. Consistency is key. In today's social media and search engine environment, it's not who is the best but who is the most consistent and visible to their target audience. So my biggest accomplishment is navigating social media platforms and providing consistent, engaging content to my target audience.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
The absolute hardest thing to being a business owner in today's culture is staying visible online. I compare it to treading water in large waves and maintaining visibility to the rescue boat. Although a great product will win you business and maintain a relationship with your clients and customers, getting found is the most difficult aspect of running a small business, in my short experience.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Create a workflow that allows you to do a little bit daily. Don't try to accomplish big tasks all at once or you'll never keep up with the small projects.
- Answer every phone call and respond in a timely manner to every inquiry. You never know who is going to be the next big client, but with so many options in any given market, if you don't answer, they will move on.
- Never assume you know what your client needs. A large majority of my business comes from LinkedIn. I have the ability to do a little research on everyone who books a session. 9 time out of 10 their reason for booking a headshot session has nothing to do with what their current position is. If I make an assumption I know what their end goal is I may fall short. Ask questions, get to your clients, and listen to their needs.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.briangayleyphotography.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briangayleyheadshotphotos/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briangayleyphotography/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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