This year I was given the most beautiful opportunity to cheer on nominees for The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Awards by taking their headshots. When I said yes, I had no idea just how much this project would change my life.
Everything I do in life is slooooow with deep intention and purposeful connection drives almost every decision I make in my business. So, when the Chamber asked if I would schedule 2-3 Headshot Days of back-to-back quick shots, I paused, gave it some thought and immediately asked for an in-person meeting because I had a counter proposal.
I’ve never been a ‘drive-thru photographer’. I think I tried mini sessions once and thank goodness it flopped before it even started, because I just can’t operate that way. Photography is vulnerable for most of the world’s population to begin with. I’m not going to send you a few pregen emails, tell you what my van looks like, what I look like, and then ask you to line up to take the same photos that everyone else just took in the same spot. Where is the service in that interaction? You aren’t the person who showed up before you. Your photography project goals aren’t the same. And in this case, you don’t serve the exact same people as the person before you. A divorce lawyers Headshots SHOULD NOT look like the small-town bakers!
My counter proposal- I will contact each nominee, set-up a Vision Consultation to onboard each one and prep for the session. I will give each of them the opportunity to stay in the studio for up to 90 minutes while we create a full business branding session designed with their needs in mind. Within a week, I will meet with each nominee to review their images, pick their official Headshot, edit their image and do a write-up on social media to introduce their amazing efforts as a small business owner to the community. And thankfully they said yes.
When I told photographers in my mentoring group what I had done, they thought I was crazy, and if we are being honest, it may have crossed my mind too. This was my biggest assignment to date. I average 35-40 sessions a year, and I was looking at 45 in two months time. But this has a very happy ending, because we did it, and the response was incredible. I heard things like,
“The last time I got my headshots taken, I was in a line in a convention hall. I was posed the exact same way as the guy before me, and I am a woman.”
“The photographer who took our headshots was so grouchy, and I felt like just another person to get through.”
“I didn’t even get to see my photo before the director put it up on the website, and I have had to live with that picture I hate for years!”
If there is one thing I know for sure so far in this life- every human just wants to be seen, heard, and feel understood. And I can do that. I LOVE doing that for others. It is what will continue to set me apart in this industry. Slow intention set deeply in connection.
These business owners showed up with beautiful ideas that told stories of what being a small business owner looked like on the personal side. We had a huge mascot head, someone was juggling a shotput ball, hand painted messages to clients, I witnessed beautiful violin skills with a bow in hand, heard stories of their travels around the world, cried to tales of their business tied to family legacies, and the list goes on and on. What I found was meaningful camaraderie, innovation, daring heroics, inspiration, and a whole lot of incredible new friendships. I had no idea just how much beautiful has built the business scene in our town. My life is forever changed as the bearer of their stories. What legends!
It has been a month since we wrapped this project, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Cheers to each and every one of you, and thank you for entrusting me with something so incredibly special! I love looking at all of you like this in a gallery all together. What a bunch of powerhouses and each and everyone of you showed up so very authentically. There is so much to be proud of here!
