We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tayanna Nelson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tayanna below.
Tayanna, appreciate you joining us today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later?
Honestly, I think I started my business at the exact right time for me. Moreso decided to “go full-time” at the right time. I registered my business the year after I graduated college with my BS degree in photo. I floundered and barely made enough to even pay taxes, but I wanted to do everything right. So then every year I made a little bit more money, and I got a few more clients.
I quit my full-time tech job 2 weeks after I married my partner. I was making about the same from photography as I was making at my FT job so we printed my bank statements, made sure it made financial sense and then I just.. did it. September of 2019 was my first full-time year. Then Covid happened and it definitely skewed things and was really damn scary, but I think it also taught me to pivot, get creative, and it pushed me to make Good Bodies more than a thing I occasionally did in someone else’s studio.
I’ve learned and grown so much and I think that if I’d tried to make it any earlier it would’ve been a harder fought battle for me, especially as someone who was so ingrained in hustle culture until very recently. Now I’m in my 30s, I want to relax and just enjoy the time that I get with the people I love and the career I’ve worked really hard for.
Tayanna, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I had a friend in high school who inspired me to start taking self-portraits but I was not nearly as good at it as she was. I realized that I was good at photographing other folks, however. I won a couple of awards and it made me want to pursue photography further in college. I found a school with a bachelor’s of science for the business background and eventually graduated with my degree. I photographed weddings for a while until someone asked me to photograph a boudoir session. I went through several iterations of my style and my business until I finally realized that empowering people was what I was meant to be doing.
I started building the Good Bodies brand in about 2018 and started going to workshops about posing and fat liberation and then it kind of took off from there. I focus on photographing marginalized folks and their bodies as a way to celebrate people who weren’t just white, thin, and cis het females.
I’ve also mentored several boudoir businesses near and far to help them figure out how to find their own boudoir niche and build the brand behind them. The biggest thing I’ve gotten to do since this is collaborate with Corissa Enneking (Fat Girl Flow) to create Fat Camp which is just a really cool few days in Kansas where fat folks can hang out and not have to worry about being judged or be the only fat body around.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Hustle culture! Which sucks, because one of the pros of hustling is that you can make so much money because you are constantly working. You are putting everything on the back burner to make your business successful. However, it also means I burnt out very quick and I had no energy for anything anymore. Not working, not my marriage, not my family, or even doing things like reading which I love. I was working 40-50 hour mandatory weeks at my tech job and then I was coming home and photographing people and then photographing weddings on the weekends and anything else I could.
I’ve seen a change in how “productive” I feel now that I am working 30-40 hour weeks but it’s again doing that unlearning thing. It feels better and better to me every day and it’s not like I’m slacking or not doing the work. I’m simply working the amount that other folks do and am finding time to do what I want.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I am actually having to re-build my audience and it is a lot harder than the first time. I constantly post my work, I interact with others, and I pitched collaborations with brands or influencers that I adored. I spoke at a body positivity panel years and years ago where I met Corissa (@fatgirlflow) and we connected and I photographed her and got to meet J. They used their platforms to boost me and I think it really changed things for my business. We’ve become close friends and Corissa even runs Fat Camp with me.
I’d say be genuine in your approach with others and life. I’ve gotten so many followers just from sharing my life and my passions. Speak up for your client, your brand, etc. and you’ll go super far.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.good-bodies.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/goodbodieskcmo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/goodbodiesvip
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/goodbodieskc
Image Credits
For the photo of me on the pool set, please credit Lauren Pusateri https://laurenpusateri.com/