We were lucky to catch up with Kira Goff recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kira, appreciate you joining us today. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

As a brand photographer, I often find myself trying to find great, modern, indoor options to do my sessions in. While there are tons of great studios in Denver that I love utilizing, I live in Colorado Springs and knew that once I had my son (a year ago now!) I wouldn’t have the capacity to drive up north nearly as often. Even before that I always wished there were more options available in the Springs for my clients down here and just to be able to stay closer to home. I figured I wasn’t the only one feeling that way, which is where the idea began! I was so excited to fill this need in my community and my industry of fellow photographers, but there were a lot of steps to actually making my rentable studio space a reality!

I did some market research to make sure I wasn’t crazy that this was actually a need, but I honestly had no idea where to start except with a simple business plan, so I reached out to the Small Business Development Center to help answer my questions and connect me to the right people. I had several consultations with one of their consultants who helped me finalize my business plan and make sure it was viable. They also connected me to another consultant who is the owner of a Commercial Real Estate agency in the area and he was the biggest catlyst for helping me make my vision a reality! We only looked at two properties because there weren’t many on the market that would have been a good fit, and the one I ended up with was actually the first one we toured! He took care of helping me through the paperwork and connected me to a Commercial Real Estate Lawyer who helped me with my lease agreement as well as the terms and conditions for our business as we would almost be sub-letting to other people as well. He also connected me to the Colorado Enterprise Fund, which is a non-profit that funds specifically minority and women-owned startups in Colorado (like me!). After lots of paperwork and conversations, I got a small business loan through them. They actually told me that it’s pretty rare for them to give loans to creative businesses because they are so risky, but they thought my business plan was strong enough that they were willing to move forward (thank you SBDC!).

All of this was a whole new world to navigate coming from a background of on-location photography with very little overhead, but completely worth it to make this happen! Once we had the space and the loan secured, the fun part began! We got to hire some contractors to take down a couple of walls, paint the ceilings, and put up new blinds – really making the space our own. Once the buildout was complete we got to style the space and tried to share as much as we could on social media as we went as Instagram is where most of our ideal clients are (photographers).

The process from the start of my business plan to opening day was about 6-months, although I had the idea quite a while before that.

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 got into photography around 2011. I was in college and just found a love for photographing people and knew the balance of in-person time and then time by myself for editing/etc. would be the perfect fit for my personality long-term. I’ve also always been very business-minded and love that aspect of photography as a career as well. While I have photographed almost 100 weddings, in the last couple of years I have pivoted to become very focused on photographing personal brands for entrepreneurs and small businesses. There aren’t a lot of photographers who specialize in that so it definitely sets me apart and it’s really just what lights up my soul! Helping other creatives and entrepreneurs grow their brands and connect on a deeper, more personal level with their ideal clients is so life-giving and I’m honored to get to work with so many people in this community.

When it comes to the studio (KINDLE Photo Studio & Event Space), we really prioritize community, creativity, and versatility. Basically if you can dream it up, you can make it happen here! We welcome both photographers to host their clients as if the space is their own, and small events of all kinds. We do fun sets throughout the year around seasons and holidays and try to change things up to keep the space feeling fresh and new each time you’re there.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

While we don’t have a massive following, the 1100 people who have joined us on social media in the last 8 months have come from lots of consistency, interaction, and behind the scenes. I would definitely suggest attempting reels on Instagram to anyone just starting to build their social media presence, but I can’t say we are the most amazing at them yet either. We did spend a lot of time searching for our ideal clients and following + trying to interact with them consistently and much of our business has come from Instagram.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

While social media is great, it isn’t super personal. Since the very beginning, we’ve been encouraging people towards signing up for our email list and then treating them like the inner circle. We always share any news and opportunities with our email list before it hits social media, making them feel like they are in the know and have a closer relationship with us than just our social followers (because they do!). We have a membership option that gives a much better hourly rate for signing up for 4-10 hours per month with a 6-month contract so we do everything we can to make them feel the most prioritized, even sending clients their way whenever possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kindlecos.com
• Instagram: @kindlecos.com
• Facebook: @kindlecos

Image Credits
Kira Whitney Photography, LLC

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