We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Meral Kat. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Meral below.

Hi Meral, thanks for joining us today. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today.

It’s tricky — if I started over the way I think I should’ve, I don’t know if I would have had the same opportunities, if my path would have been the same, or if I would even have found photography. That being said, I’ve loved my journey thus far, but I’ve always struggled to find opportunities for diverse shooting in my photography. I have shot a lot of sports teams because that is what has been accessible to me the most since my partner and I both work in sports, but I would love to shoot more engagements, events, and portraits.

If I were to start over today, I would invest more time in marketing myself and creating volunteer opportunities to grow my portfolio outside of sports. I love shooting engagements, events, and weddings, but because my base and work are in sports – specifically rugby, I’ve seamlessly created opportunities for shoots in that sphere on the field. When work outside of the field comes, it’s still connected to the sport — for example, shooting a holiday shoot for my rugby player and his fiance or a baby announcement for another rugby player’s family. Through these opportunities, I have expanded my portfolio, but I know my lens and eye; I can and want to do more with an audience outside of my direct contacts.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

HowI got into photography unconventionally during college almost 10 years ago. I worked in sports, majored in journalism, and managed a rugby team. The more I saw incredible action on the field, the more I was compelled to freeze it. I picked up a camera to do just that and then had difficulty putting it down. I started photographing candid moments of my friends and other events on camera and then continued to be the main photographer as a postgraduate for many different teams.

After graduating, I worked for many online publications in the entertainment industry, where my photography skills became handier as I had the opportunity to shoot moments from New York Fashion Week working for The Knockturnal and even documenting red carpet premieres or town-wide events working from LMC-TV.

I loved any opportunity to shoot and bring my camera with me. I left journalism after six years, and my camera came with me as I dived into the world of marketing and sports management. My personal and work life involved rugby team marketing and management again, and I was able to photograph professional national teams and Team USA players at different moments. As my camera became my right hand, I established Meral Kat Photography LLC to make it official and brand myself as a photographer since I had a lot of work to show for it. I had niche sports in the States that I could corner as a photographer, but at the same time I lent my eyes to traditional weddings, events, engagements, and opportunities to continue establishing my work and brand.

However, I find it hard to delve into other shooting opportunities outside of sports. I really had to prioritize time to market myself and partner with people who needed a photographer to capture their special moments. I have shot countless portraits, graduations, family announcements, weddings, and engagements in the past few years.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I have learned so much from other creatives and photographers on TikTok. It’s become a powerful platform to share insights, opportunities, and tutorials. I wish I had access to the platform early in my career because I gained inspiration from other photographers who share their stories and creative processes. I’ve also leaned on it to enhance my editing skills as other creatives have shared new findings about Lightroom or even used it as a thought partner on which lens to invest in next.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’m 30 years old, and I have four careers. As a young child, I always thought being on-screen and in front of the camera would be my happy place. I was eager to be a reporter and a broadcast journalist, so I majored in journalism to achieve this. I started growing my skills by reporting on events at my college, from sports games to spring weekends. Using my college reporting reel, I found an internship at NBC Universal, which later opened doors for me to work at ABC News, World News Tonight in production, and then as a reporter for LMC-TV and the Knockturnal. I freelanced for several print publications and wrote articles for Time Out Magazine, Patch.com, Buzzfeed, etc.

While I was achieving my goal of working as a reporter, my second career fell into my lap. I ran my father’s international textile business in India after he passed away in 2014. Owning and managing his business was a significant pivot I took to continue his legacy and ensure the partners he had been working with could continue their work. Textiles and running an international business in India wasn’t something I envisioned myself doing, nor did I ever think I would be traveling back and forth to India several times a year was possible. Still, I made it happen while finishing my degree and working in journalism. I did it for about four years until I realized it was no longer sustainable for me personally. There was a lot I wanted to accomplish in my career, and I craved stability in the United States. My mother retired from teaching in New York and returned to India to take over the business and continue the work my father built and I had done. It is important to mention that while I ran the business, I still relied on my photography skills to photograph all the products and market the business online manually.

I was a career opportunist and relied on several opportunities to feel financially secure. However, having the opportunity to be creative in different ways ignited my critical thinking and fueled several passions. While I was closing the chapter on my second career, while still working in my first career as a journalist and reporter, I decided to attend grad school, and there, as a mere extracurricular, I managed a rugby team (a sport I fell in love with while reporting and managing during undergrad). Managing and working in rugby became my third career. I left journalism to work in marketing and gained opportunities to market rugby, which is still a major part of my life as I am often asked to photograph and work with several teams today.

Marketing and photography became my fourth career. Hand-in-hand, I use both skills to work with several organizations and clients. I create engaging content through photography and manage social media assets. I use my communication and journalism skills to write, market organizations, and build systems to enhance communication teams. Establishing Meral Kat Marketing and Meral Kat Photography just made sense. A fifth career is to be decided, as I also tell people, it’s never to late to reinvent yourself!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.meralkatphotography.com
• Instagram: meralkatphotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meralkatmarketing

Image Credits

Wedding Portrait: Meral Kat Photography
Rugby Player Portrait: Meral Kat Photography
Football Player and Coach Action Shot: Meral Kat Photography
Photo of Selfie with Team and Trophy: Nicole Polombo
Photo with Shawl: Doug Schneider