We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Renee Back a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Renee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later?

If I could do it all over again, I would’ve started my business sooner. When I worked at Olan Mills for 10 years (my entire 20s), everyone told me I should start my own photography business. They told me they would be my customers. But I had two problems. One, I didn’t believe in myself. And two, I didn’t understand light or camera settings. Sure, I trained other Olan Mills employees across New York State, but I only knew what I needed for the job. The lights were set, the aperture, ISO and shutter were set. I only had posing, composition, getting the expression and a few lighting techniques in my skill set.

It wasn’t until nine years later that I finally decided to take the plunge and start up my photography business, learning lighting and camera settings right away. The bad part…it was January 2020. And we all know what came next.

But on the other hand, I had plenty of time to learn and practice. And the people I met that year are the reason my business became so successful. It really did seem like the timing was right for us. I jumped in with both feet and haven’t looked back.

Long story short, if I had to do all over again, I would’ve started sooner. But I’m glad I don’t have the option to go back in time. I like our story. I’m grateful it happened the way it did. I have the best clients and my business partner is my favorite person on the planet.

Renee, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started my photography business as a passion project just to see where it could take me. My husband joined me right away and just naturally had an eye for it. At the beginning, I wanted to be a wedding and portrait photographer. I enjoyed telling love stories and often made my clients cry (in a good way) when they read the blog about their session. But a year after I started, I realized the chaos of weddings and portrait sessions weren’t for me. The perfectionist in me decided that the controlled environment of branding sessions were where my talents would have the most impact. I could plan every shot before the session ever started so clients could walk in with confidence, knowing they would get the exact images they needed to attract their ideal clients. We are known for being fun and helping clients relax so they don’t feel awkward in front of the camera, be the best versions of themselves and actually enjoy the process. We are known for getting inside their head and bringing their vision to life. Even though we’ve worked with national brands, what I’m most proud of is helping business owners find their voice and confidence. True, seeing our photos on billboards, websites and social media campaigns never gets old. But the real joy comes from knowing we made a major impact not only on their business but on their self esteem as well.

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

I follow all of my clients on social media. I write blogs about them and try to be their biggest cheerleaders. It’s not a marketing ploy to get them to come back. I truly want to see them win. I send them referrals. I share their social media posts. I text to check on them, especially during major life events.

I feel like when you deliver a quality product, your clients feel truly seen, you help build them up AND they can sense your genuineness, brand loyalty takes care of itself. I also make sure not to speak negatively of other photographers. If they choose to hire others, I don’t view it as disloyalty. I still cheer them on. I still comment on the photos, especially when the other photographer did an amazing job. And if they come back to me and say they wish they would’ve stuck with me, I still keep it positive and let them know I’m grateful I get to work with them again.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I normally mention Profit First as the book that impacted my business the most, but a close second is Eat That Frog. I used to spend hours doing things that got my business nowhere, always telling people I was SO busy. But the things that would move my business the most…those scary things…I just put them off. I absolutely dreaded them. But once I read that book and applied its principles, everything changed. I realized the scary things were the things that would move my business the most. I had to do them FIRST. I realized the anticipation of that scary thing was way worse than actually doing it. And those were the things that paid off. Then all the other things were easy in comparison. And I didn’t have time for the things that did nothing for my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kevinandrenee.co
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/kevinandrenee.co
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/renee.back.35
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/renee-back-4623b118a
• Other: https://tiktok.com/@kevinandrenee

Image Credits

The image of me was taken by Rachel D Photography. All the others were taken by me for Kevin and Renee Photography.