We were lucky to catch up with Arminta Mckinney recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Arminta thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?

I manage my own social media account, however, for the last few years that I need assistance in this area. It’s just simply too hard to manage it, while working full-time and running a full-time business. I’m making it work, but I also could be doing a lot better. Ten years ago, I’d say that 80% of my clients were from referrals, but times have changed and I’d say 65% are now referrals and the other 35% are from social media. So while I’m doing ok with managing my social accounts on my own, I hope to do better moving forward, with either hiring someone to assist, or cutting time in another area to devote it to social posts.

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’m a single mother to my son, Miles and I have a heart to serve. I was born into an amazing blended family and I am proud of the one that I am now raising my son in. My village is absolutely amazing!

My love for photography begin when I was just 12 years old. My father was always the one with a camera on family vacations and I soon became the one who always wanted to take photos. I started my company Arminta McKinney Photography, in 2012 and I’m so grateful for those who’ve given me the honor or capturing some of their most precious memories.

When my ex-husband and I decided to divorce, it was our number one priority to make sure that our son always felt our love and that his life never felt the effects of our decision. Through this experience, I discovered how “different” we were in how we are raising him together, and I wanted to challenge other families out there to be “different” like we are (if possible. Everyones situations are not all a like). This is how I birthed AM Blended Families. I wanted our family to be an inspiration to others and to help anyone that we possibly could.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative for me, is the lasting relationships that I’ve built with my clients. I’ve literally have been around to meet some of my clients prior to them getting married and have now been working with them yearly. Some of them have children in their teens and it’s been a true pleasure/honor, watching them and their families grow through my lens. So I’m definitely most proud of the relationships that I’ve built with them. I strive to go above and beyond in that area and in my opinion, it’s paid off.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I’m now a co-owner of a studio, Reel Portrait Studios and my business partners are actually my past clients. I meet Candace when I was preparing to shoot her and Wayne’s Wedding and Wayne and I went to high school together. So it’s kind of a full circle moment. Shortly after shooting their wedding, Wayne decided to make a go of cinematography (with the encouragement of his wife, Candace) and shortly after, they reached out to me about partnering up to open a space. I am so grateful to have such amazing business partners, who career goals and morals align with my own. It makes working with them that much easier and such a joy. I’m truly grateful that I get to build with them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://iamarminta.com
• Instagram: iamarminta
• Linkedin: Arminta McKinney
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@IamArminta

Image Credits

Arminta McKinney Photography