We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bernadette Marciniak a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Bernadette, appreciate you joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?
Someone asked me recently if I ever feel like I’m not cut out to make it as a business owner.
“Every day,” I told her.
“But what I know more than that, with every fiber of my being is that I’m not cut out to work in corporate. So I have to make this work.”
The struggles that come with being a small business owner are real — I completely understand why someone wouldn’t want to take entrepreneurship on.
But I’d struggle these struggles over and over again versus struggling to find purpose, happiness, and freedom working in a 9-5. With entrepreneurship I have control over who I work with, my community, and even how much money I want to bring in.
Bernadette, 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’m Bernadette Marciniak — cat mom, Virgo, wino, foodie, and the founder of Solhaus Media, a photography and videography agency based in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and NYC. We create powerful imagery and captivating video and provide a safe and positive space for mission-driven female entrepreneurs, non-profits, and organizations to show up.
I am a former journalist, photo journalist, and video journalist from the NJ tri-state area. My claim to fame is that I used to work at the same newspaper Tony Soprano picks up at the end of his driveway. It’s during that period of time that I learned how to connect with community and make stories out of seemingly nothing. I say seemingly nothing because I fully believe every event, every person, every thing in our environment is and has a story.
I’ve made Solhaus Media a safe, inclusive, non-judgmental space. I take the time to get to know my clients on a deeper level. I ask the right questions—often ones that no one else has asked—so my clients feel like I’m truly getting to know the deep and real parts of them and translate that into imagery. I’m also a woman in a male-dominated field, and I’ve heard time and again from clients how much they appreciate working with a female videographer who “gets it” — it being what it’s like to perhaps have body dysmorphia, feel sensitive when being put on display, or let your feminine side out with some woo when it has historically been shushed away. We talk through the whole process and I make everything collaborative so that they can feel autonomy, pride, and excitement about how they’re going to show up in the world.
My clients have launched products, grown their businesses, and even sold out high-ticket offers using the visuals we create together. It’s incredibly fulfilling to see my work contribute to their success, and I’m always focused on delivering not just beautiful visuals but long-term, strategic value.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Know that feeling of being superstitious about celebrating your wins out loud because if you do the other shoe will drop?
This is the story of that shoe.
It was summer of 2022, and I finally felt like I had gotten a handle on my photography business. I was getting consistently booked, and I had just landed one of my biggest clients.
I boasted to everyone that my business was doing great and that I had finally “made it.”
And then, very shortly after their project concluded — the crickets came in.
From April 2022 to August 2022, I booked zero new work.
I felt so ashamed and embarrassed. And of course, I felt like it had served me right because I had gotten too big for my britches.
It became a sink or swim situation and I committed to throwing everything I had at my business. The biggest change I needed to make? Stop hiding the fact that I do video and can provide it as a service for clients. I had thus far kept it quiet because I didn’t think I was good enough to offer it yet. To this point, I had never shared any video work that I had done because I thought it looked amateur.
To my surprise, the minute I started sharing video to my audience, they were so supportive. Being a videographer is still very much a boys’ game, and it was even moreso three years ago. My clients and audience were so happy to see someone like me behind the lens, especially since video was still new to them too.
I ended up booking an even bigger client after I started offering video, and my business has been completely transformed.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I think there are multiple things. One is that I create a client experience in addition to providing pretty pictures. From the planning process, to finding locations, and having a dream team on set that hypes my clients up and makes things fun — it’s not just a quick and dirty photo or video session. It’s a whole experience.
The second is that I am very vocal and clear about my values. I know many small business owners and entrepreneurs feel like they might be scaring business away if they make any sort of stances. I’ve found that the more vocal I am, the more clients I get, and they’re all aligned clients and great to work with.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.solhausmedia.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/solhausmedia | www.instagram.com/bernadettemarciniak
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernadettemarciniak
- Twitter: Find me on Threads instead! www.threads.net/@bernadettemarciniak
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@solhausmedia
Image Credits
Emily Kim Photography
Lisa Whalen Photography
Emily Sooy Photography
Emma Roberts