Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brianna Shrader. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Brianna, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about your team building process? How did you recruit and train your team and knowing what you know now would you have done anything differently?
I never intended to run my own business. I thought I always needed someone directing me and telling me what to do next, motivating me, etc. I then found myself deeply involved in someone else’s company where my voice was not heard, I found myself apologizing for someone else’s conduct and just felt ugly inside all of the time working with someone who’s morals and values were a far cry from my own. I felt bullied, under appreciated and taken advantage of, so I found my voice. I spoke up, and I walked away from what had turned into a business partnership. I was at business rock bottom with no portfolio, and no clients, but I had two friends in the industry who knew my story and knew my heart. Each of these women held their hand out and helped me through an extremely difficult couple of months. Shortly thereafter I received an offer to be a preferred photographer at a wedding venue, and just monthly later two more venues asked to bring me on board. I immediately reached out to the one who helped me the most in what was, at the time, one of the scariest phases of my business. I brought her on board to help me handle these clients, and she has been by my side ever since. While Shy Heart Studios is my company, my vision and my voice – it is run by a team of extraordinary people. Some I found on Craigslist (ha! remember that!?!), over time I have found photographers by recommendation from current members of my team, a photography facebook group and even on Indeed.com – BUT my behind the scenes operations are run by myself, my Mother, my Sister-in-Law, one of my best friends, and that initial Photographer/friend who has been with me from day one. A lot of people have warned me against working with friends/family, but I have found them to be my absolute most valuable assets .
My interviewing and hiring process is an ever evolving system. I learn something new with each round, but I am also very grateful to say that those rounds are far and few in between because I have some very dedicated people on my team and rarely need to replace anyone!
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 studied photography at Cal State Fullerton and received my Bachelor of Fine Art in Creative Photography in 2010. From there I worked for another photographer who is a mentor of mine to this day! I also landed in an unfavorable business partnership which I later broke free from, and started Shy Heart Studios in January of 2015.
Shy Heart Studios is a full service photography studio and that alone, sets us aside from a lot of other studios out there. What it means is that we don’t just capture a session and hand over digital files. We provide a full experience from start to finish, beginning with a planning appointment where we learn all about our clients and their children (if applicable). We learn why this session is important, we learn about the dynamics, relationships and personalities of those involved so that we can custom tailor our session to bring out the most authentic moments between our clients and their families. We believe that photographs are the most valuable possession people own, they are our legacy as humans, and it is our greatest joy to ensure that in our images, we are showing more than just some pretty smiles – we’re showing personality, love, relationships, and who our clients and their children are at this moment in their lives.
Once images from a session are ready, our clients come back to our beautiful studio to see their images for the first time in person. Here, we custom design artwork to complete the session. We create stunning heirloom albums, custom wall collections, framed prints, box sets, etc to memorialize our sessions in the form of beautiful artwork that will last a lifetime. We believe that photographs belong on proud display and we complete every session ensuring our clients literally get their hands on their precious memories.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
During 2020 and the Covid Pandemic I nearly had to shut my doors. As primarily a Wedding Photography studio we had no work to speak of and not enough money to keep our programs, and systems running. I was on unemployment for the first time in my life, and was pumping every penny back into the business to keep it moving.
While I had always offered mini-sessions for past wedding clients who grew into family portrait clients, I kept them short and sweet on 3 different dates and never really gave family sessions the time and energy they deserved. I woke up at 4am one day in January of 2021 thinking “I need to change something… I can’t get caught like this again.”
I got up early and started jotting down ideas. One idea was to get back to my favorite photography podcast and start learning ways to grow, change, pivot, and ultimately hopefully pandemic-proof my business.
In listening to that podcast I stumbled on a photography business coach who worked very consciously on mindset and growth based on that. Not only did he help me pull myself out of the negative thought patterns I was living in surrounding my business, but he helped me re-structure my business entirely and price myself for profit. I learned how to set myself aside from the rest of the photographers around me, creating a completely new and well-rounded experience for my clients that provided SO much more value and benefit to them. I set a stretch goal with my coach to open a space outside of my home office to meet my clients within one year of my start date with him. In that year, I became pregnant with my second child and opened my studio space in less than 9 months. I had my studio ready to go, a team ready to meet clients, product available to show, displays on the wall, and everything in perfect presentation before I gave birth. Following my maternity leave, I then had an unfortunate accident that required major knee surgery in 2022. With all of that keeping me physically out of work for the majority of the year, I still had my most profitable year to date.
Business Coaching is worth its weight in GOLD.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
At Shy Heart Studios I run a team of 12. We have a very unique set up in that most of my team is part-time, working for multiple companies and often for themselves as well. This means everyone is constantly doing a balancing act. As someone who worked for small businesses from the time I got my very first job at 16, I really place high importance on appreciating my team, and investing in showing them how important they are to me, because without them – I don’t have a business. Every year we have an end of year dinner together with significant others. This year I have added additional team bonding events like a wine & paint night for the staff and even an end of summer pool party. Because we are photographers, we are often in different places and almost never all under the same roof, but when we are, we really all enjoy each other!! So I try my best to get everyone together to have some fun, let some steam off, and just be together as often as I can with a group that has such varying schedules!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.shyheartstudios.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/shyheartstudios
- Facebook: facebook.com/shyheartphotographers
- Youtube: @shyheartstudios
Image Credits
Credit: Shy Heart Studios