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

Hi Brianna, thanks for joining us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.

Money. I’ll just be honest. Have you ever heard the saying ‘you have to spend money to make money?’ Well, it’s true. My very first camera was a cheap crop sensor that I found on sale at Costco. I didn’t have a lot of money and honestly didn’t know enough about cameras. I also bought ‘Photoshop Elements’ from Costco, which is a very condensed and simplified version of Photoshop. Not only did I not want to pay for the full version of Photoshop, but I also knew nothing about it. Not one thing. I have no formal training in photography or business. I just knew that I liked taking pictures. I spent hours and hours on YouTube learning how to edit photos. Looking back, I wish I would have spent the money and taken a Photoshop class. Time is money. I could have used my time a bit more productively which could have led to me taking on more sessions and earning more money. I bought that camera from Costco and I spent the next year using it, doing sessions for family and friends at $50 each. Even though I didn’t have the best camera, or even one that was considered ‘professional’, I was hooked. I started getting referrals from those family and friends, and I slowly started increasing my prices. In the early years, I mostly photographed families and children. I was extremely interested in posed newborn photography. Growing up, I had a poster by Anne Geddes hanging in my bedroom. I always thought her images were so beautiful. I found newborn photographers on Facebook and would follow their pages. I was always in awe of the stunning images I would see them create. I wanted to do that. I wanted to be like them. I have a background in child development. I actually got my Associate Degree in Child Development and then moved on and got my Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work. Working with babies and children is always something I knew I wanted to do. But I could never quite figure out in what profession I would do that. I tried a few things, and they weren’t for me. I had a job, and it paid my bills, but I wasn’t passionate about the work I was doing.

My photography journey and the time I bought that camera from Costco, was right after I had my second son. I decided to be a stay-at-home mom. I wanted a hobby, and I wanted to have great photos of my children. So, I bought that camera from Costco and went out taking photos for people when time would permit. In the beginning, it wasn’t often as I did have two young children at home. All my editing or learning on YouTube was done at night when my kids were asleep. This isn’t ideal, but I made it work. After about a year, I decided that this was no longer going to be a hobby or a side gig, and I wanted to upgrade my camera and decided to purchase a more professional model. I also decided to dive deeper into the newborn photography world. Newborn photography is a niche. It’s a specific skill that is not for everyone. You are working with tiny, precious humans, and you’d better know what you are doing. There was a local newborn photographer that I had been following for quite some time. I decided to reach out to her and to my delight she offered 1 on 1 mentoring! But it was expensive. Way more than I wanted to pay, and more than I was making on the clients that I was bringing in. But I knew how badly I wanted it, and I did it. I paid for the mentorship. I spent 8 hours with this photographer. She had a baby come to her studio to model for us. I was so excited! We went through lighting, posing, angles, camera settings, editing etc. Nothing was off limits; I could ask her anything and she would answer. She was such a delight, and I could tell how much time, money and education that she put into her own business. That experience was incredible and was hands down the best thing I have done for myself and my business. It has shaped me into the photographer that I am today. Not only did I learn a ton, but the best thing I learned from that day was CONFIDENCE. She encouraged me to charge more. She made me realize that I now had a skillset that most photographers did not, and I needed to charge my worth. Did I do everything as perfectly as that photographer did? No, and I still don’t. It takes practice. I will continue to learn and perfect my skills as long as I’m in business. I want to provide the absolute best for each and every client that walks through my doors. That mentoring session was a little over 5 years ago. Since then, I am now in my 3rd commercial studio with a thriving business.

Newborn photographers typically have a lot of props. We need baskets, blankets, hats, headbands and other fun items for our sessions. A mistake that I made in the very beginning is going cheap on my props. I thought I could use cheap items. Growing up, I had extremely frugal parents. They lived within their means while raising a family of 5. But frugal was all I knew. You know what the problem with that is? Cheap props and décor make your photography look cheap. Don’t buy or use items that parents can buy for themselves. Invest in pieces that will make your photos look custom. People pay for custom. People also pay for convenience. Having everything I need for a session in my studio makes parents happier and less stressed. No need for them to bring anything except the baby! Thus, I get to charge more for this.
Remember when I said, ‘time is money?’ I learned from that mistake. I needed a professional website. I had originally created my own website using Wix. I had no idea what I was doing, and I just used the template that they offered. But no one was finding me though a google search. I found and hired someone to create a new and professional website. The time I could have spent learning how to create a professional one with keywords, SEO etc, is time I delegated to someone else and then I was able to spend more time with my clients. Was this service cheap? Absolutely not. Was their service worth it? Absolutely. Google is now the number 1 way that clients find me.

Brianna, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a San Diego native and mom to 3 boys. I had my first son in 2012 and decided to stay at home. Going from working full time to staying at home was a drastic change. In 2015, I had my second son and decided I needed a hobby. I always loved taking pictures, so I went out and bought my first DSLR camera. Things sort of snowballed from there. I started slowly asking friends and family if they wanted photos. Those turned into referrals for paying clients. I kept working on my craft. I took classes and mentorships; I bought equipment and props. Being a photographer isn’t just about taking pictures. You actually need to utilize several skillsets. Since I am a self-taught photographer, I had to learn how to use my camera, editing software, plus the business side of things. I had never even taken a business class. My degrees are in Child Development and Social Work. I’m most proud of how far I’ve come. I started this journey taking pictures outside and then when I moved onto newborn photography, I used a room in my house. I’m now in my 3rd commercial studio. Signing that very first lease was scary. There were times where giving up would have been easy. I’m raising 3 small humans after all. That in itself is very time consuming. Any chance I got, I was watching YouTube, or I was on Facebook learning anything that I could. Facebook was a huge help for me. I followed so many groups and photographers that were willing to help others learn. YouTube and Facebook are free educational resources. But I wanted it bad enough to keep with it. Even when business was slow, or when I was forced to move studios. I’ve put blood, sweat and tears into my business, quite literally. And I’m not going anywhere.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I was in my second commercial studio for about a year and a half, when I got notice that the building was sold and that all tenants needed to move out. We were given around 5 months’ notice which was actually nice since that was much more than what is required. I started looking immediately. I wasn’t having any luck. I would spend hours surfing the internet and I would drive by places and nothing was working out. I found a local agent to help me. There weren’t many spaces that were in my budget. If they were in my budget, they needed too much work like removing walls, fixing electrical, new flooring, new paint etc. Or one space in particular, had several dead cockroaches. Um, no thank you! After 3 months of dead ends, my agent helped me find one and we submitted my application. It was at the top of my budget. My application was approved, but the landlord decided to raise the rent another $200 a month. I was pretty bummed. My agent wanted me to increase my budget or ask the landlord for only a $100 increase. I declined. That felt sneaky, and I’m not here for it. Don’t advertise a price and then change it after an application is submitted. I decided this isn’t a landlord I wanted to deal with, but that also meant I had to go out there searching again. After A LOT more stressful searching, I’m happy to say that I love the current studio that I’m in, so I was able to eventually find something. However, that didn’t come with its share of problems. The new landlord agreed to put in new flooring and paint, however, his workers did not complete the work in time. No one told me. I had my old studio all boxed up. I had my Husband and my Dad ready to help me load and move items. We stood in front of my new studio door, and no one brought me the key. The landlord and agent were not answering their phones. It took several hours before I got a hold of the landlord. He told me it wasn’t ready, and I needed to wait a few more days. Only I didn’t have a few more days to wait. I had moving helpers that day, and my next session was in 4 days. I did not want to have to tell my clients that I needed to move their session. I simply explained that was unacceptable and that he was not in compliance with our lease agreement.

The landlord agreed to meet me the next day with the key. I had to shove all my boxes and equipment to the middle of the floor and cover them with tarps so the workers could finish sanding and painting. YES, I held my client’s session just a few days later. Not sure how I pulled it off, but if I haven’t mentioned it already, I have poured blood, sweat and tears in this business! Part of a thriving business is happy clients.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Post. Post a lot. For me, when I was first starting out in newborn photography, I put out a ‘model call’ to local mom’s groups. I said I was looking for a newborn baby that I could use to practice on and that I needed the images for my portfolio. This seemed to intrigue a lot of new moms or maybe expecting moms and they would ‘like’ your page if they wanted to follow you. I also joined as many fakebook Mom’s groups that would allow me any. Anytime someone posted that they were looking for a newborn photographer, I would tag my page! When people go to your page, they want and need to see content! You need to look like you are active on your page and that you are busy with clients. That’s why posting is so important. Anytime your business is slow, consider posting for a model call. I offer a few images for free to the client in exchange for their time. It doesn’t have to be a full session, and you get to make all the prop and color choices. So, use a prop or pose that you want to specifically work on! You get more practice and new content to post!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cuddlebugphotos.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/cuddlebugphotos
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/cuddlebug-photography-san-diego
• Other: www.facebook.com/cuddlebugphotos