We recently connected with Brooke Townsend and have shared our conversation below.

Brooke, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

So, when I first started into photography in 2009, it was the time when digital cameras were first taking over and transitioning away from film. Back then, almost all portrait photography was pretty poised and traditionally ran since film itself was very much a formal process with lots of settings to master and you could never see what you were doing until you were developing the images in the dark room. So it naturally made the picture taking a formal stage with stiff poses and only a handful at a time.

I was among the first photographers to roll in as a young 19 year old with a digital camera instead of film and wanted to offer a different approach to it all. From the beginning days, I knew I wanted to create images that made you feel something rather than forcing people through traditional poses. And while it took me a very long time to figure out how to actually implement that while working with all sorts of different people, I never wanted to be a traditional photographer and forced myself to always create from that space. To stand out, be different, and hopefully be apart of the movement that would change the photography industry altogether to be more wholesome, real, and authentic.

And I would say over the last decade, that very thing has happened! And my style has embraced more and more documentarian over the years. But watching the entire industry shift into it too slowly over time as well has always made me feel like I’ve been a part of something so much bigger than even myself.

Photography is now a beautiful art that many more people can appreciate than ever before :) and to be someone offering that to families and continuing to make real, authentic photographs for people is a timeless gift that many generations of those families will be able to enjoy. Being the person who can give that to people has always felt like one of the biggest unexpected blessings of my life!

Brooke, 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 portrait photographer located just north of Cincinnati, Ohio where I was born and raised. I started my business in 2009 while living in my parents basement at just 19 years old. I took a huge risk on myself choosing not to go to college, bought my first DSLR on a Best Buy credit card, registered my business as a sole proprietorship through the state of Ohio, and ran that business from a computer in my parents basement for a couple of years until getting a place of my own. And I’m happy to report I’ve been running that same business every year since now making my self-employed entrepreneur experience a 14 year journey.

Since those early days of starting this photography business, it grown from a tiny little basement operation photographing people only that I knew to branching out more into portrait photography and weddings including destination weddings and elopements for people all over the country.

Over the last 14 years my business took me to many states outside of Ohio including California, Wyoming, North Carolina, South Carolina, Massachusetts, and many others. I even did a wedding in England once! I’ve been fortunate enough to be published in The Knot Ohio magazine twice, and featured through other online publications as well as now being able to say I’ve photographed over 200 weddings and 100’s and 100’s of different families from all over the country in my career.

I’ve recently retired from photographing weddings making 2023 my pivoting year to focus completely on my portrait photography specializing in a relaxed photography approach for families in all stages of life. But I’m truly thankful and blessed how long this business has been able to stay afloat through many different challenges and difficult times. It’s a huge part of my heart and became a huge piece of who I am as a person today!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

I allowed myself to grow low and slow is what I say. I never aimed to be the most popular on social media, or have a high follower count. I wanted a base of clientele that could grow with me and be more of a family than people I just got paychecks from. Building personal connections is what has made my business strong and keep going through very challenging times. And it took a lot of time to build it.

How did I build strong connections?

I always made sure to talk to all of my clients, as often as possible, outside emailing and formal connection. I would follow them on instagram, keep up with their lives as I would friends, comment on things, share things with them, and be apart of them as much as they wanted to be apart of me. I wanted to make that personable connection with people so they could arrive at a session with me and already know me. That sets up the stage for a comfortable session and a stellar experience in my opinion.

And I’ll tell you what, nothing works faster than word of mouth. You could pay $1000’s in advertising. But, it isn’t always necessary. Speaking from experience, when I have an amazing experience with a company or brand, the first thing I want to do is tell my sister about it! And my best friends! And then they get it and say the same things to their people! When you can make an experience for someone by going even a little above and beyond incredible, they will spread your name like wildfire.

At the height of my career with weddings, I was a 6 figure business for 3 years in a row. And I’m going to say, in the last decade, I’ve spent $0 on advertising.

Don’t get caught up in social media stats and don’t underestimate word of mouth and how far even a little extra with each client can go. Because people will talk no matter the experience they get. Make it good talk and your business will grow for you.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I feel like my business would have grown faster if I had learned to treat myself like a professional sooner.

I struggled with imposter syndrome for the first 8 years of business. I think starting from such a humble place, choosing a very different life path than everyone else my age, and going into entrepreneurship as a teenager just had many many times of loneliness and isolation. I wanted things early on most people weren’t even thinking about yet. And I struggled figuring out how to translate that into confidence as a business owner.

If I could have embraced my own professionalism and believed deeper in myself earlier, I would have seen much bigger success within the first 5 years of business. Because the sooner you treat yourself like a professional, the sooner everyone else does too. Even if you aren’t one yet, the belief that you are translates to your client. And clients will naturally respect you deeper too the more you treat yourself as a professional.

No one will believe you’re a professional unless you do first. The sooner you can embrace that, the sooner you’ll find your success.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.brooketownsend.com
• Instagram: @brooketownsendphoto
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/BrookeTownsendphotography

Image Credits
All photos taken by myself, Brooke Townsend, with Brooke Townsend Photography