We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Carlee McKee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Carlee below.

Carlee, 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.

Most designers or photographers only focus on one piece of the puzzle — I bring it all together. From brand strategy to visuals to a custom website that actually converts, I create cohesive, high-end brand experiences that look as good as they function. My clients don’t have to hire five different people — they get a creative partner who does it all with clarity, style, and strategy.

Carlee, 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?

Hey, hi, hello, I’m Carlee — a web designer, photographer/videographer, brand strategist and creative director with a slight obsession for cohesive aesthetics and a love for helping entrepreneurs actually look as good online as they do in real life.

I run a full-service creative studio that blends strategic storytelling with high-impact visuals — specializing in brand photography, videography, and custom website design. My signature service is the “one-stop-shop” elevating a brand’s entire presence through photo, video, web design and brand strategy. Not just piecing together a pretty logo or throwing a website template on top of it. I help businesses show up with clarity, confidence, and conversion in mind.

I got into this world after spending years designing visuals for other companies and realizing how many business owners were winging it when it came to their digital presence. They had the passion, the product, and the skills but not the brand to match. So I built a business that gives clients everything they need to be unforgettable online from strategy to design to visuals to marketing tools. No more hiring five people and hoping it all fits together.

My clients are creatives, consultants, and founders who are damn good at what they do — but their visuals don’t reflect that (yet). They want a brand that feels elevated, clean, cohesive, and powerful — not trendy or templated. They’re ready to delegate, trust the process, and let a creative partner bring their vision to life.

I’m not just a web designer or a photographer or a strategist — I’m all of it. When I started out I need all of these services, but it felt so daunting to hire 5 different creatives, hand offs, final files, and communication and hoping it would all work seamlessly together. So I became what I needed. I bring creative direction, design, and brand development together under one roof so your business doesn’t look like it was cobbled together. My clients come to me when they’re done playing small. They stay with me because the results speak for themselves.

The thing I’m most proud of is the way my clients walk away from our projects. More confident. More booked out. More themselves. There’s nothing better than watching someone go from “I don’t know how to show up online” to “I finally feel like my brand reflects the level I’m playing at.” I want everyone to succeed and to be seen as the business owner they are because that is a feeling that is truly priceless.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I started out as a family photographer and always did that “on the side” even though it was consuming every minute I wasn’t at my corporate job. It was successful, but I always had the golden handcuffs of corporate keeping me from going all in on my business. When one summer I had just had enough and needed to take a leap of faith. Honestly, I think the universe put me in that position because that was the only way I was ever going to leave, but it worked. My husband is incredibly supportive and encouraged me to go full-time in my own business so I did. Now I live in Omaha, NE and there is only part of the year where family photos are in full-swing so when I finished that first season I decided I needed to re-do my website while I had the time and in doing so, I fell in love with creating an online presence. And while I was googling “how-to’s” I came across a web design course that seemed very aligned with my style so I went all in and bought all the courses – taught myself web design in less than 60 days and launched by business in the fall. My beta round was booked out in 3 days and I haven’t looked back since.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think there are a couple key traits that allow me to do what I do. I am really able to read people and not just by what they are saying but by picking up on the things that aren’t said or expressed. I also pride myself on being able to step into other people’s shoes, like a chameleon so to speak, when designing. I think a lot of creatives are known for one thing they do really well – and that’s amazing, but it can be limiting when starting out.

So by being able to take everything you have learned about your client, curate a vision, create it from thin air, and then have them absolutely fall in love with it. That is the most rewarding aspect.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://carleemckee.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carleemckeecreative/

Image Credits

Carlee McKee Creative