Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Catrina Maxwell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Catrina, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start big picture – what are some of the biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

Small business owners have a greater need for still photography now more than ever. Let’s face it, we’re more attached to our devices today, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Businesses need to show their personalities and processes on their social media outlets to elevate their brands and connect with potential clients. Branding photography is becoming increasingly popular because of this, and it’s designed to provide entrepreneurs with images that foster that engagement and feel authentic to the viewer.

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?

Hello, I’m Cat of CatMax Photography. I love helping businesses elevate their brands so they can be more successful in their industries!

I got started with this type of photography when I was asked to take photographs of female entrepreneurs for a weekly editorial series. I met incredible women making names for themselves in fields like beauty and interior design and fell in love with visually telling their stories. From there, my signature Personal Branding Experience was born.

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

Initially, I worked in accounting simply because I had fallen into it after high school, not knowing what I wanted to do or be.

I had a camera in my hand at the age of 8, but I didn’t realize at the time that I could make money with it until many years later when someone told me, ‘You know, you should really do something with this, like professionally.’ At that moment, I thought, I have experience with photography but no education in it. I signed up for a photography course and fell even more in love with my camera.

After graduating in 2008, I started working at Apple while focusing on CatMax Photography as a side hustle. Four years later, major life changes meant I needed to leave my position at Apple. I had no idea what I was going to do for income, and my older brother said, ‘You are going to do CatMax!’

Even though I was going through one of the scariest times of my life, and I knew that what I was about to do would involve a ton of hustling, I jumped into entrepreneurship full time in January of 2013.

The to-do list for getting a full-time business off the ground is daunting, but I simply started by tackling one item at a time. The first thing was a website, and I worked closely with a web designer to get a website up as soon as possible. Since work wouldn’t fall in my lap, I realized I had to overcome my shyness and start networking with anyone and everyone. Additionally, I learned to ask for work and found that the more I reached out and asked, the more the work started coming in.

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

I love seeing women entrepreneurs being successful and my images helping them to accomplish that. Making them feel comfortable in front of the camera, bringing their personalities through in the photos, and giving them high-quality marketing material all make me incredibly happy.

Contact Info:

• Website: catmaxphotography.com
• Instagram: @catmaxphoto
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CatMaxPhotography
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/catmax-photography
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9UOSsPp8eYViheZiNgFHlw

Image Credits
The image of me needs a credit of Lovi Blush Photography. Photo credit on all the others is CatMax Photography and please add the business or person. I have added this in the order of upload below… Abbey Glass – Clothing Designer Thibaut Showroom – Atlanta Clary Bosbyshell and Margaret Bosbyshell at ADAC – Interior Designers Kathleen Bertrand – Recording Artist Land Plus Associates – Landscape Architects Kandrac & Kole – Interior Designers Jessica Bowdoin and Kristen Yonson – SwatchPop! Founders Diamond King – Yoga Instructor.