We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chris Bailey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Chris, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
We created Studio Pod to make professional headshots easier, more convenient and more accessible! After serving the Houston market for years, Joseph West and I thought, there has to be a better way!
Joseph and I met through the photography industry years ago, and had competing luxury wedding photography brands. Even though we were competitors, we became friends, and shared a high level of respect for one another. When the opportunity came to partner on Studio Pod, it was a natural fit. Joseph had a background in tech and development work, and we both had experience with photo booths and brand development. We decided to create Studio Pod with the goal of automating the photography process with our mobile, self-service professional photography studio. We wanted to match the high quality images we create and offer an elevated experience from booking to image delivery.
It has been amazing to see it grow since we officially launched in January 2020. We’ve served over 5000 customers now, and receive rave reviews about the photos and experience daily! It makes us feel really good that more people are able to afford and enjoy access to professional portraits through Studio Pod. And by offering modern day conveniences, like online scheduling and a fully automated experience, this is the perfect solution for today’s world, where online content is so important.
We are currently working hard to expand Studio Pod throughout Texas with more locations and direct to business options. We’ll be adding more locations in Houston in 2023 and also coming to Austin, Dallas-Ft. Worth, and San Antonio. Our mission is to give everyone the opportunity to look their best, and to provide a valuable solution at a fraction of the price of a traditional photographer.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I grew up in Houston, and fell in love with photography at an early age. My 8th grade basketball coach taught me the basics of photography, and literally impacted the trajectory of my life in an incredible way! My parents helped me set up a darkroom that summer after 8th grade, and I continued my pursuit of photography through high school and college. I received a BA in Studio Art from the University of Texas with a focus in photography, and started my photography business in 2008.
I’ve been blessed with amazing mentors and people who have influenced my life and personal and professional development every step of the way! In college, I had an amazing opportunity to work for a man named Bill Wittliff, who was a famous screenplay writer, author and artist. Bill was absolutely amazing, a story-teller, a leader, a deep, thoughtful and humble person who encouraged those around him in their pursuits of purpose. He taught me so much, and looking back it was such a gift to have the support of someone like him. He used to say, “Whatever you’re looking for is looking for you too.” I loved Bill for so many reasons, and his influence has impacted me daily on how I approach my life and career. As a young artist, and now as an entrepreneur, you have to have faith in yourself and in the future you envision. Both pursuits are actually quite similar, and bring along similar challenges. Having someone like Bill at such a pivotal point in my life was so important and I feel so grateful for his influence.
The idea for Studio Pod came after years of working in the photography industry, creating and recreating consistent, professional portraits. I noticed that when I worked with teams, we wasted so much time scheduling, then rescheduling as we tried to coordinate all of the team members on a single days shoot. When we finally did the shoot, there were always issues, from the disruption of being on site to the challenge of creating high-quality, consistent images in spaces that weren’t made for photography. It never failed that someone couldn’t make the shoot at the last minute, and you always had people who didn’t like their photo, whether it was because they wore a tie they didn’t like, or their hair wasn’t perfect or their necklace was a little off. And then there was the back end work on my side, the organizing and sorting of images, and delivery which always took weeks. It was clear there had to be a better way to do this, that would both allow customers to access consistent, high-quality images, on their own time, in comfort and privacy, and with an overall better experience than a human photographer could offer!
Studio Pod was born from experiencing and witnessing these pain points and now solves them daily! Our solution is built for teams, but also makes it easy for an individual to get a professional headshot within a matter of minutes. We’ve created this solution at the right time, as online content creation is so important, and more and more people are using Linkedin and other social media for their business needs. Studio Pod adds value and makes professional photography easy and simple, helping more people look their best.
One of our most exciting features is our Enterprise Portal, which allows teams to easily purchase and manage all of their headshots in one place. Marketing and HR Managers love being able to immediately and conveniently access all of their team photos without having to pick up the phone or email a photographer.
It makes me really happy that on a daily basis, customers discover and enjoy using Studio Pod. We are a first of its kind, and hearing our customers rave and ask when we’re expanding has been exciting. We’re proud of what we’ve created so far, but we’re working hard now to expand to bring Studio Pod to everyone across the nation.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
Having a great website and taking advantage of Google searches has been a huge driver of business for us, both to reach individuals and corporations who are looking for headshots. So many people start looking for photography options through searches like “headshots Houston” so optimizing our SEO and driving users to our site has been instrumental.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
I think I am my best self when I do more listening than talking, and this is something I try to keep in mind while working with others. When I do a good job listening, I do a better job valuing my team, and then also put myself in a position to better encourage them and help the company grow. When I do a good job listening, I also hear things that I could have missed, and it’s a good springboard to address issues and concerns before they become larger problems. Listening is a skill I am still very much developing, and I still need some work and reminders! But I think it is one of the most important keys to a successful leader, and helps build important connections with team members.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thestudiopod.com
- Instagram: thestudiopod
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thestudiopod
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thestudiopod/
Image Credits
Melissa Fitzgerald West