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

Crystal, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

The biggest risk I ever took was to quit all other revenue streams and JUST focus on being self employed. That’s a hard leap to take- especially if you are like me growing up being risk adverse and always being “responsible.” It took forever to just let go and let myself fall or fly. Once I graduated the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Arts degree I liked to tell people I was a photographer yet I wasn’t willing to just be an income earning photographer. It was taboo to just try and make a career without having a safety net or knowing ANYTHING about how to run a successful business. I hadn’t taken a single course other than economics that pertained, even a little, to running your own business. (Although it could be argued that my existentialism course was a bit of everything lol.)

When I graduated with an Art and Design major I didn’t have a concrete career plan. It’s not like a teaching degree where you, hopefully, learn teaching and then teach! I went to the UofA and tried to get into the Art and Design program and applied to teaching as a back up. I got rejected by the Art and Design program (I didn’t really have much of a portfolio) but did get accepted to teaching. I always thought I would teach art or become a drama teacher but once I got my acceptance I realized it wasn’t what I wanted. What’s that old adage? Those who can, do but those who can’t teach? It was terrifying  to give up a somewhat certain career path to continue on in the Arts but my soul wouldn’t let me settle like that.

After graduation I realized the only area of Art and Design I seemed to thrive above average in was photography. I had been on the photo committee in high school but I never considered it as a career. It wasn’t a “passion” of mine but I liked it and I was fairly good at it. It was only in my post secondary education that I realized photography was an obvious skillset. So the next jump was to figure out how to do it and make money at it.

I started out like most- wedding photography. I remember shooting 1 wedding with a film camera and because I was at the cusp of tech evolution I moved fairly quickly into the world of SLR digital. I kept a full time job for MANY years (too long) while doing  photography on the side. I photographed about 7-10 weddings a year (some local  and some destination weddings.) I thought it was a safe path as I was decent at it but the more types of photography I did the quicker I realized I was pretty good at it all…. family shoots, newborn, etc. So, I shot everything offered to me for a couple of years. I just kind of floated between part time shoots and a full time job. 7 years later I was stuck at the same full time job and a friend told me it was time to fly. I worked in a managerial role at a store that had allowed me the flexibility to do photography on the side but had now become my cross to bear. I finally worked up the courage to move on but ONLY because I found another part time job (2 days a week) as a vet receptionist/assistant. I love animals probably more than I do photography but I quickly learned it wasn’t for me and about a year into it I decided to leave and, this time, not look for any other income. The only way I was going to give this an honest shot was to feel the financial fear and do it anyways. I received an opportunity to shoot some show homes and quickly became a show home and community photographer due to a connection from grade school who saw my work and wanted to give me a try. Before long I was working for Landmark Homes, Daytona Homes, Brookfield Residential and about a dozen other builders and moved squarely into the housing industry deciding to focus on that and give up weddings and family photography. As a licensed and insured photographer I was constantly being lowballed by photography hobbyists who did “photography on the side” and didn’t need to charge. At that point I moved strictly into corporate photography. I continued to evolve and then the housing market crashed and I was at a standstill again. I actually remember fainting from the stress of finding out one of my biggest clients hired an in house photographer/marketer (they were a huge chunk of my guaranteed income.) Right when I just finished having my first baby and buying our first home. My husband is also self employed with a small video company and the financial stresses got to me. Thankfully while shooting show homes I met someone who got me in with a construction company where I did casually shoot builds for them. I regrouped after a week or two of extreme stress and lots of emotional turmoil and reached out to a business coach. I had already had the idea to try and build up my construction and architecture photography offerings by reaching out to big names. I was reasonably priced but not cheap. I found my niche and customized packages that had “add ons” so that I was affordable with our base packages but then they could add more photos or more time on location if they needed it and had a budget for it.

I’m now in a place where I still have to hustle but I’ve learned, albeit, with some unorthodox tools, how to engage and get my work and services seen. My skillset has evolved to accommodate and offer all corporate and commercial photography (it’s a huge umbrella) and my name is now well known and I am told by almost everyone I am introduced to that they have heard of Crystal Puim Photography and are versed with my work. It was a long winding road and it continues to evolve but it has kept life interesting and I’m so thankful for the 20 years of work!

Lesson or moral of the story- if you aren’t willing to take a calculated risk and take that scary leap (knowing full well you WILL fall at times) then you shouldn’t start a business. The lesson is to be prepared for whatever the outcome and learn to pivot.

Crystal, 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?

Oops. I went into all of it above but I can answer the following…

What type of products/services/creative works you provide: Only photography. I specialize in corporate and I don’t bother trying to mix in a million other offerings. I believe while it’s awesome to be a one stop shop that no one wants a million mediocre offerings- they want someone who specializes and does 1-2 things well!

What problems you solve for your clients: We help solve their need for transparency and to help with social media and marketing content. We are a highly visual world and that won’t ever change. Stock images look like place holders and doesn’t say anything to the consumer about your company or your offerings. Companies need image libraries – specialized “stock images” of their own to use in a plethora of different business situations.

What are you most proud of: The amount of years I have in business honing my craft. I am also extremely proud of my reoccurring client ratio! More than half are devoted clients and they love the service and images we provide and we have worked with some big names with solid reputations. You are only as great as the company you keep! I’m thrilled to see my work on websites, billboards, editorials and in campaigns.

Main things I want potential clients/followers to know about me/my brand/my work/ etc: I want everyone to appreciate the work ethic I have. My favorite word is efficiency and I think that’s what Crystal Puim Photography offers. I don’t waste valuable time, I’m flexible yet uber focused. I can help evolve an idea or message that the client wants to project through their images by either shooting exactly what they want or taking the lead in creative direction. I’m knowledgeable and approachable and can easily become what your project needs! I think 20 years of experience and working with such a vast amount of brands and companies that I have loads of experience. It’s not a fault to be confident in what you can provide but you also need to be humble enough and passionate enough to see your clients as the most important element to what you do. We can’t be successful without being flexible and an asset to our clients. Years of experience should make you confident and able to lead the client if needed but leave your ego out of the work!

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Well we don’t have a business partner per se but my husband just happens to be a self employed videographer. He specializes in corporate video, training video, drone and motion graphics/explainer videos. We are fiercely independent and thought about merging our companies but we didn’t like that idea. Lol. We finally decided to keep our businesses separate but we knew our types of clients were the same and often needed both services so now we refer to each other as “sister companies” and when we get a inquiry for our services we can now proudly offer the other’s services if the client should be in need. Clients love 1 stop shopping because they are busy but it also means they get specialists in each field and not someone who is a videographer but dabbles in photography and vice versa. It’s a win win. Plus we like the opportunity to work together.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

I feel like there’s a fine line between staying in contact with a client and being too forceful and pushy. I heard an analogy once that said you could pass by 10 repair shops and not even realize they are there until that 1 day you need a repair shop. Then all of a sudden that’s all you can see. No one wants to be bombarded but you have to remain in a client’s sideview mirror. I use LinkedIn a lot knowing that my corporate clients are on there and are too busy for other social networks. They aren’t on LinkedIn often but they check in often so it’s important to post work, comment and tag other business that have used our services so that their acquaintances can find us if they should need photos. Also, by posting photos of the work they have completed (construction and architects) they get more people seeing the kind of work they do! The more I can shine a lot on their company the happier they are so it’s a mutual relationship. Other than that I send out bi-YEARLY newsletters (once in the 2nd quarter while the weather is turning ideal for photography and once in the 4th quarter just when the leaves have turned and snow is on the way in case they need some last minute photos before end of year.) Our newsletter is short, has lots of visuals of our work and is a friendly reminder to their busy marketing department that if you are in need of photos you should probably reach out soon! Like a phone reminder but email form.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.crystalphotos.ca
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crystalpuimphotography/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/crystal.puim.photography.Fanpage
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystalpuimphotography/

Image Credits
Clients featured: -Clarkbuilders -BeeMaid Honey -University of Alberta -Strathcona County