We were lucky to catch up with Danielle Jorae recently and have shared our conversation below.

Danielle, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

When I first established Reflections Photography, I was doing it because I enjoyed doing what I love, being creative and being an entrepreneur. I quickly realized how much more important photographing moments became. As a photographer, I am very aware of how important photographs are, but I have seen first hand how even more important they become after someone is gone. We often don’t think about how important photos will be until we are looking back at them remembering the memories and reflecting on days gone by.

With so much of my time spent capturing these special moments for my clients, it is easy to see what I hope my legacy will be. I think many people want to be remembered for things like kindness and love, me too! But even more than that, I want to be remembered as the photographer who captured the world and the people in it. I want to be known as the person who helped create the photo with which you can use to remember your grandparent or your parent or your sister or your child. And even if I am not known by name, I hope that through my work, my clients can always feel closer to those that they love.

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.

Growing up I always had a camera around, it was something that I truly enjoyed. In the beginning I had a small, cheap film camera. I would fill that film up with all the things I found beautiful and beg to get the photos printed. I always had a camera in my life and most enjoyed things when I could be creative. My life changed during my senior year of high school when I had a baby. Teen pregnancy changes a lot and I had to grow up really fast. Even with that, I still made sure to keep a camera nearby. I was very aware that taking photos was a passion of mine and it was made even better when I was able to photograph my new child. I quickly learned that I was pretty good at capturing these moments so I began to develop a business model. Photography and entrepreneurship was always at my core, it was a calling and I feel like I was made to do it. Eventually I took the leap and Reflections Photography was established in 2005, the year I graduated high school. As you can imagine, taking on this endeavor while working, going to school and having a baby at home (as a single teen mom) is no easy feat and came with its challenges. Reflections Photography was truly born out of passion, persistence and dedication. I have worked incredibly hard to grow my business and I haven’t stopped since.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I think when I say the word ‘Covid’ we all get the feelings. But I truly think that we all had to pivot at this time in our lives. Like many others, when Covid first happened, I didn’t understand many things including what it was, its impact or the longevity of it. There was a time when I thought this was only going to last a few weeks. Boy was I wrong! When the world began to shut down and I was unable to do business in the way that I had traditionally done it, it felt very personal. I have spent my life growing my business and to have it shut down in the blink of an eye was devastating. Covid not only changed some of the things I was offering at the time, but most importantly it changed my mindset. In a business where I have always had full control, I no longer had it and I had to work on myself to come to the realization that it was ok. Only then was I able to look at the situation from a different perspective, grow from it and rise to meet the challenge. I am not going to sugarcoat it, I spent a lot of time during Covid scared and sad. But once I started to let go of the control, I was able to take the downtime I was given and figure out a way to outline a comeback story. I spent time thinking about how I was going to grow my business when I was able to return, I continued engaging potential clients on social media for when they were ready and I researched countless ways to make sure that my business became the business of choice in my field. I looked at ways to develop and grow and automate. Essentially, I used my time as an investment in my business on the backend so that my future clients could benefit from my work. Since Covid, I have grown my business and had some of my most successful years. Through this I truly learned the value of time, the importance of looking at a different perspective and most importantly, taking care of myself so that I have the energy to take care of others.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media is so powerful making it important to have a good strategy in place.

The first thing I do is identify my target market. What platforms are they on? What kind of content do they like to see? Once you can answer these questions you are well on your way to establishing a solid social media strategy.

Second, make sure that you understand each platform. For example, Facebook and Tik-tok are going to require different types of content. Doing research to understand those differences will help you determine what kind of content to put on each one.

Before you post, make sure you have developed your brand. How do you want your brand to look? Make sure every single post reflects that brand so consumers recognize it right away.

Don’t forget to define success! Having a bunch of likes and followers is not the same goal as people actually taking action and sending you a message for example. Just because a post doesn’t get many likes doesn’t mean that it didn’t do its job of keeping you at top of mind to your ideal client. Don’t forget that social media is a slow burn. We live in a time where consumers see advertisements all the time so people must see your content over and over and over in order for them to take action.

And finally, post regularly! Consistency is key. Social media is not just a one and done marketing effort.

Good luck!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.reflectionsphotosite.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reflectionsphotosite/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsphotosite