We caught up with the brilliant and insightful HANNAH BIRDWELL a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

HANNAH, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with something countless entrepreneurs have had to figure out on the fly – how have you dealt with the rise of remote work?

If I’m being honest, working remote can be both a blessing and a curse. But I truly believe that if you really work to find a way to create consistency for yourself within your work, you won’t want to turn back! I work remote 90% of the time and it’s amazing, but it took me a while before I figured out my groove. Through the years, I have found that working from my home makes it hard for me to separate work from home-life. If I work from home, I can tend to be way too easily distracted by different tasks around the house (laundry, cleaning my room, playing with the dog, etc). So instead, I have found that if I can leave the house to “go to work”, I’m much more productive! Whether I go to a coffee shop or even a park to work alongside my creative friends, getting myself out of the house builds a sense of work/life separation. There are definitely days that I struggle to get out the door or to even keep my focus, but creating the consistency had been key. Through making myself work like this, I have built and created some of the best and deepest friendships with fellow creatives that I never would have found otherwise. I love having the opportunity to edit photos and work on my business alongside other photographers, graphic designers, and small business owners. We all have such a great camaraderie and everyone does a great job of celebrate one another’s work and victories. We have found a co-working/ office team environment in one another and it’s amazing!

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 am an adventurous, Jesus-loving photographer based in Tulsa, OK. I started my journey of photography when I was 10 years old and shot my first wedding at 14. After shooting that wedding, I began to realize how much I truly loved photography and from there, it quickly grew from something that was just fun to a genuine passion. My passion has grown like crazy and I officially started Hannah Birdwell Photography in 2018. My photography has a natural approach to ensure that I capture the truest, rawest aspect of my models! People and their stories are very important to me, so I make a point to capture photos of my clients that are both timeless and creative in order to keep time in a bottle. I want my photos to spark memories and bring joy that will bridge generations and last for years to come. In order to do this, I take to heart the desires and/or visions that my clients put forth and make a point to focus on the things that are most important to them. Making a connection with people is very important to me and I see the importance of connection in order to create comfortability. So with every session that I do – whether that’s a family, maternity, engagement session or wedding – I’m going to ask as many questions as possible in order to get to know my clients more. I want to hear their stories in as much detail as possible so that I can help tell that story through photos. I work to make sure that we capture photos that show forth who my models are at the core. I use a lot of motion or movement in my photography to bring about genuine smiles and laughter and to avoid stiff, cold photos. Everyone deserves to look at photos of themselves and the ones that they love and be confident/ proud of them. Photos should be warm and welcoming, so that’s just what I have set out to do with Hannah Birdwell Photography! While I want everyone to walk away feeling confident, I also want them to feel like they’ve gained a new friend!

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Within photography, it can be difficult to market myself and gain new clients because of how competitive of a field it can be! I have found that most of my clientele comes from word-of-mouth which is amazing! Whether is comes from photographer friends or former clients sharing my name or people simply finding my name through tags on Instagram/Facebook, people tend to trust opinions of others. They see the end results of my work and hear the way that I interact/operate and it gives them confidence!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My social media has been built from 2 key factors: word-of-mouth and activity. When my clients tag my page in their posts, I gain followers that may have never found my page otherwise. So, while it’s not my main goal while taking photos, I do know that if I can make my clients confident and present them with photos that they are proud of, they’re going to be happy and want to share – which in turn, brings me more business! Another aspect that is important is my activity on my pages. If people find my page inactive, they might see my work, but they won’t see the person that they would be choosing to work with. It is so helpful for me to be present, showing my face and telling MY story to begin building the connection that I believe is so important.

Contact Info:

• Website: hannahbirdwell.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_hannahbird_/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hannahbirdwellphotography

Image Credits
Dragonfly Photo & Co.