We were lucky to catch up with Harriet Fuller recently and have shared our conversation below.
Harriet, 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?
I would hire a cleaner & this is why you should too
Why? It’s simple – you’re supporting someone’s dream
Don’t worry, I may have just binge watched the entire box set of Downton Abbey but this isn’t why I feel it would be necessarily boujee to hire help…
My entire ethos with Harriet Media was to create a business that in turn helps support other businesses – by creating & providing high quality content, using my highly developed skills to manage their social media on their behalf & earn money to invest back in local or great small businesses
And yes cleaning may well be a dream business for someone – a profession to take pride in, as well as turning a tidy profit!
Entrepreneurs go freelance or start businesses for all kinds of reasons, usually when there is a gap in the market or to satisfy a demand. The more successful ones don’t try to market products or services in something that’s already saturated (unless of course theirs is better & in the long run will outdo their competitor!).
Cleaners are a great example of this – the busier we get, the more we neglect the cleanliness of our homes. Unless I am the only one! So, I for one wouldn’t shy away from hiring help.
If Mrs Hinch has taught me anything it’s that having a sparkling, clean home is hugely motivating – tidy space, tidy mind indeed. Although, nowadays I am definitely guilty of the whole out of sight out of mind ethos. Closing the door on the mess rather than face it head on is something that happens far too often when I’m busy. In fact the only time the house gets a proper spruce or even that dreaded deep clean (think windowsills, mirrors, hidden corners…) is when we have overnight guests or family coming to stay.
You see where I’m getting to now then?
Whenever someone hires me for my services I work hard to give them the best of the best, regardless. With so many wonderful businesses & business owners out there it’s a no brainer really. Why not spend my hard earned cash helping another survive? Because that’s what it comes down to.
Without that cash injection coming into my bank following a shoot or as I invoice accordingly for social media management, it sometimes makes the difference between affording my food shop that week or finally getting a hair cut or spoiling our pet tortoises with luxurious salad leaves.
The same can be said when it comes to buying presents. It’s just far too easy to shop online, but I make a huge conscious effort to shop locally & it feels so much better that way.
Support small or the next time to check their opening times, pick up the phone to book an appointment or wander over there for a cheeky browse you may find they’re gone. It’s a worrying time for creatives & businesses at the moment, let’s help where we can!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Freelance life is a rollercoaster…
I’m not going to sugar coat it, being a freelancer is tough
Taking the leap to quit a stable job with a stable income is certainly one of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken. But in my case I guess I was pushed rather than jumped.
The company I was working for took me for granted & I definitely felt far from valued. There was judgement on every task I completed, every outfit I dared to wear…even though I was working in a back of house position within a team.
The way I always see things is that everything really does happen for a reason & so being pushed to want more for myself was something I look back on positively.
Let me take you through being a freelance photographer & social media manager specifically (in case it’s something you are also thinking about doing!). As I mentioned I won’t sugar coat things. It’s certainly hard sometimes. You don’t have a pay date each month, nothing is set in stone. If you want to find opportunities you must hustle.
Work comes through either all at once or seemingly nothing at all. Finding your feet & ensuring you have retainer income doesn’t land in your lap or come straight away, you have to earn the trust of other businesses to support your own.
Having clear goals, keeping everything organised & being your own cheerleader is a must.
As a photographer, you’re in charge of capturing moments for your clients, making them squeal with excitement when they open the gallery you’ve painstakingly edited for them.
But it’s not just about photography. As a social media manager, you’re also the mastermind behind captivating content that engages, informs, & inspires. You get to shape brands’ online identities, to help them connect with their audience in a meaningful way. Seeing your work go viral & watching followers multiply is like riding the steepest hill of the rollercoaster – the adrenaline rush is undeniable.
Now, let’s face the reality – the rollercoaster has its dips too. Being a freelance photographer & social media manager often means that work comes in fits and bursts. One month, you might be booked solid with back-to-back photoshoots & content creation, & the next, it’s crickets. The unpredictable nature of the industry can be nerve-wracking, & financial stability certainly isn’t guaranteed.
Using this time effectively is key – get those enquiry emails out there, drop your memorable business card in the hands of those that matter, keep auditing your own online presence & website to ensure they are going to bring you more clients who want to work with you too. Use your entrepreneurial spirit to explore other income avenues.
But these lows, while daunting, are all part of the adventure. They teach you resilience, resourcefulness, & the importance of building a strong network. When the rollercoaster takes a dip, it’s an opportunity to refocus, improve your skills, & explore new avenues. The challenges are what make the highs even sweeter.
Despite the ups and downs, the thrill of being your own boss is unparalleled. YOU have the freedom to choose your clients, work on projects that inspire you, & set your own schedule. No more 9-to-5 grind or corporate constraints – you’re in control of your destiny. The feeling of independence & self-expression is like soaring through the open air on the coaster’s highest peak.
Question is…would you?
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this…
As soon as I picked up the camera from my friend Alice with excited, shaky hands I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this…
I’ve been following and admiring photography friends for years, understanding composition from what I have seen in the images they post. Using my own smart phone (and in the past film cameras or my Dad’s Canon) I have always enjoyed documenting moments, memories and saving them in an image format.
It wasn’t until my friend Alice offered me her old Sony A6600 to buy second hand that things suddenly became a bit more real, a bit more ‘professional’.
I’ve often wondered why my brain doesn’t work like other people, why I can’t comprehend certain things or retain specific information. But I have always been a creative person – from a stint in artwork where I sold many paintings, to my background studying Fashion Design at College and University, making clothes from scratch.
So, when a real, PROFESSIONAL photographer was brought in to take photos for various magazines, brochures and the website of PGL Little Canada on the Isle of Wight where I was working as the Housekeeping Manager I had many questions for him. He was really happy that someone was taking a genuine interest in his profession and so spent quite a bit of time explaining things in such complicated detail (he even drew me some diagrams to try and help explain crucial terms such as the rule of thirds, etc.).
But still my brain wouldn’t comprehend.
I felt useless, stupid even. And I was no further ahead with my journey or dream of becoming a photographer.
In the end I thanked him, popped the camera in auto mode and just started using all my spare time composing images through my lens. At the time, my classic VW Beetle ‘Baloo’ was my daily driver so he was the focus of a lot of the photos I was taking. Here I was, CREATING CONTENT!
Soon enough I had gotten used to handling my Sony camera, carting it around wherever I went. Suddenly, no phone photos were good enough for me to post and all I wanted was to start creating more drama in my photos, getting that depth or foreground I had seen in others beautiful work.
In the end, I stopped trying to watch YouTube videos that I couldn’t get my head around, stopped asking others for advice. I twisted the settings from ‘Auto’ to ‘Manual’ and got snapping.
Before I knew what I was doing I figured out that the settings had to correspond with one another. I could adjust the F-stop down seeing the blur get more pronounced, the subjects becoming clearer and sharper, or up to get that wonderful background back into focus, seeing lots of depth and layers…magic was happening with my own fingers! I realised that the brighter the day, the lower my ISO needed to be. I found a shutter speed that worked for the more static photos of my car with the engine off but then I was itching to try my hand at some motion blur…
Basically, things fell into place the more I practised – my Sony was great at showing me the settings I had used for previous photos so I started replicating those if I needed to or I just kept adjusting until I was happy with what I was capturing.
Fast-forward to now where I have not only upgraded my Sony to a newer version, I have also built a successful business offering my photography services to businesses!
I get people reaching out for advice about getting into photography, so my advice is you really just have to DO IT. Don’t procrastinate, don’t think you’ll never get it…
…and don’t keep your camera on Auto!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Keeping it real
THIS is why I won’t be using AI to edit my photos
It’s simple really – I’m sure you saw the news story about a photographer guilty of winning a prize for an AI generated image that was believed to be their own. It’s cheating.
Now, I have lost count of the amount of times someone has asked me to remove under eye bags, wrinkles, marks or even try to make them look skinnier, taller, open their eyes…of course I’m happy to do what I can, tweak images slightly to improve them but I just can’t bring myself to try any of today’s ridiculously clever AI options for my own photography.
I pride myself in capturing candid, real moments with my clients. Whether it be special moments during a wedding day, action photos of an event in full swing, the look of love from one partner to another. Editing can be crucial to improving photos, I don’t deny it. But for me the less I need to do, the better.
Sometimes a photo can look a little too…fake. But perhaps that’s because it is!
Was the sea really that still? Was there really a magical burst of light that day?
Shooting regularly, regardless of the weather can be tricky. But for me I love to make the most of what I am given. Waiting for that perfect blue sky day that may never come could most certainly put me out of a job anyway.
I have always believed that photography takes a great deal of skill.
Whether that’s learnt from an educational course, watching countless YouTube tutorials, being taught by a professional or simply learning by doing (because like anything, practice makes perfect!), I hate having to second guess photos now. Did that really happen? Has that owl been added? How were they able to get that detail in such low light conditions?
Don’t get me wrong, I have been sorely tempted. Being able so save a photo which would otherwise have been forgotten is an incredible opportunity to have at our fingertips.
But for me what you see is what you get. I’ve had lots of great feedback from my clients who choose me because my photos are more realistic, so for now I will continue to keep things REAL!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.harrietmedia.com
- Instagram: @harrietmedia
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092369774495
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harriet-fuller-37621240/
Image Credits
Image of me taken by Ben Ingram https://www.framesbyben.co.uk/about All other images my own