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

Heather, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

To me there were 2 huge risks in forming my newborn and family photography business in the San Francisco Bay Area. The first was when I went from part-time to full-time and the second was when I opened a photography studio instead of going home to home to photograph.

Launching a business can be incredibly challenging and sometimes having the gusto to take that leap holds people back. For me, it was about 13 years ago and I was working full time for another photographer and on the side doing my own photography, focused on maternity and family at the time. I was living in Oakland in a lovely 2 bedroom home, with one room operating as my office for my dream business I wanted to launch. At the time, I was running myself ragged working over 40 hours a week at a job and only being able to apply limited hours to my own business. I had ideas that I could run a business full-time if I gave it my all but I was not comfortable enough to leave my full time position. This seems to hold many people back that I have chatted with like myself. The events that transpired next are what launched me into taking the leap. I arrived home from a trip to New York to the realization that my home had been burglarized. All of my cameras, lenses and computers were gone amongst so many other things from the home. Instead of being upset about everything else lost, I was devastated over my camera and lenses the most. I realized at this moment that working for someone else was not what I wanted to be doing anymore. It led me to leaving my full time job, moving to a smaller place with lower costs and diving into the launch of my full-time photography business. The first few years were full of extremely long hours, self-doubt, research and questions of sheer survival (could I even pay rent that month?).

A year or so in, is when I discovered my love for newborn photography and launched that area of my business. At that time, I was driving home to home to photograph newborns. I did this for about 4 years before I realized I needed a more sustainable way to operate the business that didn’t break my back every session. I decided I wanted to open a studio. This led to the next big risk as I searched for a way to keep my overhead low, uncertain if new parents would travel to a studio in those initial weeks after their babies arrived. I wound up searching for tiny homes and found a renovated vintage airstream that I purchased within days (flying to New Mexico – ask me about that later!) and transported it back to the Bay Area. I found a beautiful property to live on near the Oakland Studio and began living tiny. Creatively living at its finest.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My love of photography began as a child with a lavender and aqua Le Clic camera I got on my 8th birthday. My dad had always been into taking photographs of all 5 of us kids so I think seeing him with a camera did plant the seed. I was always a bit of an artist, making my own clothing in high school, having a passion for drawing and painting and running my radio station in high school. After graduated, I received a scholarship to study Film and Video at New York University and am so grateful that my creativity continued to be nurtured in that environment. Living in New York City was expensive and I needed to work to make it all work. I worked as a nanny throughout college and eventually I blended my love of photography and my natural ease of working with children and babies.

My clients tell me that they know it’s my work when they my images which is one of the greatest compliments. They comment on my skills as a baby whisperer, warm and funny personality and artistic viewpoint as the reason they keep coming back…and sending their friends to me!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Word of mouth and referrals, period! A big thank you to my clients for sharing their love of my work with friends and colleagues.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A big unlearning came after years of learning how to deliver consistent galleries to clients. In order to run a successful business, consistency is key. I always wanted to be sure I delivered a solid forward facing, everyone looking smiling portrait. In the quest for that and in developing such a routine in my photography sessions, I forgot about some of the creative angles and ideas that kept me fresh in the first place. I forgot about capturing some of those “in-between” moments as I had become fixed on certain looks. I had to unlearn some of my self-created photography patterns to lean into capturing “less perfect” moments!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.venusgirlphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=venusgirl+photography+instagram&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/venusgirlphoto
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-barlin-737b986
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/venusgirl-photography-oakland

Image Credits
Heather Barlin (myself)!