We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Justine Money. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Justine below.

Justine, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned while working at a prior job?

I spent 8 years as an early Elementary school teacher. In my time as a teacher, I learned that every child has a unique perspective on life and needs to be met where they are at. While that lesson was applied to academics when I was a teacher, I was surprised to find it held true for photography as well. I may not be asking them to solve math problems, but a family photo session takes kids out of their comfort zones. It’s my job to read the signs, see how they are feeling, and adjust based on their needs. A child doesn’t want to hug mom when prompted while standing in a pose? Fine. But do they want to run and give mommy the biggest hug they can? Adding a little bit of play make the session fun and give parents those genuine smiles they are craving, just like adding play can make learning fun for kids!

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.

I am a full-service family and motherhood photographer in the serving the Hampton Roads, VA and OBX, NC areas. I work with the busy mamas who are doing it all. They manage their child(ren)’s activities and school schedules, plan meals, work themselves, and often hold down the fort during deployments. They crave photos of their family, but often don’t have the bandwidth to plan a session. That is where I come in. As a full-service provider, I am there for my clients every step of the way. Planning is a breeze, I have an in-home studio as well as a list of curated locations. Styling is complimentary; either using pieces from my client closet, or personalized style guides complete with shopping links. All they have to do on session day is show up and love on their family. Once the session is completed, I help my clients turn their memories into priceless heirlooms. I offer a variety of albums, framed artwork, digital packages and even some super special deckled edge prints. I help my clients decide how they want to display their images and do the ordering myself, making it one less thing on their to-do list!

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

She Sells by Megan Dipiero completely transformed how I look at my business. I always understood that in order to profit in my business, I needed to offer something different from others in my market. That often falls under luxury products. But I didn’t think my work was worth it and, as an introvert, the idea of having to sell something just felt wrong. In her book, and her facebook group, she goes over how to get over your money blocks and approach the sales process with empathy. I’ve never purchased her course because a lot of what she does still feels over the top for my introverted self, but I still learned a lot from her book and continue to learn from her facebook group.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I have an email list that I try to email once a month. I don’t spam them with sales pitches, just kind of outline what I have going on to remind them I am there. Past clients usually reach out to me when they are looking for a session because they know I am still here.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://justinereneephotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justine.renee.photography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JustineReneePhotography
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justine-renee-photography/