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

KaSandra, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

I’m a full-time commercial photographer that has served small businesses for nearly five years. With photo gear becoming more accessible to more people and an increasing demand for strong visuals in an increasingly hyper-connected world, photographers are in no short supply.

Most of them just have no idea how to price their services for profit.

Despite there being endless educational resources out there for wedding photographers and large-scale commercial photographers, I’m finding that “brand photographers” (a modern term for small commercial photographers) have no idea how to price themselves, especially among young photographers. This creates false expectations for small business owners and dilutes the market.

I get it. When you’re just getting started, you just feel honored that people are willing to pay you anything at all while you build your portfolio and hone your skills. But it’s important to remember that people aren’t directly paying you, they’re paying your business, and businesses have a lot of overhead.

I’ve heard from dozens of photographers that “brand photography just isn’t sustainable” or “no one wants to pay for brand photography when people will shoot their products for free”. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Of course, there are A LOT of young photographers shooting commercially for free. I can’t say I blame them. We all have to start somewhere and I know how flattering it can be when brands reach out to you and offer you free product or “exposure”. But those things don’t pay the bills and they quickly lead to burnout.

Think of it this way – when photographers do a shoot for free, they’re actually paying to work for them. At the very least, photographers have to use their own equipment that they’ve paid for and they are spending their time planning and producing work for someone else to profit from.

I’m currently working on resources for new commercial photographers to help them price their services to build sustainable businesses. The goal is to help them understand their own pricing and present it to clients with confidence and integrity.

As the saying goes, “rising tides lift all ships.” I truly want younger photographers to understand how much it takes to make a livable wage and level the playing field.

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’m a rural Kentuckian currently living in Denver, Colorado with my ginger-bearded better half. I’ve been obsessed with photography since I was a kid thumbing through National Geographic Mag and shooting since I was a senior in high school.

My brand, The Humble Lion, started as a blog and creative outlet in 2016. I had graduated from university the year before with a degree in public relations and just moved back home after completing a media internship in England. It was an opportunity my childhood self could have only dreamt about.

I wanted to share about my experiences traveling abroad while remaining honest about my mental health after a series of traumatic life events. As someone who came from a working class family, I never wanted to create a “Facebook happy” life online or make it seem like I’d gotten too big for my boots. My goal was always to share about the journey to embracing both life’s highs and lows – sometimes simultaneously – and working my tail off to create a life I truly wanted to live. Little did I know The Humble Lion’s brand name would continue to give me big shoes to fill. With each passing year, it seems to bring new meaning.

In 2017, I continued to blog and create photos for pleasure while I was on a work visa in Australia doing marketing and communications for a study abroad company. When that job contract came to an end, I decided to lean into the online community I had built to pursue photography full time.

When I dove head-first into freelancing, I worked any gig that would pay the bills. I always knew I wanted to shoot commercial work. I loved helping my friends with side-hustles elevate their brands with bold editorial imagery and was extremely confident in my ability to create work that would draw in their target market.

For the past half a decade, I’ve spent every spare moment of time honing my creative skills and learning about the business side of photography so that I can continue to show up for my clients and help them succeed in a web-driven world.

I create editorial commercial photos for entrepreneurs, creative agencies, and product-based businesses. I’m also in the beginning stages of creating educational resources for other brand and commercial photographers.

I am extremely proud of the work I have created for my clients over the past five years and grateful to have worked (paid gigs) with legends across the US, Australia, Canada, England, and The Netherlands. I can’t wait to help other photographers do the same.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

My entire brand started with boldness and vulnerability. It was my hobby and creative outlet for two whole years before ever offering a service. I built my reputation slowly by sharing honest stories about my life with people who were, for the most part, in my real life community as they were the only ones paying attention to my content.

I never wanted to be famous. I still don’t. So the influencer route has never been an attractive route for me. I just wanted to connect authentically with my loved ones and make them feel like they were part of my journey, even when I ventured so far from home.

When I decided to start freelancing, people were willing to invest in me for a couple of reasons – they wanted to support me in my new venture and they trusted me because of everything I had put out into the world up to that point.

I’ve always made a point to share my imperfections and experiences that make me a human. And I’ve always wanted to make people feel welcome and nurtured, not envious or threatened.

In my experience, when you do right by others and give more than you take, your reputation and community will carry and support you much farther than fandom or virality ever could.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think it can be hard for non-creatives to take creative business owners seriously until they see some real ROI. So, sometimes they give more pushback because they see our businesses as “fluffy”. But what they may not understand is the tenacity and grit it takes to balance creativity and “hard” business skills.

Earlier this year I found myself in an awkward situation with a Type A business consultant. A friend gently reminded me that I am a creative first, and an entrepreneur second. Those words gave me the grace I find it hard to come by in people who don’t run creative businesses.

It can be extremely difficult to balance the feminine energy it takes to produce striking creative work and the masculine energy (seemingly) required to thrive in a consumerist society.

When you find someone who can do both, tip your hat to them and let them know they’re appreciated.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thehumblelion.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehumblelion_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehumblelionblog
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/thehumblelion_/

Image Credits
All images, including the portrait of me, have been created by me.