We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Katie Monroe a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Katie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.
When people see where my business is today, they often assume it happened fast, but it has truly been years of building, refining, and growing. What might look like an overnight success has actually been a slow, steady evolution that started with a camera, a lot of heart, and a deep love for connection. Over time it grew into three aligned brands that now serve clients across weddings, brands, and business education.
In the early years of Kreate Photography, I poured myself into the art. I loved the emotion, the light, and the storytelling, but I quickly learned that creativity alone is not enough to build a sustainable business. The middle years were where the real growth happened. I built structure into the chaos, learned how to create systems that saved time, and started saying yes only to what aligned with the bigger vision. That shift allowed me to serve my clients more intentionally and build a brand rooted in trust and consistency.
As many of my wedding clients started building their own businesses, they came back to me for brand photos. That is how Katie Monroe Brand Photography came to life. I realized that people needed more than beautiful images, they needed visuals that supported their next chapter and reflected who they were becoming. I built out a full experience for entrepreneurs and creative teams that felt easy, efficient, and deeply personal, from our studios in Sonoma and Oakland to on-location sessions across the Bay Area.
Later, when other photographers started asking how I built my systems and grew with balance, I knew I wanted to share what I had learned. That became The Kreate Collective and the Momentum Method — my way of helping other photographers create the freedom and clarity I worked so hard for. Moving into education was a learning curve. I had to figure out how to take years of lived experience and turn it into a roadmap that others could actually follow. It took trial and error, but it became one of the most rewarding things I have ever built.
Scaling has never been about chasing more for me. It has been about staying aligned, creating sustainability, and building businesses that feel good on the inside, not just polished on the outside. Every step has been guided by that simple question: how can I build something that supports both my life and the people I serve? That question still guides everything I do today.
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 have been a photographer for over seventeen years, and what started as a creative outlet has grown into a full career built around connection, storytelling, and helping others grow. I began photographing weddings in Northern California long before I ever imagined it would become a business. Over the years, that little spark turned into Kreate Photography, where I capture luxury weddings, elopements, and lifestyle sessions throughout Sonoma, Napa, and beyond. What keeps me inspired after all these years is the relationships. I believe photography is about so much more than the images, it is about trust, emotion, and creating something that still feels alive years later.
As my business evolved, so did my clients. Many of the couples I photographed began building their own brands and businesses, and they wanted images that reflected that next chapter. That is how Katie Monroe Brand Photography began. Today I work with entrepreneurs, creatives, and teams to create visual identities that elevate their online presence. My goal is to help people step into the next level of their brand with confidence and consistency, so their photos actually move their business forward.
The natural next step became teaching. After building two successful photography brands, I realized how many talented photographers were struggling behind the scenes — burning out, guessing their way through marketing, and feeling stuck at a certain income level. That led to The Kreate Collective and my signature program, The Momentum Method. Through coaching, education, and community, I teach photographers how to build profitable, sustainable businesses with clarity, systems, and strategy, while still staying true to their creativity.
Across all three brands, my mission is the same: to help people be seen in their most authentic and confident light. I am proud of the businesses I have built, but even more proud of the impact they have had — the couples who can relive their wedding days with tears in their eyes, the founders who finally feel confident showing up for their brand, and the photographers who have gone from overwhelmed to thriving.
What sets my work apart is the balance between artistry and structure. I care deeply about beauty, emotion, and storytelling, but I also care about systems, strategy, and sustainability. My clients know they are not just hiring a photographer, they are partnering with someone who sees the full picture — who understands how imagery connects to brand, business, and growth.
At the heart of everything I do is connection. I want my clients, students, and community to feel supported, empowered, and understood. My work is about helping people show up as the best version of themselves and build something that lasts.
Have you ever had to pivot?
A few years into running my wedding photography business, I hit a point where I felt stuck. From the outside, everything looked successful. I was booked, I had a strong reputation, and my work was thriving, but behind the scenes I was exhausted and stretched thin. I realized I had built a business that looked beautiful but didn’t fully support the life I wanted. That was the moment I knew I had to pivot.
The first shift was internal. I stopped saying yes to everything and started getting really clear on what I wanted my business and my life to feel like. I created systems, learned how to delegate, and began shaping my work around my strengths instead of trying to do it all. That clarity opened the door to my next chapter.
As many of my wedding clients became entrepreneurs, they started coming back for brand photos. At first, I thought of it as an occasional project, but the more I worked with business owners, the more I realized how much I loved helping them translate their story visually. That pivot led to Katie Monroe Brand Photography, and eventually to The Kreate Collective, where I now teach photographers how to build sustainable, six-figure businesses of their own.
Looking back, that pivot changed everything. It taught me that growth doesn’t always mean doing more; sometimes it means doing things differently. The best decisions I have made came from listening to my own seasons of life and allowing my business to evolve alongside them.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
A few years ago, I went through one of the hardest and most defining seasons of my life. It was during COVID, I was newly pregnant, and my mom was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Overnight, everything I thought I could plan for shifted. I had to make a choice, to pause completely or to rebuild my business in a way that could sustain my family and my future.
That moment became a turning point. I started building The Momentum Method, my online coaching program for photographers, while navigating pregnancy and caring for my mom. It was born from necessity but fueled by purpose. I knew I needed to create a business that could operate even when I could not be behind the camera every day. We launched and scaled the program during my pregnancy without ever publicly announcing it, and I was able to keep it running during maternity leave with very little hands-on effort because I had built systems that worked.
From there, everything began to grow. I expanded my internal team instead of outsourcing to agencies, and together we built a foundation that now supports three brands and a team of eight incredible people, including three virtual assistants and four photographers.
It was not easy, and there were moments that felt impossibly heavy. But what kept me going was the vision of time with my family, a future built on ease instead of hustle, and a deep belief that I could design a business that worked for my life, not against it. That season tested everything I had, but it also showed me how strong and resilient I truly am.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kreatephotography.com/ – https://www.katiemonroephotography.com/ – https://www.thekreatecollective.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kreate_photography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kreatephotography
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathryn-monroe-formerly-rummel-7990476/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kreatecollective
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kreate-wedding-photography-katie-monroe-oakland
- Soundcloud: Podcast: https://www.thekreatecollective.com/podcast
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4TyVVhY30WWfNPsTvbIw8X
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/focus-and-flourish-photography-business-coaching/id1809862816
Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/669f2f70-010f-43ff-b7b3-a7ad94090c62/focus-and-flourish-photography-business-coaching
Image Credits
All taken by Katie Monroe (me)