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

Katie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I’ve been creative all my life. Early on, you could find me outside or in the house, drawing. But like many creatives that get a drawing and painting degree from a liberal arts college, I was sold the starving artist trope and decided to play it safe. Instead of searching out a life of creativity, I sought out a life of safety and became a teacher. The parts of me that were great at teaching are the parts of me that make a pretty great family and senior photographer. I see the beauty and potential in everyone, regardless of what they see in themselves. I spent years teaching middle school English and Social Studies. I pulled the good out of countless students and saw their endless potential every day. I translated that intuitive gift into my work with high school seniors and families with children of all ages. I can get to the good stuff pretty easily and bring out the best in anyone that comes before me, both creatively and in an educational capacity. I retired my full-time teaching position this year to seek out the creative life full time. I would like to be remembered for the ability to see the beauty in anyone, and the viewer to be inspired by how I drew out the beauty in everyone that came before my lens.

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

My maternal grandfather was a film photographer and an engineer and my paternal grandfather was a painter and a social worker. For as long as I can remember, creativity has run through the veins of my family tree on both sides. My mom was a costume designer and is an incredible seamstress, in addition to being a technical writer and editor. My father is a poet and created a computer program that writes poetry by feeding it a few words. My brothers both drew incredibly elaborate drawings from an early age, and one got his Master’s Degree in painting and sculpting.

I have been drawn to the creative life since childhood, getting a degree in Fine Art with an emphasis on drawing and painting. And I was pretty good at it, winning the Senior Art Award at Gonzaga University in 2001. But even though drawing and printmaking where my emphasis in college, like my grandfather, I have always had a camera in hand. I realized shortly after college that I didn’t really want to try to make a living with my drawing, although I did dabble in graphic design for a pretty large-name company for a few years.

Where my passion truly came alive was in photography. So for many years, I cultivated my small portrait business as a side hustle to my full-time teaching career. I love photographing real life. I got my start on the streets of Seattle, taking photos of parades, protests, drag queens, the Special Olympics, the Bubble Man, anything that struck my fancy. Later on, I started to attract more and more paying clients who had seen my brand of storytelling through my street photography. And as my client base grew, so did my desire to hone this craft in a way that made me stand out.

I seek out clients that are bold, brave, authentic, hardworking, have their own personal sense of style, and who feel comfortable trying new things. But I also have clients who come to me because I am able to have fun and make the experience something that their families enjoy. My clients are connected, brave, open, honest, funny, adaptable, and take direction well. They love their families, they love life, and they aren’t afraid to be themselves.

I am a natural light photographer, but I will use a lighting system if I need to. I merge documentary and lifestyle photography together at each of my sessions, and I am always on the lookout for elements that stand out and make my style of portraiture different from the everyday portrait artist. I love color. Rich, deep, emotive color speaks to me, so my photographs are full of deep reds, yellows, blues, and greens. And I love authentic emotion. My subjects have electric smiles and moody stares. They laugh easily, but they can also stare you down and make you wonder what is on their minds. They are soulful, smart, sarcastic, and emote in a way that shows their true essence. I love the wind, I love the rain, and I love it when people kick off their shoes and get comfortable whether they’re on the street or on a beach. Like Nirvana said, “Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be…” and I will capture all of it.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

One of the things that I think is such a disservice to artists and other creatives is the “starving artist” trope, which I alluded to in an earlier response. I paid good money to go to a great school. I got a well-rounded liberal arts education. I learned about philosophy, history, English, writing, art, science, math. And when it came time to choose my degree, I went with my passion. But never was it suggested to me by my advisor or my course work to take a business class, and I left college knowing that in order to succeed at any creative job, I would need to do more schooling. I think this is a huge injustice in academia. Students who want to seek out a creative path should be given all the tools to do so, and that includes offering small business courses alongside a four-year degree. Had I known how to be more business savvy or where to seek out the best business information, I would have set off on my creative journey a lot sooner. I don’t regret my years as a teacher. Those years introduced me to incredible families, colleagues who have become some of my best friends, and honed my particular intuitive skill set that has helped me realize my creative journey. However, it has taken a lot more grit, fortitude, and research to set off on this journey than I believe was warranted because no one sat me down an said, “Hey kiddo. You’re pretty great at this, but you need to take a business and marketing class to actually do what you want to do.” So to anyone looking to grow their passion into their full time job, take a business class (or several) and add a marketing class or two to that course load. You’ll be so happy you learned how to market yourself early on.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I always had the intention of turning my side hustle into my mainstay. I had a plan to grow my client base and to save up enough to be comfortable during the dreaded slow season. But when the universe comes a calling, you leap before you get left behind. There were many aspects that made teaching untenable for me, one of them being the out-of-control demands of parents and administrators, as well as the desire for the results of rigor without putting in the effort of the post-Covid educational system. These demands came with a stymied salary and benefits that did not meet the demands of this new world. Try as I might to make my it work, this new world of teaching showed me that my passion and talent would be better served elsewhere. So I jumped into the unknown.

I had just finished a photography business Mastermind course with Elena S. Blair Photography Education, and I had all the tools to grow my passion project in place. But, I wasn’t sure if it would work. All I knew was that it was now or never for me. I hired an SEO expert to help me grow my website, I completed back-end templates that made communication with my potential clients easier and more seamless, I held model calls to grow my portfolio, and I put in endless hours of work. Most of my clients were coming to me through word-of-mouth referrals from past clients and from Instagram. It was amazing how my community showed up for me. In my first six months as a full-time artist, my business grew 120%, and I was now serving more clients than I ever had before. My business also made a full-time salary in that first 6 months, which was the motivation I needed to keep going. It’s hard work, but it’s worth every minute. I am excited to see where this next year takes me as I approach my first full year as a full-time photographer. The possibilities are endless, and my mindset is so positive going into the busy spring and summer seasons.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.katieniemerphotography.com
• Instagram: @katieniemerphotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katieniemerphotography
• Linkedin: [email protected]