We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kaya Munn a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kaya, appreciate you joining us today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

I’m a dreamer, a creator, and a visionary. From my earliest memories as a child I’ve fantasized about bold and creative ideas, whether it was my make believe world of living in another country with talking animals, the songs and dances I would make up, or the photoshoots I would put together for my friends and I, I was always envisioning an artistic version of the real world. Coming up with creative ideas has never been a challenge for me, reigning them in has. That said, what I knew prior to opening my photography business is that you can have the most incredible ideas and goals in the world, and that will have zero impact on your success if you don’t have a strategy that is both idealistic and aspirational to bring them to fruition. Photography is my second career, my first was as an international performer and educator in dance. By all appearances I was very successful; I travelled the globe teaching and performing for thousands of students and fans, I was featured on several DVDs, I was in movies, music videos, my dancing videos uploaded by fans have millions of views, and I was even on America’s Got Talent where I made the live rounds. The reality of my success, or lack there of, was quite different. I had little self value, I didn’t charge enough to do more than pay my bills, and I did not know how to run my business, so ultimately, it failed. When I knew I wanted to open a photography business I recognized there would be no reason to expect it to do anything but suffer the same demise unless I addressed the issues from my past failed endeavor. It takes courage, and at times a good glass of wine, to get real with yourself about areas of lack, fear, and low self-esteem that can prevent you from achieving your goals, but that is what I did. I began with an honest, at times uncomfortable assessment of what went wrong with my previous business, what would be necessary to change moving forward, and what a plan would be that was realistic in expectations, but idealistic in aspirations. I created a detailed educational plan for myself, with timelines, homework, and accountability measures that would not only take me to a level of mastery in photography, and its subsets that I had identified as being critical to my success, but also a plan for mastery of my weaknesses, like self value, marketing, and business concepts that would be just as necessary to control. I knew the fun work would be mastering my craft, while the ugly stuff would be easy to want to avoid, so I made a calendar that put significant time into both, so I never felt like I was further ahead than I actually was, or so far behind it was overwhelming. My schedule was that of someone working a full time job, with lots of overtime when the opportunity arose. I designed my program as a fast track, I looked at it like a higher education degree, and I allotted the time and money that would be necessary to accomplish such. One of the most difficult pieces early on, was telling people what I was doing, because it opened myself up for lots of unsolicited advice, and judgement. I quickly added to my plan that I no longer was going to internalize the words of anyone who I didn’t perceive as an expert in either my profession or theirs; consequently my world of educational and accountability resources became much smaller and of a much higher caliber, and my rate of actualizing my goals began to gain great momentum. I had hopes of launching my business in time for Black Friday to be relevant for the holidays, but as it does often, life got in the way, in a significant way. My son became very ill and was hospitalized. For me, my family is always my top priority, but that doesn’t mean I’m not human and susceptible to feeling the pain of not being able to continue bringing my dreams to life. I was spending all of my time in the hospital with him and taking small breaks to go home and be with my daughter and husband. As we navigated his health issues, time continued to move, and my self-determined deadlines began to pass. The holidays came and went, and the feelings of failure began to well up. I could give a Ted Talk on the brutal shame every working mom navigates and has to overcome, especially with significant childhood illnesses, but suffice to say I just had to keep telling myself that I am exactly where I need to be, and when the clouds part, as they will, I will take the love that I am generating and use it as a force to catapult myself into the next phase, and that is what I did. When we began to get some reprieve from doctors appointments and him being at home all the time, I still had many more boxes to check before launching my business. It was Valentine’s Day, a day of celebrating love, a huge part of my brand, and I remember looking at the website builder I was using and my finger began hovering over the “publish” button. I wasn’t 100% ready…my son wasn’t 100% healthy…but would I ever be? Would he ever be? The next thing I knew, I had pushed the button. That was February 14th, 2020…little did I know just a few weeks later the world would shut down and I would be creating a new checklist for how to run my business from my home with both of my kids at home. I think that leap of faith is what gave me the confidence and the courage to do just that.

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 portrait and fashion photographer and educator based in Denver, Colorado. I specialize in Luxury Boudoir, Fine Art Nude, Fitness, Fashion, and Glamour. Without question, I absolutely have the best job in the world! I am and always have been a fierce advocate for female empowerment and believe that every woman in front of my lens should look and feel strong, confident, and absolutely beautiful. My aesthetic is dramatic, bold, strong, and gorgeous. I love using rich colors that captivate, and creating high contrast black and white images that evoke moods of a bygone era.

The quality of my client’s experience is as important to me as the high caliber of their images. I have developed a system for delivering life-changing photoshoots and images to my clients because I focus on getting to know them, helping them become who they always dreamed they could be, pampering them with kindness and love in a genuine and meaningful way that ultimately impacts the way they view themselves and what I’m able to create in their photographs. Beyond offering my client’s an incredible experience, I create beautiful heirloom quality albums, folios, and wall art, all designed by me, that are as stunning and unique as each of my clients. I am most proud of the testimonials from my clients as well as the diversity of my clients. I have received numerous emails and written testimonials from my clients detailing how choosing me for this experience has changed their life, and getting that feedback from someone motivates me tenfold to make sure I keep delivering and improving the high quality service I provide. I have the pleasure of being a storyteller for women from 18-100, from all races, shapes, sizes, and backgrounds, and it is imperative to me that every woman see herself reflected in my work, and that she knows she will be truly seen and captured exquisitely by me.

I am currently working on adding photography education into my offerings. Education is a passion of mine, and I’m excited to start sharing my knowledge and creative ideas with other photographers, because when we share our gifts, knowledge, and experiences, we inspire each other and elevate our profession as a whole.

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

A lesson I had to unlearn involves sales and negotiating. Prior to doing in person sales in photography, I had mostly negotiated contracts via email or on the phone, and my go to strategy, which predictably always cost me money, was to constantly negotiate the price downwards if I heard silence of any kind on the other end of the phone or as a response to an email once I had stated my price. I would make the immediate assumption that I had priced myself out of the job by asking for too much, and before I would receive a response I would lower my asking rate. As a part of my IPS training for photography, and born out of developing a higher self value, I now have confidence in the rates I ask for my product and services. I ask for my full value, with confidence, and then I wait. Sometimes it’s a short wait, and sometimes it’s longer, but I wait. One of the best lines I learned and keep in the forefront of my thoughts during IPS is from Sue Bryce. She teaches that in that moment of pause, after you’ve stated your price “the next person who speaks is buying it”. She is absolutely right. Learning how to ask for my full price with full value is why I have been able to make great sales that aren’t about negotiating, they’re about having delivered an incredible experience and images.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Photography is an exceptional field, with lots of varying places to find creative and business resources, but there do seem to be a few things that if you’re going to learn them, it’s either going to be because you stumbled upon it, or because you happened to find someone willing to divulge the information. Before I opened my business in early 2020 I was looking for vendors to work with. I knew selling physical products was essential to my brand and success, and I wanted to open my business with that in place. My online research was a bit overwhelming, trying to figure out who I would want to have produce my products and how you actually go about that. I think that’s one of the reasons many people in my industry don’t sell physical products, because there isn’t a whole lot out there that teaches you how to print or design an album, or who the leaders in our industry are at producing top of the line products. Before I opened my business, I was assisting a photographer who I asked directly about their products and vendors, and they didn’t want to divulge anything. I experienced the same thing at an in person workshop with professionals who had been running their business for 18 years or more, and they didn’t want to share their suppliers. I thought it was incredibly bizarre. My philosophy is that the more photographers there are who value their work and sell more valuable products, the higher the industry standard for what clients expect to purchase and receive is, so that is a positive outcome for everyone in our industry. I am confident in my products and design, which is why I freely tell other photographers who I work with and offer recommendations when asked.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kayamunnphotography.com. www.beyoursexyself.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kayamunn/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KayaMunnPhotography
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayamunnphotography/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/KayaMunn
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGVWd8UwVwpDpFzyPo9fmMA
• Other: Coming soon… www.boudoirbykayamunn.com