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

Hi Kelsey, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Appreciate you joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Of course! Thank you so much for having me! I think risks are super important. Obviously, there are risks not worth taking, but I’m talking about the risks that have you wondering “what if,” if you don’t take them.  Those are the risks that haunt you and keep you up at night. Those have become the risks that I have started to close my eyes and trust my gut, and God, that the feeling to take that risk – that next unknown step – is right. And if nothing else, worth it.

The most recent risk I took was a big one and one that “normal” me would have never done. I left a stable corporate job that I was miserable at with zero backup plan. I had a trip coming up that I had planned months before but week after week I kept not wanting to get out of bed. Week after week all I could hear was this little voice saying: “Just get up and leave this office. Trust the bigger plan. You’ll be okay.” Ughhhh but I hate being out of control, out of certainty – but how boring and miserable was I? That was not worth anything. That was making every aspect of my life less enjoyable, and that was not a path I wanted to keep trucking along. Soooo, I quit. Two weeks before my trip I thought, ‘I don’t want to be miserable on this trip and feel anxious about work the whole time. I can’t do it anymore.’ That Monday I told my boss I had to quit and two days later I was jobless, with no real plan, but was the happiest I had been in months. Fast forward to the night before my trip and I get a call from a woman I interviewed with over six months ago who wanted to know if I wanted a job! WHAT?! God is good. This job put me back on set and into a creative industry that I had been missing.

The risk is always worth your happiness, your passion, and your drive. Most times you don’t get to see how the risk will play out until you do it – that’s what makes it a risk!! The truth is, life will relentlessly throw risks at you regardless if you are ready, so when you feel the nudge to take that risk you’ve been questioning – take the risk. I lost a lot of things when I quit that day, but I also gained a lot of things. The most important thing from that risk was shifting my perspective. I became so focused on a stable career with a ladder instead of focusing on the type of work that really sets my soul on fire. I’m an artist, I want to create, and because I quit, I now have the space to do 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?

Sure! So, I will try to keep this as short as I can! I was born and raised in Louisville KY. I was flown out to Palm Springs when I was 5 for Disney, Nickelodeon, and other networks, for modeling and acting, and fell in love with the idea and world of film. My mom was single at the time so moving unfortunately did not make sense. I then fell in love with volleyball and played competitively all through college. After college I knew I wanted to chase the dream that I could never shake from 5yr old me. I moved to Atlanta and have been here for almost 6 years now! I have worked numerous jobs to pay the bills all while trying to break into the acting world. I’ve also always had side jobs. I have my side baking business called: Short Cakes. Then I am also launching my own photography business which I am super excited about! I have always wanted to start it and those two weeks in between jobs allowed me to dive into photography education and shooting. I love photography because it incorporates almost everything I love. I get to direct people, be creative, explore new places, edit the fine details and tone of a picture, and empower people to feel really good about themselves! I’m still learning more about it every day in between being on set and it’s honestly a really fun and cool time in my life.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

What I feel like works well, and this is also advice I have taken from previous mentors who run their own successful companies, is to perfect your client experience. It’s the most effective marketing because if someone has an amazing experience, they are going to refer their friends and family to you and you will continue to grow authentically. I love this advice.

I want to ensure every customer I have has a wonderful experience and wants to come back. This also helps so that  when one of their friends is looking for a photographer they go, “hey I actually know one that is super great and easy to work with!” That’s the best thing in the world! With my baking business I strictly wanted it as a low side hustle so every order I get minus a couple are purely word of mouth (some people will randomly find my Instagram page). I do not spend a dollar on marketing. For photography, as I would love to one day do that full time, I will also explore marketing avenues to help, but honestly getting authentic referrals is my favorite. People trust people they know.  My goal is to cater each person’s wants in each session and make it memorable for them so they want to tell their people about me. Retention and referrals are also the best way for me to know I am doing good work. I want every client to feel important, empowered, and excited about their shoot!

So, if I have any humble advice, it would be to focus on your clients. Focus on the people you are serving and make their experience exceed their expectations. When you genuinely serve people to your highest capacity and go above and beyond with a pure heart that’s when your business grows the best and people do your advertising for you! Also, there is just no better feeling in the world then going to bed after a long day, knowing you went above and beyond for your clients and knowing you did your very best!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think one that quickly comes to mind because of the previous question is about a cake I did recently. I was asked to do a cake by a long-time customer and make it look like a plane. Now, early on in my baking career I made it clear that I did not want to do fondant because I don’t feel it tastes good. So, I sent a simple cut out 2D cake made from buttercream to do the job. The customer agreed that looked great and we set a price based on that cake.

Fast forward a couple months I run into this person, and learn that this cake is for someone who never got their grand retirement send off from Delta (who apparently makes this a very big deal) due to Covid, and the worst part was they also discovered they had cancer. Time now is super valuable. So valuable that this retirement party was going to be a really big deal!

I kept pondering the design for the plane cake, BUT I couldn’t help but want to do more and go above and beyond for this cake. So, I did. I spent about 6x the cost for the final product than what we had agreed on, and I couldn’t have been happier. They were completely blown away and surprised when I delivered a huge 3D plane cake complete with all the little details of a Delta plane encased in – you guessed it – fondant.

It’s moments like these that make me excited about what I do. I love to surpass expectations and remind myself why I love to do what I do. Don’t get me wrong, this is not the normal above and beyond I am talking about or encouraging others to do. We (creators) would be homeless if we were this selfless all the time. There becomes a point where that would just be bad business on my part. BUT this is a regular customer, and I got to tackle something I’ve never done before, AND add it to my portfolio.

I think in moments like these it’s the resilience to blow people away over being stingy with how much money I want to make off an item. It’s also knowing this is a one-time thing that will hopefully keep them as long-term clients. It’s also the idea that long-term retention will be more of a pay off anyway compared to short term prices. And guess what? They tipped me way more than I quoted, so it’s already paying off more than I imagined!

Sometimes doing the opposite thing of what makes sense for a business and remembering you are serving people at the end of the day, not just a paycheck, is important. It’s not easy, but every once in a while, it’s a good reminder that if you are in a position to go above and beyond – do it!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @kelsey_rose_walsh @villephotography @shortcakesdesserts

Image Credits
All photos were taken by me! Kelsey Walsh @villephotography