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

Kendal, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I’ve always had an interest in photography, ever since I was a little kid. When I got more serious about turning my hobby into a business I took as many photo classes as I could and spent hours reading blogs, watching youtube videos, and holding practice shoots. Don’t let the cost of photography education scare you away, there are amazing free resources if you just go looking for them. Networking has been huge for me in terms of continuing to grow in my craft. I have been lucky to meet really wonderful photographers who have been happy to take me under their wing and let me follow them around, answer my many questions, walk me through tricky scenarios…etc. Build your community because being a solopreneur can be lonely and you don’t know what you don’t know!

Kendal, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve always loved photography and it’s been a hobby of mine since I was a little kid. Growing up, I had an aunt who was a photographer working in advertising in addition to documenting famiies. She had a studio in her backyard and I would hang out there in the summer and pretend to be her assistant. This was before digital cameras were a thing and I always felt so cool getting to hold her light meter! I was always the friend with the disposable camera growing up taking photos of whatever I could. In college I decided to be a fine arts major and I always tried to stack my schedule with as many photography classes as I could.

However, like a lot of art majors post college, I fell into a totally non-creative corporate HR job and that was a great career for about 13 years. It really taught me how to connect with others quickly, be a great listener and adapt to whatever situation was in front of me – all skills I use daily with my photography clients! As my HR career grew, my passion for it dwindled. I was burnt out on corporate life, missed using my creative skills and felt like I was wasting an education that I spent so much money on.

After I had my second child at the end of 2022 I picked my camera back up and just started documenting every part of her first 3 months that I could. Having photography become a big hobby again really helped me overcome postpartum depression and anxiety. It helped me feel more like myself and helped me to really be present with my baby. If you’re a parent of babies, you know that the newborn period can be so hard and exhausting. It’s really easy to kind of black it out which is sad because your kids change so much over the first year. It became increasingly important to me to document this time in my little ones life.

I decided not to return to my corporate job at the end of my maternity leave to figure out what was next for me career wise. I knew it was time to make a change and I wanted to LOVE what I was doing for work. I signed up for a small photography workshop just to have some fun and get out of my creative comfort zone and when I left that day, I felt more like myself than I had in years. I don’t really know how to explain it but something about being behind the camera and creating, put me back in touch with myself. I decided that day as I was leaving that workshop that I was going to turn my longtime hobby into a career and that’s kind of how Kendal Banks Photography was born!

My favorite things to capture are Life and Love. What does this mean? Really, it means anything that shows and evokes connection. It brings me so much joy to witness others love stories and watch my clients grow. To give a client something that will become a family heirloom to passed down to future generations really is an honor.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I would say that the most rewarding aspect of being a photographer is the relationships I build. I think people don’t really consider photography a people focused job, and for so many photographers it really is. Being able to be a part, however small, of someones life or love story is such a joy.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I’m still growing my social media audience but my best advice would be to follow and engage with accounts that are your ideal client and/or are places that your ideal client may frequent. It can definitely feel weird or intimidating to just randomly start commenting on someone’s page but I promise that it’s not. Social media is meant to be social! By just sending a quick note introducing myself I’ve been able to build really amazing relationships with other small business owners and it has been great to network and build a local community. To everyone whose DM’s I’ve slid into introducing myself and my business – thank you!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kendalbanksphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kendalbanksphoto/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Kendal-Banks-Photography/61558593598747/?_rdr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendal-paley-56744688/
• Other: I’m a huge music lover and love to share my current playlists with anyone and everyone so find me on spotify at Kendal Banks Photography to rock out with me!

Image Credits

Sunshine + Shadows Photography (image 1, headshot)
All other images: Kendal Banks Photography