We recently connected with Kerri Cipriani-Nisley and have shared our conversation below.
Kerri, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
Wow, this is such a great question and really taps into the major life changes we have made recently.
My husband and I used to work professionally in Skydiving. He was a Skydiving Instructor and I helped run the behind the scenes aspect of the business and also photographed Skydiving engagements. This might have sounded like a dream job, but we were working excessively long hours, he would go days without seeing our two little girls, and we had very little quality time together. We quickly realized this was not sustainable.
I had been working part-time as a Boudoir Photographer when we were able to squeeze it into our schedule. This was overwhelmingly my true passion, so Lee and I started discussing this being my full-time career. We were very aware of the “starving artist” trope and began discussing why so many photographers have a difficult time thriving. I began to understand there is a large disconnect between the artist mindset and the business owner mindset, and you cannot run a successful photography business unless you have both, or a partner that balances you out!
Throughout my professional life I have had several amazing mentors who taught me a great deal about what makes a business successful, what it means to manage your money, and how to protect yourself as an artist while still putting hospitality and your treatment of clients at the forefront of your business model. I began focusing on every possible interaction a potential client and current client might have with me. Was I providing a truly valuable experience, was I genuine and authentic in everything I was putting out to represent myself and my brand, was I making clients feel special and important? Without absolutely nailing these aspects, I could not responsibly charge for my services. Furthermore, each of these aspects had the potential to take away from the empowering and exciting experience I was promising my clients if not properly executed. Once I felt like I had this dialed in I re-assessed my pricing structure to reflect the time, effort, and quality clients could expect from me. I took an in-depth look at the cost of doing business, what I wanted to be able to pay team members, and the quality of the finished products I wanted to deliver and what that cost would entail. As I like to explain it, I want to be accessible because every woman deserves this experience, but I also have to be able to afford to do my job and do it well.
The next hurdle we recognized holding photographers back from success is an overly saturated market. One thing that is important to understand about this is there is PLENTY of business to go around. We can all absolutely thrive in our photography careers, we are not each others competition, we are peers! We are driven to the same life path for a reason, we should see each other as fellows and creative motivators. That being said, getting your name out there as a photographer is like shouting at the top of your lungs in a room of thousands of photographers also shouting at the top of their lungs. So how were we going to get in front of the right clients? Step 1: Be consistent and authentic with messaging, this way we would only attract the clients that we are right for and that are right for us! Step 2: Marketing, you cannot be successful in this day and age without a successful marketing campaign. Through our professional Skydiving careers we had the honor of working with an incredible marketing team who had great passion and integrity, so naturally we reached out to them. They helped us to execute a “long game” marketing strategy so we could reach our potential clients most efficiently. This was by far our most lucrative investment.
When we first moved the business to Tampa and relaunched (moving a business to a new city is essentially the same thing as starting a brand new business) we were slow but consistent to start. We were getting a little discouraged and nervous that it might not happen, but we stuck to our plan and kept working hard at what we truly believed would make us successful. We hit a few marketing hurdles due to the sensitive nature of our work. As women’s bodies are heavily censored in public spaces this caused issues with social media and search engines. People were able to find us but they were not able to see our work. I certainly wouldn’t reach out to a photographer who’s portfolio I could not see. Slowly we worked through these hurdles and perfected our relationships with social media and search engines. Suddenly, as the wrinkles started to be ironed out, the inquiries started rolling in.
Recently our inquiries and bookings have begun to snowball. So much so that I am making a comfortable living as a professional photographer, and my husband is considering stepping back from his full-time job to pursue his own dream career, or maybe even join my team!
Overall, I would recommend to other artists, you cannot run your business like a hobby, you have to run it like a business. Find the mentors, partners, resources and lean on them! Learn the ins and outs of running a business, managing your money, pricing strategy, marketing, and most importantly your client touch points of interaction. Also, avoid Google policy violations. ;)
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
This feels like one of those stories that can best be described by an image. Success does not look like gradual, one clear direction stair steps, it looks like a long tangled string, jutting off in opposite directions, but eventually finding its way to the end goal.
I grew up working for an outreach program focused on teaching teens about healthy relationships and how to get out of abusive ones. I volunteered for the program for 7 years before becoming the assistant director. Empowerment and connecting with women on a deeper level has always been important to me and what I am most passionate about. After college I bounced around from one hospitality job to the next, I was making ends meet, learning lessons I had no clue I was going to use in my dream job, and generally unfulfilled. I met my husband while working in Tampa, Florida, he was a part-time wedding photographer/videographer and a professional skydiver.
We started traveling and working in skydiving together. Our first skydiving center we worked for offered sunrise and sunset skydives on the beach. Naturally, this was a very popular idea for proposals! My husband taught me the basics of photography and I started shooting those engagements. This tapped into an artistic side of me that had been dormant for years. I LOVED IT! I immersed myself in learning more, offering free photoshoots to people so I could practice and develop a style of my own. I also quickly realized I needed to combine this artistic passion with my lifelong passion in order for it to be a sustainable career.
I began researching boudoir, as I had heard this was a very empowering experience for women. I found several boudoir photographer mentors to study and learn from. I then started offering free shoots to friends to try out the niche and see if I could deliver the experience women deserved to have. The first several photoshoots showed me how much I could love photography and working so closely with women. It wasn’t long after I worked with a few women who had experienced trauma. During their image reveals they would cry, and tell me how I had made them feel about themselves. They felt they had taken their power back and saw themselves in a completely new light. I had found my calling. Somehow these years of tangled mis-directions had led me to the perfect career.
Truly what I am most proud of is the impact this type of art has on women. It is absolutely transformative. Women who walk into the studio giggling with nerves and their chins shyly tucked under leave the studio with their heads held high and a new bounce in their step. I have seen women completely transform after seeing just the first few photos we snap on the back of the camera. I have seen women cry when looking at themselves because they suddenly see themselves as I do, beautiful, strong, powerful, and deserving of celebration. That is why I will do everything I can to keep this business alive.
I don’t really like to discuss “what sets me apart” because I truly believe other boudoir photographers are not my competition. They are my peers and my soul sisters. You do not get into this field without having a true passion for its impact. So instead of what sets me apart, I will just say that I care more about my clients overall experience and how they feel after they leave the studio than I will ever care about what’s in my bank account. I also believe this is how most boudoir photographers feel and that is so amazing! I keep very good company!
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
This is something I am extremely passionate about and cognizant of due to the mistreatment I have faced in other professions. I never want someone to show up to work with me feeling nervous, a pit in their stomach, under appreciated, etc. I cannot possibly be passionate about creating an empowering environment for my clients and not want the exact same for all of the women I work with!
I have the honor of collaborating with three local professional hair and makeup artists and two professional yoga instructors. They are incredible women who are self-made and passionate about their craft. They do not work for me, they work with me!
I work hard to maintain an environment of open communication and an environment where they feel safe expressing any concerns. When I interviewed them I let them be part of deciding how much they would get paid and told them if they ever felt like what they were making no longer felt right to them to please bring it to my attention. I remember working for people who made me feel like paying me was a favor and not an exchange of value. I had always worked hard to bring more value to the table than was expected of me, and the appreciation was rarely expressed. These women are professionals and just like myself they deserve to be compensated for their talent, hard work, and passion.
High morale is honestly so simple. If you find yourself trying to manipulate morale, you’re probably doing it wrong.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
Absolutely!
Untamed by Glennon Doyle helped me to recognize I was not living my truest most passionate life and that not only did I deserve that, my family deserved it from me!
Burnout by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski taught me how to tap into my full potential and to recognize the importance of self-care when it comes to success. It also helped me learn how to maintain and nurture relationships with the women I work with.
You Are A Badass At Making Money by Jen Sincero is fairly self explanatory but essential for anyone running their own business. It also taught me the importance of valuing my own work and time.
Steal Like and Artist by Austin Kleon reminds me to find inspiration in the artists around me and that no one and no idea is truly original, we are all creating from inspiration.
UnMarketing by Alison Stratten and Scott Stratten taught me about the important aspect of marketing is representing ourselves authentically…. and being adaptable.
All of these shape the way I treat myself as a business owner, the way I treat clients, the way I treat the women I collaborate with, and the overall way I structured my business model.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.boudoirbycipriani.com
- Instagram: @boudoir_by_cipriani
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/TampaBoudoirStudio
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN_RIKKTvyQDDdqKuJKuY5w
Image Credits
HMUA : Nana Malania HMUA : Camery Barden HMUA : Christie Burton Photographer: Kerri Cipriani-Nisley