We recently connected with Kristen Karhio and have shared our conversation below.

Kristen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I’m a brand photographer, but it goes deeper than that. I started my first business at 28 years old and ran a boutique kettlebell gym for 9 years. My primary goal was to coach my clients to move better, but I also created all our content, branding and marketing strategy. It’s difficult to do both. And if you’re like me, being in the spotlight is uncomfortable. I started Karhio Creative so business owners can serve their clients and do what they do best. Photography allows me to highlight their unique talents and tell their stories, so they don’t have to.

My mission is to help small businesses and entrepreneurs reach more people. Developing a beautiful, consistent brand is an essential part of their success.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I graduated from San Diego State with an art degree, but spent a lot of time in the gym as a heptathlete on the track team. I went head first into the fitness industry and spent a long career navigating the challenges of being a female business owner in a male dominated industry. Two years ago, I made a huge shift and started my photography business, Karhio Creative.

Photography bridges the gap between my two passions. I’m a very active photographer and love shooting events because it’s physical and fun. I enjoy serving athletes, coaches and gym owners as well as artists, musicians and other creatives. It’s the best of both worlds.

My work is always a collaboration with my client. Focusing on their talent is what I thrive on. Their success is my success.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

As rewarding as it was, my first business almost broke me. At the same time, I was also running my second business, VIKN Performance, an ecommerce sports product brand. After many years, my body started to break down and injury caused me to lose my momentum. On top of that, extreme financial hardship eventually forced us to close our gym doors. Then the pandemic hit and we had to shut down VIKN as well. I was heartbroken and lost.

During this time of uncertainty, one of the owners of Kettlebell Kings, Chad Price, reached out because he noticed my creative work I was doing for VIKN. He offered me a remote position as a Creative Consultant his new brand, Life Grows Green. This was a life line I am grateful for. I jumped all in and started cultivating my creative skills. I taught myself how to use photoshop and invested in a new camera. My passion was reignited and I took the opportunity to rebuild.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

When I decided to go all in on photography, I was unsure how to build my portfolio and find new clients. I thought about the types of clients I wanted to photograph and musicians were on the top of that list. An ex-client from the gym, Amanda Portela is a talented musician, so I reached out to her on Instagram. I asked her if I could come to her show with my camera and take photos. I was nervous. Seven Grand is very dark and it was a challenge to shoot in. I sent Amanda some of my shots and she loved them so much she hired me to do three more photoshoots with her. Some of my best work has come from our collaborations and she’s one of my favorite clients to work with still.

Sometimes your best clients are already in your network. You just have to show up and put yourself out there.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.karhiocreative.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karhiocreative/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristen.karhio
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/kristen-karhio-927b4539

Image Credits
Kristen Karhio