We were lucky to catch up with Kristin Boyer recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kristin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?

My business was an accident. I never intended to start a photography studio and certainly not one that employs people and handles hundreds of thousands of photos for huge schools around the metro Atlanta area and hoards of family around North Georgia and North Carolina.

I started with a camera that was given to me as a gift.

I took photos of everything… people, raindrops, animals, flowers and took classes at every venue I could find and captured every event I attended. Soon I was getting noticed and people offered to hire me for a variety of family events or even sporting events. I was soon contacted by a small pre-school director and she offered me my first school photo opportunity. This was only after meeting with her and telling her my ideas of how my school portrait photos would be dramatically different than what anyone was used to seeing in the past. I had ordered school photos because they were a snapshot in time of my child. I did not necessarily like the images I ordered but I purchased them anyway. I knew I wanted mine to be different. I wanted photos that reflected the child and captured the child’s personality. I wanted them to be age appropriate (think KIDS!!). Having taken lots of classes and shot hundreds of thousands of photos, I knew what I liked and stayed true to my style and this has proven to be the key to my success. Word of mouth continues to lead me to other school opportunities.

When I started school portrait photography, I did not have the equipment or the know how I needed to execute school photos. I said yes to accepting the job before I knew what it entailed and before I had any CLUE how I would accomplish it. As it turns out, it was a lot more difficult than I could have imagined!

Hundreds of kids, thousands of photos, privacy issues, payment processing, insurance, equipment, delivery of images, digital photo distribution, website construction, lighting… the list of obstacles was ENDLESS. There were logistics that I knew nothing about. Equipment that I did not have, did not own and did not even know how to use! I rented what I thought I would need (trial and error is my best friend) and spent a lot of time on the computer researching how to make this work. One of the key components of my success was becoming involved in professional organizations and attending trade shows and continuing education classes. I sought out every opportunity to learn and grow. After several years of working 10 hour days, I realized I could not continue and put an ad in next door for an assistant. I put together a job description as best I could knowing that it would change and then I met some amazing women that have helped me along my journey. I never would be where I am today if it was not for the help of my assistants and partners in crime! I hired people I was comfortable with and that I felt I could trust. It was a game changer. We have learned loads along the way and change things up regularly when we find a better way of doing something! It is always changing and evolving.

Kristin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a fierce advocate for capturing our everyday moments and creating and documenting magic in the ordinary moments of our day. I love candid family and children’s photography and creating images and artwork for families that shows them in their best light. A kid being a kid, the joy of discovery or the beautiful and creative headshot portrait for a business executive.

I graduated with a degree in Psychology from Florida State University and went on to work in corporate America in sales. After having children, I stayed home with every intention of going back to work. Then I picked up a camera and my love affair with glass began. I love and am energized by working with people and creating a safe environment so people can relax, have fun and enjoy having photos taken. The environment I create and the images that we produce are what I am most proud of.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

My school portrait photography program launched me into success in Atlanta and surrounding communities. I created a product that had not been available in this marketplace. My images were unique and my pricing strategy was cutting edge and totally different than any other school photographer. I was told by many of my peers that it would not work. I did not listen and I did my own thing. I created a company and a pricing model that I would want as a consumer myself. I changed the way school portraits were being done by the big box stores and created my own brand and delivery structure. It was a huge success. Once I was in the school systems, I had hundred’s and hundred’s of clients and then simply set up a newsletter campaign and sent out a quarterly newsletter. My business has never stopped. I continue to deliver a fantastic quality images, capturing the joy of childhood. I don’t stop until I get what I am looking for as an artist.

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

This might be old school but one of the most important strategies for me in growing and keeping my clients is my newsletter. I keep all emails for my clients and send out a quarterly newsletter and provide links, dates and easy ways to set up appointments. I spend time and money making my site easy to use, easy to sign up for shoots and easy to deliver images. I also keep my prices fair and reasonable for the quality.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kboyerphotography.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/kboyerphotography
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/kboyerphotography
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kboyerphotos
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KristinBoyerKBoyerPhotography
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/k-boyer-photography-atlanta
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/kboyerphotography/

Image Credits
Kristin Boyer, K Boyer Photography