We were lucky to catch up with Kristina Bozanich recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kristina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

I am an entrepreneur and mother of two children under school ages. The greatest difficulty in my industry to obtain a profit is the complete imbalance of childcare costs in our country. If I cannot bring in enough income to my household, it is cheaper for me to be a completely stay-at-home mom than a self-employed business owner (as sad as this truth is). In order to tackle this challenge, I am constantly comparing income to the cost of childcare on a weekly or monthly basis. My rates for my services are based on my childcare costs per hour in order to ensure that I can maintain a profit. If I were to agree to cheap rates, it would literally cost me to work. Therefore, I have learned in this industry that cheap work is not always good work… I must maintain a monetary value of my time and skill in order for my business to be profitable and to survive coming years. Thus, if someone were to complain that I am too highly priced, my response is that if I am to remain as a business that can provide a service, this is the cost that is required to KEEP me in business.

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 plunged into the in the world of “creative media” actually by accident… My academic career was completely science focused and I was on a track to become a primatologist (researcher of primates). When I exited my graduate program, I had difficulty finding a job in my field and so I adapted to survive.

While working other types of jobs, I did makeup artistry and photography as a hobby for the pure enjoyment of art. As my work became more and more noticed (and better), I started to make money out of it. It was when I finally had the financial freedom, that I was able to take my photography business full-time. I am now a full-time creative director, photographer, and makeup artist in the Orlando area. My work is specialized in glamour and fashion, largely due to my artistic abilities in painting a canvas for portrait work.

However, I do possess the artistic ability and skillset to photograph are large variety of subjects. I provide services in the realm of fine art, real estate photography, portraits for families and businesses, and branding. I am most well-known for my production of my show, SPECTACLE. SPECTACLE was created during the pandemic for a group of us to share our creation of art in a safe way. It began live on Facebook and has now developed into a professionally produced series. The themes of our production change every single month and surprises audiences in person and online. With this show, we have brought people together, shared stories and emotion, and inspired others in our art. My pop-up photo shoot series has brought me to a variety of unique situations which has made me notable with my clients and audience. I have photographed a model in the rain on top of a table, I have created a pond in the back of a pickup truck, and even coordinated a group of Ghostbusters to surprise a group of teens. In creating this show, I and my production team have provided a new source of entertainment and inspiration for anyone who watches in sees what we do. It is the most exciting thing that I have to express myself on a regular basis.

How’d you meet your business partner?

The co-founder of Bozanich Photography is in fact my husband, Cody Bozanich. Back in 2015 we were traveling abroad while I was in graduate school. It was during these travels that we both picked up the camera to photograph all of the beauty in the world we were seeing. My husband and I enjoyed it as a hobby and decided to pursue it for business. Bozanich Photography began in London, UK and I continued work under its name when we moved to Seattle, and then later to Florida. Currently my husband does not run the business itself, but is a huge supporter.

Recently, however, I have added two key members to my business who are now partners in my creative media company. Bozanich Photography Collaborative is now a team effort by Chris and Jerry. Chris is my cinematographer and lead videographer, while Jerry is my assistant photographer who also does videography. Both of these men have shown me extreme talent and effort, have begun the wild and crazy ride of SPECTACLE, and work flawlessly together.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing the expression of the person that I have photographed when they look at their pictures. I aim to capture their story or the person’s essence. Sometimes it is something that the person has not seen themselves because of their own hardships. In particular, Ashley was a client of mine who has a traumatic back story. Her husband committed suicide and left her with two kids. While maintaining the responsibilities of motherhood and a career, she struggled internally with herself. After hearing her story, I photographed her in a portrait session to display her resilience and fire that keeps her going. Ashley stated to me that it was like I photographed her soul in an unbelievable way. Hearing this resounds with me today and I want to do that for more people.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.KristinaBozanich.com
• Instagram: @bozanichphotography
• Facebook: @bozanichphotography
• Linkedin: Kristina Bozanich & Bozanich Photography Collaborative
• Twitter: @k_bozanich
• Youtube: Kristina Bozanich
• Other: TikTok: @kristinabozanich

Image Credits
Pictured Team: Chris Brookens, Kristina Bozanich, Jerry Nikolaev Models: Ashly Marie Rhona Molina Isa Puzzini Kristopher Scoggin Mely Varela Sarah Ruth Camp Catherine DiSpigno Contributing Stylists/Designers: John Souza, Yahaira Rosario, Shelsey Tomas, Poppy Flower Co., The Styling Houz, Daniel Keene