We recently connected with Laura Franchini and have shared our conversation below.
Laura, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?
In 2008 after I graduated high school I got a job at Costco. I would walk by the electronic section all the time and just check out the cameras, eventually I bought my first camera and I didn’t really have any knowledge on how to use it or why I even wanted it I was just fascinated and wanted a camera. I would always take my camera with me and just take random photos. I started college and was taking photography classes so I was learning the basics of film, digital, and studio photography. My cousin was pregnant at the time and I asked if I could take her maternity photos to see if that was a direction I wanted to go in. I bought a white backdrop and stand off amazon and set it up in my living room and did my cousins photos and they turned out pretty good for it being my first time. I even asked her if I could do her baby’s newborn photos when he was born. I think as I was preparing for his newborn photos that’s when I realized this is definitely what I want to do and it just wasn’t getting the props or taking the the photos but the editing too. Creating something special for people to cherish for a lifetime definitely made me feel like I was meant to be a photographer. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy because I needed to work hard to build my clients and get my work noticed. I am forever grateful because a lot of my clients were referrals and they kept coming back. Every portrait session I did I was always learning something new and discovering my style. I wanted to capture moments for my clients but also be affordable so that they could grow with me and now be discourage if my prices increased or if my style changed. I wanted to show my present and future clients how much they really meant to me and how much pride I put into my work.
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 was raised in Long Beach by a single mother and an older sister. We did everything together! They are my biggest supporters and cheerleaders. When I started my photography journey they were there every step of the way. I started doing setups in my living room and my mom helped me buy equipment like lights and more backdrops. We would go to downtown LA and buy material so I could use as backdrops and I would go to yard sales, good will, and ross to look for props. I would always say.. oh look I can fit a baby in that. When I started booking sessions outside of my living room my mom would come with me to help set up or pose the family or whatever it was I needed, she was like my assistant. The more and more I got into photography I could see where I wanted to eventually be and that was to have my own studio space. It was definitely a lot of hard work and it was expensive for me. I still had a part time job and going to school and still trying to book sessions on the weekends. I took a break from school and just focused on building my craft and clients. I felt I was making good enough money to invest more and more into my photography. With all the new trends that are always coming with photography I wanted to explore them and I started taking photos of newborns in the hospital and that was so amazing and a beautiful experience to be part of. I just wanted to show in my work the true love and passion I have for capturing special moments. I know there are so many people out there who are photographers but what makes me different is my willingness to create love and capture trueness, I think that’s why I gravitated more towards children but they’re so much fun to capture. I would tell the parents just let them run and be free and that’s how I could capture the best smiles and their true personality. Honestly, I found capturing children was a lot easier than capturing teens and adults. I wanted my sessions to be fun and I would always tell my clients ok are you ready to have fun and party because majority of the time it was their first time taking photos and I didn’t want them to be stiff or nervous. One of my go to sayings is “pretend you love each other” and that definitely brought out personalities and laughter.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
Majority of my clients are like family to me, we text or hang out, we definitely keep in touch. I have clients that moved to different states and I’ve flown out to see them. I love building and having relationships with my clients. I believe it show that they mean more to me than work. Like I’m wanting to build a friendship and also I’ve watched their families grow, they are apart of my heart. Yes, I have some clients who are not on that same level but it doesn’t mean I don’t care for them any less. I try to be personable on a respect level on social media and have some interaction that way. I think social media is definitely a big way how I stay in contact with my clients.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I think what’s more rewarding for me is the clients who have been there from the beginning, the new clients who trust me, and everyone who has seen me succeed. When I had my grand opening I had a lot of people there but I had a lot of clients there too. Even some clients that I hadn’t seen in a couple of years and that made my heart so warm and I was just happy that I could share every milestone with them because I got to be there for their milestones.
Contact Info: