We recently connected with Lauren Hillary and have shared our conversation below.

Lauren, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

My career has taken a few twists and turns however my most important adventure so far was coming up with Brand Your Selfie, a conceptual Branding/Lifestyle Photo shoot. At the time I was photographing everything that came at me, and i started working with a life coach as I was feeling very stuck in my career. This happens often to artists as we need to feel constantly inspired and excited about what we are creating. As a portrait photographer I love making people feel beautiful but as a fine art photographer I want to create something interesting and as a photojournalist, i had to tell a story with my images. While working closely with her I came up with Brand Your Selfie. an ongoing photo shoot for entrepreneurs who need new photo content every month. At the time I came up with this idea social media influencers had just started blowing up our feeds and it was the perfect time to launch this aspect of my business. . The most exciting part of the project for me was that it was ongoing and it told a complete story about the person. I am capturing who they were or at least who they want to be. It truly is my favorite aspect of my business. I aim to capture the essence and realness of my subjects.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I love this life of capturing the raw human moments that connect us to love, art, family and adventure. It is a real gift to wake up and do what I love every day. As a true photographic artist, I am obsessed with light, shadow and emotion. My goal is to always capture the realness of the moment and the truth of my subject. Sometimes this happens immediately and sometimes it takes some fun and gentle direction but I get the shot every time. I’ve had a camera in my hand since I was 5 but It was on a trip to Maui with my family when I decided I wanted to be a photographer. Specifically a National Geographic photographer. That hasn’t happened yet but there is still time. That same year in my first year in college I took my first photography class. It was an instant love. I felt like a magician in the darkroom. I even loved the smell of the chemicals on my fingers. I feel very fortunate to have found this love early in my life and I am very proud of turning it into a successful career 20-plus years later.

There are thousands of photographers to choose from but what i think sets me apart is my unique vision and relentless drive to get that perfectly imperfect photograph. The one that says it all. I go above and beyond for each my clients, I walk them through how their shoot will go. We pull inspiration images and create decks before every shoot to ensure we are getting exactly what they want. They end up getting a ton of great pictures to choose from beacuse we are creating real moments with real emotion.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Word-of-mouth is the best marketing. I had a few incredible clients who loved the experience of working with me and word spread like wildfire. I still work with some of those early clients today and I am forever grateful for their support and loyalty.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I work with many of my clients monthly for branding and lifestyle shoots. I have a large group of families I work with during the holidays and I custom-design their holiday cards. I make the process easy and love to capture their children growing up year after year. I have a few great large corporations that hire me every year for their company retreats.
I keep in touch throughout the year by networking at social events, reaching out via email, and keeping my social media channels updated with both professional and personal content. To keep clients loyal to my brand I always arrive early, always over-deliver, make the process easy and fun, and always make them happy by providing incredible images.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.laurenhillary.com
• Instagram: @laurenhillary
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/laurenhillary
• Twitter: @laurenhillary

Image Credits
Lauren Hillary