We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leslee Mitchell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Leslee, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

It takes hard work year after year after year. There’s no taking your foot off the gas when you work for yourself. You are all you have. Being successful also requires your ability to create something only you can. It’s the edge that will push you ahead of all the others.

Leslee, 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’m a photographer based in Nashville, TN who specializes in photographing architecture, interior design, advertising, people and toy cars. I am also a car nut.

I didn’t start out as a photographer. I’m really a lawyer. I practiced corporate law for a few years.

Nonetheless, I have have been deeply captivated by pictures my entire life. Around 2008, I bought a professional camera. I knew the only thing standing between me and creating the photos I already saw was learning how to use the camera. It didn’t take long to realize photography was meant for me. In the beginning, I mostly photographed kids and weddings and later progressed to architecture, interiors and advertising.

In every photography genre I have pursued, my goal has always been for my photos to look like an ad. For example, to my client it might have been their engagement photos but in my mind I was shooting the Spring Lookbook for J.Crew. I did whatever had to be done to achieve those results.

In 2015, I created a Matchbox Car Series. What started as six toy cars borrowed to photograph on a white pad of paper quickly became a highly buzzed-about fleet of over 100 photographed toy cars, airplanes and trains of various makes and models that are used as wall decor in room designs by some of the best interior designers in the business. In addition to my Matchbox Car Series, I have created exclusive art collections for retailers such as Pottery Barn Kids, Serena & Lily, One Kings Lane and CB2. You will find my cars featured in design books, design magazines and they once made a cameo appearance on The TODAY Show. When I shoot what I love (cars), the sky is the limit. Truthfully. My Matchbox Car Series is living proof of that.

What sets me apart from others? I would say my eye for beauty sets me apart from others. Whether I’m shooting an interior of a home, the exterior of a building, someone’s portrait or a toy car it always comes down to finding beauty. The beauty is always there. I have the ability to always see it.

Another skill I have that sets me apart is my ability to do just about every job on a set in addition to my own job. For example, I’m great with prop selection, prop styling and I am particularly great at wardrobe styling. It’s not uncommon to see wardrobe pieces from my own closet on the talent in my photos. Better yet, there’s some shoots where I have had talent wear the clothes I arrived wearing and I then shoot naked. Loollll. I’m totally kidding. We just trade outfits. They wear mine, I wear theirs. Point being, if what I have on is what is going to make the shot I make it happen.

I am most proud of my ability to run a successful business. You’re never going to get rich taking pictures. It’s what you do with those pictures that make you a success.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I built my social media audience one follower at a time. There are accounts who by some stroke of luck they gain 500,000 followers overnight. That’s the exception, not the rule.

A few things off the top of my head that I do consistently that has served me well in growing my audience:

-I consistently post great content. Not good content, great content.

-I treat my Instagram feed like a magazine. I learned this at an online class I took. How do you treat your feed like a magazine? What do you find in the pages of magazines in the summertime? You find photos of swimming pools and late afternoon sunshine in backyards. In November? You find pumpkins, fall foliage, Thanksgiving dinner tables. You run your feed like a magazine by mirroring the content of magazines based on the time of year. Does that mean you need to go get tons of Christmas content? Assuming you want to grow your feed, that’s exactly what that means.

-I share content that serves as a solution to a problem. For example, I receive a lot of emails from moms about my car prints saying I love your cars so much but how do I incorporate them in my son’s room? Please help. When I first started getting these messages I thought ok how do I tell these moms how my car prints should look in their child’s room? I don’t tell them, I show them by posting photos of real rooms with my car prints on the walls. Cue the likes, shares, saves, comments and follows.

-Never be afraid to ask for followers. Once my across the hall neighbor text asking if he could use my wifi until his new roommate moved in. I said sure you can use my wifi so long as you follow me on Instagram. Boom. New follower.

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

Yes, my business does have multiple streams of income. I generate income from my real job, which is shooting interiors, architecture, portraits, advertising.

My car prints are my number one additional stream of income.

I also have a pretty decent stock photo portfolio that provides me with another stream of income. If you familiarize yourself with what stock photography is, what images are needed in the industry and what tends to sell best, you will find yourself surrounded by stock photography opportunities every time you walk out your front door.

A handful of my images have been been licensed for book covers providing me with an additional stream of income.

Oftentimes during the course of a year, photography directors from different publications reach out because they have seen an image I took that they’re interested in licensing because it will go well with a story for their next publication. That’s always nice because the work is already done and cha-ching there’s another stream of income because they pay a licensing fee for use of my image.

Many times I have licensed use of my interior design images to designers whose products were in the design of a house I photographed. For example, say I got a great shot of a light fixture or a fireplace mantel while shooting an interior. Oftentimes, the designer of specific products in my photos will license my photo showing their product for use in their portfolio or to use as an ad in a magazine. Cha-ching, that’s another stream of income.

Contact Info:

• Website: lesleemitchell.com
• Instagram: @lesleemitchell
• Facebook: facebook.com/leslee.mitchell
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/lesleemitchell
• Pinterest: pinterest.com/lesleemitchell

Image Credits
All photos taken by me, Leslee Mitchell. Photos of me (curly blonde hair) are self-portraits.