We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lineka Michelle . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lineka below.

Lineka , appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I am very happy as a business owner! I use to think about getting a regular job years ago and even had a job for a while last year but i let it go because my passion for my business was strong i just need to focus and hire a an assistant and hire a clarity coach for my next moves in my business and i didn’t want to be a cookie cutter photographer. I wanted to be and I am different.

The reason i thought about going to get a regular job was because the booking was real slow and I was not sure where the next was coming from due to me changing up circles and networking more and dealing with things personal it all started to way in on me but i heard a voice say and other people say around me Just go get a job so you can help the family out. Your business is temporary and the voice kept saying you can’t do this during the time when your family needs more income to help change the situation. But my Faith was like NOPE don’t cave in , your business can bring you six figures to millions if you just show up and continue to show up no matter what and create content that you need and so we did that and i have not thought about getting a job since because my Faith in God was stronger and bigger than the naysayers.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I got into the business because all of my corporate jobs where dealing with photography and i climbed the ladder to become the District manager where I was training others the job and learn about photography. I had a person that didn’t like me lie on me and caused me to quit and because of that i said let me do this on my own set my own hours and make how much i want to make and i learned from mentors and joined communities and as a matter of fact was a CEO of a big community. Now its 20 years that ive been in business for myself. Yes there have been some up and downs but I’m still here. I became a certified coach because that was always a dream of mine and i did it.

I’m proud of my persistence, courage to keep going even when I did not have clients , I continued to learn and study my craft during the times I was slow, The more and more i showed up for myself I noticed the more followers and people started to hear my story and connected to my voice and the bookings have been consistent. because I choose to be consistent even with a plan just trying things to see if it will work and some did and some didn’t . I got tired of hearing the GURU’S to say one thing and i was tried of buying all these courses and didn’t see the results not only because I didn’t work them but some did not work when I did do the work and it was not enough it was like they gave me a inch and then cut me off .

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I started my photography business I was the photographer that did it all weddings, events, family, high school seniors, and birthday parties, I was doing all the things when someone said they need a photographer even when i didn’t know what i was doing. I was chasing the money and i keep doing all the jobs but when i looked at the numbers in my books and bank account i was seeing less and i would have family time because i kept my calendar open and will leave my family at one time i did an event on one of my kids birthday and after doing so i felt bad because i realized it was not worth it. I had mentors and people tell me NOT to niche it down and then i had others say you may want to niche it down. So i had a talk with God about this and I found someone that I looked up to and started following her foot steps and I started narrowing down my photography skills and find what I absolutely love and it was for a while before COVID shut down the world I was a Birth Photographer and OMG It was an amazing thing to watch and to be apart of and i started getting that under my belt and then all of the sudden the hospitals said no more narrow down the list of people who can be in the room with the mother giving birth. so of course there were no jobs for me . Back to the drawing board, and I had to have a talk to self and figure out what i like to do when it comes to photography and that is part of empowering other women to look and feel good about themselves so i started doing the Boudoir photography and that still goes but not as strong as branding photography for women entrepreneurs that is my jam now because i put all my passions into one space. I empower, I show them how branding is MORE than and logo and I show them in a different light to help them show up more online and more for their brand. because when i realize to get from behind my logo it was on couldn’t stop me from taking photos dealing with the insecurities of weight, skin tones, and dealing with the process of life because as a mom, a wife i dealt with low self esteem, postpartum depression, and I have ADHD, and learning how to manage life and business.

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

My most effective strategy has been , create ideas, showing the behind the scenes on how I work, but the most important thing was just being my authentic self all the time. The more I shared tips and ideas to help them understand about branding and photography and why is it important to their brand my clientele started growing and still growing. Once i understood who i was and what I offer and put it in post, videos, and podcasts i started getting more clienteles.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.michellelineka.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellelinekaco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michellelineka
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellelineka/

Image Credits
Images Credit : Michelle Lineka Photography- Lineka Michelle (owner)