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

Marian, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?

Vacations are a must. As a creative, its especially important to recharge with attention seeing the world in a different way, getting new ideas, and having new experiences. Vacations allow you to step away from daily activities and any ruts that have developed and make new memories. Sometimes as a business owner its easy to ignore this need and push it off but every time I’ve made the time, I’ve been rewarded with new energy, ideas, and motivation when I get back to work.

Marian, 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?

We are a locally owned and operated portrait studio. We’ve been in business for 10+ years and photographed 1000+ amazing people of all shapes and sizes. We firmly believe in creating amazing art that you can wait to display in your home.

For our families: we believe in putting a physical representation of a family’s love in large portraits on that wall. We are passionate about this work for 2 reasons. One, studies have shown that children who grow up with family pictures, feel more loved and connected. This helps with their self confidence and over well being. Two, Being a parent is often tiring and thankless. No one is paying you bonuses or giving you the full credit you deserve. We want to support parents by creating a beautiful picture that they get to enjoy every day and always feel that love and happiness each time they look at it on their wall.

For our boudoir ladies: we are in the business of helping YOU celebrate your life and transformations in a tangible way. We want you to feel more self-confident and beautiful. We also know that women who spend time in these types of session have fun, feel amazing and pampered, but more importantly, go through a mental shift on who they are and their power. We specialize in artwork because we believe you deserve to be presented in fine art rather than simply living on your computer as digitals.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I started my photography studio while I was working in corporate America as a business consultant. I built my side hustle on night and weekends and over several years before I took the jump to full-time self employment. I was lucky to be able to fund my venture and my ongoing business education from my corporate job. It also took the stress off to some extent. Eventually I always felt like I was splitting my focus between my corporate job and my business. I didn’t feel like I was doing a great job in either place and I knew I needed to focus on one. That, and positive cash flow on my business, helped me know when the time was right to shift.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

Weekly email newsletters with personal stories that are on-brand but relatable have been a game changer. Readers love it and it helps foster the relationship. Private facebook groups help clients share their stories of transformation and empowerment. In the future we hope to add private events, group trips, and mentorship groups. For our boudoir ladies especially, a photo session is part of their empowerment journey and we get to continue on the path with them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.butlerbadouportraits.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butlerbadouportraits/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/butlerbadouportraits/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariandiop/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO3jUhQdTlMGjjgl7cPcWaQ

Image Credits
Marian Diop