We recently connected with Mariela Duval and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mariela thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you share a customer success story with us?

We often hear about postpartum depression and the impact it has on women. But rarely we hear about depression during pregnancy or prenatal depression. Although it affects a smaller percentage of the population, it still can affect 10-20% of the population. It is so important to seek care from health professionals.
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I was recently contacted by a lady for wanted to have maternity photos done. She shared with me that she had been battling with depression during her pregnancy and was trying to find a way to boost her self-esteem and celebrate welcoming her daughter into this world. Although she was excited about her new family, she was having a difficult time finding joy in her every day life and feeling fulfilled as a woman. She mentioned she wanted to feel strong, powerful, empower, and beautiful.

We had a wonderful photo session where we laughed, cried, danced and celebrated life. In the process, we capture some beautiful photos. She told me that I had made her feel exactly as she wanted and needed to feel.

It was a reminder for me on how important the job I do is. We are not trying to just capture a beautiful image, but provide an amazing experience where the woman can feel loved, beautiful and empowered.

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

I am originally from Nicaragua, and a pharmacist by profession. I still work as a pharmacist in town at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. I started my business in photography about 10 years ago because I fell in love photographing babies. I have three grown boys, so it was too late for me to capture my own children, but I am able to provide beautiful memories to new parents to remember this special time that goes by so fast.

Those first few days with a baby are such a blur, but you also want to remember them exactly as they were brand new on this earth. This is where I come in. As a newborn and maternity photographer, I capture the beauty of pregnancy and the miracle of the newborn by creating professional, artistic photos that preserve these precious memories in timeless images.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

As a solopreneur as well as an employee for a big corporation, I had to learn everything I needed to start a business. Joining like-minded communities was very helpful and consuming hours of educational videos. Not having a background in business or finance was a challenge, and had to learn it all as I went. Some books that have really helped me have been:
Profit First by Mike Michalowicz, it was invaluable to help me manage finance and cash balance. I actually use his method on my personal finances also. The same author has several other books that I have found very helpful.
Start with Why by Simon Sinek – it was very helpful as you need to understand your why, the reason you are starting your business.
Atomic Habits by James Clear – how starting small, doing small consistent changes until they become healthy habits can transform your life.
Other books I have found helpful include: The total make over by Dave Ramsey, The Power of Moments by Chip Heath and books by Austin Kleon.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I believe we all had to pivot in 2020 as the world dealt with the covid pandemia. Being a newborn photographer, who I need to be very close to my little clients to photograph, you can only imagine how my business was affected.
I had to quickly figure out ways to provide the same service but keeping the little ones and their family safe. As an industry, we had to learn on the safest way to disinfect all of our products and studio between clients, how to be in close contact with the babies but still stay safe.

Once I created a system that I could implement while keeping my clients and my family safe, my business boomed. Parents who had not been able to celebrate with baby showers, who gave birth alone in the hospital, who could not have family come and meet the baby. They all wanted photos of their newborn to be able to share online with their families and friends. Although I was closed for 2 months in 2020, it was my busiest and most profitable year in business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://marieladuvalphotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marieladuval/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marieladuvalphotography
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/marieladuvalphotography/
  TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@marieladuval6

Image Credits

All images taken by Mariela Duval Photography in the studio in Sandy Springs