Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mel Bean. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Mel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Talk to us about building your team? What was it like? What were some of the key challenges and what was your process like?

I started my business with just myself, hoping to do as much of the work as possible on my own. After quickly realizing I did not have the energy and ability to become an expert in everything (largely high-end editing and SEO), I began to look for people to fill those positions for my business. The process took a while because I needed to find people I can trust and are consistent, so it took a lot of asking around and doing some serious digging to find people I vibe with. There were several dead end Zoom interviews with various SEO experts to find one that fit my style, and I went through several retouchers where I would send them one photo to see if they edited how I liked before landing on the 2-3 different retouchers I use now. If I were starting today, I would have definitely hired a retoucher much sooner. I still edit about 50% of my work, but the retouchers really leveled up my work and I saw a significant return on investment

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started as a model about 8 years ago and was full time for about 4-5 years. After getting frustrated at the income cap and not having as much control over the creative direction of the shoot, I decided to start experimenting behind the lens, and it connected so well with me.

My photography business mainly focuses on headshots, ballet, families and couples.

I help clients elevate their look either for their business or personal life by expressing their personal story through my lens and I work hard to make them look their best. Especially for my headshots, both acting and business, I’ve helped them land jobs or elevate their online presence to reflect their success. I’d like to think that what sets me apart from other photographers is my ability to understand my clients and flatter them in an image. I may not be the most technically great but I do have a good ability to make people look amazing in my photos, and it’s all about getting the right light and focal length on each person’s face. I also feel like my work is authentic and honest- something I feel I don’t see as often nowadays, where most people heavily edit and alter their images.

I think I’m most proud of my ability to maintain full-time status as it is NOT easy! I try to learn from my mistakes and stay humble so I can continue to grow as an artist. I hope I never get to a point of complacency.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I pivoted from model to photographer! I was getting older and feeling exhausted as a model, working my butt off and only getting to a certain income level. Photography has enabled me to grow both as an artist and financially as well.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Being consistent, reliable, and hard-working on every project helps to create that reliability. Also when working on the project, be someone that people enjoy working with. Have a strong sense of integrity.

Also, no matter how big you get, no one likes a diva. Eventually, it’ll come back to you if you’re someone that is difficult to work with, even if you’re super talented.

Contact Info:

• Website: PhotoMAB.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/photo.mab?igsh=MWMzbXVyNHhqMTgydQ==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photomab?mibextid=JRoKGi

Image Credits
These are all my photos, including the image of myself as it is a self-portrait