We recently connected with Monika Normand and have shared our conversation below.
Monika, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
I think it’s important to first acknowledge that success is measured in so many different ways and means different things to different people – and that’s totally okay. It supposed to be a very personal thing. For me, success in my business is measured by happy clients/customers and having a positive impact on peoples’ lives, and also by my ability to create a life of flexibility, balance, peace, and financial freedom for myself in the process. I’ve seen success in my primary business, Monika Normand Creative LLC, and secondary business, Brightside Studios by learning to (a) replicate processes and expand on things that have proved to work well, (b) build confidence in what I bring to the table, and (c) to continue to try new things until something sticks. As a photographer, there are lots of cool avenues for you to make a living – you can take pictures of course, but you can also sell prints, make digital resources, sell courses and your knowledge, teach classes, open a studio, etc. I’ve tried pretty much all of those things lol. Some have worked well, and some have been really good learning experiences. Prints are hard to sell as it turns out, unless you’re a famous artist and already have a big audience to sell to. I ran with my print shop project for about two years and gave it my all and realized it wasn’t as successful as I had hoped, so I pivoted. I took the time, money, and resources I was spending there and decided to utilize them elsewhere. A few months after making that decision was when I signed the lease on the studio space for Brightside Studios – so this new endeavor required my attention anyway. I think as you’re starting out in business, you often feel like a failure with things don’t instantly prove successful, and you’re constantly unsure of yourself. Over time, you build confidence in yourself and realize that your ability to try, fail, learn, and pivot will be one of the most important skills you have to be a successful business owner.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a professional brand photographer based in Dallas, and I own Monika Normand Creative LLC – a team of content creators who specialize in capturing vibrant and bespoke content for positive-impact brands. I’ve been a photographer for over 10 years now, originally starting my business in my home state of Massachusetts, primarily serving wedding and portrait clients. I moved to Dallas in 2017 which is where I began focusing on growing my brand and commercial photography client base. I am now officially “retired” from shooting weddings and have poured my time and attention into helping business owners grow their brands through intentional content creation. Last year, I also opened Brightside Studios, which is a natural light photography studio and creative event space in Dallas. We host small events to connect with likeminded creatives and business owners and also rent out our studio space by the hour to other content creators. I feel extremely fortunate to have landed where I am today. Moving to Dallas has opened up so many doors for me, put me in the company of some truly incredible people, and has inspired me to reach for things I would previously never have dreamed of obtaining. I think what I’m most proud of – as simple as it’ll sound – is making other people feel good. I love seeing other people laugh, feel fulfilled, be inspired, and just overall feel good about themselves. Brand photography is such a great way to highlight your business/what you’ve accomplished (what you’ve created, the products you sell, the services you provide to your customers) – I always tell my clients that working with your brand photographer or videographer should be a celebratory and fun experience. Lifting others up is a happy biproduct of what I get to do for a living, and I really, really like my job.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
My businesses are entirely self-funded, which means it probably took me longer to get here than some other people, but that’s okay. When starting my primary business, Monika Normand Creative LLC, I was still working a corporate job while I was growing my clientele on the side. When I coach other photographers who are interested in making the leap to self employment or starting their own company, I always advise to have 3+ months of personal living expenses saved, and 3+ months of business expenses saved. I think one of the things that enabled me to grow quickly and make smart business decisions early-on is that I wasn’t in a panic (well not complete panic anyway lol) about how I was going to pay myself if I wanted to buy an expensive camera lens or some other business equipment. This is because I always kept a buffer in my business account from day one (small at first, but it grew over time) and I always kept my personal savings funded too. I would say if you’re thinking about starting your own business, please don’t jump the gun and work on your savings first (while you still have a steady income) so you won’t stress yourself out immediately.
With my second business, Brightside Studios, I essentially repeated the same process. I funded the studio start up costs with profit from my main business. I had been working on saving a good chunk of money, knowing I wanted to be able to pull the trigger when I came across the right space for the studio. I didn’t have quite as much as I wanted saved when we came across our Dallas studio location outside of the Design District, but I knew I was close enough and I basically bet on myself that I could make it work. And so far so good! None of this stuff is easy, and I want to be sure that my responses to these questions are honest. I was stressed, I worried about money, I doubted myself – I still do sometimes. But I want to normalize those things if you’re like me and trying to self fund your own business.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Google. Then word of mouth. Then Instagram. I’m excited to answer this question because everyone is stressed over social media, algorithms, and their views and likes etc., as we often try to use this a measure of business success or the only way to get new clients. My Instagram has grown slowly over time – truly more of an act of resilience and consistency vs being excessively clever, viral, or trendy. Consistency pays off when it comes to social media. But back to Google. I am really proud of the website I’ve built (together with my web developer) because I’ve worked hard on it for YEARS. Like ten years. I still write blog posts, I collect Google reviews, I work on SEO and keep my site up to date and optimized. And all of those things combined have helped me reach the top spot when you search “Dallas branding photographer”. I used to crack up because I was listed at the top of this Google search when my physically business address was still showing as Massachusetts (where I had started my business). This just goes to show you, if you put the time and effort into building a great website and you work hard on those client relationships so they leave you glowing Google reviews, it does pay off.
Because most new clients find me on Google or through word of mouth from a past client I’ve worked with, I don’t stress so much over my social media anymore. I still make a consistent effort to post regularly and stay relevant, but I am very grateful to have multiple reliable sources of new leads.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://brightsidestudiosdallas.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightsidestudios_dallas/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monikanormandcreative
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monika-normand/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@brightsidestudios_dallas
- Other: https://monikanormandphoto.com/
Image Credits
Rooftop pics: Susie Burleson All other pics: Monika Normand Creative LLC