We were lucky to catch up with Oriana Higuera recently and have shared our conversation below.

Oriana , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

Customers are the spine of my Business, without them we can’t walk and keep creating images. One of our main core is Quality of Service providing a great experience to our clients beyond a simple photoshoot. When a client comes to Us, we make sure to understand and hear what they need to say, their personality, taste, and values are the key for our creative process. That’s why we take the time to talk to them before they make a decision and after, when they hire Us.

It’s been said time is more valuable than money, and we always want to provide our clients with all the time they need to express themselves and be understood.

I believe a great photo must tell a story and there must be an experience behind it. That’s why I focus on providing the best experience for them so their photos can be appreciated in a visual and heartfelt way.

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?

My name is Oriana Higuera, and I am passionate about the beauty of life. If I had to tell you three things about me, they would be that I follow Jesus Christ as my Savior, I love my family and, last but not least,my shoes never match my outfit.

After so many prayers asking for wisdom, and trying to figure out what I was passionate about, God answered my prayers through GRACE, yes! Grace is one of my best friend’s daughters who is with Down Syndrome.

On January 23rd 2017, my friend asked me to take pictures of her daughter and her friends celebrating her 33rd birthday at the park. I must confess that, on that day, I was still shooting with my camera on AUTO Mode, and I knew absolutely nothing about light painting, but what I did know was how to capture the happiness and joy of those kids.
That afternoon, I came home totally convinced that being a Professional Photographer was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Since 2021 I’m proudly a member and certified by PPA. (Professional Photographers of America).

I’m based in South Florida but willing to serve worldwide, I’m not consider myself a mere photographer by request, I focus on providing the best experience to my clients, always trying to understand what they need and how I can help them to communicate their message through my images. Quality not only in my photos but in the whole customer service process is mandatory in this company.

Our service always starts with a complimentary video call to know more about the clients needs and make sure we offer exactly what they need and how they need it. Following by a booking process and a Preparation call, where we talk more in detail about how their session should be; in this call we talk about locations, desires, outfits, tips and everything they need to know to make sure their photoshoot is a stress-free experience.

The third phase is living the experience on the photoshoot day, starting with my beauty team who is in charge of all the Beauty details of my clients and finishing with our time in the photo session; one week or two after that, we meet in-person again in our office to see for the first time and in a big screen their images and select all the printed and digital products they’ve chosen from the beginning.

For some people this may be seen as too much, but for those who love High Quality is a wonderful experience.

Oriana Higuera Photography is not for everyone, it’s just for those who want the best. ;)

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

It has not been easy to have a solid Small business, but so far, what I think has been the key for it, is consistency, planning and strategy.

At first, my main goal was to take my craft to a high level where people could easily appreciate the quality and beauty of my images. And then, when I felt more confident about it, I started to work more into my business strategy and processes. One advice that I received from my Accountant and friend was: “If you want to be treated as a Business you must behave like one” And those words are in my mind everyday and every morning. In addition, having a professional career in the past in the Corporate Industry taught me that High Quality and Low prices never go together, so as a Small Business owner you must decide on one or another.
In our case, Me and my team go with High Quality, and that’s not negotiable.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Unfortunately, as a New Business Owner and also new in the photography field, at the beginning I went with the flow and did what everyone does at first, I underestimated my Art and offered it for free to so many people who were just looking for bargains. Without strategy I started to spend so much time, effort, and equipments doing sessions that were supposed to bring me some exposure to the market, and at some point I felt discouraged and disappointed about how my work wasn’t being appreciated as I wanted it to be.

When I finally understood that I had to create a plan to reach those people who would appreciate our help and services, we began to notice that our efforts were bearing fruits.

As of today I mentor people who like me, have a passion, and dream everyday of being professional, and I always start our classes with a rule: Never give away your time and Art. Study first, know and learn your craft, make a business plan and then jump into the market.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.orianaphoto.com
• Instagram: @orianahigueraphotography
• Facebook: @orianahigueraphotography
• Linkedin: Oriana Higuera

Image Credits
Oriana Higuera Photography’ Profile Picture (Feature Photo): Credits to: Elisa Stambouli