We were lucky to catch up with Priscilla Heneidi Gomez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Priscilla, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you share a customer success story with us?

I met The Robertsons hours after their daughter Lucy had been born. As I photographed the family we joked and laughed. Bre had a humble, intelligent and kind heart. Aaron was supportive in nature and undeniably hilarious. Lucy cooed and posed effortlessly, even at 1 day. As I shared these first ever images of this family, we cried together.

That year they asked me to continue to photograph Lucy, I got to meet her grandparents, pets and extended family in that time too. We must have had about 5 sessions that year.

I unfortunately had to move away from SoCal and to Georgia. In that relocation I became a mother myself. Soon after the birth of my 2nd child I moved to Los Angeles and The Robertsons moved to Washington.

I was elated when I learned Bre and Aaron would have another baby soon! I kept the disappointment that I’d miss this family’s pregnancy to myself but before I had a chance to sulk, Bre reached out. She asked if I’d consider having them fly me out to Washington for a Maternity session. Overjoyed I’d be seeing them again, I said yes. Bre soon informed me that the baby on the way was a Rainbow Baby (a baby born subsequent to a prior pregnancy loss). I didn’t know they had lost a baby, I felt terrible that this wonderful family had to deal with that kind of a loss. They deserved something beautiful.

I packed my things and flew over shortly after. I got to see Lucy. It’s always been an honor watching the children I photo grow up. Lucy had become such a spunky, vivacious and sweet girl, with an incredible singing voice! We went to a nearby park and shot in a stunning colorful garden. Bre looked ethereal and radiated all her inner beauty. All of them did, even Dad was confidently himself, cracking jokes, and imitating turkeys. Lucy leapt and frolicked in her tutu and glowed her own special glow.

She was waiting for this baby too. Mom and Dad had given her a stuffed penguin with the baby’s heartbeat for her to hear. During the session we walked near a tree and I asked Lucy to hug her Penguin and think of what it would be like for it to be Marlee instead. She did and I took a photo. I captured that emotion. A deep longing hug from a big sister waiting for her Rainbow too.

I left that session tearing up as I showed Bre and we both cried then and there. I don’t know how to explain it but as we sat in the car together it lightly rained, then paused as the sunset. In the distance I noticed a rainbow and pointed it out to Lucy, who, at the moment was serenading us all from the backseat. She squealed with joy begging her father to pullover. We did and marveled at how it presented itself as we were together in that moment. I was most impressed with Lucy’s experience though. This was her first Rainbow.

I went home, edited the photos and turned in the gallery. We all loved these photos but even though technically this was a service for a customer, I also gained a beautiful experience. It added a richness to all of our lives and that’s the greatest success.

Priscilla, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Priscilla Heneidi Gomez. I’ve been a photographer for 20 years. My interest sparked through seeing images my own father captured of me growing up, picking up a digital camera in high school and joining the yearbook staff. Over the years I’ve run through the gamut of subjects and find my favorite images to capture are of people. Portraits or photographs that tell stories through those people and their emotions.

I love people, I love making them feel comfortable and have a knack for encouraging others to shine unapologetically. I pride myself in the ability to not force people to “say cheese” but encourage a genuine smile and capture that in conjunction with ethereal lighting. To immortalize regalia dancers in movement and ceremony, to soothe a fussy newborn into a soft peaceful slumber, to provide expecting mothers the confidence to personify the miracle of life. I think my purpose in life is to help others feel seen and I think photography is the perfect medium for that.

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

My Photography was a hobby for the better part of a decade, then I noticed “real photographers” getting paid for images I would have never imagined could be purchased.

I had to find the courage to say I’m going to lean into my photography and so I got a job in the field doing newborn photography. Quickly I had more referrals than I could imagine. I moved around the US following my husband’s career, expecting to be lost but to my surprise customers reached out, asking to schedule for the next time I came to town or even offer to fly me out. I’ve also had to acquire new clients in cities I was new to which also proved difficult but not impossible.

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

In school I was taught to market my business with a specific audience in mind. To have all my images work cohesively, the general public doesn’t want to hire a product photographer for a wedding, or a wildlife photographer for a newborn session. Photographers need to fit into a certain box and stay in that box. I didn’t understand how to do that. I went through 5 logos, I went through several kinds of aesthetics but after about 15 years of getting better and better of fitting into my box, I realized I was not happy. I was limiting the kind of photography I did. I realized I had really narrowed my subject matter, even though I get so much joy out of diversity.

I just recently decided I was going to create two types of photography businesses so that I still had my speciality but now prospective clients would see me filtered through their needs instead of limiting my own professional desires.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.ppodphoto.com
• Instagram: ppodphoto_