We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sheryl McLain a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sheryl, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

Asking friends and family to support my business, in my opinion, means being aware of
my business and what I do. That way, when they know of someone who needs a portrait
photographer or someone who wants to buy a piece of art, hopefully they will think of me
and provide a referral, in the event I’m a good fit for the person in need of the photographic
service. If I’m not the best fit, then I totally understand that.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Many years ago, while in college, I fell in love with writing and with photography. I earned
a journalism degree, believing at that time that I would become a reporter or a photo
journalist. I took as many writing, editing courses and photography courses as was possible.
I loved both disciplines. Back in those days, before digital photography was a thing, we
spent a lot of time with film, both shooting and processing in the dark room. At that time, I
had professors persuading me to think more seriously about photography as a career path.
But, my love for writing and editing was also very strong. So, as fate would have it, as a
college senior, I ended up interning for a hospital public relations department, where I got to
do a little bit of everything I loved. Three years later, I would be hired as the director of
public relations for this same hospital. After more than two years there, I was recruited to
become the vice president/communications (spokesperson, writer, and editor) for the state
hospital association, a position I had for 25 years. In this role, I worked with many of my
former journalism classmates who became reporters and photographers. I believe my
educational background helped better prepare me when working with reporters or
photographers and anticipating what they needed in their respective jobs. After 25 years in a
role I loved, my family’s needs (aging parents, etc.,) changed, causing me to rethink and
reevaluate my personal and career priorities. After giving two year’s notice (yes, you read
that right), I left my job and set up an LLC focusing primarily on communications and
marketing consulting. In my spare time, I picked up my camera again, as a creative and
therapeutic outlet. I also realized that technology had changed significantly since the days of
film photography. So, whenever I had the time between consulting projects, I started
investing time and money in various online digital photo classes and in digital camera
equipment. As I had in college, I again started shooting portraits, upon request. After

networking with local artists and attending several local art festivals and art galleries to see
what others were displaying, I got my courage up to apply for my first landscape art exhibit,
in the fall of 2015. This work continues today. In fact, this month has been very busy with
local art gallery shows and with family portrait sessions, in preparation for the holidays.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There are so many rewards for my soul, but overall the best is when what I’ve done
connects with or speaks to the heart and soul of others — whether through my landscape art
or portrait sessions. For example, when I’m out in the field and I see a landscape image
through my lens and click the shutter. When that moment later becomes a piece of fine art in
a gallery and speaks to others who come by the show, there is no bigger compliment. Even
better is when they love a piece enough to buy it, but a purchase isn’t necessary for my
creative heart and soul to be rewarded. For portrait sessions, three over the years really stand
out in terms of feeling like the images I was able to capture made a difference. One was the
day a mom and grandmother finished her cancer treatment and got to ring the bell. I met her
that same day and spent several hours with her and her adult daughter at an OKC cancer
treatment facility, to document that celebratory day for them via images. Another was a
session for a young mom and her toddler who were about to lose their mom and
grandmother to cancer. I met the three in a colorful artsy section of town and got to capture
some very sweet moments between them. The third was a portrait session I had donated for
a silent auction hosted by the local Autism Foundation. The young couple who bid on and
won the session had a beautiful young daughter, and they wanted family photos. I learned
that often these families have a tough time finding a photographer willing to take the extra
time necessary to find and capture those sweet moments, which often happen naturally
when you don’t rush the process. I was able to do so, which was a both a great relief and
very rewarding for me.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media has definitely evolved over time and is still doing so. In 2010, when I left my
corporate health care job to consult, websites were a thing and Facebook was becoming a
thing, as was LinkedIn. So, I used these platforms to promote my services. In 2014, when I
added photography as a service and had enough photographic samples to show as a
portfolio, I launched a separate photography website, and added a Facebook photography
page. Later, when Instagram was launched, I created a presence there too. Until this year, I
only used LinkedIn for the consulting side of my business. I’m at the place where I just
want to focus (pun intended) on photography, so now my LinkedIn account only promotes
my photography business (and links to my website, FB and Instagram). Last year, I did a

total audit and rebuild of my website, and updated my business cards. Both have links or
icons that promote my presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Etsy (where I sell current
landscape pieces I have in inventory). While I initially used Twitter, I don’t anymore. If I
was starting over today, I’d probably start with Instagram with a link to Facebook, and post
each day to both. I’d then build a website. Staying up-to-date on the various social media
platforms does take a lot of time, and sometimes money, to do it well. Since I manage all of
my social media accounts and posts, I have to decide how much time and money to spend in
this important area. I did get new clients for family photos the week of Christmas; they
found me via social media. Many of my landscapes sales occur because someone saw a
piece on Facebook, Instagram or Etsy. So, I know social media is a critical and necessary
marketing element. While I have a degree in communications, and a lot of marketing
experience, social media wasn’t a thing we learned in class, so there has been a learning
curve. I think most of us can relate to this.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sherylmclainphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sherylmclainphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063530021778
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheryl-mclain-3275b64a/
• Other: Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/McLainPhotographyArt?ref=profile_header

Image Credits
For my portrait: Drake Busath For all of the other landscape images: Sheryl McLain Photography