We were lucky to catch up with Skylar Gilmore recently and have shared our conversation below.
Skylar, appreciate you joining us today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?
When considering who my hero is, the first person that comes to my mind is my dad. This question is so special to me because it allows me to give credit where credit is due. My dad and mom have been the two most influential people in my life. My dad specifically has taught me what it means to be confident in myself, and love loyally to those I care about. He has always pushed me to do the best I can and to be the best version of myself. I have always looked up to him because throughout his life he has faced many hardships and has always persevered with such grace and loyalty to those he loves. He puts others first before himself every single time and is dedicated and motivated to providing his family with love and support. He has always challenged me to rise above and to chase the dreams that may seem unreachable. With my photography business specifically, he has always been positive and encouraging when I haven’t always been that for myself. He has been a constant in my life and that is forever something I am grateful for and will continue to look up to. He is one of the biggest influences in my life and for the young woman I am today. I am so very thankful for my hero, also known as my dad!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi everyone! My name is Skylar Gilmore, and I am the face behind my little business, Skylar.mgphotography. A little bit about me is that I graduated from Texas A&M University in May of 2022 with my degree in Kinesiology minoring in Art. I have spent the last year in Louisville, Kentucky to pursue my dreams of becoming a licensed Art Therapists and have absolutely loved every second of it. Some of my favorite hobbies include anything related to art, and you may have guessed by now that photography is one of them!
My entire life I have had a passion for art and expressing myself through a lens is one of the many blessings the Lord has provided me. Throughout my life I have always been detail oriented and perfectionistic, which often meant I gravitated towards drawing and painting. I lacked confidence in photography until I took a photography class in college and realized that I had a passion for photography and wanted to share that with others. Through the support from my friends and family, they encouraged me to start my little business that I hold so near and dear to my heart! My mission for Skylar.mgphotography is simple: Being Uniquely You. My mission is capturing what the good Lord gave you and being confident in every aspect of it. The Lord has given everyone a unique story, and that story deserves to be heard and shared with the world, and a photo is such a timeless example of how to do that. My goal as a photographer is to take photos that truly embodies who you are as a person and what makes you laugh, smile, and be all around joyful and confident in yourself. Additionally, I love seeing life in color and by adding that to a photo, it gives everyone something to rejoice in! My personal style is simplistic, colorful, and warm. Through a photo I will keep it natural, embodying you as the beautiful person the Lord created you to be!
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
The most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been social media and word of mouth! Starting this business, I had the skewed expectation that it would grow overnight. I didn’t expect to have an entire year of bookings but was eager and enthusiastic to start taking photo shoots, but that was not being reciprocated by my clients. This was simply due to lacking accessibility with clients, and I have learned to be patient and let my business grow gradually rather than all at once. This has taken time and patience on my end because being so eager, it is easy to get disappointed and discouraged. I think with social media specifically, creating content on social media that is true to you, your business, and your clients is what matters. Everything I post on my feed has some significance to the day, person, or my business rather than just posting to post. This has been really well reciprocated by my clients and at the end of the day increased people hearing who I was because my clients genuinely liked the respect, I had for them and their photos. Bringing the joy of the shoot to your feed is what is important and what will make your clients and your future clients want you as their photographer. Additionally, I have had to learn how to be bold in advertising my own business. Meeting random people and offering to take pictures for them has been one way that I have also gotten business!
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Answering this question, I struggled with it because I feel like my reputation would best be answered by the people who know me. When asking myself who I want to be as a person and a photographer, I have always answered that I want to be authentic and true to myself. I want to share the love of Jesus to those around me and treat and love them like I am loved as a daughter of the King. This I feel is what has helped me build my business because I treat others with kindness, respect, and compassion. I want to make them laugh and smile and will do anything in my power to do so. Having others feel seen and heard is and always has been my top priority. This is not only something I carry into my photography session but hold as a standard for myself in life as a whole!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://skylarmgphotography.mypixieset.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skylar.mgphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skylar.mgphotography/
- Email: [email protected]