We recently connected with Taylor Brumfield and have shared our conversation below.

Taylor, appreciate you joining us today. Has Covid resulted in any major changes to your business model?

Covid really instilled within me, the art of the pivot and how to stay fluid and malleable within my business. I actually entered the Covid Pandemic with a young child as well as having come out of an extended maternity leave after a difficult pregnancy. I was also transitioning into another niche and slightly restructuring my business. I had picked up product photography for cosmetics, skincare lifestyle brands and was still working on gaining the particular skills that lended themselves to that niche as well as structuring out that side of my business so that it could work independently of, but sidecar, my other niche which was beauty photography, primarily for cosmetics, skincare and jewelry brands. The Pandemic hit and suddenly, because of social distancing, I could no longer conduct beauty shoots. That was the a core of my business and was keeping me afloat as I learned and grew my product photography business. But suddenly that was no longer an option. I THREW myself into product photography and learned as much as I could within really about 3 months and was also taking as many clients as I could to not only grow my skillset but to also get branded work into my portfolio so that I could more easily leverage higher paid and top tier clients. My goal was to work with Sephora, Ulta and other big box stores in addition to the larger pool of social media forward brands. I will admit that I took more collaborations and trade work than I normally would but it was strategic because I only collaborated with brands that would attract the views of those higher end brands I was after. I burned the midnight oil so that I could concentrate on my paid clients during the day and my collaborations at night. It was an extreme time, energy and intellectual investment but it paid off. I came out of the Pandemic not only profitable but also in a position to open a studio location and with a fully functioning, nay, thriving, product photography business. To which, I could re open and push beauty photography as a stand alone and perfectly positioned sidecar business. I now have a product and beauty photography business that specializes in cosmetics and skincare brands. I have had several ads at this point for big box stores, specifically Sephora and Ulta brands.

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?

Back when Black Friday was actually good, I got up at the crack of dawn to go grab a couple little stocking stuffers with my mom. One of the stuffers was little point and shoot cameras. She only put two in the cart but between me and my sisters, there were three kids. I laughed it off thinking maybe the youngest wouldnt get one but apparently it was I, THE FIRST BORN?! who wasnt supposed to get one? Confusing the say the least. And my mom ended up going back to get a camera for me. I took that thing everywhere I went and I must have taken thousands of pictures, because of which, the christmas of my freshman year in college, my parents got me my very first DSLR, a Nikon D3100. I tried out for a fashion magazine on campus, thinking I was the bees knees with my fancy camera and got rejected because frankly my photos were neither fashion, nor all that good but I was not used to being told no. I practiced and got really good in a really short amount of time and was asked to shoot the cover and several editorials a couple of covers later. I built a whole business off of the fact that I REFSUE to accept the premise of the word no, and also I thrive on spite a little bit.

Ive gone thru a couple different niches but currently I offer commercial product and beauty photography for cosmetics, skincare, and lifestyle brands but if something interesting come’s along outside of that niche, I might be tempted to take the project any way. My specialty is in working with botanicals and the fact that I can style my sets top to bottom by myself. I also am an experienced creative director and can conceptualize and production as well as execute it with a team.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Something that has really benefited my ability to lead a team is the practice of leading from a space of empathy, education, and a person centered. I noticed that a lot of people place the needs of the business at the center of their goals and that the person or people who work within the team essentially are machines or cogs. I dont see people on my teams in that way. I find that people who feel cared for in turn care about the group outcomes. Empathy breeds empathy.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Ive employed a modern take on a traditional funnel. Whereas I do keep a working website at all times that acts as my digital portfolio, I also actively utilize social media, more specifically Instagram as well as consistently checking in with old clients in order to encourage repeat clients, word of mouth through people with whom Ive worked or admire my work/ethic and strategically targeted ads on my different pages.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://taylorbphotographie.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylorrbee/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorbrumfield/