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

Tia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I took the risk of diving into my photography business full time, not knowing if it would become successful or not.

I had been in the oil and gas industry since graduating college and I was never truly happy in corporate America. I had picked up photography as a part time passion and income supplement. But the second I picked up the camera, I felt true happiness and my creative side was finally being fulfilled.

But I was always too afraid to take the leap of faith because I grew up really poor and had a great paying job. So, in my mind, the dependable income of my oil and gas position was more important than doing what I loved.

Eventually I was part of one of the layoffs at Chesapeake so when that happened, I felt like it was a sign that God was telling me to go for it. I think I was the only person smiling walking out of the layoff meeting. Everyone else was so stressed and so sad about getting laid off, but I was so happy and at peace. I felt like it was the right time for me to finally be my own boss and enjoy the creativity I longed for.

I had just come out of a divorce, I had just moved back home to OKC from Texas. I was 30 and I was quite literally starting all over. At 30. That was so scary, but somehow, I knew it was my path. Left an unhappy marriage, came home to my family and friends. Opened my business full time and met the true love of my life just a month later.

Now, 8 years, marriage and 3 babies later, my cup is overflowing and my business is thriving. It was, no doubt, God’s plan for me.

Tia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a photographer, specializing in studio editorial maternity and women’s portraits and headshots and branding.

I used to be an aspiring model when I was young (until I came to terms with the fact that 5 ft 0 was never going to work). So, when I needed supplemental income to my part time oil and gas job, my best friend (who was also a photographer) told me that I should try photography. Since I was good in front of the camera, she thought I would also be good behind it. And luckily, she was right!

I think what sets me apart from other local photographers is that my style is very “vogue vibes”. My work is full of high fashion and edgy and editorial elements. It is all very modern and makes a statement. And another thing that sets me apart is how involved I am with my clients in helping them prepare for their sessions. I love styling them and helping them choose their wardrobe. And I guide them through all of the posing during their session. I give them a full and amazing experience from booking to receiving their final images :-)

I want my clients to know that I care about their session and their experience and I want to give them everything they hoped for and more. I don’t do this for the money, I do it for the passion.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I first started photography, I was shooting mainly families outdoors like most of us do when we first start. But it never truly fulfilled me.

I was always happiest when I was shooting one on one with women, giving them beautiful portraits that made them feel empowered.

We all know the struggles of weather and wind and mosquitoes in Oklahoma and it always caused a lot of stress which took away a lot of the joy for me.

And I was never a natural baby/kid whisperer so I would struggle with getting the little ones to cooperate and having 3 of my own, I know just how crazy kiddos can be and it is sometimes just unavoidable. But that also took the joy out of it for me. because I was so stressed chasing the kiddos and getting them to pose, that I let the stress overpower the joy.

So, after many years of shooting families and shooting outside, I finally had enough and knew that the right pivot for me was to niche down to mens and women’s portraits and headshots and start shooting in studios instead of outdoors.

Obviously this was risky because it meant I would lose a ton of clients and have to build a new client base and invest in studio rentals and rebrand myself to make my niche clear.

So I started renting hourly studios and quickly built up my new clientele which was easy because I loved headshots and branding and boudoir and editorial portraits. So those sessions came so naturally to me which made me enjoy them so much.

Eventually, once I had rebranded myself and built up my ideal client base, I knew it was time to invest in opening my own studio. That was probably the biggest risk I have taken in my full time business. Commercial leases are expensive and I had no idea if I would be able to cover it each month. But I took the plunge because I knew it would make me happiest to have my own space and true freedom in my scheduling for my clients. And I would finally have a space to keep all of my photography gear equipment and client closet.

So, I opened my studio in January 2022 and have not looked back since! Now I get to specialize in studio work which is where my passion has always truly been.

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

I tried the paid ads on Facebook and just never felt great about them and they didn’t even help. So, I decided that consistency in posting was the key.

So, I did some research and tried different things and I quickly realized the best way to grow my business on social media was to post almost every day and make sure I was posting new sessions each time to show how consistently I was booking. I also made sure to only post sessions that fit my niche so that they would lead to new bookings in that niche.

So, people started seeing the kinds of sessions I was good at and it made them want to book me. I stuck to my niche and always pushed myself to improve at posing and angles so that all the work I posted was beautiful and true to my style.

And the most important thing was giving each of my clients a truly amazing experience because it made them more than happy to spread the word and urge others to book with me to have that same awesome experience.

Once I got on instagram, I made sure to boost engagement by adding polls to my stories and asking questions in my posts. The more people started engaging, the more views I started getting and the more my posts were being seen.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tiadawn.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/tiadawnphotographyokc
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/tiadawnphotography
• Other: My studio & event space: www.theblackrose.com Studio social media handle: @theblackroseokc

Image Credits
All of these images are mine.