We recently connected with Jenni Chapman and have shared our conversation below.
Jenni, so great to have you with us today. There are so many topics we want to ask you about, but perhaps the one we can start with is burnout. How have you overcome or avoided burnout?
I used to be in this terrible cycle, where about every 3 months I would get completely burnt out and have to stop everything in my life until I had rested enough to be functional again. I placed my value as a person in how I could serve others, and took on so much that I could only maintain it for a couple of months at a time before I crashed and burned. I was like this for years.
The thing that really broke me out of this cycle was the pandemic. I was able to meet myself for the first time outside of who I was to other people, and gain powerful self love and confidence in the person I am beyond how I serve others. I’m incredibly privileged to have a successful photography business that fulfills me in both income and creativity, and post-lockdown I was able to restart it with my new perspective of my own needs and what would be sustainable. I have become a lot more in touch with my limits in terms of how much I can take on, and have gotten better at identifying the feeling of the beginning of overwhelm so I can reassess and make changes before it becomes too much. By being in charge of my own schedule, I am in complete control of my work/life balance and have crafted a lifestyle that is much healthier. Am I perfect at it? Absolutely not. But it was a huge step forward and I am already reaping the rewards in terms of my mental and physical health, as well as my overall happiness level.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I wear many hats in my creative business, but all of them fall under the umbrella of helping people discover and weaponize their authentic selves for the greater good – whether it’s empowering self love portrait sessions for LGBTQ+ people, bespoke microwedding photography, or guiding a solopreneur with their branding and message so they can serve more clients. There’s so much media out there, and it can be so hard to find your own voice in all of it. My job is to become friends with my clients, which allows me to help them see what would be most true to them.
In photography and brand work, I especially love working with fellow LGBTQ+ people. It’s hard to find people to work with that you can trust to be affirming, and I love being that person who can uplift them and encourage them to lean harder into whatever feels genuine. Whether they need an affirming photographer or someone who can help get their queer-centric business off the ground, I am incredibly fulfilled by the work that I do. It’s important, and allows me to give back to my community in a profound way.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
First, taking the time to get to know your true self. Everyone brings something unique to the table – your particular combinations of genetics, morals and values, and life experiences makes you unlike anyone else and that’s where your inner human value lies. In both everyday life relationships and business, you can maximize your overall joy and rewards by leaning into what makes you YOU and using that to your advantage. Learning who you are and feeling your confidence and self love grow is the key to finding whatever your definition of success is in your life.
Another thing that has been integral to my journey is finding the balance between having specific opinions and routines and leaving room for change. Especially in the realm of being LGBTQ+, a lot of people find labels really helpful in making sense of who they are. But what I’ve seen in myself and others as we grow and change is this really cool shift from needing to determine every single micro-label that applies to us to a more amorphous, ever changing view of who we are. Both are valid, but going from frantically trying to discover what boxes I fit in to feel a sense of belonging to knowing I’m good just as I am, whoever it is that I am at any given point, is very freeing.
Finally, for those of you who own small businesses – the two things that are the most important in your journey towards profitability and sustainability are building trust with potential customers/clients and positioning yourself as a problem solver. Shouting “look at how good my photos are!” into the void doesn’t get me nearly as many clients as when I talk about my own self love journey and how my photography services help people address their own self consciousness and grow in confidence. It goes back to the first recommendation: I took what makes me unique and how sharing my authentic self and my services can help others, and that’s been a major game changer in growing my business and finding my dream clients.
Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
My ideal client for photography is LGBTQ+ individuals, lovers, or families who dream of having photos of themselves that truly FEEL like them, but perhaps they feel like they’re too awkward or don’t know how to act in front of the camera and so they avoid paying for professional photos they won’t end up liking anyway. My creative process is very hands on and customized to each client, so by the time you get in front of my camera you feel much more confident and comfortable. Most people who book a session with me start out self conscious and by the time they get their finished photos they feel AMAZING about themselves and are truly shocked by how much they love the way their genuine selves were celebrated and represented in their photos.
For branding and social media, I love working with creatives who have a more general sense of who they are and what they want to be doing, but lack the clarity of exactly what they want their offers, dream clients, and overall brand experience to look like. I love collaborating to really hone in on exactly what feels good to them and turn it into a full experience that attracts their dream clients!
Contact Info:
- Website: jennichapmanphotography.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/jennichapmanphotography
- Other: tiktok.com/@jennichapmanphotography
Image Credits
Jenni Chapman
