We were lucky to catch up with Shae Rose recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Shae, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I oftentimes find it hard to describe myself as resilient, until somebody tells me how great I’m doing. However, there was a point in time where I realized that my resilience had paid off.
A lady reached out to me for headshots – something simple and fun. On the shoot, she let me know that she had finally decided to book me after silently watching my page for 8 months. Eight months.
At least one time per month I felt the urge to just quit. I was spending time making content, doing countless photoshoots to build my portfolio, only to not feel I was moving at a fast enough rate in my business. Had I quit at any point in those times, had I not kept myself relevant by consistently posting, this client may not have ever crossed my path. It was a beautiful reminder that when you don’t think it’s working, it is. So many breakthroughs and clients I’ve had from all walks of life are a badge of honor and a reminder of my resilience. Sometimes we forget that resilience includes quite a bit of blind faith – it’s just when we keep going regardless of that nagging voice telling us to throw in the towel is where we see resilience show its true colors.
I haven’t yet reached my goal in photography, and I know that if I quit now, I will literally never ever get to see if I make it or not. Even at times when I lose steam, I still keep even the smallest fire burning. I’ve had countless opportunities pop up because I chose to network and share my talents, and I use that as an anchor for me to hold on to while I continue on this journey.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a headshot, portrait, and fashion photographer! I can photograph a range of people for most needs, be it family, maternity, or, of course, headshots, and fashion. When I work with realtors, for example, I love to merge both fashion and professional photography. When my realtor clients bring their best suits and dresses, they’re truly setting the tone for themselves and their brands! I would love to continue to elevate realtor firms as well as medical, legal firms, and more with my craft. I also never forget the individuals that fall outside of these categories who may simply need photos for celebratory purposes (birthday, maternity, wedding, etc). Finally, as my love and appreciation for fashion continues to grow, I hope to find myself photographing consistently for fashion brands who can trust me to tell their stories, from the smallest boutique, to the most relevant fashion houses.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Adaptability/Resourcefulness – You should always remain teachable and coachable. When there are slow seasons, this could be a great time to brush up on skills or plan passion projects that you’ve always wanted to fulfill. Learn new retouching techniques that you may never use, learn more about marketing or delegation, or update your vision board and make sure that you’re still on track with your goals.
Networking – I won’t say the cliche phrase about your network being your net worth, but it is very true. Being willing to organically mention your business and show what you have to offer in casual everyday conversations with people in stores, work, church, can plant so many seeds without you even knowing. If you’ve ever planted a seed before, you know that for a few days, you can’t identify where it is unless you dig up the soil. But one day, a sprout or seedling shoots up after days of your consistent patience and care towards it. The same goes for networking. Follow-up, support others you genuinely like, continue to feed into giving your energy to your brand because one day, you may be met with an amazing referral. Never stop talking about your business – respectfully, of course.
Flexibility – sometimes we want that high ticket client RIGHT NOW – and sometimes we truly deserve them. However, we shouldn’t be too quick to turn away clients that find our services to be out of range. With a bit of tweaking and compromise, we may be able to help somebody accomplish their goals, which could be the beginnings of a new relationship. One must be tactful, of course, and not fall into people-pleasing and selling yourself short. For example, if a photoshoot costs $400 with 10 retouches, but the individual can only afford $300, you can offer 10 images, but only, say, 5 of them are retouched. Sometimes pricing is a sliding scale that just adjusts with the market, and there’s nothing wrong with being flexible. I’ve turned down quite a few people due to budget issues. Some of them, I probably should’ve worked with, while the others simply needed to find another photographer.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I am definitely looking for people to partner with! I want to find those who are event planners, talent acquisition leaders, boutique owners, small business owners, and people who are in influential positions in the fashion industry! Professional firms, companies, and enterprises who need individual and team photos are also welcomed too! I’d love to provide incentivized headshots for company booths at large conventions as well!
I want to learn more about getting my foot in the door and then staying in the room once I’m there! I’d also like to know designers and apparel and accessory brands in need of a brand overhaul and consistency thereafter. Finally, I’d love to get to know fashion influencers who want to let go of the reigns of content creation by allowing me to travel with them to capture them truly having fun.
Contact Info:
- Website: shotbyshaerose.com
- Instagram: shaerosejpg
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shae-rose-0b0089188/
