Meet Kristen Tomkowid

We were lucky to catch up with Kristen Tomkowid recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kristen, we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?

As someone who works and lives alone for the most part, I have been putting together co-working meet-ups at local coffee shops with other photographers. This has definitely helped my mental health as it can be quite lonely being home by myself and working non-stop because I have nothing else to do. I’m still working at the coffee shops, but I’m around others and I just feel much better. My motivation to work actually increases as well, because I put in the effort to get out of the house and buy food and coffee, so I have to make the excursion worth it.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

My name is Kristen Tomkowid and I am a wedding and couple’s photographer out of the Hudson Valley in New York. My business is called Little But Fierce Photography and I have been operating since 2016. I love being a part of making other people’s big life moments even more special and capturing them so they can be remembered forever. In my 8 years I have photographed many happy occasions like weddings, elopements, births, and birthdays, and in doing so, I have also photographed some of the last moments with family members before they passed. It’s a huge honor and responsibility that I do not take lightly. I work so hard and all the time because I know how valuable these photos are to those in them.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Three things that I think were most impactful for getting me where I am today are SEO (Search Engine Optimization), the willingness to learn, and a bit of delusion. SEO can definitely be learned for free online and there are paid courses to get more one-on-one help. While I did do a paid course, I would argue that it wasn’t needed. Having paid for one helped motivate to get the work done, but that’s about it. This also goes along with the willingness to learn. While art is subjective, there are definitely skills and styles that make your more marketable than others. Being open to critique, learning from mistakes, and investing time in practicing and implementing what you learn will get your far. Lastly, a bit of delusion will help with imposter syndrome. I remind myself that I am pretty great and the work I do is cherished. People wouldn’t be booking me and leaving me great reviews if they weren’t liking my work and didn’t find the end result worth the cost.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

I don’t think I’d be 100% truthful in my business-building story if I didn’t mention the help my parents gave me from the start. The biggest thing was that they covered my college and grad school so I could start my career without student debt. I know I am extremely fortunate in that aspect and not everyone is so lucky. All of my equipment and business costs were my own, but that would not have gotten me very far without my education. I am also very lucky in that they allowed me to pursue the degrees I wanted. I went to college for journalism with a minor in photography and then went to grad school to further my photography knowledge. I was hoping to become a photojournalist, which has a shrinking amount of staff jobs. I don’t know if they thought I would stick to that field or if it was just something that made me happy to do, but they believed I would land on my feet in the end and that’s what mattered.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Photos by Little But Fierce Photography

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Productivity
What do you do for self-care and what impact has it had on your effectiveness?

We asked some of the most productive entrepreneurs and creatives out there to open up

Resilience
Where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience is often the x-factor that differentiates between mild and wild success. The stories of

Productivity
How do you keep your creativity alive?

Keeping your creativity alive has always been a challenge, but in the era of work