Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Frankie Krusen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Frankie, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
I think it’s so important as a creative to continue to create for yourself. I think as a creative or a photographer we can get caught up in trends, feeling like we need to change things about our business because we see others doing it. Especially when you’re busy and overwhelmed with work, it’s easy to lose sight of yourself and why you started this in the first place.
Making sure you set aside time for yourself and creating something for you, it’s so important. It’s helped me reignite a fire in myself and get out of the box you can feel stuck in.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Hi I’m Frankie! I’m a photographer in Metro Detroit focusing on documenting families and couples as they are. Creating real memories and moments to look back on years from now. When I became a mom, I started focusing on families more because I realized how important those moments are as a parent. Life moves quickly and we can take life for granted. Moms as well don’t always get in front of the camera with their babies as much as they should, so I love being able to capture those bonds for mothers to look back on.
Photo sessions don’t need to be a production. Come as you are. Let the kids be themselves and have their little personalities shine. These are moments we are going to want to re live down the road.
While I still photograph weddings, I have cut back to focus on my family more. This made me realize that I needed to shift my business a little. As a working mom, a lot of business help out there isn’t focused on how different moms lives are as a business owner. Not every business plan is one size fits all. So once I truly focused on what mattered to me, and learned how to keep growing my business but in a way that made sense as a working/stay at home mom..I created a course for the moms. Helping them learn how to shift their business in a way that works for them while still having a successful business.
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?
Self respect. Background in basic business. Community.
Being in a creative industry people are quick to question your pricing and your worth. This leads to self doubt so quickly. Small business owners get questioned for the way they price, but large companies don’t. Once I learned to stand firm and explain my worth, I became more confident in how I ran my business and what I knew made sense as a whole and for myself.
Starting my business, I knew nothing about running a business lol. I knew I wanted to create and what I wanted to create. I learned how to start a company, and knew nothing about taxes etc. I wish I would of started off on the right track with that to better prepare myself from the beginning..instead, I taught myself a lot and learned the hard way. Although I wish I would of been taught more in the beginning, I am proud of myself for figuring it out and building my business.
Community is so important as a small business. We’re quick to compare to everyone else around us, but there are so many business owners out there with open arms willing to help you grow while they grow. Owning a business can feel lonely and it helped so much to have a community of other creatives and moms in the same boat.
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
My ideal client is somehow who wants to capture real feelings and memories. I think we can get caught up with social media and wanting perfectly planned out photos. But years from now, that’s not what we’re going to worry about when looking at our photos. We’re not going to worry about the trends or how many “likes” our photos got on social media. We’re going to look back at photos and remember eating ice cream at our favorite ice cream place with our kids when they were little. We’re going to want to see those big smiles and crooked teeth on our kids when they were belly laughing from something silly someone said. The way they looked at you. Their special toy or blanket they had to bring to your session even though you were worried it was going to clash in photos. Documenting life as is is so important. That’s what’s going to matter 30-50 years from now.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.frankiephotographymi.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankiephoto_
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