Meet Kayla Gray

We were lucky to catch up with Kayla Gray recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kayla, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

While this is certainly a lifelong practice, my confidence and self-esteem have come a long way in the past few years. Building a business requires you to face a lot of insecurities — ‘Am I doing this right? Am I doing enough? That person is doing the same thing but better, why don’t I have the same results as them?’ It is a very difficult journey, but on the other side is so much goodness!

I use a lot of self-reflection practices in order to develop my confidence. I’ve been journaling since middle school, using it as a reliable tool to understand my own thoughts and emotions. I also meditate consistently, which really helps me center myself and see my true worth. I love practicing affirmations as a way to rewire limiting beliefs and improve my self-esteem.

I am not perfect by any means, but I strongly believe in connecting to my inner world as a way to magnify my light. Becoming my own best friend was the best decision I’ve ever made!

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am a photographer specializing in weddings, couples, and empowerment! I also dabble in families and branding. Capturing the raw beauty of humans is my favorite thing to do — we are all so exceptionally unique and deserve to be portrayed that way!

I hope to bring an aspect of intentionality to the photography world. In my empowerment sessions, I help clients connect with themselves and understand what’s going on in their inner world. I want to guide people towards becoming their own best friend, just as I was able to do in my own journey! In these sessions, we talk about what they’re struggling with or going through, and how that might be affecting their everyday life. I create personalized journaling prompts to reflect even deeper, and I also guide us through some grounding meditations. We pull oracle cards and allow our intuition to provide us with deeper wisdom. This leads us into the photoshoot portion, and by this point, we both feel extremely connected to ourselves and to each other. I’ve noticed that clients glow in a different way after taking the time and space to be intentional prior to the photo-taking.

Weddings are my other favorite thing to photograph. Being a vessel to capture and preserve someone’s special day is a gift that I will never take for granted! I love experiencing the love bubble that is a wedding day, and celebrating with my couples is absolute an honor each time.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Three skills I’ve learned that have been very impactful are “just ask”ing, trusting my intuition, and knowing when to rest.
Over the past year or so, I’ve learned the power of simply asking for what you want. You hear it all the time — ‘the worst that can happen is they say no!’ — but in my experience, you’ll get a LOT more ‘yes’s than you think. Whether it’s asking for advice from someone who is where I want to be, or asking a stranger to model for me, or asking another photographer if I can shadow them, I’ve received an astounding amount of ‘absolutely!’s. Some of my best work and most valuable connections have come out of simply asking, and it is my favorite little life hack!
Trusting my intuition is another skill that I am certainly still practicing, but has aided my journey tremendously. For me, the most difficult part is deciphering between my head and my heart. Our intuition knows exactly where to guide us and how to get us there, and learning to trust it is a great skill. We must ask ourselves: am I being called to do this out of inspiration (my intuition), or out of anxiety (my mind)? Once we can understand the difference, we have cultivated an amazing superpower!
As a solo entrepreneur, I am often tempted to work all day, everyday, just because I can. There is no escape from my at-home office, tempting me all day long! However, knowing when to call it quits and take time away is just as important as ‘getting stuff done’. If we are not allowing ourselves to fill our own buckets, we will have nothing left to pour into our business.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

My parents have fully supported my journey since the very beginning. I know a lot of parents urge their children to follow ‘stability’, often a 9-5 career path, because they want their child to be safe and taken care of. I understand this completely, but I knew from an early age that that was NOT the path for me. I’ve always wanted to create my own journey, even though I had no idea what that would look like. My parents have been on my side since day one, providing endless support and advice. They have never tried to steer me in a different direction, because they see how happy I am being a self-employed photographer! I am forever grateful for their love, and I’ll never take it for granted 🙂

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kayla-gray-creations.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylagraycreations/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092502987637