Meet Magen Scarboro

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Magen Scarboro. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Magen below.

Magen , thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

I’m not sure I can pinpoint one thing that molded me into the optimistic person that I am, although I do believe it was mostly because of my parents. No matter what the situation was, they always had a smile. No matter the problem, they worked to find a solution. And had fun while they were doing it. I remember one thing my mother always said to me. If I was ever feeling sad, mad, or upset in any way, she would tell me to change my shirt. And it usually worked! I follow that advice to this day, and tell my own daughter the same thing.

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

I am a self taught headshot and portrait photographer. I am extremely proud of that because I went to college for social work, but never really felt it was my true calling. I always had a passion for photography, and when my husband bought me my first digital camera, I was obsessed! I brought it everyone and took pictures of anyone who would let me. Since my husband and I both were aspiring actors at the time, we had a lot of friends in that community. I started offering to take their headshots for them, and I LOVED it.

Eventually it got to the point where I had to quit my “day job” and do headshots full time. So it felt as if it was meant to be. I still got to work with people, but I was able to be creative all at the same time.

I continue to do actors headshots, but I also do a lot of other portraits – families, models, seniors, maternity, etc. I love making people feel beautiful in front of my lens. 🙂

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?

I feel that it was extremely important that I stayed true to myself during this journey. There are so many people in the photography industry, and I constantly had to remind myself that I was worth it. Worth the fight to grow my business so I could work for myself and do what I love. There were many times I wanted to give up. Some days I didn’t think I was good enough to run my own business. But I’m just as worthy as anyone else, and some days it’s just hard to remember that.

Determination is key. This was not a career that I wanted to just give up on, so I worked to keep improving. I took classes and workshops. I kept up friendships with my clients. I took on as much as I could to keep it going.

My relationships with my clients are one of the main reasons I feel like I’m as successful as I am. So many of my clients have turned into friends, and I love that.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

Sometimes running your own business can be overwhelming. Especially when you are more creative minded than business minded, like myself! It pays off to learn the things you aren’t as natural at. It took me a long time to figure that out, because I would just do my best to avoid them. I would stay in my own creative little bubble and brush things off as my creative mind. This only works for so long! You’ve got to get in there and do the work! You are fighting for yourself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.magenmariephotography.com
• Instagram: @magenmarie
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/magenmariephoto

Image Credits

Credit: Magen Marie Photography