Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mandy Maxwell, half of the dynamic duo that is MAX+CO PHOTO. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Mandy, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love it if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I grew up in a family that did not have endless funds. To make sure we could have as rich of a life as everyone else, my parents and grandparents did everything themselves. My grandfather was a legitimate Cowboy who would work Monday-Friday fixing air conditioners and then come home to tend to a large cattle ranch. There weren’t many days off, but there was never any complaining. It was more the mentality of: this is life, this is what we have to do, now we do it. It didn’t matter the size of the job or how messy it could become, he taught me you just roll up your sleeves and you take it one step at time until the job is complete AND never cut corners because it will only hurt you in the long run. That was a big lesson I took away from my childhood – do what’s right, no matter how long it’ll take or annoying it will be, just put your head down and get to work. This was reinforced in my professional life as I worked my way through some of the most demanding fine dining kitchens. As a mother now, I’m trying to teach my son that life takes hard work if you want to have a good life, otherwise you’re going to need an endless money cheat and that just doesn’t happen to most people.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
With my business partner, Cheyenne Cohen, we’re MAX+ CO PHOTO, a female led company focused on creating beautiful photography that evokes strong emotion – we want every image to pull you in and fully immerse you in our creative worlds – smell the food, feel the light on your face. As two people with visual arts backgrounds, we’re always exploring new ways to show the same things – we want the end product to truly be one of a kind.
We both have backgrounds in various workplaces, many of which were toxic, and so above all we want to always champion an inclusive, creative, and rewarding environment where people from all backgrounds can have a fun, sustainable workplace.
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?
Our journey has been slow but steady. Throughout all the various iterations of our business, we’ve always embraced change and evolution, even (especially!) when we were unsure of the final destination. Without exploration, you might miss out on crucial growth. Having a vision is important, but being flexible in how you get there is so important. Three particular qualities that have seen us through these changes are creative problem solving, grit, and grace.
Recently, we had a project for a large client that had to be shot in-store, during business hours in a tourist heavy area of NYC. We had our final images in mind, and had to be adaptable not only to the environment, but the people in it. We had to be mindful of the employees getting their work done, but had to also ensure our client was getting the best end product – and sometimes these two things conflicted with each other. Finding ways to navigate the space – running lines of power, having models change wardrobe in a public space (in a privacy tent!), shooting in locations that showcased the space without being in the way of customers – we could plan for days on end but when you’re actually there, things will inevitably come up that you couldn’t have anticipated.
The only way we’ve been able to improve has been through practice – and through failure. We continue to learn even now as an established business – I swear, every other week something has us saying “Ok great, we won’t make that mistake again!”, but it’s a good feeling overall, because it means we’re continuing to grow and evolve. In the end, our advice is to never give up, but also be ok with pivoting from your path a little to truly find what works.
Lastly, what is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
As our business has grown, we’ve learned so much about what it means to be successful, and how to examine exactly what is driving that success. We’ve figured out how to give our clients the best product at a competitive price (without undercutting our peers – it’s so important to talk to other industry professionals to make sure we’re all getting paid reasonably for our work!) but now we’re tackling how to scale our two-person team to take on larger projects.
We learned pretty quickly that even though we’d love to, the two of us can’t do it all. Trying anyways resulted in pretty bad burnout and exhaustion, multiple times even. But each time we had to promise each other: we’ll figure out how to do this better. And better truly meant working with other creatives to make our work manageable. We’ve restructured our crew (by adding more people!) and been more purposeful with what work we take on and how it’s scheduled. Even though it can still happen, we do our best to avoid back to back shoots.
We are growing into updated creative director roles that allow us to empower others to do what they do best, giving us the time and space to push the business forward and grow creatively.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.maxandcophoto.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maxcophoto/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/13035048
