We recently connected with Bianca Mehnert and have shared our conversation below.
Bianca, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
Building up my portfolio and the quality of the work I can deliver now, has built a lot of my confidence and self-esteem. It’s not just the process of creating images/drawings/paintings/designs, it’s also the accumulation of works that even impress myself. This passion for photography has developed so many outlets that fascinate me so much it really is entertaining. When you love what you do, it shows. Accomplishing gigs or projects gives you such an endorphin boost. You finished a project (success), your clients are ecstatic (extra win) and you always proved to yourself that you can do this, over and over again. It’s an outlet also, so not only does it financially and personally benefit my self-esteem, it also does creatively.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Normally, I’d say I’m a photographer amongst many other things so professionally, I’m a photographer. There’s also this other side of what I do that I consider “fun” which is drawing and painting some pretty complicated artworks. Between providing professional photography services for branding, personal memories, events or products; there’s a lot of time spent creating art and vending at shows to sell the pieces. Time is the most special component of this industry. You spend hours, days, months, years even creating, consulting, managing, connecting, that even when challenges or doubts arise, looking back is always worth it. There’s this beautiful accumulation of memories being preserved and businesses starting/expanding. I’ve now been doing this since High School and turning 30 was a huge wow moment. All of the sacrifices made are worth it when I have something only I could create physically to hold for moments beyond my own lifetime. Nothing can replace or disrupt that special feeling.
Huge news! I moved to Los Angeles, California. A way to celebrate my 30th birthday but to also continue the growth process, personally and professionally. I’ll continue to provide photographic services for branding, lifestyle and marketing with exceptions to intimate families, engagements and maternity sessions. We will be limiting the amount of photoshoots we provide for our consumer clients, hopefully to increase the quality/demand. I’ll also be on the look out for content creating roles, management positions within the creative field or photo editing/retouching. This a refreshing time for our company but also for me personally as a new mission of mine is creating a memorable legacy in Los Angeles, California.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Getting my Bachelor’s Degree absolutely helped. Without the knowledge I learned at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, I would’ve made so many mistakes and felt powerless when being used or taken advantage of. There’s at least one-five skills from my educational career that pop up every day on every job. Yes, higher education can be expensive and a huge investment, I’m just happy I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I attended college and made the sacrifice to become the best I could in my field versus getting a degree in a field I no longer practice in. Some advice I have is not everyone is going to get it, they won’t understand why and they’ll sometimes question you why. What matters is you get it and it makes you happy. It makes you feel at peace. Hours, days, even years later, and you still find joy by dedicating your life to what some might call a hobby but it’s a purpose. It’s all in the purpose of making our inner child happy. That’s who we all are to our core, that’s what we strive for when we picture happiness. Those moments we first experience joy, it lightens our shadows and makes it less scary to walk through life. That’s worth sticking through it. It’s a faith in yourself beyond any other bond.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
Re-locating a new city with limited connections is a current challenge I’m facing. Granted, I’ve only been here for a couple of weeks but having a plan and getting things in order shows there will be some new challenges as far as establishing a reputation and making new connections. The good thing is, part of the reason I moved to Los Angeles is to have new challenges. This is an exciting time in my life/career because of the connections to be made. At this moment I’m completely available to work and book gigs in this new location offering new views, different weather, and talented people.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.biancamstudios.com
- Instagram: @biancamstudiosllc
- Facebook: biancamstudios
- Other: https://www.fiverr.com/share/vP4gWL
Image Credits
Image 1: Ad Campaign for The Bikini Block Valentine’s Day 2023 (@thebikiniblock). Image 2: Editorial Series ‘Earth Toned’ published in Style Cruze Men featuring Jamie Pierre-Louis (@cozyboyheartbreak), Ronson De’Letoile (@ronsonsmodernlife), Rosko Gudiño (@skogudino). Image 3: Portrait of Julia Seacat (@juliaseacat) in Santa Monica, California. Image 4: Branding for tinyRHINO, Marketing Agency in Florida featuring Brian Hunter and Shad Treadaway (@therhinoguys). Image 5: Drag Queen and Palm Beach Pride’s 2023 2nd Runner-Up, Ariel Rimm (@arielrimm). Image 6: Portrait of Emily Layne (@urban_laynee) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Image 7: Food Photography for Colombian Coffee House (@cchcoffee) in Delray Beach, Florida in collaboration with Black Squirrel Media (@blacksquirrelmedia_). Image 8: Photo of Mixed Media artworks by Bianca Mehnert (owner of Biancam Studios, LLC.)
