(Part 2) Pivoting Pursuits: From Photographer to Creative Community Builder - Marley Parker

Photographer Marley Parker shares how her vision for Wild Magnolia Studio evolved from a personal workspace into a thriving community hub that empowers photographers and content creators to connect, collaborate, and grow their skills.

• Creating a versatile studio space that photographers can make their own
• Building the studio with community as the foundation rather than just personal preference
• Hosting workshops and creative gatherings to empower photographers to expand their skills
• Overcoming imposter syndrome and the fear that "people don't want community"
• Finding freedom by separating personal worth from business outcomes
• Fostering an environment where creatives support each other and celebrate achievements
• Growing business through relationships rather than traditional marketing
• Empowering people to pursue their creative passions without apology

Marley's E-Book: https://marleysinclairephoto.gumroad.com

Marley's Personal IG: https://www.instagram.com/marleysinclairephoto?igsh=YTVuOHUxajY4ZGVy

Wild Magnolia Studio IG: https://www.instagram.com/wildmagnolia.studio?igsh=b3h5ZHdjbm12M2Z0

FilmStory Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/filmstory/id1641955836

What do we do: https://myfilmstory.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@myfilmstory

Transcript

Welcome to Wild Magnolia Studio

Speaker 1 0:00

All right , welcome back guys . So , with Molly Parker talking about Wild Magnolia Studio man , like we're saying how far it's come in a short amount of time , I'm curious about the studio now getting into all that . It is the vision for it to take to kind of get it to where it is now , whether that's getting things there set up or whether it's just kind of figuring out the infrastructure on how you want to grow this studio and kind of go grow into it , kind of a thing . What's been the mentality like that for you ? I'm just curious because because that's a big transformation from what you're doing to what you're doing now . So , yeah , what's that been like for you ?

Speaker 2 0:46

I know I wish I had like a video of like first space to now . I need to find like a video to kind of compare so people can really see the difference .

Speaker 1 0:56

That's a lot .

Speaker 2 0:58

That's a lot . So , from like I said , the vision for Wilder McNoy has always been the same creating community , creative community , and so I think , with that being kind of like the backing of Wild Magnolia studio , has really helped with even the specifics of how I have things in the studio or how I have things that can be used by other photographers or other creators that are in here using the studio . I think that

Building a Creative Community Vision

Speaker 2 1:29

all throughout the process of moving and moving spaces and adding on things and I think it was all coming with the mindset of how can I best make this space be versatile for people so that people can come in and make it their own , and then also how can I make it to where I can start doing things like workshops and doing things like hosting just creative get togethers , just because , and having the community be able to join .

Speaker 2 1:58

And so one of the biggest things like , for example , this year that we're going to implement , and especially even more so strong on for next year , is things like workshops that can really start teaching and it'll start being like photography based stuff , but eventually the whole vision for it is for creators , even like social media managers , even things that can teach people about business or just empower creatives to really use their gifts . Anything that can help with that is and using people that are in the community . So , for example , javon that is here has been a photographer for a very long time and he is going to be hosting a creative lighting workshop in the studio . And so I think that being able to first of all connect photographers with photographers it creates an amazing community but then also being able to teach people things that they want to learn but maybe don't have the resources here to do that , and I think that's just another stepping stone for Wild Magnolia Studio to really bring in that community aspect , that community aspect , and so that has always been that backing force of the decisions that I've made for the studio , because it was never Guagma and Noya started yes , just me , I was shooting in there , you know , by myself doing things .

Speaker 2 3:15

But as things moved on , it was never like what do I want for my specific brand or what do I want for my specific thing and you know I have things for myself that I do in here but any decision I make really is more geared towards what is beneficial to these creatives that are using the studio . And if I look back , like the storyline of Wild Magnolia , if I look back at just each step , it was always a step for growing the space . Like I said , I wish there was like a picture or video of before and after because you would see what I'm talking about you know , you've seen it , and it was always like a step for more space and more expansion and more room to grow into this creative community .

Speaker 2 4:01

But then also , of course , on the logistics side , it's a space that people can rent out hourly memberships that's kind of like the business model of it . But it's so much more than that and it's and I have ideas and vision to bring people in , to make it so much more than that . Even now , like there's I want I wish there could be people in here like all the time just creating . You know , that's kind of like . My overall vision is like just come in and create whatever you want to do , like let's just do it . But obviously I have , to like you know , run a business .

Speaker 3 4:30

So there's that side of it as well , for sure .

Speaker 2 4:33

But yeah , I mean , I think that I try to explain to people like , yes , it , you know , looking at it , it's on the storefront street , whatever . And looking at it , you're like , oh , that's , you know , professional business . At it , it's on the storefront street , whatever . And looking at it , you're like , oh , that's , you know , professional business . And I have to keep that in mind . But I'm like but hey , if you have an idea that you want to do , let me know and I will meet you there and we will do it . You know , I want people to know , like , that's kind of the heart behind Wild Magnolia . It's not like , oh , I have to go online and book this day and do all this in order to use a studio . Yes , that is true , of course , but through events , workshops or even just simple get-togethers that people want to do . That's where the community comes from .

Speaker 1 5:16

Yeah , man , that's great because it's rare to have that kind of access . As a fellow

Challenges and Overcoming Self-Doubt

Speaker 1 5:27

creative in the community , like if I was like man , I'm really curious about what it would take to even , like , have a studio one day and build something in a studio , like , do a shoot in a studio , like how do I even go about doing that ? And a lot of the times , for most of us , it's it's youtube , it's it's trying to figure out what I do , it's how do I get the equipment ? Or it's man , I need to use this camera or this strobe for this thing . I can , maybe I can learn to borrow something for you know , like , and it's , it's , it's a , it's a , it's a grind a little bit , and I love that you have the perspective of . I want to open it to those that want those desires and I don't want it to be a stumbling block where they want to do these things . But it's , oh , it's too professional .

Speaker 1 6:13

Like oh man , I got to subscribe , you know , pay whatever , and I got to make sure that you know , and you know .

Speaker 1 6:20

part of that , of course , is the business aspect of it , Like you want to make sure that you're doing that . But I think knowing you to have that there is big . That perspective , that mindset , the mentality , I'm curious , has there been being where you are now ? Has there been any challenges that have made you maybe second guess the pursuit Like question you know if it's worth doing , or a question like how you're pursuing what you're trying to do . Has there been anything like that so far ?

Speaker 2 6:51

I , yeah , I mean , I think that what kind of makes me question is like , if I don't get the response that I'm expecting , you know , if I put something out there and I don't get the response that I'm expecting , yeah , and it always turns out great . Like example , I hosted a style shoot and it was perfect , perfect amount of people , you know , I overthought it a lot and I was like maybe I should not do this , like maybe people don't want this . You know , I think that that sometimes is like the thing that gets in my head is like what if people don't want this ? What if people don't want community ? What if , you know , people don't show up ? You know , stuff like that , I think , is really the biggest stumbling block , that sometimes I will say I'll have an idea and then I'm like , no , maybe I shouldn't do that right now , you know , but I just sometimes can't shake it .

Speaker 2 7:37

I'm like , you know , let me just try this and let me just you know it , we've started doing um once a month and members get together , so we have memberships at the studio .

Speaker 2 7:45

Members started doing once a month and members get together , so we have memberships at the studio . Members get together once a month and we just kind of like tomorrow , actually , we're doing a content day where we all come together and help each other record some content , and so of course those are members that are paying for the studio , and that's just kind of a way that I make it worthwhile to them but also build that community , and so I think that's kind of built my confidence in realizing that people really do actually want community , and so , yeah , I think it's just my own mind that gets in the way . There's nothing . There's nothing like logistically that's happened or anything where people just don't show up to stuff . Nothing like that has happened . But I get in my own mind and I'm like what if people think this is stupid ? You know what if people like question who I really am or think that I'm being some way when I'm not , you know , just silly stuff like that . Other than that , though , once I get past that , I'm good , you know .

Speaker 1 8:34

Yeah , gosh , yeah . Why is that such a thing ? And I understand very , very specifically Somebody's going to come in and question your worth yeah you are . I don't know , she might try to get one up on me , or maybe it's . Or , like man , maybe I shouldn't do this event . Like what if people don't turn up ?

Speaker 1 8:55

yeah and I I definitely understand and I think you know I've I've been in some of that recently with stuff that we've been doing . And I think I was listening to another podcast Shouts out to Jasmine Starr , social curator if anyone wants to listen to that and she was talking about imposter syndrome .

Speaker 2 9:14

Yes .

Speaker 1 9:15

And one of the things that she was sharing when she was researching imposter syndrome was , a lot of the times , we think that the imposter syndrome is man . This person is already doing what I'm doing , or what I'm doing is just not up to that standard . Like the stuff online is so amazing , like it's not up to you know , these workshops , hundreds of people show up . Like no one's going to want to show up to my you know , like that kind of a thing .

Speaker 1 9:42

But she said , in actuality , a lot of the times , what people are thinking , and these are people that are making , you know , $50,000 a year and people that are making six , seven , eight million dollars a year , like all the entire aspect of it . Like all the entire aspect of it . A lot of them think that what they're doing is default , as in , it's just the normal thing to do and everybody's doing this exact same thing . And I found that interesting because we would think that it's more the first , like what I'm doing isn't up to what everybody else is doing . But in actuality , everybody just thinks that everybody

Breaking Free from Imposter Syndrome

Speaker 1 10:20

is just doing the same thing and I'm not different from anyone else , right ?

Speaker 1 10:24

But , I think you know what's interesting is like Marley , you are the only person who can reach the people that you're supposed to reach .

Speaker 2 10:32

Yeah .

Speaker 1 10:33

Yeah , no one else that's going to reach the people the way you would reach them than you reaching them , and I think that's always been interesting to me , because there's no one else that can do how I would do it , like there's not a second Marley or second Damien in the world . They may have my name but they're not me , right ? And I think that's given me a little bit of liberty to say , hey , I do not have to be connected to the end result , meaning like if no one shows up to the workshop , that does not mean that Damien is now a bad person who has zero idea of what he's doing and is a fraud . It's harsh . I'm just saying like that one plus one in that case does not equal two .

Speaker 3 11:19

Like just because that happens and I think it's .

Speaker 1 11:21

It's taken some time to kind of separate myself from those results and say , okay , if this happens this way , let's , let's get inquisitive . I'm afraid that people won't show up to my workshop . Why ? Well , because maybe the content that I put out isn't good enough . Why ? Well , because I see other people that are doing content and it looks cooler . How , if you go through all that and you recognize , yeah , they are doing that and I'm not doing that , well , then just start doing that . Like it's not , like there's this and that's the thing . Like try to keep it mysterious . I don't know , I don't know . Maybe no , you , you know , if you have the desire and you're , and it's not working how you want it to , we have the permission to pursue and , like figure out what's going on .

Speaker 1 12:15

But again , that does not equal I'm a failure yeah , it just means we have something we need to pursue and figure out , and I think once that clicked , I was like imposter syndrome , for what All that means is that I need to get some questions answered and let's pursue that , and I think that was very liberating for me and just allows me to like all right , I failed here , all right , cool , why , let's keep going .

Speaker 1 12:38

And just allows me to like all right , I failed here , all right , cool , why , like , let's , let's keep going . And it's been very encouraging to be able to kind of separate myself from it . So , on the on the outside , I'm very glad that the workshop turned out well for you , like the perfect amount of people . That's great . That's really cool , and I love what you said about which kind of is going into another question . You talked about the people that are subscribed to the workshop . They all meet up and help each other in content creation for their respective businesses , or you know creatives . I'm assuming most of them are like photographers or something , something like that yeah number one .

Speaker 1 13:19

Yes , like that's perfect , right , that's . That's the cyclical never-ending . I help the person next to you . Everyone grows . I'm sure there's a lot of sayings about everyone one person and everybody , all those sayings right , um , man , that's really cool . But I'm curious for you why the importance on that , on the community You've shared even in this interview , the word community a lot . And I'm just curious for Marley , why has that been such an important part of this for you ?

Speaker 2 14:02

this for you . I don't know , and I will a little shameless plug here , imposter syndrome and comparison . I could . We could do a whole other whole podcast on that . But I did write an ebook about it's called captivate and it's called it's experiencing creativity , specifically in photography , but really any creative honestly but , experiencing freedom in your creativity and imposter syndrome and comparison is one of the big things that I kind of write about because I've been there .

Speaker 1 14:26

But , and I'm still .

Speaker 2 14:27

I still get there . Of course , you know it's not just something that you're just like , I'm not you know , comparing myself anymore . You know , it happens yeah .

Speaker 1 14:35

Yeah .

Speaker 2 14:35

But as far as the community thing , I think that kind of goes back to what I was saying before when you asked about what I'm on Earth to do , and I can't really explain why , because it's not like I don't know , it's not like it's benefiting me other than , like growing the studio . I don't know , I can't really say why , but I think it just goes back to just so badly wanting

The Power of Community Support

Speaker 2 15:02

people to see the value in their creativity and in their passions and in their dreams , and I think that there's just with our generation especially , I think that there's just something so powerful about people stepping in to their visions and their ideas . I think that it's not a mistake and I mean it would be insane that if every single person you know told himself this idea is not dumb . I'm just going to step in and do it , you know , and so I think that's kind of what kind of pushes that forward is just it's so exciting to see people start a new thing , like our friend Colleen . She just started a podcast as well and I was like yay .

Speaker 2 15:46

I love it when I see my friends step into like different things that they're like creating for themselves , I just think that's so amazing , and so I think that , with the community here and with photographers here , which is the main hub is photographers here . Of course , I would love to reach other people in different aspects , but right now it's really focused on photographers . I think that seeing them like unapologetically step into the things that they want to step into , even if it doesn't match what everybody else is doing , or if it does whatever , at least they're taking a step into something that they're passionate about and putting stuff out there for the world to see or not . You know , it's okay if you're creating in secret , like you know , not everything has to go on social media , and that's one way I had to kind of train . My mind is like yeah you know ,

Speaker 2 16:34

when creating it doesn't have to be social media , perfect , you know . And so , um , yeah , if that answers the question , I think that just stems from that desire to see other people step into the things that either the Lord is calling them to , the things that are on their hearts to do , and the things that keep them up at night when they're like dreaming and , you know , have a vision for things you know .

Speaker 2 16:58

Yeah , I think there's a lot more people that have notebooks full of things that they're dreaming about than we realize , and I think all they need is somebody to say , hey , you can do it Like yeah do it , even if you mess up , just do it , you know .

Speaker 1 17:13

Absolutely . Yeah absolutely , yeah , absolutely , man , that's , that's great and I I really enjoy . You know what you're sharing . You know for for us and for me , I believe that that is how business was slash is supposed to be yeah there is supposed to be a helping your neighbor and being there for them and helping them grow into more stewardship over what they've been given the . It's refreshing to be able to build an entity where the focus can be the people around you um and not just look at me trying to film on this new red camera .

Speaker 1 18:04

You know like this stuff . You know like and that stuff is great you know , I love it's really cool , learning about it and using that kind of stuff . But man , I think even from the .

Speaker 2 18:14

You can celebrate those things for yourself , you can post about it , you can have people celebrate with you , and that's another thing is you have this community now that we celebrate each other , you know .

Speaker 1 18:23

Right , exactly , exactly , and that's the balance . Like we are a for-profit business , like we want to profit from what we're doing , but that doesn't mean that the entire , everything I do , who I am , is based on me , doing me all the time Like there , there is there perspective .

Speaker 1 18:44

You know , I have another person we'll be speaking with soon and she has built an entire platform to help businesses receive video testimonials from their customers it's a whole software and really cool app that she built and designed and to see the response from businesses that have been like man , this has been great and it's so easy because we actually get feedback that we need . Yeah , as well as the customers that say , man , this is really cool . I feel like my voice was actually heard . I'm like , yes , like we need the perspective from others in order to grow into what we're trying to do , and it's not a haphazard like it might help if we get it . It's like you need it in order to grow the best way possible .

Speaker 1 19:40

I think one of the reasons why it happens with such speed in your , with what you're doing , is because there's just a plethora of opportunities to get those perspectives . That's outside of just you and kind of like foster some relationships . You know I'm not , I'm not there in the trenches with you . You could share more to that , but I think it's really cool to have that .

Speaker 2 20:00

Yeah , sweet and I think that I think that too , like like you said , like fostering their relationships . I think that I , as far as like the photography side , booking

Workshop Opportunities and Future Plans

Speaker 2 20:12

clients , stuff like that .

Speaker 3 20:13

Yeah .

Speaker 2 20:14

I get more referrals , I guess you could say , or more business from like word of mouth , from the relationships that I've made you know whether it be through other photographers or through other business owners , more so than just the client , the random clients that come in . Yeah , I feel like that . It has been kind of like in turn , word of mouth through my relationships , more so than nice and so very nice .

Speaker 1 20:40

I think that's super important . That's refreshing man cool . We're here with marley parker . Thank you guys for listening right back what's up guys .

Speaker 2 20:50

My name is marley , I am a portrait photographer and studio owner , and I just wanted to introduce you to Wild Magnolia Studio , open to writ for your photo shoots , for your content , whatever you need . We have all kinds of little details that you can use . Everything in the studio that you see you can use . There's a whole closet full of backdrops , props , chairs , seating , all that kind of stuff .

Speaker 3 21:13

So , yeah , we also host multiple workshops throughout the year , so if you want more details , follow us at wild manolia studio on instagram so the truth is , creating social media video content can take forever figuring out what to film , how to film it , what to say , how to say when to post , where to post . All these things continuously right , but there has to be a way to streamline that process . There has to be a way to streamline that process . There has to be a way to make sure that whatever you're posting , you're connecting with your audience for sure and it's targeted , it's not just random , throwing it out hoping it lands right . There has to be a process to this , and that's what video blueprint is all about .

Speaker 3 21:47

I want to streamline the process , I want to help you make sure that you're connecting with your intended audience and I want to remove the distractions and make sure that , when you leave this in person workshop , you have a clear plan on how you want to go forth and creating your social media video content for your business . That is it . We'll teach you the filming , not using camera , using your phone . We'll teach you the editing . We'll teach you storage and organization . Click the link below . Let's sign up and I'll stop freezing myself off trying to create this video for you .