Lauren Edwards on the importance of Personal Branding

This Week on Designing Success: A Chat with Lauren Edwards

• Guest Insight: Lauren Edwards, founder of Triple R Creative, joins the podcast.

Meet Lauren here https://www.instagram.com/triple_r_creative
Work with her https://www.triplercreative.com.au/

• Event Preview: Discussing the upcoming Melbourne industry event featuring content creation, professional development, and a marketing seminar.

For full event details ; https://view.flodesk.com/emails/66225c17279775f10ab15149
To secure your place ; https://buy.stripe.com/eVag2y8Vk7T7cmYfZh

• Exclusive Offer: Full day event priced at $934 incl. GST, over 50% sold with limited spots.
• Networking & Learning: An intimate group setting ensures deep dives into business strategies with roaming mentorship and a bespoke 1.5hr marketing workshop 
• Special Opportunities: The event promises significant networking, supplier insights, and a chance to refine personal branding with professional B-roll capture.

Tune in to discover the potential of enhancing your professional image and grabbing the last chance to boost your tax-year expenses!

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Transcript

0:11

Welcome to Designing Success from Study to Studio. I'm your host, Rhiannon Lee, founder of the Oleander Finch Design Studio. I've lived the transformation from study to studio and then stripped it bare and wrote down the framework so you don't have to overthink it. In this podcast, you could expect real talk with industry friends, community, connection, and actionable tips to help you conquer whatever's holding you back. Now let's get designing your own success. This week on Designing Success, I sat down with Lauren Edwards. Lauren is the founder of Triple R Creative and she is the Sydney based photographer that I am flying down to Melbourne next month for an industry event where we are doing content creation for the entire day. So we will be capturing B roll. Professional development will be involved. There'll be a marketing seminar. There will be some trade supplier knowledge. There'll be networking. It's a very intimate group so that we can deep dive into everybody's business and that we can, there'll be roaming mentorship and we will be working out a full strategy for everyone. Basically, this is an incredible opportunity. Just in the last week, I've seen two different Melbourne based photographers release one day mini headshot sessions that are. between 700 and 1, 500 just for the 45 minute headshot sessions. This day, full day of professional and personal development, we are doing for 9. 34 including GST. So all up, two payments, It's 4. 67 deposit and 4. 67 full payment. Tickets are selling fast. We are over 50 percent sold out we can only take 15. So if you are interested, please do have a listen. Listen to Lauren. Listen to her passion in talking about professional brands. in talking about personal branding, have a listen to our chat and weigh up that cost for yourself and that investment for yourself. Do not forget it is probably your last opportunity to put this expense on your tax for the year. So if you are interested, please DM me over on Instagram at oleander underscore and underscore Finch, and I will send you more details. There's a full flyer, there's payment links, anything that you need and we hope to see you on the day. But for now, please enjoy my chat with Lauren.

rhiannon: 2:26

Hi Lauren, thanks for joining me.

Lauren: 2:29

Hi, how are you?

rhiannon: 2:30

I'm good. I'm excited to catch up today. I know I've said this before on my podcast, but it feels so indulgent sometimes I feel like I just get to chat to friends and I get to catch up with people under the guise of join me on my podcast and let's talk all things photography.

Lauren: 2:48

It's so fun. I can't wait. I'm very excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

rhiannon: 2:51

Tell us a little bit about your business. Where are you based? Where are you from? What's it all about?

Lauren: 2:57

So I am based in Sydney. I am heading into my fourth year of business, but I say that lightly because we actually traveled the country as a family majority of last year for about eight months last year. And obviously we all know the first. Year of business is playing catch up and setting it up. So I feel like I am just hitting my strides in terms of niching down into personal branding and products around lifestyle and beauty. If I'm being really honest, my Passion, what really gives me a fire in my belly is working with women. And getting them in front of the camera for personal branding. So that's where I'm heading in terms of niching down. But I have. Not always been a photographer. I have actually worked in the disability industry for about 20 years in administration. And this was always a creative outlet that I had having kids and taking photos and then moving into a business.

rhiannon: 3:54

Amazing. And I'm just going to make a wild assumption here, but I'm assuming it's not always the easiest to get women in business in front of the camera. Has that been your experience?

Lauren: 4:06

Definitely been my experience. It's been my own experience as well. You would think that a photographer who specializes in personal branding would have many personal branding Shoots under my belt, which is not the case, but we might talk about that a little bit later. I think we as women put so many pressures on ourselves that we have to be perfect for this photo shoot that we're going to be using in our businesses. And we have so many excuses that, with all due respect, really It's not the reason that stops us from getting in front of the camera. It's things like I need to lose 10 kilos. I have just had a baby. My skin's not right. I don't have the right wardrobe. They're just excuses. So I feel like part of my process is working with women to understand that people want to see the face behind the business. And when we overcome that together, I get a lot more women in front of the camera, which is great. That's the whole outcome.

rhiannon: 5:06

I see myself in all of those excuses. I've literally written down on my notepad here. Once I didn't didn't book a headshot cause they didn't have a new outfit

Lauren: 5:14

Yeah.

rhiannon: 5:14

and it's oh my gosh.

Lauren: 5:17

Yeah, it's true. The excuses that I've heard come from women. I've heard them all. And it's only been a short period of time that I've been listening to actually, what women, what's stopping women from getting in front of the camera.

rhiannon: 5:29

It's, I see it a lot with Instagram stories as well. And, just that, or business in general, just that pause for perfection, like waiting until all the ducks are lined up. I think I had an email go out last week and I was talking about, you're so busy lining up your ducks and getting ready to be ready that you're forgetting about messy action and just putting that first step forward because personal branding shoots in my experience are really great for. Probably 12 to 18 months. Sometimes you stretch them to almost two and a half years, but you evolve. Your business evolves the way you want to represent your business evolves. So this is not the end result. One shoot is not all you're ever going to get. And if you don't get it right, if for some reason, it just, you feel like in six months, I have shoots that I don't really use anymore because I feel puffy. Cause I was pregnant. I know that I was 10 months. No, I was not 10 months pregnant, I hope not, Marley was late, but I was not 10 months pregnant. How, I must've been about seven months pregnant, so quite heavily pregnant. It was just, I needed something, I got them done and I don't use them and that's nothing on the photographer and that's nothing on, I just know that I was carrying more weight in my face than I probably want to, but I can book another one and I have booked another one. It's just that thing of not letting the fear of the outcome. Make you overthink it so much. You do nothing

Lauren: 6:53

it's like the perfectionism stops action, which is a hamster wheel that we get on and it feels like we can't get off. But I think when you said you had that photo shoot done when you were seven months pregnant, you were seven months pregnant at that time in your life, at that time in your business. I, would I like to lose 20 kilos? Sure. But am I going to lose it tomorrow for a photo shoot? No. And this is who I am at this point in my business. Will that change in the future? Will I need another shoot? Let's hope so, that's where we are right now in our business. So that evolution of who we are and where we are right now in that moment is also so important to share.

rhiannon: 7:34

Yeah, we document everything. We've got standard operating procedures for everything. And I feel like we don't go back. We don't celebrate our wins. We don't document the journey. I love to be able to say that was the first one that I did. And, Oh my gosh, who was I trying to be in that blazer? Or who was I trying to impress with those like killer heels when I'm five foot tall and I wear ballet flats on the daily or flat boots, like what was I trying to do? It's fun for me. I don't know. Maybe Odd, but I find that stuff cool. Like I can look back and think, that was, I can see your imposter syndrome from space and I can see what you're doing and now you have more confidence, you have more experience, you have more demand for your product or service, you're probably more realistically coming to a photo shoot as you are, or being more inclined to go to a client's house in a t shirt and jeans and you evolve. And it's nice to see that evolution as well. If you've been no face to camera until you pop up. At year six, people are like, who's this guy?

Lauren: 8:31

Yeah, I think the idea of getting dressed up and turning up to get in front of a camera is so fun. I think most of us would be like, okay, I'm going to make the most of it. I'm going to get some hair and makeup done. Maybe, or I can do it myself and I can just feel fabulous. That doesn't mean a suit and heels. As you said, that doesn't mean something that you're not. If you, I think the ultimate goal of personal branding, this is how I have interpreted and work with women over the years. If you turn up to someone's home as an interior designer, As a someone doing someone's eyelashes, eyebrows, hairdresser, whatever it may be, you're delivering a service. The ultimate goal I think would them to say. Oh, I feel like I know you. I feel like I've known you for years instead of, Oh, this is not the person that I thought was going to show up at my door, particularly if you're providing an intimate service and an intimate services being in someone's home, and having that disconnect would be really such a disservice to your business. So there is no point in going all glam if you are turning up in jeans and t shirt, but you can feel fabulous and look fabulous with jeans and t shirt. In front of the camera. So there's definitely a way to build that into that photo shoot being exactly who you are and showing your personality that has so much power.

rhiannon: 9:50

It's so interesting that you said it. So I don't normally wear makeup and my wedding photography and other things, and even some personal branding shoots. The first two that I ever had, I had full makeup done and hair, and I don't connect with that person. It's I can't see myself in the app, the images that I received. I liked them at the time. Don't get me wrong. And please, if my photographers are listening, you did a great job. I just didn't feel like me and my wedding photography was done and our wedding day was freezing cold. And the photographer actually invited us back to her. Beautiful property in the country on a sunny autumn day as a redo. Cause she needed some images of as long as I wore my dress and my husband, what we were local. And she was like, can you come back? Cause I felt like you guys were so freezing and didn't get like good photos. And I said, And I come, I didn't get my hair done. I just had it straightened and I came with very minimal makeup because I don't really wear it. And those photos are so precious to me, and that looks like me. And I like those wedding photos. And I know we're not talking wedding photography and, not necessarily advisable, but I can now see how much more comfortable I am in front of the camera when I felt like me and I was still in the same dress and I was still doing the same things. But those photos now I love, whereas the first ones I'm It doesn't look like my face. I can't connect.

Lauren: 11:11

That's one is probably what you're supposed to do the wedding. And people have this idea, same in personal branding. I'm supposed to be a certain way. I'm supposed to be. In a completely new wardrobe that I'll probably never wear again, which is absolutely not the case. You will never use the photos. And then the second half of what you just said is exactly right. If those second wedding photos were your personal branding shoot, they are the photos that you would put out on socials. They are the photos that you'd use in EDMs, in your marketing, in your stories and your feed, because you absolutely connect with them. And that's what people. are going to see when they meet you. And that's the entire point. That's the whole point. So if someone can say, gosh, I feel like I've known you for years, job done.

rhiannon: 11:57

I want to talk about, the most common outcome. If you overcome that fear of finally getting in front of the camera and letting someone take those photos and you've got to get this branding out there and you want to have a suite of usable images that are not DIY. What is that like for the women that you do work with to overcome that when they see their photos?

Lauren: 12:16

So the usual reaction is, why didn't I do this sooner? But honestly, it takes us a while to get there. So I've got a big pre creative brief that I do and I work with women before the actual shoot. So we've all got hangups. We've got things that we don't like, things that we don't want photographed and that's completely fine. I've legitimately had someone say don't shoot me from ankles down. If my feet or my ankles are in the shot, I will never use the photos. So the process beforehand is often longer and more important, if I can say that, than the actual shoot itself, because it's a confidence builder. So it's, tell me what you love about yourself. I love it when I smile, but when I smile, I have double chins. So if I do it from the side, I like that profile better. So we all know what works for us and what doesn't work for us. So once you're in front of the camera, you're It's almost like we've had a really good relationship builder. We've gone through the brief. We understand, both of us understand what's really important to you with your photos and how you're going to use them is also really important. If you're going to use them on socials and really show up for yourself through your business majority of the time, the number one response is, wow, I didn't think I could look like that and be, why did I do it sooner? And that 99 percent of my clients and that, there's the 1 percent who unfortunately for whatever reason just never see themselves as being okay in front of the camera. And that's something obviously we work through. But 99 percent of the women that I photographed think, why didn't I do this sooner?

rhiannon: 13:49

And you've recently done your own personal branding shoot. What was that like?

Lauren: 13:55

My recent one was extraordinary. It was something that I had wished I had done many years ago. Had my first personal branding shoot about three years ago, and it was. horrendous. It was one of the worst experiences I've had. I'm going to say maybe not in my life, but definitely in my business. We did not share the same idea for the end result of the shoot. The photographer had her own ideas of what she wanted it to look like. I had my ideas of what I wanted it to look like. We were very different age wise. She was much, much younger than me at the time. We had very different body shapes. We had different industries that we were working in and it was just really uncomfortable. It was a really uncomfortable shoot. I felt like it was never going to be good enough, a waste of time. It was just a really uncomfortable situation. So yeah. As a personal branding photographer, I personally waited three years, which is ridiculous. Now that I say it out loud, I waited three years to book another shoot because I do know the power of personal branding and putting your face out there. And it was the best thing that I ever did. I had an amazing photographer. The pre consultation was amazing. We did everything in terms of the creative brief. We did inspiration photos the feel of what I wanted to get out of the shoot. And I have used the photos of a gallery of about 30 photos over and over, over the last couple of weeks in my business. And I feel like when I look at them, I think it's me. I think I look good. I love how I felt at the shoot and I wish I had done it sooner.

rhiannon: 15:33

I'm glad that you have done it and I have noticed them popping up and it's just so much more humanizing to your brand than just a logo or an end result, like other people's photography. I want to know who's taking my photo, if I'm going to book you. And we've talked about this before we've known each other for a really long time. And we have an event coming up, which we will get to, but that I am flying you down for. And the reason is the connection and the comfort and the ease that you will put these girls at I'm 100 percent assured of, and that matters more to me than anyone's portfolio. Anyone's. Experience levels, then the big name for, as in there's a couple of photographers that you might know in and around every capital city that do all the headshots for all the people. Like you can go to those studios and that's great. But for me and what I wanted to create for the girls that will be at the event, it was about. We don't have to, we don't have time to waste. We don't have a week on a retreat to get to know each other and then do personal branding photos at the end. So it needs to be the right photographer who's in their heads already. Who's aware of their insecurities, who knows that we can go over there and not take the photos in front of all the other girls that are doing other things all of that really mattered to me. And it is 100 percent the reason that I would fly someone down to Melbourne instead of just source locally, because I am. Completely confident you'll get the pre creative brief from everybody and you'll get there and they will be feeling at ease within 10 minutes of just being like, okay, we're here and it's not scary. I'm not scary. You're not scary. It's going to be an amazing day.

Lauren: 17:11

Clearly. Oh, that means a lot because I think the whole point of that shoot is exactly that making people feel really comfortable in front of the camera and wanting to use those photos. There is no point in doing this and getting 20 curated images that people go, didn't connect. And also, I have not photographed one single person who shows up and they're like, I'm ready. I'm photo ready. I'm ready to jump in front of the camera. I'm so confident and nothing's holding me back. I legitimately have not photographed anyone like that. So everybody feels that sense of, Ooh, just get it done.

rhiannon: 17:48

School photos all over again.

Lauren: 17:51

So it's so worth it though, because you're going to use these photos over and over. And it's not just to show up in your business. It's to really connect with those dream clients. Like we talk about it a lot. We talk about connecting and speaking to that one person through your business, but these photos can really do that, can really show lots of different areas of your personality and who you are and really keep it connected to your business. So it's, I'm so excited. It's such a great opportunity.

rhiannon: 18:21

And one of the main reasons, so for those who haven't followed either of us along on Instagram, or aren't aware of the event that we're running, it's here in Melbourne. It's on the 2nd of June. It's called Be in the Room Where It Happens. And it's a mega event of personal branding and professional development. One of the reasons it's set in a furniture showroom and not in a studio and not under the lights again for that comfort level, but also the outcome. I see so many people staring out of windows, holding mugs or like designers have to fan out the color fan and sit in front of them, hold the Mac book laptop open. I don't know. I'm very particular about my style of photography. You may have seen it's a bit more, I didn't even know what I want to say. The last shoot that I did was there's not a lot of full face. It's editorial. It's I had a brief, I knew what I wanted, but there's no pictures of me sitting, doing coffee mug thing or the, yeah, it's about getting a little bit next level creative because, I don't want the same as everybody's got. Otherwise, I would just go to the studio and get the same pumped out five things that this is why this event is so special to me because we have free reign of the furniture room. There's a removalist there to move furniture around so we can set up our own vignettes. They are property styling companies that they have all the props of the decor, the cushions, and we're allowed to go and put it all together how we want to. So therefore, when you're taking my photo, it would be my style. If I want to change the artwork behind me, I can. I don't feel like I've just, And this might just be me, but some photo shoots that I've been to, I'm like, I know that bowl's from Kmart. And so I am judging, that's not the photography studio's fault. It's not, they just got to quickly get something that looks neutral, that doesn't offend anyone. And that like blurs in the background. But me as an interior designer, I'm like, this reflects on me, right? So I don't actually want that fake Came up plant that doesn't fit that basket. It's a wrong proportion and scale in the background. That's making me uncomfortable. And my photos and end result look like that, right? Because I'm like, Oh no, I don't want to use, I'm trying to crop them out or throw it straight into Canva and remove all the backgrounds. Which, what was the point of having a set shoot anyway?

Lauren: 20:37

I want this to be a shoot and use type thing for everyone that's coming along, as in we get the shots done and they immediately start using them. So they're going to be edited by me in a beautiful style that will cross all You know, platforms in terms of they're not too polarizing and they're not, filtered and all that kind of stuff. They are how they are on the day. And obviously for an interior designer, this location is next level. Like it's, I'm excited and I'm not even an interior designer to go and see what we can create in such an incredible venue.

rhiannon: 21:12

I promise to let you free reign on the big flat lay table. So they've got a table full of samples set up for us. So we'll be making our own flat lays and photographing with them and doing mainly the B roll stuff. One of the other benefits of the day is we get unlimited access to the showroom and to create content creation and creating each other's content. So we're going to take a lot of video content. And one thing I get feedback from on my Instagram quite often is people talk about the cohesion, and it's probably because I just use the same like six images or whatever. It's I can see your color palette and your cohesion through the freebie that I ordered, like the freebie that I downloaded the Canva stuff, the documentation that you deliver, the emails you send on a Friday, the images that go, and that is through Focusing on the content creation and having a plan and things that I'll talk about in the mini marketing workshop that I'm going to run on the day. But when we have those 20 edited images and they look like the B roll and they look like your brand, it's just really strengthening that personal branding once again, because everything starts to, and we do this in interior design all the time, we're creating cohesion across a home. You don't walk into themed rooms.

Lauren: 22:21

People. Look at 20 photos on 20 photos. Okay. like I use them once Oh, that's like a month or two's worth of stuff. And I'm like, that's like a year's worth. As long as you're not shaving your head the next week and you look completely different, like you can use these photos over and over again in so many ways that don't even look the same, they don't even look like the same photo.

rhiannon: 22:44

You can zoom in cause it's high res. You can move it out. You can take the background away. You can change the colors.

Lauren: 22:51

Yeah, to do colors and texts and

rhiannon: 22:55

It's interesting. My like little DIY shoot that I did just to quickly get something up in my color palette is honestly, say five to eight approved images that I was comfortable with after 156 camera roll that had to be deleted and they are. My branding at the moment, they are working for me. They're in all of the Canva documents. They're in all the stories, the, got cut out stickers now, which makes things really quick for, having that same thing. It's really funny to me that 20. That anyone would think that's a small amount because yeah, correct. And you

Lauren: 23:32

That if you've never had branding done

rhiannon: 23:34

you were going to

Lauren: 23:35

if you've had branding done before where you get five or ten, you're like, Oh my God, 20 is like a full gallery. That's like a

rhiannon: 23:43

40, 50, depending on like time

23:45

I'm going to interrupt us there for just one minute. I'm not going to go in too much detail until next week's podcast episode, but there is something incredibly big happening to my online course for interior designers, the framework. This next intake in May is the very last time you will be able to access the framework. as it is. I'll talk to you about the changes next week. I'm not going to spoil anything. I'm working really hard in the background, but please know if you're not on the waitlist or if you have not signed up to be notified when that goes live, or you haven't set an alarm for the 29th of May, you may miss out because it will never look like this again. So if you have any questions and I can share with you, come and chat to me in my DMs over at oleander underscore and underscore Finch. Otherwise, now is the time to join the wait list. There is a link in the show notes and I will tell you everything I possibly can share at this early stage next Tuesday on the podcast.

rhiannon: 24:43

Sometimes I feel like your content benefits from that space. Same sort of principle of actually going, I recognize this while I'm scrolling 10 seconds on tick tock bang, next, next. Oh, I know that girl or, oh, and that's the reason when I batch content and I wear it, I wear my color palette, my brand. I don't know if you pick up on it, but always I have outfits and they are my color palette. Because again, I'm trying to build recognition that you will stop when you are flicking through and you will watch my content because you know who I am or you want to engage with it.

Lauren: 25:15

Absolutely. You took the words out of my mouth in terms of easily recognizable personal branding, you would definitely be my number one

rhiannon: 25:23

Thank you.

Lauren: 25:25

colors, your, yeah, as you said, everything that you just mentioned is immediately recognizable. And it's almost like the behind the scenes stuff that we are going to be able to capture at the event satisfies our clients need. Absolutely. To be nosy. And I say that with all due respect. We are nosy by nature in terms of wanting to know people. And again, service based businesses need to be able to show who they are as a person without moving outside of their boundaries for their own business. So I've got certain boundaries for my business that people very clearly know that I have three boys but they don't feature in my business. And that's just a boundary that I have. So it's almost like the, as you said, the B roll and the content that we're going to get on the day shows who you are and what you're doing. You've got a feature in the B roll. If you, I would. Imagine pairing up with someone, you're moving things around and you're getting that video shot in the background and showing your personality. You're having fun with it. You're showing that you love your job. And that really connects and resonates with clients who, as I said, want to be nosy in a really respectful way. We want to know who you are as a person. So that stuff is just it's almost priceless to be able to be in a venue like that, to get the side of it with the photos, but also the B roll, the behind the scenes stuff Is critical to running any business these days, I think.

rhiannon: 26:50

So I was trying to explain B Roll to my husband the other day, and I was trying to talk to him about the event, what we're playing, how it's going. And I said to him like, when I take the kids to their Santa photos and I pop them up and like. All the elves jump in the way. No photography no. Like you have to buy this like pack at$75 for four photos of my kids cross-eyed looking the wrong way. Not smiling like No, no shade on the Santa photography. I'm sure that is a very difficult jump, the elves do jump in the way. And this is an Elf free event. And what I mean by that is that we are actually allowed to DIY. All the content. So yes, of course, you're going to have your professional session where you're not able to do B roll in that time that you're working together. Cause you're getting your headshots taken and your professional photography. But outside of that and the marketing workshop, every other minute that you're there, people will be sharing ideas. I'm going to go through. How to work out your content pillars, how to know what to write over the top of B Roll and how to really use the content in a way that's helpful and grows your engagement and across multiple platforms. But there are other girls that are going to be there who are aware of the best way to use video content, or, other people have other experiences. There's someone that I know who has a big YouTube channel, or, there's people that are going to be there that will teach us all things that we can be like, Oh, good idea. And sharing is the main thing, all these networking things. It's so good when someone else is I just filmed this, check it out. You can immediately look at it on their iPhone. Then you can go at your version and then the next girl does it. And then the next year, and it does not matter. This doesn't mean it looks like other people's. It's a very intimate group. There's only 15 and a potential client. If they were following all 15 of these people, not all of them are interior designers already. We've got some other creative business owners who've booked a ticket. I'd be shocked. And if they were, because it's movement in the background. That's not what we look at when we look at B-roll. So if anyone doesn't know what B-roll is, it is just where we look at reels or other things. And often there's a color filter over the top and there's text over the top. It's the movement that happens in the background, but rather than it just being your shaky camera as you walk the dog or like your brushing your teeth in the morning, this is going to be video content that's captured in a furniture showroom where you're actually doing something with beautiful high-end pieces. To attract potential clients who have budgets to buy the same high end pieces.

Lauren: 29:19

Yeah. Using that B roll for voiceovers is an amazing opportunity. If you can't do that on the day, because obviously the 15 women are,

rhiannon: 29:26

Talking.

Lauren: 29:27

people and there's going to be 15 people chatting and sharing and networking in the background. I don't think I ever use the actual audio from any of my videos. And I don't care if it's. and messy and three children and things happening and dogs barking and birds chirping and all that kind of stuff because I either do a voiceover over the top. I do music and I do text with it. But as you said, the movement of that B roll is critical to showing your skill, you can, as I said, pair up with someone and say, I'm just going to curate this flat lay. Can you just, capture the video of me doing that? And then your voiceover might be exactly what you're doing, but you're not actually taking the voiceover At that moment in time, because of the background noise and everything else. So having a folder on your phone that you can immediately go to for your content creation is like next level stepping it up in business. I can't underestimate that iPhone, folder being full of information that you can just go to when you're doing your content creation. It's critical.

rhiannon: 30:31

Yeah, we're hoping to fill everybody's camera roles. But one of the things that I love about that, take the suggestion and we'll do more of this in the marketing workshop, but that suggestion that you just gave with the flat lay, that can be done this month, talking about new build selections and why, getting professional advice. Can save you thousands of dollars. It can also be used in six weeks time to talk about undertones in paint and flooring. So you can't necessarily see what's in the flat lay. You can see a designer pulling a flat lay together, which means you could then even go to chat GPT. If you're feeling like you don't have an idea and ask for. Describe the video B roll that you have and ask for 50 ways to. Impress your ideal client, explaining your ideal client with this video content for each of the B rolls that we have a whole day's worth. And your content creation is now sorted for two years. Like as far as I'm concerned, recycling, as we said, just strengthens your personal brand. It's not actually damaging to be like, I've seen you in that dress. Yeah, cool. I've seen you wear your clothes more than once too. Like I don't really mind because I feel as though. You might've seen me once and it just, 3 percent of people saw it and it goes out the other ear and then, you have to say it so many times that you'd be like, can you get changed? Like you only have one outfit and I don't think that's the thing. I

Lauren: 31:51

I think this the idea of this B roll is so critical. I keep saying that it's so critical to your business. What you were just saying in terms of the flat lays could even go another way. If you don't hire an interior designer, this could be your outcome. And you've got a flat lay that does not work that you've just put together. So it does not work and your voiceover is, but if you did hire an interior designer, this is what we look at. This is the undertones. These are the color palettes. These are the textures. This is everything we would bring in. And suddenly in a B roll video at a high end showroom, you have curated an amazing flat lay that tells your client, I need to book that designer because that's exactly what I've been missing. I can't find the missing piece in my design and it's because I don't have someone showing me what to do.

rhiannon: 32:37

am really excited on the day to be on Hanson is roaming mentorship and things, but I am an outrageous. Ideas person. I think anyone who's ever worked with me will know sometimes it's like you need to slow down. I'm a little bit like Mr. Squiggle off into space and you have to grab my ankles from time to time and be like, can you please just stay on track? But having your phone there, being able to open a note section. And as we're talking and shooting this B roll. We had these five ideas for it means that you are actually going home with really strong content strategy. And that is part of what I'll focus on in the marketing workshop, but actually you've got the filmed things sitting in the folder, as you say, but you've also got a purpose for them. So you won't get lost after the fact. Cause sometimes we do these things on the day and then you get home and you're like, I'm never going to use it. Cause I can't remember what they said, or I can't, I've got no good ideas anymore.

Lauren: 33:29

And if that works in your mind, in terms of the price and the outlay of the day versus your time over the next six to 12 months of doing content creation and getting all the video and booking in a professional photographer and going to a showroom that you may not even have access to That, if you're looking at it from a financial perspective, is so minuscule what you're paying for the day compared to what you actually have to outlay for the rest of that year. If that's a cost analysis you need to look at it, then we're happy to really spell that out for you.

rhiannon: 34:03

And with your, strategy and getting a marketing agency to come in and give you those ideas and other things, the thing that makes me love you saying the showroom, and I'm like, I think I need to put a little disclaimer in here just saying you're not welcome in regular furniture showrooms to walk around taking B roll. I want to be very clear, we have permission, we have been invited by Em& Co Living, they know we're coming, they know what the event's for, they're supporting the event, we're doing lunch, like the whole thing. We're not literally just rocking out with friends and cameras and so on. So if you're like, oh, showroom, that's a good idea, or oh, you can't just go down to your local display house and walk around the kitchen taking video content as though you designed that kitchen because there are cameras in there and they will kick you out.

Lauren: 34:48

Sure.

rhiannon: 34:49

We all know the difference between DIY photography and B roll and stuff versus professional, but in your experience, now that you've had your photo shoot and you've got these like high res images, just sitting there. And you've probably had some before that you maybe got a tripod and got things going. What's your observations?

Lauren: 35:11

My observations are there is definitely a place for both. I do think the DIY shows to a certain degree in certain businesses. And again, this is not on its own. This is if you're looking at a business as an umbrella. DIY can almost look like sometimes you haven't been willing to invest in your own business. It definitely has a place in terms of quick stories and showing that raw footage and showing who you are, but in terms of really showing up and showing that you're investing in your business, showing that you're spending time and money to grow your business, which is what your clients, you're asking your clients to do. You're asking your clients to invest in your services yet. It looks like perhaps you haven't invested in your own business. It's like a leveling up tool. And it's a tool that you can use over and over again. And as I said, I've said it many times already today that I wish I did it earlier because it's made me show up more. Because I've got the footage there and it's high res and it's ready to go and it's in a gallery, it sits on my phone that I literally just have to click a button and download as many images as I want to. It means that I can show up more and I can be really happy with the images that I'm showing because they reflect me, my colors, my branding, my personality, who I am and where I'm heading in my business. So I think the DIY does have a place, but I do feel that sometimes it just shows. That there's a lack of willingness to actually invest in those important things for your business to grow. I

rhiannon: 36:52

I 100 percent agree with that. I think you can see the hesitation and I think you can see, when you follow people and they've just had a shoot, so you start to see those images come out or whatnot. Or even if you're potentially looking across a bunch of different service providers in the same industry. You immediately can see the ones whose website was professionally developed. It's not just DIY. It hasn't been edited for X amount of years. La. I feel like I'm putting myself in it. Cause my website is currently under construction again. Like it's going through a whole thing. So I haven't done anything on it for a little while. And my current suite of photos are DIY because I have already engaged you and we have this thing coming up and I promise I will be using the actual beautiful ones afterwards. And I do still use some of my previous professional shoots from time to time, but yeah, you do go through that ebb and flow. But when I look and I'm designing things on the new website and things, I'm straight away, like I need to have these edited photographs. I've got placeholders only, but a lot is riding on this day. Lauren to bring your A game.

Lauren: 38:00

think, I think the other thing too is that we can see, us and our clients can both see it from two different perspectives. We can see that perhaps we're not willing to invest in our business or we are not at a point where we deserve to invest. To invest in our business. I think they're two very clear things. And I think that's where I was like, I'm not going to book another shoot for, as I said, it took me three years because is my business really big enough? Has it grown enough? Do I deserve to pay this amount of money to have personal headshots done? Is it really going to make a difference? And it's like a pause. It's almost I'll just pause here. I'll see how I go. But then you regret that time that you haven't got them done because you do deserve it. You do deserve to invest in your business and move forward with professional imagery and all of the stuff that comes with that to grow your business. And you want people to be able to see that and you can use that as content. I, I did. I was very open with my story that. I regretted having my first shoot and I really regretted waiting three years because the next one was amazing. But I wasn't at a point where I was like, you know what, I'm in my heading into my fourth year of business and I deserve a shoot and I'm going to do this. It was just like, what's holding me back. And it's me. It's all those excuses that really don't make a lot of sense. And I booked it in and I got it done

rhiannon: 39:19

We talk about the potential client's perspective, but also the confidence that you project, and we talk about imposter syndrome a lot with, I do anyway, with a lot of creatives that I'm coaching. And one of the best things is it's just like 20 minutes of your life, but you're projecting this real thing. Feel free to send a deposit over or get on a discovery call or book with me because I know my shit. I know what I'm doing. I'm prepared to show up for my brand and my business. I project so much more confidence in professional photography than I don't know what the alternative would be. Again, a logo, a flat lay, a mood board, a thing that isn't actually your face.

Lauren: 39:55

for sure. I really resonate with that because it's just, it's something I just, I really feel the power in the personal branding to show up in your business to know that you are worthy of growing, you have invested and you're ready to take it to the next level.

rhiannon: 40:10

Beautiful. I'm going to share the rest of the details for anyone who would like to join us. There are still some tickets left, but I think we're going to close that up mid May so that we can get organized for everyone. It's on the 2nd of June. So follow the show note links to check out more details, the costs, the times, the location, all the little things. If you've got any questions, you can come and chat to Lauren, who is going to be your photographer on the day. You can chat to me. I will be mentoring and running a mini marketing workshop. There is also going to be time to talk to the suppliers and strengthen your supply and knowledge around M& Co who do work with trade. They do wholesale, they do custom art pieces. There's a lot to learn. You are absolutely allowed to touch and feel everything, which is nice. While we're taking. In all that B roll and photos, but ask questions as well and make new BFFs because everyone's going to be, I think, arriving, feeling a little bit like, Ooh, this is a big day. But by the time we leave, I bet we won't want to go anywhere.

Lauren: 41:05

Exactly. That's the plan and I'm sure that's gonna be the outcome.

rhiannon: 41:10

Perfect. All right, Lauren. Thank you for joining me today. And I will see you next month in real life,

Lauren: 41:15

I'm gonna turn up and go. I feel like I know you because of your personal branding,

rhiannon: 41:19

I better dress in my colors. Then follow me, everybody.

Lauren: 41:23

I'm so excited. Thank you. Have me on and I can't wait for the event.

rhiannon: 41:27

That's amazing. Bye for now.

41:29

Okay, I hope you enjoyed that chat. She completely sold me on the necessity of personal branding in your business and the sorts of things that I could actually do with all of those images. And I was already sold. The entire be in the room where it happens event was born of the fact that I thought, Oh my gosh, 1, Five images. I know I can do this better for the industry. And I know there's a lot of girls who would actually benefit from coming together and having others brainstorm with them. So I'm going to film a B roll this way. And they'd be like, you do the same, I'll film it for you. Or it's just a lot of sharing and that professional development piece of being in the room. Magical things happen when, there's going to be 15, 18 business owners, some with, 20 years business experience like myself, the CEO of M& Co Living Lauren's previous experience as well as her current experience. Lots of creatives, lots of big thinkers. It is going to be an ideas day. Your notes section, your camera roll is going to be full and your notes section is going to be completely full and your brain is going to be brimming with what is next for your brand. But. The caveat is there are not many tickets left now. So we're over halfway sold. We only have 15. Please get in touch now because we will be expiring the offer on the 20th of May. Don't let location fool you either. I already have two from New South Wales and one from Brisbane flying in and some others who are looking at flights as we speak. So it actually ended up being cheaper or comparative, I should say, not cheaper for them to fly and get accommodation and do the day than to book their just photography locally. So that tells you everything you need to know about that. Please hit me up if you're after a ticket, because once it's sold out, it's sold out. And please join me next Tuesday when I am going to talk a lot about what's been going on in my business and behind the scenes for the last six months. There's been some big changes in my personal life, in my professional life, and in my projected future life. And I cannot wait to share it with you. So chat to you then. Bye for now. That wraps up another episode of Designing Success from Study to Studio. Thanks for lending me your ears. Remember, progress over perfection is the key. If you found value in today's episode, go ahead and hit subscribe or share it with a friend. Your feedback means so much to me and it helps me improve, but it also helps this podcast reach more emerging and evolving designers. For your daily dose of design business tips and to get a closer look at what goes on behind the scenes, follow at oleander underscore and underscore finch on Instagram. You'll find tons of resources available at www. oleanderandfinch. com to support you on your journey. Remember, this is your path, your vision, your future, and your business. Now let's get out there and start designing your success.