A Brand Photoshoot, the Art of Being Seen

This episode houses some nuggets of inspiration and ways I've recently found meaning in a brand photoshoot in the hopes that we all remember our innate power and creativity. Tune in if you are feeling any bit isolated on your entrepreneurial endeavors and looking for some creative lenses (pun intended) for support. 

Here's the song I referenced :) 

Strangers by Mt. Joy

I'm Glad You're Here

Transcript

0:00

Hello? Hello, hello. I don't have a new intro yet for, I'm glad you're here. So a bunch of hellos are gonna have to do for now. I am excited to talk about how my branding photo shoot was almost this spiritual journey into accepting, being seen as I really am owning my name, my mission, my essence, and knowing that a photo shoot and photography is like elevating. Essence.'cause the camera captures things differently than our human eye. And so it's almost like I need to exaggerate in order to capture it. And I wanna talk about this more because exaggerating is not faking or being disconnected from my authenticity. It's actually, and this was explained to me recently in a different way, but it's actually like if. We're sitting in a theater and watching actors perform with stage makeup, it looks totally normal from where we're sitting and where we're looking. There's bright lights on their face. We're far away. We're not really zoomed in, but if I were to look at that actor off stage and they're standing next to me, that makeup would look pretty jarring and pretty intense. So. It's similar in my opinion with photography and as I'm talking about this branding photo shoot, I knew I was tapping not just into my essence, but how to really get it across, how to do that extra nudge, the the stage makeup. Because the only component that's getting across in an image, you know, is visual. That that 2D. Image, there's no sound, there's no feel. There's no in-person energy in a photo. So how do I capture all of that in a photo? I've gotta be really steeped into my authenticity, to the point where I can elevate it and still maintain it. I hope all of that makes sense and I guess I wanna just talk about the experience, let's just dive in. This was a big financial investment and for someone who is starting or building, the early stages of my business, I'm really selective. I. About the how, when, why I am investing financially into things. So I'm doing everything pretty intentionally. Sometimes, uh, maybe overly cognizant and also definitely sometimes very mindless. I'll own that too. I am not perfect by any stretch of the imagination and would love to plant the seed of another podcast episode where I talk about mindless spending and investing anyway. We'll save that for another time. But I chose to invest in new branding photos because I have been using older photos. And when I look at them, they felt these were the best I had to use for a website. And that gets me up and running, but it doesn't really capture who I am anymore because when I was taking those photos, I really didn't know and I was really scared and intimidated and. What can I say? Just something really felt off and I started to get some feedback here and there from people I trust that they can see that offness and I got different feedback and I really sat with, am I taking this too much? or does that resonate with me or what resonates with me? And I'm landing with, I know they weren't created with the intention of I am okay with being seen. And that feels extremely important for me in my personal brand being seen is what I'm working with clients on. And I knew once I landed on that, I need new photos and I am ready for new photos. So I got my website up and running and I am so proud of that. And that did require using old photos. And this is getting up and running part of being a startup or being an early stage, entrepreneur It's better to get started than it is to wait for the perfect moment. So I am so happy that I had that website that I had people give me feedback on my images and branding. because now that it's up and running, I can slow down in the background and I can rebuild while I still have a website that's present and a place where people can find me. So, having something that is out there that puts my name out there. That is totally good enough. And I did not need more. but I chose to because that was deeply important to me. Gosh, this is another important part of the entrepreneurial journey, is that I get to choose what's important to me at what point I am my boss. I am my manager, I am my employee. I am my hr. I am also my chief financial officer. I am. Every role of my business. And so I make all the decisions. Of course, I receive input from others. I have tons of mentors. I have tons of friends support people I look up to that don't even know I exist. So all that's to say I was ready to get some new and some legit branding photos. Okay, so here I am showing up in this way, and I was really scared After I decided to go forward, I was really scared and I was really excited. I was really excited because I knew, okay, I am getting closer to being myself and being myself publicly, and that is a really big step in order to do the work I wanna do and to create these connections and build this community. And I'm really scared because it's new, it's unfamiliar, and my mind wants to convince me that it was a bad idea and that this is a waste of money and I won't like the photos and I'm not photographic, photographic, I'm not photogenic, uh, and so on and so forth. And I'm so glad it cost as much as it cost because that really forced me to show up. I made sure that I chose outfits that, again, that stage makeup concept elevated my authenticity, my essence, that I knew myself so well, that I can push myself a little forward with my fashion, with my self-expression to show up. And I also bought some new clothes, and that was a really fun excuse not gonna lie. And now it's about wearing them in my day-to-day life. And that's the next hurdle. Uh, but showing up as myself in all of these different ways and. I did it and it felt good. I realized I was letting myself feel anxious in the morning. And truthfully, I was just excited. I was so thrilled. Um, and I finished this hours ago and I'm still in this beautiful high from it. Um, I don't even have one picture from the day because. That's not the point, but it was just incredible. Um, I showed up. I was myself. I got to the room. I brought a bunch of items that really represent me, a bunch of clothes that I could swap into. I started playing music. I started putting items all around the room. We used the studio room, so it was pretty empty. Had a few props and couches and chairs to sit on, but outside of that. Pretty bear. So I brought my things. I just moved around. I moved myself around the space. I played music and sang and danced to the music. Well, danced minimally, but put on an outfit that I wanted to wear. And then I was just in this flow state and I realized I don't need to be afraid of this camera taking a picture of me. This camera is also. Me looking at my ideal client, my eyes are sitting in these tender moments and these loving moments and these intense moments, and these fill in the blank moments, and the camera is just helping me express that and find these people that I'll work with and I'll collaborate with. I also realized that I am co-creating with a photographer, that she's doing an incredible job of capturing this essence, but we're working together and I can move my body fluidly.'cause I know that the camera can take a bunch of pictures in a few seconds and I can micro adjust my body to get a little more comfortable or to get the right angle as it will appear in a picture form. And I also just had a really fun time. The photographer worked with film photography. I got this resurgence like, yes, the art, the craft of photography. I'm not bashing on digital photography at all, but. To me that was just so exciting. I have high school memories of developing film in a dark room, and there's just such a, craft there. There's, oh my gosh, I can do it and I will interview the photographer and talk about film photography and geek out there, but. I just got to be a space holder. I got to curate the space and be this regulated nervous system. Be myself, listen to music, sing along, chat about all these conversations around the human psyche. My my favorite stuff I. And I truly, I, I got to feel into the fact that this was just an extension of myself. It's not an every day that I take photos of myself at all, and that can be really an uncomfortable experience. I. But I showed up as myself, and because I didn't give into that intimidation factor of doing something outta my element out of the norm, I, I really steeped into who I am and how to bring that alive in a photo. It got to be fun and magical and honestly a truly spiritual experience, and I just wanted to share that. Oftentimes entrepreneurship can feel lonely, and I just had this four or five hour stretch of an experience with another entrepreneur co-creating where I know that the photos she's taking of me help her website, help her market her brand. I also bought a bouquet from a local floral shop near me, and the photos that I took of the flowers, I'll share with them and then they can use that as marketing. And they have this beautiful imagery now if they wanna showcase their work. I guess the other piece here is there was a song on my drive over. That I kept listening to on Repeat, it's Mount Joy song called Strangers, and the whole song was just this fun, upbeat vibe that I had going on for myself and that really put me in the right head space. But the lyrics that really stood out to me are quote, if you want freedom, you better free someone. Then it kind of goes on, and then there's this other, the chorus part just repeats. I'm over you. I'm over you, and I'm over you. And I'll just start with the first part that if you want freedom, you better free someone That unlocked so much in me. I am building something. I'm creating. I'm starting, and I've been on this journey and I'm helping this photographer tap into her essence. I'm helping the floral shop build beautiful bouquets, and I'm so excited to collaborate with all these individuals and the more that I unlock their potential and show them who their ideal clients are through me, the more I find my liberation and my ideal client and my essence and authenticity as I'm really drilling home today. And so I, I found this part funny, to just keep hearing that I'm over you. I'm over you multiple times.'cause. It almost felt like I'm over you being the voice in my head that says You have to do things a certain way. I'm over you. That voice in my head that is trying to color in the lines and I don't need that. Thank you. But no, I haven't looked up the true meaning of the song. I do find that I get a lot out of lyrics and often when I do look up the meaning behind. It kind of takes me away from how I interpret it. So not sure if that's how it was intended to be received, but that was my interpretation and I wanted to share it. I. So if you wanna free yourself, free someone, maybe that just repetitive mantra too of I am over you. I am over you. I am over you.'cause it's cute and silly and it brings some levity and I think that's needed often when we're trying to do big things. So that's what I wanted to share about the photo shoot. I just can't get over how radically different it was from the vision I had of it in my head. And I think that too. Is beautiful and some of the fear that we have around entrepreneurship that we wanna know exactly what something will look like. We're trying so hard to prepare and to plan for it, and we know it's gonna be wildly different. We know there are elements we can't predict, and maybe different also means it's so much better than you could possibly even imagine at this stage, at this moment. So that's my little nugget of motivation. I am so glad you're here. Keep tuning in for more, I don't know, motivational, entrepreneurial experiences and conversations. And if you'd like to connect, find me on my website, molly rockland.com. It'll be in the show notes, and I'll speak with you soon. Okay, bye for now.