Portrait Photography Wardrobe Styling with Whitney Ford

Speaker 1: 0:03

Welcome to Tried and True with the Dash of Woo, where we're all about mixing tried and true strategies that actually work with the magic of manifestation and the science of programming your unconscious mind so that you walk away feeling integrated, inspired and aligned. I'm Renee Bowen, certified Life and Business Coach, professional Photographer, middle-aged Wife and Mom to now three grown kids. I've built two multiple six-figure businesses with zero business training by digging in and learning the methods, and now I'm here to pass them all on to you, from photography and business strategies to energy healing, human design and the basics of manifestation we cover it all here. I'm here to help you embrace your multi-passionate brains and lean in to the fastest and most efficient ways to reach your goals, whatever they may be. Whether you're a season pro or just starting out or maybe you're just here for the woo-woo let's dive in and explore all the exciting ways to take your life, business and self-improvement to the next level. Thanks for joining me and get ready to be inspired.

Speaker 1: 1:16

Hello, hello, welcome back to Tried and True with the Dash of Woo. I am your host, renee Bowen. If you're new here, I am a photographer for many years and I'm also a business and a certified life coach for creatives of all kind, I like to say for badass creatives like you. So if you are finding yourself in need of a business or a life coach or both because usually that's the case get in touch. All my links are below and let's chat and see how I can help you. My goal is to help you become profitable while not hustling more, so it's all about ease and flow and receiving while also taking inspired action in your business. I do believe that we have to have a little bit of both, which is the whole concept of this show. Tried and true things that we know work, with a dash of woo. We got to believe in magic and have optimism, so we have to have both. Maybe it's my liberal rising, I don't know who strives for balance and integration. I like to use that word a little bit more than just balance, because I feel like it's kind of impossible to achieve total balance with all of that, but integrating all of that into our lives while feeling calm and nice and regulated, and so we can actually have the kind of businesses that we truly, truly desire and deserve. So today I have a really fun guest for you guys, and if you're a photographer, you are in for a special treat, because I have a stylist on the show today, and she is a game changer for family photographers, senior photographers You're going to want to tune into this 100%.

Speaker 1: 3:04

Her name is Whitney Ford and she is the stylist behind Styled by WI. She specializes in family photography, styling, in addition to styling couples, newborn sessions and also now high school seniors. She's a mom to three little ones. She met her husband on a blind date and they now live in Mesa, arizona. She is, though, a California native, so she has such a cool background. You guys she was raised by her parents are both international models, turned photographer and makeup artists, so, like, her dad is now a fashion photographer, her mom is a makeup artist, and she grew up in this world of fashion and photography and, like just being a child of two wildly creative people, I think, is just so fascinating, like as a whole other topic in and of itself, but you can really tell in this conversation that I have with her, like why she's good at what she does.

Speaker 1: 4:07

The other thing is that, prior to styling families, whitney worked in the digital marketing space as a social media and a brand manager for businesses across the country, from small cap base to Fortune 500 companies, and her first job right out of college was what she called, basically her dream job. She was working in the brand management department for a shoe designer in LA, and that laid the groundwork for a lot of her understanding of the fashion world, so she is very uniquely qualified to do what she does. She says her passion for styling is rooted in the desire for people to prioritize having these special seasons of life documented and loving the outcome, which starts with loving with what you're wearing, and she herself is a huge fan of photography. She gets her family photos done at least twice a year, so she really gets what we do and how special it is, and so you're going to absolutely love her. She is fascinating and so very talented, and she breaks down how you can get in touch with her and how you can use her services. There's a lot of different options, actually, and I love that she's making those available to all of us.

Speaker 1: 5:19

So get ready to be, like, super inspired, and I cannot wait to see how many you guys start using her styling services, because I feel like this is a big game changer and I mentioned this in the podcast but like we're entering, like this world where AI is starting to do all kinds of stuff right, but I think what's going to happen is that you know we really are going to need more opportunities to set ourselves apart in a more personalized way. And what a fantastic service to offer your photography clients. They can either work directly with her or you can work with her and roll this into your pricing. It's absolutely a game changer, I think, because this high level of service that you offer your clients is going to make a lot of difference in just how they feel cared for, how you know you walk them through this experience and provide an actual experience and really set yourself apart as a higher end boutique full service photographer.

Speaker 1: 6:25

So let's get into this really fun conversation with Whitney. You're going to love her. Okay, whitney, you have a really cool career. Okay, I came across you online. I was like immediately I've got to get her on this show because I feel like this service is something, obviously, that photographers you know need. But I want to talk a little bit about how you came to create this amazing career of yours and tell me a little bit about, like, what that looks like for you. Basically.

Speaker 2: 6:58

Yeah, so this kind of this family photography styling, like just fell into my lap kind of it was very serendipitous. So I was raised by parents that were former models and my dad is now a fashion photographer. My mom is a makeup artist, both for brides and in the commercial industry, so she does makeup and hair and I kind of like I have that skill set, that creative eye. I feel like I could have become a photographer if I wanted to. I have hand-me-down equipment. I kind of have just grown up around that. I could probably have been a makeup artist if I wanted to. I did pageants all through my 20s. I ran a pageant for eight years in the Miss America organization. I feel like I have kind of always been in that industry. My career prior to this was in marketing, so I managed social media and brand management for a lot of different accounts. My first job out of college was actually working for a shoe designer in LA, which was really fun for a young 20-something year Working in the fashion industry, going to fashion shows. But nothing really felt aligned Like I didn't have any strong pull to continue working in the fashion industry in that capacity. I didn't feel any strong pull to become a makeup artist or to become a photographer, even though I had all of the resources at hand. And now I'm a mom.

Speaker 2: 8:35

Fast forward a little bit. I'm a mom of three kids and I love doing family photos. I love having every season, as many seasons of life, documented professionally as possible. It's my love language. I would skip every birthday gift, every Christmas gift, in order to just get family photos or pictures of me with my kids. My husband not so much, and so I started early motherhood. I think a lot of us start blogs and things like that and I would write about motherhood and I did a lot of blog posts on styling for family photos and those got a lot of traction on Pinterest. I would hear in there respond to model calls from photographers that I would follow online and if they would pick us, it'd be really fun. I would really enjoy kind of working together with people who had the same passion for styling as I did.

Speaker 2: 9:31

And I responded to a model call for Kayla Locke, who is very well known in the photography world, and I had really no idea that she had such a big following and her and I were. She styles all her model sessions and I was very hands on with. Like she would send me some ideas, I would send them back and then I would put them in a mood board and she's like, is this your job? Like why are you doing this? And I'm like, no, it's not, I just really liked this.

Speaker 2: 10:00

I showed her some blog posts and after that session of our, she shot our family. She just asked me hey, like you're really good at this, you have a really good eye for this. There's a huge need for this. Do you wanna come on board as my stylist? So I said yes. I had like a huge imposter syndrome Sorry, huge imposter syndrome Thinking like, why are you this photographer that people pay all over the country to learn from, asking me to be your stylist? But she really believed in me and I feel like that was such like a light bulb moment. I felt like all of my strengths, all of these random skills that I had been developing basically my whole life meshed perfectly together to create this career, and so that was in 2021. And now it's really encouraging to see how much this service is needed in this industry and how both photographers and families really appreciate having the resources to feel confident when they show up for their family photos. It is so needed.

Speaker 1: 11:07

That is such a fun story. I went up. There's a lot to like. Pick apart and unpack there too.

Speaker 2: 11:12

Yeah, sorry, that was so long.

Speaker 1: 11:14

Oh no, that's perfect because it gives us a really great, you know picture of like. That was like a natural evolution for you, like I mean, it was just like. I love that. You were just kind of like you followed each little step like, oh okay, I'll do that, oh, okay, you know. And then things just like sort of opened up for you and you like fell into like most of us, I feel like creatives kind of do right, like we kind of quote unquote, fall into like our passion and then realize, oh, I could actually make money at this probably if I really wanted to, and because of your marketing background, you were able to.

Speaker 1: 11:49

That's the really cool part. I love that you kind of came from this like wild existence of like being raised by like models and creatives and photographers and makeup artists. Like, oh my God, tell me a little bit about what that was like before we get into the nuts and bolts of like what you do for you know like photographers and how that all works, because I definitely want to get into that. But like, what was it like growing up? Like, do you have siblings? Like, were you just sort of like, just what was your childhood like? That seems so fun.

Speaker 2: 12:20

Yeah. So I always kind of joke that it's like being raised by wolves, because unless you've experienced it, you don't really understand it. All my friends were kind of like wait, your parents, they're so cool and I'm like they're just my parents. So my parents were international models all through the 80s and 90s. They met in Zurich, switzerland, both modeling abroad, and that series of their life ended up turning into careers behind the camera in a different way. So my dad is a fashion photographer and my mom is a makeup artist, and so lots of photo shoots at our house.

Speaker 2: 13:00

Basically my brother and I are always the guinea pigs for testing light. You know mom would do my makeup, my dad would. You know we actually had in our living room growing up. We had mounted of like the paper backdrops mounted in our living room, so my dad would roll them down. It's like to set up a studio, you know, constantly like jumping fences to test a location out. And I mean also just the typical like when you're a teenager and your parents were models. It's not just like oh, stacey's mom, you know, like Stacey's mom is hot, like okay, yes, my mom is gorgeous, but my dad is also very good looking, so that was like just annoying. In high school it was so annoying Like, oh my God, whitney's dad and he told me like would just try to embarrass me.

Speaker 2: 13:51

We lived in a small town in Northern California and I would get texts from my friends like Whitney's dad is at the community pool in a Speedo.

Speaker 1: 13:59

I'm like, oh my God, just killing, that is so funny. Okay, that is exactly how I thought it would be. Like that is so interesting to me, oh my gosh. And growing up as someone who grew up like I mean, I was like a teenager, and then I'm at early 20s, in the 80s and 90s, like I, you know, like there's that whole time period vibe too that I could just absolutely, you know, vibe with Like that's so cool.

Speaker 1: 14:25

That's so, so cool. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about how you work with photographers, because obviously there's a lot of photographers in my community and this is a very big need. Like you know, this is something that I hear a lot about from photographers in my coaching groups and just even my clients. Like you know, what do I wear? And not all of us Like, yes, I feel like as photographers, we're creatives and we have an eye, but that I'm going to tell you like that is not where I want to spend my time.

Speaker 1: 14:57

Like, even if I enjoy putting stuff together, like even with my seniors, I have a lot of other things going on. Right, like I got all this other stuff that I had to do. I got to be like the marketing, the social media person. I've got to be the marketer of the head of the business and, like now I've got to also, you know, walk my clients through all of this how to prep and what it's going to look good on camera and I love that. You know, we don't necessarily have to do that. You know, kind of walk us through what that looks like for you, like if you were going to work with a client, or like, do you work with certain photographers? Is it client by client basis, like how does that work for you?

Speaker 2: 15:38

So I do work client to client. I also work directly with photographers. Some photographers actually build my packages into their packages and some photographers just have me on more of like a one off or a need be basis. So if they're doing a style shoe or a retreat and they really want to have a professional style, their model family, then they'll bring me in for that. In terms of I don't have like a retainer package at the time. That's definitely something that's, you know, maybe going to come to fruition at some point, but for now we just work on a project basis with families and photographers.

Speaker 2: 16:15

I have another service that was my most popular service last year that I've kind of revamped for 2024. And it's called my Made For you mood boards and that is like for photographers who maybe offer many sessions or they need. They can't necessarily budget to have every single one of their clients styled, but they do want to offer that resource to them. So what they get is they get a link to a page that is customized for them so it has their logo at the top. I create mood boards. They can do two mood boards, four mood boards and they can continue to add. And with those mood boards there's another tab that has a live shopping catalog. So I catalog more than just what's seen in the mood board for their clients to be able to shop. So they know everything that's in this tab fits within this mood board and so I can shop for my toddler son or my preteen daughter.

Speaker 2: 17:18

And there's examples based on the photographers prompt. So an example a lot of what I'm doing right now is Mother's Day Minis, so there will be a lot of examples of things that a mom could wear based on the setup that photographer is doing. None of this is AI generated. None of this is an algorithm. This is me styling based on your prompt. So you send me your location or your studio setup. You send me the parameters I typically have moms with children under 10. And then I will create that page for you to send out to your clients so they have a live catalog with the visuals to go with it.

Speaker 1: 17:57

Okay, that's amazing.

Speaker 1: 17:59

Yeah, that's cool, no, but like, I want to break that down, like, and I think that obviously, yes, I mean like, if you guys are listening to this in the future, like you know, we're recording this in, like you know, february 2024, because I know your business is going to grow and evolve, just like disclaimer. You know things could change, as always, right, but I like that you have these different options, like the option to work directly with the client, you know, and make it a little bit more custom, like that for them. But these mood boards are really cool because of that shoppable aspect, especially Like that's the stuff that gets me stumped. You know, a lot of us senior photographers especially, you know we do these like style shoots a lot, right, like you were saying, like, and that's what I love about it is that you could really help us find where to source some of these things. You know, and I know you work mainly with families, but I do think you also do some seniors, yes, is that correct?

Speaker 2: 19:01

I do. So, that is, I have a couple of things in the works for seniors. I have styled seniors in the past, but what I was noticing is these seniors they have a lot of their own ideas, or maybe they don't email back the same way that an elder millennial would, and so we kind of you know, we are bouncing back between like mom and then them, and so I'm kind of trying to create something that is a little bit more useful and then also for the photographers, that's cost effective. And so probably where you saw me was I was basically marketing that my made-for-you mood boards can work for seniors. I've already had a couple of photographers hire me to create these mood boards for seniors.

Speaker 2: 19:47

The way that I've started doing it is I have a mood board for girls and a mood board for guys, and then each of them have their own shopping catalogs, and in the mood boards I provide some direction, like a cute little write up of like this is a timeless, like you want, like a timeless outfit. Then you want something that's a little bit more trendy and kind of on brand for you and your personal style, maybe a fun color, and then something kind of more simple, like you know jeans and a shirt that you could maybe add in like a college sweatshirt or a college hat, and just kind of guiding them along those parameters. Like here are three to four ideas of you know, depending on how many outfit changes your session allows for. Here are three to four types of outfits you should be looking for and then toggle over to the Finds tab. Here are a bunch of outfit ideas that you can click on and shop directly from there, so you're not having to think of well, where do I find a romper?

Speaker 2: 20:45

like that they can click on it and see, and I try to be conscious of like I want some variety. Some people might be a little bit more modest, some people might want something a little bit more flirty and fun. And then also, with styling moms, some people might want something a little more flowy. They might have just had a baby and so, adding to that mood board a bunch of options, I would say there's probably four to six options per person on the mood board, like for a family. So, like for mom, you might have four to six dress options that would fit within the parameters of that mood board. For the seniors, there might be four to six outfit options that are like a timeless classic. Four to six outfit options that are trendy on brand for this year's senior.

Speaker 1: 21:33

Yeah, absolutely no. I know because, like I have a style guide and a lot of us do. Like a lot of senior photographers have style guides. I've created my own based on our Gen Z, our younger clients. Right, because, like, as you said, they're very different. I mean, when I started shooting seniors, it was the early 2000s and I was working with millennials and it was not. It was easy, because millennials love to share and social media was new and it was you know. And now this is a whole different story, right? Like.

Speaker 1: 22:05

So their style is very, very different in a lot of ways, and obviously this varies per area and region and per person as well, but I always talk about that in my style guide. It's like I want you to feel like you. Like yes, I know mom wants this on her wall, but like this is really your session too. Like, so how can we, you know, meld those two worlds and make both mom and both the teenage girl especially happy? Because the teenage boy is just gonna basically usually do whatever mom says, because he's doing it for mom. That's my experience. But the girls are very much like you know, they also have a very specific sort of vibe or look that they're going for and I really, really want to honor that, and so I love that you kind of brought that up as well, because I'm sure you're gonna run into it even more. As our, you know, teen clients we go from like Gen Z to Gen Alpha, which is I always talk about like it's like Gen Z on crack.

Speaker 2: 23:10

They're trying to keep up with their trends while also making it something that mom is gonna be happy to pay for. Still send a copy to grandma, and I do actually provide in there. I'll put almost like a quick guide, not like a full PDF, but I'll drop in there Just kind of some guidelines or some bullet points, and part of it is like you want to have at least one look that you can send out to your grandmother. And then you want to have one look that's fun and you feel like really aligned with who you are in this season, and it might not be a timeless photo, but it's capturing who you are in this moment, it's capturing your personal style. I think that's kind of the fun thing about capturing senior photos is like you will look probably in 20 years and you're probably gonna laugh at yourself for styles, because it's like what we wore in the early 2000s or 90s is like I mean, it's coming back. It's coming back, but it's like a little cringy to us but it's like you don't want to just have.

Speaker 2: 24:12

You want to be on trend with what's happening here now. That's the point of photos to capture them like capture the moment, and so I do like that. You said, honor that, and I try to just provide some guidelines of like here's what's gonna photograph well, within you can still add your personal touch on it. Here are maybe some things to think about Some colors to fade or maybe think about adding a layer, just things that will still make it look good on camera while still honoring their personal style, and just also give them like a starting point, because it can feel really overwhelming to shop the entire internet Giving photographers this link. It's easy, they can text it to their clients, they can email it to their clients. It comes up branded with their logo at the top and it just gives their clients a roadmap of like. Here are some visual aids and here is a catalog that has been curated by an actual stylist for you Shop from now.

Speaker 2: 25:12

The second piece of what I'm going to start offering for seniors and I haven't quite, like, hashed out all the details yet, but and I think I'm only going to offer it to photographers who purchase the made for you mood boards for seniors is like a 30 minute consultation. So, where they can, either we can zoom or they can. I have a client portal that people can upload photos from items in their closet or try on photos, and then I will provide feedback. And if it's like I just need someone to fill in the gaps I don't know what shoes to wear or what accessories to wear, or like, I love these jeans but I can't find the right top and they might just need someone to kind of give them a little bit of guidance. I feel like that will be something that can kind of supplement what I'm already doing with the made for you mood boards.

Speaker 1: 26:03

Yeah, I can see that being really popular actually, because it is it's like like I was talking about in the beginning. I mean we might have an idea, but again, we're like we're in so much of the other parts of our businesses you know it's a lot, and so being able to even offer that to the client in addition to the link, so I do want to just like I'm glad that you also highlighted that cause I was going to ask you like okay, how is this delivered? So I love that it's digital, it's a link they can open it, it's branded, it's not like cumbersome for people to use. So that's awesome. And then from there, okay, well, let's keep it a step further Like do you guys need a little bit more help?

Speaker 1: 26:45

Like, a lot of us have a lot of us senior photographers and myself included we have like a style closet. I don't like to have a like. I don't have a lot, a lot of stuff in my style closet, because styles change and a lot of my clients a big pain point I've heard from my younger teens especially is that they don't want to wear the same stuff that their friends wore. That's the other thing. They want to be unique and they want to wear something different.

Speaker 1: 27:08

So I have some pieces that are like staple pieces, right, like, okay, this would look good, but like, let's make it look like something else, right, like, so that's where a stylist can really come in and you can, like really put your eye to it and say, yes, this is a great piece and it could be very retro or it could be really modern, but let's pair it with something else and make it unique to you and it'll look completely different than what like somebody else wore it. Like, so that's what's really cool about it, right? So I can imagine that. I bet I can see this. I don't know if this is something you already do, but like sending you, like those of us who have these pieces sending that to you. If this is like something that we do with you long term, right, so you know what our pieces are and then you can sort of play with that. Is that something that you do as well?

Speaker 2: 27:56

Inside of. I have a styling platform that I work out of. It's a client management tool, but it's specifically designed for stylists. So when I'm styling I'm clipping images. That's how I'm able to have everything linked. So you're browsing it as almost like Pinterest. You just see pictures in the catalog but then it's linked to everything. So it's easy for me. It's very efficient.

Speaker 2: 28:19

Every client that fills out my questionnaire gets a client profile. With that client profile they have a virtual closet, they have a lookbook section and then a find section. So whether I'm styling like a family, they'll have that closet section so they could upload. Maybe mom already bought her dress and she wants me to style around that she can upload it. Or maybe she wants to try something on and I can give her some tips on like let's add a layer, let's French tuck that, let's add a belt. But for photographers it's been really useful because when they fill out the questionnaire for photographers, they also get that digital closet and they can upload their client closet pieces and I can actually pull those into mood boards. Whether I'm styling an individual client for them or I'm making the Made For you mood boards, I can put those into those as well.

Speaker 1: 29:12

Hey, hey, photographers, popping in really quick with two things that I need you to know about that are time sensitive. The first one is that I have a sale on my style guide. So, while we're on the topic of style and fashion for your high school seniors, I have a Canva template that you can download and use for your own business. You can customize it and you can even use my images. All the details are below in the link you'll find there. It is geared toward our Gen Z clients, so it is very, very current and modern, and I've gotten nothing but fantastic feedback from both my clients and also the photographers who've purchased it. So all that info is below for you, and the sale is good for one week only. The other thing is that I do have two spots only open for one-on-one coaching in the month of March. If you want in on that, hit the link below. We're gonna hop on a quick Zoom call and we need to chat about whether this is right for you, whether you're ready for it.

Speaker 1: 30:05

I pour a lot of myself into one-on-one coaching, as you can imagine, and I don't offer it year-round in large quantities just because I already run a group coaching program that you can find info about down below, as well as my own photography business. I have a lot going on, but I love, love, love coaching you guys one-on-one, because that's where we can dig in and get everything done very quickly. It is the most efficient way to scale your business, especially if you've been in business for a minute and you are stuck or stagnant, you're having an issue with maybe one particular thing, or even if you are at the beginning of your business. It's a fantastic way to build it foundationally, because you get access to my entire vault of educational content, which is a lot. So we can go over all of that on a call. I will put some links down below for you, but you definitely wanna jump on that ASAP. I've had a bunch of calls this week and I only have two spots open, so will it be you? Let's chat.

Speaker 2: 30:58

So then, any photographer that I'm working with, any of their clients that come through, are tagged accordingly.

Speaker 2: 31:05

So I have, like every photographer that I work with on a regular basis has a tag and any of their clients get that and I can filter and drop in their client closet pieces to that.

Speaker 2: 31:15

I know that was a long, but yes, the long answer, or the short answer, is yes, there is a space for photographers to like a hub for them to put all of their pieces, even if it's not just like clothing pieces.

Speaker 2: 31:30

A huge part of business is actually I do a ton of vintage shopping and I style blankets, baskets, belts, things that I'm like, oh, this just needs a little something extra, and I feel like that's kind of what sets me apart as a stylist is that I'm not afraid to like venture off of all the same websites that everyone's looking at. I'm gonna go put like some feet to the ground and go hunt down an Afghan blanket for you, or I mean like a vintage fishing basket to like really make this story come alive, like I'm gonna find it for you, and so that's been a really fun like just different piece of my business is really adding in like all of those little details that make it just tell, like your specific story that you're trying to tell, whether it's an ornate like belt or a bracelet from your grandmother. We can incorporate all of that.

Speaker 1: 32:29

Okay, that's really amazing. I love those little pieces. They make such a big difference. And, again, I love that. You know, I love that that's an option and I know that there's a lot of photographers out there who are gonna be like, oh my gosh, this is amazing.

Speaker 1: 32:44

I don't really know. This is like my brain is kind of going off in like 500 different directions just thinking about those possibilities. But, like it really does, I bet it's really fun for you, you know, because, like you love doing it, but like I can imagine that the clients also. Like what's happening is that the clients are just feeling so much more taken care of. And those of us who do have, you know, a higher end luxury business where it is high touch. You know we're creating an experience. You know we're not like just kind of shooting, burn photographers, like, hey, meet me at the park, I'll shoot you pictures and give you a flash drive. Like this is, you know, what I do and what I teach is more of this boutique level and this is perfect for us because this adds to that experience so much more and we're not having to actually do it.

Speaker 2: 33:40

So, yeah, I feel like photographers. They just don't have the bandwidth, especially in the busy seasons, and it's like for some clients they might take family photos once a year, it might be once every couple of years and you really want them to love their pictures and you could be the most talented photographer out there. But if your family shows up in something that A doesn't photograph well or B doesn't flatter their bodies or doesn't fit like your editing style, they're not going to be the images that, like you're happy with or that they're happy with. And my goal, both as a business owner and as a mom, is to take the stress out of that for both the families and the photographers. So they want to rebook, they want to print their photos, they want to share their photos, because what good are these if they're just sitting in your camera roll? You want to feel proud of them, you want to feel like you came as your best self and that you weren't stressed out to the max.

Speaker 2: 34:37

And yeah, it is a luxury service and unfortunately it's not something that maybe everyone can afford, which is why I've tried to offer some different packages, like, maybe every photographer can't build in individual styling for each client, but they can do mini session mood boards a couple times a year to add that value to their clients and send that to them and say, hey, here are four mood boards based on the locations I'll be shooting in the fall and these are some examples of what to wear and an entire catalog for you to look through and shop from.

Speaker 2: 35:13

And then, you never know, that client might end up just hiring me to style them or they might just use that as a resource and know. I think people appreciate they get a lot of confidence out of having that guidance. It reflects good on the photographer. It makes them, like you said, feel taken care of and if they feel like they weren't stressed their husband wasn't stressed they're more likely to rebook you and more of an annual thing. Or for me, like I like to shoot family photos in the spring and in the fall For every any occasion. That's what I like to do.

Speaker 1: 35:50

Yeah, right, yeah, and that is a really good point about making it easy for everybody involved, cause yeah, I mean I always tell that to my family clients. I don't shoot as many families as I used to, but it definitely is a pain point. Like not everybody wants to be there. It's usually for the mom and the husband is just kind of like dragged along Usually not always but it's nice that that's one thing that they don't have to stress about. Like that is a big, big, big stressor for most people. It's like how do I make this all work and like also coordinating? You know, when you have like multiple kids and you know you're thinking about like oh, my gosh, like okay, I know I'm gonna want wall art, so I have to think about what's gonna look good on my wall and what colors should like. It's just a lot for a lot of people and not everybody's brains works that way. Like not everybody can just go on Pinterest and be like, oh, okay, I got it, I figured it out.

Speaker 2: 36:49

It's stressful, I think so yeah, that's kind of where I come in is connecting the visual Cause I think a lot of people can go on Pinterest and say I like this, but then it's from taking that, from just a pretty picture on your phone to like where do you find? Where do you even find?

Speaker 1: 37:04

that.

Speaker 2: 37:05

Or how do I like? I like this style of dress, but maybe a different color. And then now I'm completely overwhelmed with trying to coordinate outfits that are still that vibe but completely different colors. And I know there's a lot of services out there that will use whatever technology there is to curate mood boards for you based on a certain set of questions, and that's great and that's a great starting point for some. But a lot of people really want to talk to a human being and have their feedback. Like there's a lot of things to consider. Some of my photographers don't like to shoot certain colors. Some people don't like to wear certain colors. Like an AI isn't always gonna get all of these. It's not always gonna take those into consideration.

Speaker 2: 37:55

And then also just things like I'm a mom.

Speaker 2: 37:58

I've had three children.

Speaker 2: 37:59

I understand what it feels like to like be in a different body than I was in seven years ago and honoring that and really taking the time, the extra time, to make sure that mom feels really good in what she's wearing, because if mom feels good, like everything else is gonna find its place and I feel like just that personal touch and making them, just guiding them through the process, while also like having that kind of authority in some sense of like.

Speaker 2: 38:30

You know, this is my job and I'm going to give you my best feedback, and so people do. I feel like they almost feel really confident in making a decision and like actually pulling the pieces and, you know, pulling the trigger on things because they have. They're like, oh, like a stylist is helping me. Or sometimes I feel like if their photographer is guiding them, they almost just kind of like, oh, like, thanks so much, or like I read your style guide, but then they just go rogue. You know, it's like I have someone that's like touching base with you multiple times and following up, and with the way that I do my process, I feel like they end up actually showing up styled according to, like, the photographer's brand guidelines a lot more often than if they just get a stagnant PDF.

Speaker 1: 39:18

Yeah, that's a really good point. That point of contact and ongoing like that really makes a big difference in so many different for many different reasons. And I and I love you, know you're so right If mom, mom's happy, everybody's happy. That I mean. As a mom of three grandkids, I 100% agree with that and I, yeah, my body has changed so many different ways and so it's an ongoing stressor. Like what's going to look good in pictures? Like, yeah, we have, we might have an idea of like what we would like it to look like, but realistically that's not my body type.

Speaker 1: 39:56

I don't really, you know, it doesn't work on me in the same way and I don't want to spend five hours in a dressing room, like, actually, you know, going through all of this myself and having to find out the hard way when I could just, you know, have a stylist go, yeah, this is going to look better on you and this color is going to look better on you and it's going to work better in your house and it's going to feel more cohesive.

Speaker 1: 40:17

And you know there's so much to think about, even with just like color theory if you want to get into that whole thing.

Speaker 1: 40:23

You know that's a whole other topic. But even with seniors and senior girls that's something that I hear a lot about Like we're dealing with very fragile teenage girls, right? I mean, a lot of them already have body image issues. A lot of them have already, you know, gone through so much of that at a very young age, and they are the selfie generation, so they're really used to the way they're going to look on their selfie camera. It's a whole different thing when someone else yes, so that is something to you know speak to, and I like that. This gives them that option of yes, I'm the professional here, I know, I know it's going to look great on you. Here's some suggestions like and here's why, right, because I feel like they definitely are going to get more than just a great photo that they're going to look good in. They're actually learning Like you're teaching them about this if you're working with them like that, and I think that's so cool.

Speaker 2: 41:25

I think for the senior girls, like we've all been in that season of life, we know how hard that is and you are in such a like a pivotal moment in your life. Like you, you want to be your own person, but you also want to fit in and you want to. You know self love is such a big thing. That really was not a huge thing, yeah same like self love.

Speaker 2: 41:47

But also, you know, you do have these self deprecating thoughts and I do feel like part of what's really fun about this is that you kind of have your it's. It's like a spa day, like where you go out and you feel really pampered and I feel like that's a really fun moment for a teenage girl to work with the stylist, have a virtual closet, her and I can comment back and forth on each piece so I can give that personal feedback, like if she's like oh, I really like this top, but I don't like the color yellow. I so you know, here's what I really like, why I pulled this for you. This neckline would look great, really great on you, or whatever.

Speaker 2: 42:28

We can comment back and forth and she can kind of feel like to, you know, when she goes back to her friends, like, oh, I had a stylist, like style my senior. That's kind of a fun, like a fun piece of it. And you know I have spent most of my adult life in like the women empowerment space. So I ran a local pageant in the Miss America organization for eight years, coached many, many girls through that process and it's really, it's truly like a self development process and so I feel like I take a lot of that just kind of like wanting people to feel really good about themselves, and I really put that into like my styling and consider how people feel and how I want them to feel when they show up on their photo session day and that's so important.

Speaker 1: 43:20

That's so awesome and so important, and it is that higher touch experience I mean, like that's the I'm always talking to photographers about.

Speaker 1: 43:29

How are you setting yourself apart? How are you going the extra mile without you know putting yourself out, like out there too much, without you know giving too much of yourself? Obviously, where's that line? How's that? You know what I mean, like, but it's so important that we do go the extra mile and under promise, over deliver, and this is a fantastic resource, like you are a fantastic resource for us to be able to do that, because I feel like, more and more now, now, with things like AI and all of these different things, just in general, the personal touch is going to matter even more because it's going to be rare, like in the future. I mean, I can already see it. You know like, yeah, I'm all for AI for certain things, but you really are going to, like you said, people will be able to tell that an actual human being had a hand in this. Yeah, exactly, and it means more and it's the feeling. It's the feeling and that's what you just touched on.

Speaker 2: 44:33

Yeah, of knowing. I feel like it's like a confidence boost, of knowing, like sometimes you just need another human being to like validate, like that looks good, or let's try this for you to know, like, ok, you're right. Like a lot of people show up and they have already picked a couple of things, I'm like, oh, that's, these are great. Like here's, like how we can make this feel complete and, yeah, that, that personal touch. I also kind of wanted to touch on what you said about photographers. Like you guys have a certain bandwidth, as does every human being on the planet, right, and the reason that it's, you know, I would say like, if I'm pitching myself is, you know, to delegate some of this over to a stylist is because, just like, when you're editing, you have batch. You know processes that you do to batch some of your work. So you're not reinventing the wheel every single time and you have certain workflows that allow you to be more efficient and get more done within the parameter. So you're still profitable, and the same in my business. So you know, me and a photographer could style the exact same thing, but I might have been able to do it more efficiently because I have a lot of workflows and things on the back end that allow me to batch a lot of these things, or I have a lot of rhythms and I am a 100 percent. That's my focus.

Speaker 2: 45:55

And so if you're only styling something once every couple of weeks, you don't know that H&M just dropped, you know, seven new cardigans. I have those like top of brain all the time, so it's really fast for me to be like, ok, we need a dusty blue henley and I'm like I just saw that somewhere and I can find it very quickly where it might take your brain a long time to catalog. Yeah Hour, the internet, where I'm constantly indexing that stuff in my mind and I'm walking around when I'm at vintage stores or I'm just shopping for my own family and I'm making mental notes of, like that had texture, what was that brand that? You know, this looked really great. I'm going to make sure that I clip that for that client, and so that's why I would say for a photographer, it does, you know, behoove you to delegate some of that, because then you can do what your wheel house is, because you have the mental bandwidth to do that. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 46:52

You're in your zone of genius, and that's what it's about.

Speaker 1: 46:54

Like, you know, like you're in your zone of genius doing this and we're in ours, and so that's when everything can become elevated.

Speaker 1: 47:02

That's that power of like outsourcing and delegating and, you know, bringing other people into your universe who are going to be of like mind, right, and that's that's one of the reasons I wanted to have you on is because, yes, I want to tell people about the service, but, like, who you are as a person matters, because the feeling and your background and all of these other little things really make a big difference in in all of this.

Speaker 1: 47:29

It's not just like hiring a random service, right, it's like, okay, let's, let's get into the nitty gritty of like, why this is so, why it can be so elevated, and a lot of it has to do with because of who you are. So I'm really glad, thank you for coming and doing this. I know you don't normally do podcasts or anything like that, so I really appreciate you coming and chatting with us. I feel like this is such an amazing topic and amazing service and and you're such a cool person. So thank you so much for for being here with us and tell people how you prefer them to find you. Get in touch with you if they want to talk to you about what you're offering, and all of that kind of stuff.

Speaker 2: 48:13

Absolutely Well. Thank you so much for having me. This was a lot of fun, great first podcast experience. So the best place to find me is Instagram. My handle is at styledbywi A lot of people think I'm living Wisconsin, but those are just my initials with me Irene, so styled bywi kind of rhymes, and from there we can chat.

Speaker 2: 48:38

If you are a photographer or a family that's interested in booking, I can send you the question straight from there and then after that we move over into, like your, your client portal. I'm also going to be dropping a mini styling course inside of the Chrysalis Collective in April. So for photographers who want to learn a little bit more about, kind of the method behind the madness, how to create a mood board that is not just this boring thing, like something that actually is captivating, that will resonate with your clients, and then also a seasonal style guide that is actually shoppable, that will update as the seasons change and progress. It's not stagnant and can be changed and customized to your brand. It's a template that you're allowed to edit. Oh, wow. All of those will be available inside of the Chrysalis Collective on April 1st, that's exciting.

Speaker 1: 49:41

Okay, I will put those links in the show notes. You know, as far as like the ones that I have access to now, and they can always get in touch with you about everything else as well if they have any more questions. But definitely, you guys reach out to her, follow her. I think this is really really such a cool thing that you're doing and I just want a lot of people to you know, get to know you. Yeah, reach out.

Speaker 2: 50:06

I like I live in the DM so I'm happy to answer questions. I also do have you can test drive my Made For you Moodboard service. If you're a photographer who's interested in that, I do have like a test link so you can go on. Everything is exactly how it would be if you were to purchase that service. Only your logo would be at the top and you can have as many different mood boards added in there as you want and as many different catalogs, but it's still shoppable. You can still click on it and check it out and I can have you put that in the show notes if you'd like as well, so people can see what that service actually looks like and get like a little hands-on view.

Speaker 1: 50:45

Oh, I love that. Yeah, that would be fantastic, thank you. Well, thank you so much for being here. It was so great chatting with you and, yeah, I can't wait to see how your business just grows. I love seeing new, creative businesses just thrive. So best of luck to you.

Speaker 1: 51:00

Thank you for the opportunity Really appreciate it. Okay, my brain is swimming with ideas and possibilities. After speaking with Whitney, I can't wait to see what you guys also come up with, and I'd love to hear about your takeaways from this episode as well, as if you are going to work with her. If you've worked with her, like, hit me up in the DMs over on Insta at Renee Bowen. I always love chatting with you guys. I also have a channel over there that is really not specifically for the podcast, but it's definitely geared more toward the podcast listeners, so join the channel as well. You can find that on my Instagram profile. I also drop specials and discounts and things like that in there first, so you'll be in the know before anybody else if you join that little channel of mine.

Speaker 1: 51:46

And I really think that services like hers, like I was talking about before, are really cutting edge right now. The more we can provide one-on-one service, high-touch services to our clients to make them feel special, to make them feel really taken care of what a fantastic thing to offer. So I don't know about you, but I've been in this business for a long time and it's hard to find other creatives and stylists who you can work with who you can rely on. It's like my makeup artist, jamie, and I always talk about this Like I've been very, very lucky and fortunate to have Jamie for all these years. We've worked together for like a million years and that's rare. We always talk about the fact that, unfortunately, with creatives like makeup artists and even hairstylists, sometimes it can be really hard to find somebody you can rely on because they have a bad rap for being a little flaky. So I love finding creatives who are taking their businesses seriously and are highly professional and completely put together, and that is 100% Whitney. So definitely get in touch with her and let me know how it goes.

Speaker 1: 52:59

So that's it for this week. I hope you guys have a fantastic rest of your week. As mentioned earlier, I'd love to chat with you guys If you are in that place of your business where you feel like enough is enough. I'm sick of not making any money, I'm ready to be profitable and I'm ready to be able to spend time with my family. So if that's you, I got you. Hit me up in the links below and let's chat about how I can help you and your business scale and thrive in 2024. Have an amazing week, you guys. Love you. Bye.