Being That Mom

Introduction

Hello my people! Today we have the pleasure of having our very first guest, Toni G Photo! Toni is a wedding and elopement photographer based out of Fresno, California. Toni shares her journey & gives us all the deets that got her to where she is now!

How it all started

Toni went to college at Fresno State for business management & entrepreneurship! She tells me about her senior year in college, when she told her professor she wanted to start a photography business but quickly got turned down and was told to choose something else. (How many of us have heard that before?) Toni went on to working a 9-5 job she was really good at and even reached a management position but was not in love with her job. After quitting & going through a very hard time in her life, Toni attended her first photography meetup & was HOOKED. After the workshop, Toni got started on her portfolio by taking pictures of her close friends for free! She got so creative with her shoots that she even went to Yosemite with her sister for a bridal shoot! She started a community called#Fresnophotogs, which I myself am a part of & I absolutely love! We are both definitely all about community over competition. I asked Toni what the story behind #FresnoPhotogs was and she tells me it came from her own experience, when she was starting out she was discouraged by local big photographers. She then met up with smaller local photographers, with time opening up their meetups to the public which resulted in more people showing up. It is now such a big, beautiful & inspiring community.

The elephant in the Room

A fun little question that I got to ask Toni, was what’s something she would not be caught doing now that she is more experienced, she tells us to learn our camera before taking pictures of others! I totally agree and actually have a course teaching others just because learning your camera is SO IMPORTANT. We address the elephant in the room (COVID) and I asked how it affected her business, she says she feels mostly bad for the brides, some have postponed their special day and some went through with it but of course with precautions. Thankfully her clients have supported her through this time! She gives some advice for other photographers, and it's to work on the things you never have time for, update your websites and clean your work up to be able to come back stronger, which I think is such great advice!

Q&A’s

We wrapped up the episode with some super fun questions & got our brain working! Favorite Color? Starbucks Drink? 3 Words you want people to think of when they see your work? If you had no choice but to switch careers what would you do? Photography pet-peeves? Your favorite part about your job? 

Advice for new photographers who are a little intimidated? Her advice for new photographers is “practice makes perfect, get those things down ahead of time, take photos of your friends until you find your style, people will eventually book you it’s just a matter of time”. Woow, this was such a beautiful interview with a beautiful soul! Thank you guys for joining us and listening today! If you loved this episode make sure to leave a review, it would be grtaly appreciated! ♡

Links

ToniGPhoto’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonigphoto/?hl=en

#FresnoPhotogs Instagram:       https://www.instagram.com/fresnophotogs/?hl=en

Toni’s Website: 

https://tonigphoto.com/insta 

My photography Instagram: https://www.instagram

Make Pretty Stuff with Julie

Introduction

Hello! Hello my people!! So today we have our first full episode along with our first guest! This guest has personally inspired me for the longest! Julie from Make Pretty Stuff is joining me today! Julie is here to share her story, current projects, and personal tips & tricks so her followers can make pretty stuff too! Stay tuned, I am so excited to hear Julie's story with you guys!  

Tuning in to her creative self  

Julie classifies herself as a Lifestyle DIY Blogger, she specializes in DIY’s, ideas, tips for your home business and life! I wanted to know how she started her whole journey & she shares she always wanted to go into a creative field, & is finally doing what she wants. I’m sure many of us can relate when she states that it was hard for her to accept that she wanted to be a blogger because of people's perspective of it, her thoughts were that people would think she was doing it for followers, but it totally was not just about that. Julie mentions she was always interested in media production & actually majored in that field. We talk about how over the summers she would travel from Wisconsin to California for different internships such as Darling Magazine, The Stylist, and even VH1! After college she decided to move to California & landed a job with a very well known fashion designer named Jenni Kayne, which to me is one, AMAZING and two BOLD, I love the fact that she followed her dreams, Kudos to Julie! 💕

The now

Julie has been working for herself for about 5 years now, doing creative direction, photography, social media consulting & says she has learned so much! I was so curious to know where or how Julie gets her creativity for her amazing selfies!! Her 3 tips to getting creative are 1. ask yourself how you can portray everyday things in a creative way, 2. Google image random words, 3. Imagine that your phone is a fancy camera & get creative with what you have. She mentions she’s a big advocate of not spending too much money on equipment when starting out. 

Q&A’s

I asked Julie what she uses now & it is a Cannon G7x, if you guys love her content & want to look into her camera I will link it down below! I wanted to know how she edits her pictures & she tells me she uses lightroom, she mentions she sells her own presets and learned how to create them by buying others presets. I asked if she considers herself a multitasker and she said no because she’s not good at doing many things at once. Julie states that she started getting into home decor because she is a renter, like many of us, had to get creative, then realized how much she actually loves home decor which actually led to her getting jobs in that area! I had to ask about how she gets clients & she tells me the key is to NETWORK, share what you want to get hired for & engage with people and it will come to you! 

Monetizing her Youtube Channel

I really wanted to touch on how she got monetized on youtube, I know many creatives who love youtube & want to start youtube but aren’t really sure how. Julie recently got her first paycheck from youtube after posting consistently for one year, but she was posting inconsistently the year before that, which is just a reminder that anything we want we can have, we just have to stay consistent. Julie shares the requirements to get paid from youtube which is having at least 1,000 subscribers & 4,000 hours of watchtime in one year. When talking about Ads & youtube I got curious and wanted to know how she collabs with brands, she says she pitches herself & has an E-book on that goes more in depth. Her tip to anyone who wants to work with brands is to offer the brand som

Finally some solid clarification for anyone who wants to learn more about the meaning and mission behind Four Percent Photography ! Thank you for listening, check out the website for more info and ways you can support the creative youth!

https://fourpercentphotography.com

WELCOME!

In this episode you'll get a few minuets of nervousness as this is my very first time recording for my podcast! BUT- stick it out and you'll get to hear me share a piece of my heart as I open up about my personal story with how I got started in photography.

Done is better than perfect, so stick around while I get used to this whole podcasting thing which will DEFINITELY include some equipment updates!

Find me on all social media at Four Percent Photography

Megan <3

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