Episode 36
Melanie Anderson – A Photographer Podcast Interview
Today’s podcast is with Melanie Anderson, who is constantly teaching and giving back to the industry. She has a retail studio space that is full service, including portrait work, extreme volume and commercial work. Listen in to hear Melanie talk about re-inventing herself every few years and how important that is for the mentality of creatives. She’s fired up about the leadership in education in our industry right now. You don’t want to miss Melanie talk about the importance of print. Melanie also talks about grace, body rhythm, being the best version of your authentic self and fully understanding the 5 love languages. Melanie talks about starting every day with what she’s grateful for and with the perspective of being open to serve however she’s called. This a podcast you’ll want to listen to over and over again!
Resources:
Books:
The Bible
Go for No! Yes is the Destination, No is How You Get There (https://amzn.to/2Q8CikW)
The 5 Love Languages by Dr. Chapman (https://amzn.to/2Q7ddGS)
Connect with Melanie:
http://melanieandersonworldwide.com
[00:00:01] Hey everyone, this is Melanie Anderson and you’re listening. Two from nothing
[00:00:06] to profit. Welcome to from nothing to profit of photographers podcast with Matt and Kayak where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster.
[00:00:23] Hey everybody, thanks for joining us again this week. So I have my friend Melanie Anderson this week. Um, Kaya and I have known Melanie for years and years and years and uh, we run cross paths all the time. I’m a nice Melany ass on you some a couple of times this year. I saw you at sink this year. We’re going into each other in North Carolina all over the place. So, um, you’re always doing your best to give back to the industry and travel around and, and just for indoor industry. And so first of all, I want to say thank you for doing that, but I’m also, I’m excited to have you on the podcast because you have a lot to share with our audience for sure. So
[00:00:58] yeah, thanks guys. I am so excited for this. So I really appreciate it and it’s a huge honor. So thank you for your time.
[00:01:05] So Kaia when was the first time you met Melanie? Do you remember?
[00:01:09] Oh goodness, this might not be fair. I what I remember is, uh, your video, you are doing video. So that’s what I remember the most about. Um, we started doing video for sync. So
[00:01:21] yeah, I think that’s like when I got to know Melanie as well.
[00:01:24] Yes. So that was several years at what, probably about four or five years ago. Uh, through the relationship of sync and dirty. We just sort of said, hey, we need these videotape, we need behind the scenes and we want to create that for you. And that was one of the first things we’d ever done that big of a deal video wise. So that was kind of cool. And like you said, that was an opportunity for us to all meet.
[00:01:47] Yeah. That’s awesome. Okay. So then I saw you at North Carolina and you spoke on volume, sports and then I saw you at sync. You did a Miller’s thing alongside of me. And you did a lot about how to like implement ideas from a conference. So you don’t just go home with this list of stuff to do and never accomplish anything, which everybody, everybody loved. And I know you’re like a workbook and all kinds of stuff. So I know you talk about a lot of stuff. So kind of tell me, tell our audience if they don’t know who you are, like you know what you do on the photo side and all everything cause you do so much.
[00:02:19] Sure. Um, yeah, that’s a lot. It’s like you almost go, okay, how much time do we have? Because you know, when you like you guys love this industry and have a passion for it. It’s all in. So I have a, a, a retail studio space in western Maryland. It’s about an hour from Washington DC. We have employees and we are full service. So we do all genres of portrait photography. We do extreme volume sports. Uh, so that would be the team and the individuals. We have an incredible banner program and we do a lot of commercial photography and video. Uh, I’m very blessed to be able to travel the world doing motivational programs alongside of photography programs. My specialty is definitely client communication, really connecting with people. And I take that throughout everything that I do from beginning to end in all things. So with relationships in your home life, your family or your marriage, your, your friendships, and then how do you translate that into your clients and to your employees and still have some sanity left at the end of the day.
[00:03:23] Wow. I like the word you just used. You said you’re a full service studio. I feel like so many times people think, you know, you have to, you know, do one small thing, one genre or something like that. But it really makes sense that you, you know, as a photographer you do meet all the needs all the way around.
[00:03:42] So exactly when I have somebody in our community that says, hey, I need a photographer, I want them thinking, call Melanie Anderson. And I will frequently be tagged in Facebook posts relating to that, even if it’s not my client. I want people thinking that. And so the number one question we ask our clients, every single client that calls communicates with us, and there’ll be asked this probably two or three times throughout their touch points with us. How did you hear about our studio? And the number one answer we get is your everywhere. And we’ve worked really hard to do that and that is what allows us to be able to sustain maybe those slower seasons because portrait photography is year round. If I was only high school senior, that is seasonal. If I was, you know, I don’t do a lot of weddings are weddings I do are going to be higher end or relationship based and the commercial photography is year round and it allows us to have a little bit more stability. Although I’m not going to say we’re not immune to feast or famine at seasons, you know, because we are a small business. But what allows us to stay in business 13 years later is a diversification. That’s really important to me, not only as a creative entrepreneur, but as a business in our community that I can serve whatever your needs are, I’m there.
[00:05:07] Yeah, that makes sense. And we’ve expanded our business a lot to cover a lot of things as well, just to get rid of, get rid of that seasonality. Because boy, I tell you what, like if you’re in a seasonal business, the the self doubt and all and kinds of stuff starts creeping in that flow. And like for somebody like me, that’s not a good place to be, you know? So I try to avoid that at all costs.
[00:05:26] [inaudible] same and we can definitely go down that road. You know, the, the mentality of creative entrepreneurs. I talk very openly about that and how we must maintain strong mindset. And that is a daily challenge. Every single day you’ve got to wake up and make decisions. Okay, this is where I’m at today and this is how I’m going to behave and be an act and this is how I’m going to serve today. Because otherwise the alternative is it’s fear and it’s anxiety and his depression. And I’ve been down that road many times. So I, I love talking very openly about that.
[00:06:02] Yeah, that’s, that’s awesome. So let me kind of tell you where I want to go with this. Kind of the main thing of the podcast is like what’s working now. So you can kind of give the audience some nuggets or whatever. So tell us a story about like what’s working now in your business or what you think is working in the industry right now?
[00:06:19] Oh Great. So for me, I tried to reinvent myself every two to three years and I’ve noticed a pattern so that it kind of start in that and why I do that. So I started out as a newborn photographer. I’ve photographed probably close to 600 newborn newborns in my career. And then once I knew I mastered that. So I’m, I’m a big believer the, although I diversify, I’ve mastered certain genres one at a time because we can’t, you know, when you’re a new photographer trying to master all of these things, that could be very overwhelming. So I did start in a certain area and then a few years later I went to high school seniors and dominated that in our community. Then I started taking on volume the team and individuals dominated change in the industry, in our community and how the sports are looked at and how we do banners.
[00:07:08] And then a few years later after that, it was into commercial photography. Commercial Monogamy’s always been a big part of my business. We’ve got contracts with our hospital, with the chamber, with all kinds of businesses. And what I’m doing now is getting into more of that branding styles. So instead of somebody just sitting in front of my camera and me doing like that passport, headshot, photo kind of going, okay, what more can I do to serve? Am I doing enough? And giving them a little bit more alternative for personality. Because many times the people that come into for me are going to also be small business owners and how we can give them imagery to relate to whatever their branding is. So it’s kind of saying, okay, what more can we do to serve? And that’s kind of been my mindset. So what is working now for me is saying, you know, you kind of come off of a year of laziness when you’ve kind of got, you know, you think in your mind, I don’t know how we are about cussing on this, but when you got your shit together and you’re like, okay, hey, you know it’s going and we’ve got a smooth oiled machine and things are great.
[00:08:15] And then all of a sudden you’re like, oh wait a minute. Um, I’ve gotten a little lazy. I need to step it up again and go, okay, back to relationships. So I’m going to take that full circle and say, what’s working for me now is picking up the phone, sending emails, texting clients I’ve had for years that I haven’t maybe seen lately and saying, Hey, you know, what’s going on? What are your needs? How can I serve? And this is some new things that I’m doing. And that would be in the branding, kind of changing the, the vision of our company and really just looking at our and beyond. So I’m now even going, what more can I do that’s maybe an hour away from me and how can I serve clients out there? So that’s really where my, where I’m headed right now and exactly what we’re doing in our studio right now.
[00:09:10] Yeah. And like, you know what I like about the way you think about it as like you, so you do newborn photography forever and then you kind of get a well oiled machine out and you kind of get wax on it. Yep. And I think it’s really hard for just to say, Oh crap, we got to lax and just push yourself back into it. So what you’re doing is you’re, you’re, you’re taking that energy and you’re just pivoting in a little bit different. So I think it feels fresh and new and yes. Like it’s self fulfilling. You know, it’s so true because you know, when, when we’ve been doing this for so long, It really is a well oiled machine. And I could do this with my eyes closed. I’m about systems and processes. I don’t overthink things. I dive in and then I just do it.
[00:09:48] And then I create a process and a system for that. So on the days maybe you’re not feeling well or you’re not feeling sociable, you just don’t have that high energy. Well, I have a system in place that I can still go through everything that I’m doing to my client. It’s still an amazing experience. So I’ve simplified so much in my business and the other thing that I’m doing is I’m constantly educating myself. I’m always learning. I’m hungry for knowledge. And so what I just did was I just came back from Texas school and the last two years I was there as an educator. This year I went as a student and I said, who can I take? Where can I go? What could I learn that is completely opposite of what I’m doing? And so I dived into a program this last week on fine are portraiture paintings.
[00:10:38] I’m going, oh my goodness, this is like so not me. And let’s push myself and go, what can I pull out of that and, and, and put into my business that’s going to create a new product line, a new look, a new feel for clients that may be, I’ve not serviced the super, super high end, the ones that are looking for lifesize wall portraits that are custom framed and have an oil painting to them. And I’m excited to see where I take that. So it’ll be interesting in another six months if we were to have this conversation again, we’ll, I have a whole new product line and a whole New Vision. And I think that’s really important for us as creative entrepreneurs to go, okay, what else can I do and who can I learn from? And really just humble yourself to that and you send somebody else’s class and I’ll tell you, it’s not easy, but, um, it was, I pulled away, you know, several pages of notes of things I’m going to be implementing over the next few weeks.
[00:11:40] That’s fantastic. So let me ask you, you know, as you talked about, you know, what, uh, what your teaching yourself the next step in the next step. Um, it’s funny because I’ve actually done the same thing, like started out as a senior
[00:11:54] photographer and then I, you know, when I would help with a baby session, I would put the bean in upside down. I didn’t know what I was doing. And so I was like, I need to learn how to do this next. And I, and so I definitely identify that with that. But what happens to your existing, you know, 600 newborns? Are, is someone else photographing them or are you transitioning away from them? Like how do, how do you work that way in your business? No, that’s a super serious, great question. Because what happens is, and I’ll be completely honest, you know, the older we get, I, you know, deal with severe psychotic. And so when you’re doing newborn screening, newborn photographer out there, you know, physically just like, you know, for those that maybe have a hard time photographing weddings, you know, that full day.
[00:12:36] And then the physical exhaustion that happens to your body. Well that happens for newborn photographers as well, that the lower back gets to be, you know, so you’ve gotta really be careful in how you photographing, but what had happened or what happens is once you dominate an area in your community, you have a lot of other photographers that come along. And I’m very much an advocate of community over competition. I believe in that. I’m chairman of the board for the state of Maryland Professional Photography Association. So I want, I don’t, I don’t mind, you know, that, that there are others. So what I do is go, okay, how can I step it up again? How can I step it up again and still be of service and a resource. But what happens is, you know, you know, being completely real honest, transparent, and that’s, that’s the way we should be as educators.
[00:13:28] That we’re inundated right now with newborn photographers, with senior photographers, with family photographers. And that’s why I pushed myself even more. And so now I’m going, Hey, I have a studio and most photographers don’t. I need to be using this more. Even though I prefer photographing outside, I like light and energy and you know, newborns I can do with my eyes closed. But now I want to push myself differently creatively. So there are plenty of photographers servicing those newborns. I still have newborn displays at hospitals and doctor’s offices and, and if the client is willing to invest because I am a wall portrait photographer, if they’re willing to invest and that’s my client, come on in. If not, you know, I have other areas that I need to invest my time. And so the, I would say I go anywhere, we’re probably photographing, I don’t know, maybe five to 10 newborns now. It’s not nearly, I mean, gosh, I used to have that in a week when I first started back in the film days. But you know, times have changed. And so what are we going to do about it? That’s what I always say, okay, now what are we going to do about it? Yeah. Well that makes complete sense though. So what you’re doing is transitioning away from those genres that you’ve learned how to do. And, and dominated and you feel like those are red waters
[00:14:52] where you know all kinds of people are there and moving into areas where you feel like there’s more of a blue ocean for you too.
[00:14:59] Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. That’s the only way we will thrive. It’s the only way that myself is going to be able to continue to support my family. And what I’m also doing is being very strategic. Even in the way we’re scheduling. So we’re now going and saying, okay, we’re, we’re going to fill the studio three days a week. That’s it. You know, I, I’m in a season of my life where my children are older now, you know, one is finished college, one is in college, one is in and out of college. And then I have a, a son who’s 17 and in high school. So we have one more year with him. So what I’m doing is being very strategic about that. I will be in the studio Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. If I’m not traveling the other days I am doing whatever the heck I want to do a whatever that means, whether it’s traveling or building the, you know, more on the education. I do a lot of one on one mentorships and masterminds and then allowing me time to breathe and serve and be for my family as needed even more.
[00:16:01] Yeah, that sounds great. So Matt, what’s the next question that we want to ask about this? The next question and then we’ll take a break right afterwards is do you want to talk a little bit about the industry? You’re kind of going there, but what are you fired up about the industry or you know, what, what are you paying attention to or what do you hold true about the industry? I mean, however you want to word the question, but when you think of the industry, what are you, what do you think of,
[00:16:22] Oh, well, you know, I’m such an advocate for our industry, so I am fired up. I love our industry and I love the leadership that’s happening right now with the education. I love that we’re on this platform of print for success and and how vital it is that we have a responsibility as professional photographers. It is our responsibility to educate our clients and to educate other photographers and the vitality of printing. I did an article a few years ago about an image that triggered a memory of mine from when I was a child and how it would never have been in such an emotional experience for me had there...
