Come & Follow @maas_creative

Since I’ve been working with @reinaandco on how to find my dream client, there have been a lot of ‘Oh’ and ‘Ah’ moments when it clicked and I had to dig in and find my answer in regards to my own business. It has been quite an interesting learning experience since she makes you think about your business and the clients you’d like to attract with multiple different exercises. Those exercises open some spaces that, without this program, I would have never thought about. But one thing she made me think about was my handle on Instagram. Since I changed my business name late last year from ‘Designed & Shot by Elena’ (rolls easily off the tongue, doesn’t it *eye roll*) to just MAAS, I now also had to think about what to call myself on my social media channels which was just shot_by_elena. 

I started my accounts a while back when I was gung ho on leaving my designer career behind and solely focusing on photography. As life would have it though, an amazing design opportunity knocked on my door and as much as that opportunity scared the living hell out of me, I said YES. I love what I do and since then the ball has been rolling and more and more clients have been added to my roster. 

So, I now also had to think about a new IG handle. Let’s move away from the whole ‘shot by’ thing and move into a more professional direction. The result is

@maas_creative

New IG handle!!!

I’ve been known to be a bit of a click bait whore and I have looked and googled a bunch of different programs that will help you with your own business, mentor you, support you, provide the right help for you, but none of those programs have been as intense as Reina’s. So, even though I have fallen just a tad off the wagon over the past few weeks since I’m transitioning to a new job while also working on my little side hustle, I will take time this weekend to catch up and dig in. It has started to make me think about my own business in a completely different way. But the name change for some reason was a biggie and it feels good to have something less cutesy and a little more adult-y. 

So, for that little kick in the butt, thank you Reina. And the one or two of you who might be reading this, please come and follow me @maas_creative. 

Aren’t headshots awkward?

When photography first became an interest of mine, I had absolutely no desire to ever take pictures of people. Telling people what to do in front of the camera, where to put their hands, how to hold their head (in order for the double chin wouldn’t show; it’s a bit of an awkward head tilt), and not to stand so awkwardly, was simply not for me. 

Fast forward a few years, which I spent sitting in pastures, driving to horse shows, snapping away whenever I saw dogs or cats, I was finally hired as a photographer for a daughter and her horse. Or so I thought… Date and time set for a beautiful Saturday afternoon, I park in front of the barn and a big SUV rolls up. All four doors open and I’m all of the sudden faced with having to do a family shoot that I had not at all prepared for. Mom, Dad, three daughters with three horses, and the family dog.

Holy moly… I better get very comfortable very quickly with telling people what to do in front of the camera. It ended up being an okay shoot but it could have gone so much better if I had asked for more information, expectations, etc. BUT this shoot also taught me to just go with the flow and I was forced to gain a new experience by telling people where to stand, what to do with their arms and hands and where to look.

In 2015 I made an awful move into a new job which I thought would catapult me further ahead in my career but it ended up being a complete downfall… Towards the end of the life of that company, all employees (including me) were faced with having to find new jobs. Some people had been at that place for 10+ years and had never updated their LinkedIn profile nor resumes. So, I decided to offer my services and take peoples’ headshots. I fell in love with it which lead me to start some research about what to tell people and how to nicely tell them ‘don’t do this, do that instead’ kind of thing. Annie Leibovitz said to start at home where you can nag people who already like you to be in front of your camera. That’s what I did. 

A position at the American Cancer Society opened up for a Graphic Designer and in order to negotiate salary, I simply threw in that I do photography as well. BOOM… Landed another job. Today I’m the person who gets an email when someone needs an updated headshot and I remember being on cloud 9 after a 15-minute session with two of the researchers. Two beautiful and smart women who told me for articles they will need a smiling and an additional more serious shot. I was on cloud 9… The pictures came out beautifully and I added them to my website. If I could just take head shots of people today, all day long, I would do so. 

Participating in a workshop about how to work towards becoming your own boss, I met Charlene. Charlene teaches these types of workshops and she was interested in adding some photography to it. She asked me what I thought about it and I mentioned that when you first start your own business and you have to sell yourself to potential new clients, you need a good headshot. She was on board. That Wednesday night, I packed my gear and headed to Charlene’s workshop where i was able to capture a large group of smart, ambitious, and beautiful women.

You can find some of the headshots I took at the workshop right here.

So, if you need an updated headshot or are just in the mood for a little shoot, just click right here and let me know how many family members will be part of it ;). 

Networking

Over the past few weeks I’ve attended some networking events that could not have been any more different (in a good way). The first one was a dribbble meet up that I only heard about by accident from an old coworker who offered to get me and my art director/friend Nikki into the already at capacity event. The setting of this event could not have been any better. A new building called the Willoughby with a rooftop terrace, cold drinks, and hot pizza. Talking and exchanging information with a lot of designers in all different fields and from various backgrounds was very interesting. We talked graphic design, UX/UI, photography, furniture design, etc. Rhyme & Reason put on an excellent event!

The Mavens from Mavenly.co (@mavenlyco) had their conference a few weekends ago and very much to my taste they organized a happy hour for people who had not signed up for their workshop. Nikki and I went and had a great time mingling with other professional ladies who are looking to become their own bosses. It was a great night for a bunch of women coming together, drinking wine, eating appetizers. 

Sometimes I wish I would have started networking way earlier in my life. I’ve met some very interesting people and if there is one advice I can give a new designer, it is ‘go out and network’. In the beginning, Atlanta gave me a hard time getting acclimated and meeting people but in regards to networking, getting to know new people, starting conversations about doing business together, it has opened doors, and by doors I mean the biggest doors you can imagine. 

One of the so far most successful networking sessions was the ‘Women, Work & Worth’ workshop where I met Charlene (@ceocharlene) who quickly got in touch with me and hired me to take headshots for people who had signed up at General Assembly for one of her workshops. 

Social media plays a huge part as well, and if you really want to you can find some great social groups who plan happy hours and outings on a regular basis. When I first moved to Atlanta I learned about Six Degree Society. It was a bunch of women who came together, some with their own businesses already, others still moping around in their 9-5 (I was one of them and still am). Simply exchanging experiences, getting to know how people went about starting their own business, involving business coaches and what not, was very interesting and valuable input for me. Since then I’ve attended outings like that pretty often and have formed some great business relationships and friendships with some of these ladies.

So, young people, entrepreneurs, designers, and photographers, all I can say is ‘network, network, network’.