Send us a Text Message. Finding the mirror for your clients and yourself through portraiture is where Bex Wood THRIVES. She's discovered that when she is overly critical, that behavior is mirrored back in her clients' level of confidence during their sessions. This was an aha for her so she created The Moxie Project in her studio to lean into helpi…

Send us a Text Message. On our business journey as portrait artists we will be faced with our own limiting beliefs around what we value. Canadian portrait photographer Aamel Abed shares how coming to the portrait space following a career in IT she sold her work, as many of us do for $60 a session and included everything for her clients. Then hoppin…

Send us a Text Message. "I want to give a gift..." Love Mim's approach in realizing that while she wants to be able to give a gift to the people she photographs and that means she needs to be sustainable and it needs to be worth her time. As much as we love our craft, the second we have created a business, we need to ensure that our infrastructure …

Send us a Text Message. Noel is expanding his offers in his branding and commercial work and already knows that in order to get results that no one else is getting, you have to incorporate what no one else is doing to get the desired results and create work your clients are thrilled to share in their brand and it is showing up in his opportunities …

Send us a Text Message. Heather is a POWERHOUSE!! From schools to corporations Heather has mastered the art and science of high volume branding photography. In this discussion Cat and Heather discovered their mutual love of systems and Heather shares with us how she got IN to photographing high volume work, and how she's evolved her processes to se…

Send us a Text Message. "I never thought of my work as a business. I was a freelancer..." For generations creatives were taught that you had a side gig to pay you so you can make the work you wanted to make on the side, and that simply isnt the case any longer. From educators like Cat Ford-Coates and Sue Bryce portrait photographers are learning th…

Send us a Text Message. Working with your partner, up-leveling your skills, and nurturing yourself by knowing your own limitations so that you can be at your best to serve your clients and grow your business with Joni Hough. When we come into this space of owning and running a portrait business we often have expectations of ourselves in the name of…

Send us a Text Message. Being a creative entrepreneur has its challenges and we could say those challenges are limited to the growth of our style, or improving technically, or in effective marketing even, but that isn't the all and the everything. Sometimes we have to make tough decisions too. Decisions like "do I get a job while I build this found…

Send us a Text Message. Bassam and Cat rekindle their Artist Forge connection and dig into his discovery of photography and spending a year mastering his skillsets in lighting, and posing, and upon his completion of that first year (2016) he exited his career as a VP in Aerospace. Bassam maintained a consultancy arm to stay connected in that indust…

Send us a Text Message. Full disclosure, Mitzi and Cat cuss like sailors. Buckle Up. In the name of "streamlining" you realize you've created a house of cards versus a stable business and how your desire to be challenged in what you create and how you create that thing you create and what it teaches us as people, and as business owners, and artists…

Send us a Text Message. As a husband, father, and employee to an Artist! Simon is a humble man taking his folio building and learning through CreativeLive (courses by John Cornicello) quite seriously, but after encouragement from his friend Angie Whitten and guidance from Saray Taylor-Roman and myself with The Consultation Collection stepped into T…

Send us a Text Message. "Enthusiasm" is from the Latin root "Enthios" which means: to be filled with a Godlike energy. Emily Pearl IS a very enthusiastic person. When she lights up, she ⭐️LIGHTS⭐️ UP. And it is THAT energy that not only draws her portrait clients to her, but powers the work she creates. It is how she taps into love to CREATE. Emily…

Send us a Text Message. As a man in the boudoir photography world Ben has been very intentional with how he shows up for his clients in creating safe environments, a clinical approach, and assuredly in his marketing to educate his audience about his work. He's uncovered and developed his style, at first through emulation of photographers before him…

Send us a Text Message. What you allow for yourself is up to you. Coming from a career as a nurse practitioner into full time as a portrait photographer, Hadonica has grown her business to support how she wants to live her life. She's been able to leave nursing and expand into two locations, and she now leverages her portrait business and revenue i…

Send us a Text Message. Being an entrepreneur can be isolating. You're trying to figurer out all the "things", and you can feel like you are alone. Judith was courageous enough to bring her startup portrait business and share her story, and even receive mentoring from Cat Ford-Coates to be shared on the Takeover podcast so that she has some directi…

Send us a Text Message. My mentor has always said "You will learn more about who you are as a person when you start and learn to run a business (successful and unsuccessful)." And today we are talking with Angie Whitten who leans INTO that motto to grow and scale her portrait business and who she is as a person. She shares her journey from the auto…

Send us a Text Message. Ashanta Staten from But a Moment Photography in the Raleigh area of North Carolina is building her business while working in a full time position outside of photo to maintain her security as she grows her business sustainably. She began as many of us do in weddings and quickly discovered that weddings were not where she want…

Send us a Text Message. "Why do I tie my identity to the economic value of my business?" Separating yourSELF from your business and trusting that the body knows. Asking curious questions instead of feeding into your fears to uncover your own leadership as an entrepreneur. Teri shares her journey and evolution of her own self awareness through entre…

Send us a Text Message. Shift the obsession to YOUR own self care from the addiction of your ambition (#attacked) Kara Marie, yes, is an amazing fine art nude and boudoir photographer, an ex-pat American (with her family) living in Italy and a powerful speaker and educator; not only in the space of photo but in burn out. Her story is fascinating an…

Send us a Text Message. I first met Bethany in a workshop with Sue Bryce just outside of Versailles in France (NBD right?) and have watched her grow her business year after year. Join us as we talk through how she shifted her perspective around campaigns to showcase her 40 Over 40 safely during a pandemic and discovered how that connection with the…

Send us a Text Message. Deciding at the age of 8 Donnamaria decided her life's mission was "To Serve" and in this conversation has allowed herself to evolve that mission at 60 to CREATE. After not one, but two military careers, and a divorce did she finally choose photography to be a vehicle for her to fill her own cup. It's time to "stop with the …

Send us a Text Message. Welcome Ashleigh Taylor! A portrait photographer from Santa Barbara, CA and during this discussion we touched on all things burn-out, cultivating inspiration for your sessions, clients, and life, advertising for your studio, awards, and so much more. Ash has been winning silvers and even gold awards in print competition and …

Send us a Text Message. Starting a portrait business you can journey through a wealth of the unknown; pricing, customer journey and experience, choosing products, learning marketing and sales. Alena has been in the photo world for some time and has made it a priority that even before she starts HER business off on the right foot, that she stays IN …

Send us a Text Message. "The way is always through and through is rarely comfortable" - Jonny Edward Join Cat Ford-Coates as she and Jonny Edward dive down the rabbit hole of self doubt, creative development, and discovering not only WHY we create but HOW we show up to be in connection with self AND the person/people we are photographing in additio…

Send us a Text Message. Navigating the business of boudoir and portrait as an empath with St Louis award-winning photographer Shannon K Dougherty. How does she approach her process, hold boundaries with potential clients to ensure she can meet her customer service standards, and stay in integrity with herself as an empath? She shares what those bou…

Send us a Text Message. Trusting the universe isn't about sending up a wish and just waiting. Trusting the Universe requires that you have faith in yourself to take the inspired and tactical action necessary so that you can take advantage of opportunity as it is delivered to you. Join me as we chat with award winning portrait photographer and studi…

Send us a Text Message. Portrait Photographers building their businesses are integrating a sales system so that the byproduct of that system is the revenue and success they want for their lives. This, like any business system can create challenges and questions. Join Cat Ford-Coates as she navigates these challenges in real time with these professi…

Send us a Text Message. Expansion as a business owner is never just handed to you on a plate. Oftentimes our growth is made purely out of circumstances and new decisions. Matt Stagliano shares with us just how he's learned about his craft and his business through experiences, relationships, and opportunity. You can find Matt Stagliano here: https:/…

Send us a Text Message. Professional Photographers are not exempt from personal development, not by a long shot. Join Aaron Jay Young & Cat Ford-Coates as they discuss: creation, forgiveness, boundaries, and personal practices so they are able to show up for their businesses and their LIVES through artistry in portrait photography. Learn more about…

Send us a Text Message. Judith Hill is a professional portrait photographer based in Nashville, TN who openly shares her journey as a business owner from a career in economic development and finding her joy in the portrait world. Judith has studied with Cat Ford-Coates in various mentoring and is now bringing her growth to the forefront. Join us to…

Send us a Text Message. So often educators go immediately to the "dream", to being the solution their audience needs and there is something TO that, certainly. Sharing the desired success is the fastest way to booking your audience. There is also HUGE value in understanding where someone is coming from, regardless of industry. No one just wakes up …

Send us a Text Message. Entrepreneurship requires not the absence of failure but the embracing of it. In this episode, Cat Ford-Coates shares her challenges and failures as a business owner. THE STUDIO TAKEOVER IS AN ONLINE EDUCATION PLATFORM FOR PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHERS THESTUDIOTAKEOVER.COM Are you a Photographer? Maybe a wedding photographer who i…

Send us a Text Message. Grief is one of those things you don’t just “get through” until one day, it isn’t the very first thing you feel upon waking. Maybe it’s the second, or the third…to this day I still carry their memories daily but that grief has been transformed into a different kind of relationship: the one I have with myself, which has chang…