Tangled Rabbit (00:00) Welcome to Untangled, a podcast for founders and people considering becoming founders. This is where building a business gets personal. Each episode features honest conversations with founders about standing out in crowded markets, defining what makes them and their work different, and building something that actually fits. I'm Beth Elliott, and I'm glad you're here. Let's jump in. Tangled Rabbit (00:24) Welcome to another episode Untangled. Today we are doing another radical shifts episode with Lisa Buck of Lisa Buck Photography. When we talk about radical shifts, this is where we get into stepping into the version of yourself that's next, that fits who you want to become, not necessarily who you were in the past. Hopefully through these conversations, it helps you realize that founders who have made these shifts often make them through simple decisions or things that are happening in their life. and they follow that path into what then seems like a radical shift, but oftentimes is just the natural progression of who they are. Lisa, thanks for joining me today. Lisa (01:01) Thanks, Beth. I'm happy to be here. Tangled Rabbit (01:04) So when you and I talked, we talked about the main acts of your career. Can you tell us about the different roles that you've had over the last 30 years. Lisa (01:13) Sure, okay. So in the 90s, in the late 90s, I went to law school and I practiced law for a few years. I was a corporate lawyer at a big law firm in Minneapolis. Enjoyed it, fell in love, got married, started having kids, ended up having four kids in five years. So something had to give my husband. also had a stressful career and traveled a lot. So I decided to opt out for a time and stay at home with the kids. I thought I'd stay home for a couple of years. I ended up staying home for 20 years, which was my second was a stay at home mom, loved it, not all the time. It wasn't complete bliss all the time, but I did love it for the most part, watching my kids grow up. And during that time, I always had a camera in my hand. My father-in-law had given me an old film camera that had been his, a Nikon. And I literally did not know how to turn the thing I did learn because I was spending a lot of time at my kids' baseball games and piano recitals and volleyball games and football games and all the things. And frankly, it was kind of boring to me. I'm not an athlete. And so I the camera along and I would just see how I could archive the childhood that and I took lots of photos and long story short, I got pretty good at it and pretty soon I was shooting other people's kids as well and doing other people's family photos and high school seniors. And then my kids grew up. So they grew up and in about 2019, I started seriously thinking, what am I going to do with this next chapter of my life? Can I go back into law? I've been out for about 20 years at that And I did a little research and decided, no, I can't really go back into law after having been completely out for 20 years. I really can't do that. And I felt this pull with photography. Maybe I could make this into a business, even though I'm absolutely not an entrepreneur at heart and I do not have a business degree. But I really wanted to be behind the camera. And I just, that was my happy And so I thought that that would be how I could do something purposeful and meaningful and serve other people with photography. And so in 2020, right during the pandemic, in March of 2020, I launched Lisa Buck Photography, LLC. And I, at the time, I was specializing in high school seniors and doing a little bit of other things like headshots and branding and other things in photography. But now I am pivoting and I'm primarily doing headshots and brand photography with a little bit of high school seniors, a little bit of families, things like that. But my main focus is headshots and brand photography. Tangled Rabbit (03:54) Can we talk about that progression? I know with many founders that I talked to, it kind of follows the phases of life and as an outside person, it seems to do that for you. Can you talk about why you were doing what you were doing and how you were finding clients in those spaces and then what led to the shifts? Lisa (04:13) So mainly ⁓ with senior portraits, I didn't feel the need to really advertise. I was kind of well known in my community and I have four kids, so they all have friends. So there were lots of high school seniors and high school senior parents that knew of me and knew of my work. So I really didn't have to do much to get the word out. It was more referrals and word of mouth. But I got kind of burned out because high school seniors... want their pictures taken during golden hour in the evening in the summertime. And so I was never seeing my family in the summer. I would spend virtually every night in the summer at a shoot and never get in the lake, never go to the barbecues, whatever. I was always busy every night. And I did that for a few summers. And then I just decided, you know what, I would rather work. Monday through Friday during the weekday. And I love headshots. ⁓ I love helping people build their business. I'm married to an entrepreneur. Even though I'm not an entrepreneur at heart, I find them very intriguing and fascinating. They're my favorite people to photograph. I just decided I need to pivot, but that required a lot of effort because I wasn't known as a headshot photographer. I had some experience, but I didn't have the reputation as being a headshot photographer. I got a studio in Northeast Minneapolis and I think I just started like asking people if I could take their headshots. I took some of my friends' headshots for free. And I just started ⁓ posting. I got a photography business coach who is, her name's Nikki Klasser and she actually has a podcast. She's a photographer out of Detroit, Michigan and she's pretty well known in the portrait community. And she told me I needed to start networking. She said that I need to, since I'm a solopreneur, I need to get out of my head and get out and network with other entrepreneurs and business owners. And that that would be good for me and for my business. And she has been absolutely right. That has been wonderful. Just the learning, the growth, and it's just been a great investment of my time. Tangled Rabbit (06:14) So you went and got a space. That's quite the step. What went into the mindset of, alright, we're investing in a space now. Lisa (06:27) You know, I don't think I really thought it, I don't think I really thought it through. I just kind of knew I needed a studio. And when I say I have a studio, I do share it with some other photographers. So it's pretty affordable. And it was also in the arts district, my first studio, which I'm no longer in, was in the arts district of Minneapolis. think they have rent control and it keeps the rent pretty affordable. My new studio is bigger and a little more upscale. It's in Northeast Minneapolis, but it's not in the Arts District. But because it's in an industrial area, it's still pretty affordable. You know, I'm not in downtown Wayzata. Tangled Rabbit (07:00) What did you learn in the first months after you got your studio space? Lisa (07:08) That I loved it. My studio is my happy place. I love having control over the light, shaping the light in flattering ways for my having a studio is definitely an asset that I can offer my clients. My studio has beautiful natural light, although I usually use a strobe because as I said, I like to have control over the light. different furnishings, different props. I hate to say props, but we have flowers and plants and books and coffee mugs and all the things that a person can add their personality, their style to the image. Yeah, I absolutely love it. Tangled Rabbit (07:42) Your response to me was, well, Beth, that wasn't a big risk. It was pretty affordable. I knew I wanted it. You didn't see that as being a risk for you. Lisa (07:52) Well, I did negotiate a six month lease instead of a year lease. I'm not actually a big risk taker. I'm actually more of a risk averse person on the scale of riskiness. But I did think I could handle a six month lease. In six months, I'll know whether I made a big mistake or not. So I could do that. So I did. Yeah. And I actually still have a six month lease. I continue to negotiate six months. Yeah, I love it. I love having a studio. I think it would be very difficult for me to do to deliver the style of images and service that I want without a studio. It can be done. I'm actually sitting in my home studio right now. I have a small studio in my home where I used to take photos I still do once in a while, but not very often. But I have so much more flexibility and creativity at my fingers in the studio. Tangled Rabbit (08:40) People will ask me, when should I take the risk? When should I invest in myself? What does that look like? And I tend to lead them into the same space that you are, right? That you need to figure out what the cost analysis is. You need to figure out how much are you gonna need to make in order to make it worth your money? Or what am I learning from taking this risk and is it worth it? And so I love how you're pairing into that of, well, I didn't think a year was going to be the thing. That seems like a lot. But six months, six months is doable. I can do anything for six months and it's going to help me learn things. So you've talked about going from being a lawyer to being a stay at home mom to moving into photography. What, if anything, have you had to overcome as you followed this path? Lisa (09:29) The biggest thing for me is my limiting beliefs and negative self-talk. I wish I would have made the decision to start my photography business. I wish I would have done it 10 years earlier, but I didn't because I thought I'm too old to start something new and I've got four kids and I'm busy at home. I think I was waiting for life to calm down. and I regret that that I waited so long. However, I launched my business at age 50. I wish I would have done it earlier, but you know, time waits for no man. I was 50 and I thought, you know what, it's not too late. I can still provide ⁓ excellent service and great images for people and I can still learn and I'm still learning every day. So what I try to do is, and I heard this from a leadership coach, I try to listen to my inner coach and not my inner critic. that's what I am doing. An inner coach would say, you can do this, Lisa. There are resources available to help You're a smart person. You are hardworking. You have talent, you can do this. As opposed to my inner critic who can think of a hundred reasons why I shouldn't be doing this. anyway, yeah, the negative self-talk and the limiting beliefs that were my biggest obstacle. Tangled Rabbit (10:56) You've talked a little bit about your support network. You've talked about your own tenacity. Can you talk a little bit more about the support network around you that made this possible? Lisa (11:07) Sure, yeah, first and foremost, my husband, he is an entrepreneur and he is a CEO of a med tech company. He knows a lot about business and I bounce ideas off of him all the time. He knows nothing about photography, but he knows a lot about the business world and marketing and things like that. So he's sort of my business consultant and... And then my kids were my first models. There are thousands of pictures of my kids living in the universe because they were my first models. So they've been super supportive. Networking groups that I've joined like Team Women and Women Entrepreneurs of Minnesota have been very supportive. They helped me learn and grow and just other. entrepreneurs have come alongside me to share their experience and their struggles and their wins, which encourages me. And other photographers, I'm actually ⁓ attending an event next week at another photographer's studio for women photographers. And we're getting together and... I don't know if we're actually going to talk about photography, I learn a lot from other photographers. like to compare notes. I don't try to compare myself because comparison is a thief of joy. But I do like to compare notes on what people are doing and what seems to be working. And we have a lot of the same struggles. So that's been helpful, too. Tangled Rabbit (12:30) at what moment, what was the thing that made you realize that you were good enough? Lisa (12:39) Wow, that's an excellent question. You know, I think I always knew I was good enough. I knew I was good enough. Yeah, I knew I was good enough. I just didn't know if I could make a business out of it. I was good enough when I was doing pictures for everybody and their neighbor for free, but... you know, to make a sustainable business, I wasn't sure I could do that. I've managed to do that, but it's, you know, with a lot of hard work and a lot of help, I'm not a photographer for everyone. I have a very distinct style. And it's not everyone's cup of tea. the clients who like my style, I think they tell you that I provide a premium service and a premium product, which is headshots and brand photography that has helped fuel their business growth. Tangled Rabbit (13:29) Let's talk a bit about your brand, where you sit, because you know who you serve. Tell me about them. Lisa (13:36) Yeah, okay. So, well, my LinkedIn profile will tell you that I create headshots and brand photography for professionals who want to be seen as the clear, trusted authority in their field. So serve professionals. not exclusively entrepreneurs, but a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of people who came from the corporate space, and now they're going off on their own. Maybe they worked for a large law firm, and now they're building their own law firm. Or they were at Target for 20 years or 30 years, maybe as an executive, and now they are starting ⁓ their own business with a facial bar. That's a real client that I'm talking People take the leap and they need brand photography for their website and for LinkedIn to show the story of their brand and the personality of the brand. And that's where I come in. Tangled Rabbit (14:24) When you think back on your journey and you think about, I wish I had known this earlier. What words of wisdom would you share with others who are on a similar journey? Lisa (14:36) getting back to, you know, just echoing, listen to your inner coach, not your inner critic. And then I think I would also, if you tend to have negative self-talk like I do, I think it'd be helpful to remember that. There's a quote, I love quotes. There's a quote that I'm probably going to butcher it, but it's something like, knowledge is learning something new every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day. And I think letting go of something, for me, it's letting go of these preconceived limiting beliefs that I have that you must be young to be an entrepreneur. You must have a business degree to be an entrepreneur. You must have, you know, investors to be an entrepreneur. You must have no competition in the market in order to be a successful entrepreneur. I mean, all of these things are limiting beliefs and I need to let go of them. So I would just encourage people to recognize when you have a limiting belief and challenge it. Tangled Rabbit (15:32) I often will talk to people about you are good enough. You are good enough to start the business that you are uniquely positioned to build. Be wary of the people who try to encourage you to, of course, you're probably gonna have to learn how to build a bit, like do the business side of things, of course. But when you have somebody who comes to you and says, you should be. doing this, you should be that, you should be something you're not in order for you to make money, you should be. To just approach that with caution. Because oftentimes the things that you have already in your toolbox make you crazy unique in the eyes of the right customer. And so don't self doubt yourself, don't be the one who limits yourself. Put yourself out into the world and see how people respond. And that's going to be one of the great things about finding your way as an entrepreneur. Lisa (16:32) Very wise words. Thanks. Tangled Rabbit (16:35) Any other things that you'd like our audience to know before we sign off? Lisa (16:41) If you want a fresh headshot or great brand photography, come see me. Tangled Rabbit (16:46) And where can they find you? Lisa (16:48) My website is lisabuckphoto.com and I'm on LinkedIn and Instagram at Lisa Buck Photo. Tangled Rabbit (16:55) Lisa, thanks so much for being with us today. I appreciate your time. Lisa (16:59) Thanks Beth, Bye bye. Tangled Rabbit (17:00) Bye everybody, we'll see you next time.