Are you ever too young or too old to become a CEO? In today’s episode, I have the honor of introducing you to Reed Gallagher, a photographer and educator who began his thriving business while in high school. We’re chatting all about offering digital products and education, building an associate team, and aligning yourself as a professional.
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Review The Show Notes:
Proving Your Professionalism At A Young Age (3:12)
Mistakes When Going Full-Time (8:49)
Niching Down To Senior Photography (12:51)
Hiring Your Parent (18:50)
Building An Associate Team (25:11)
Getting Started In Education (31:55)
Selling Digital Products (34:52)
The Photo Bundle (38:03)
Key Tip From Reed (40:55)
Connect With Reed:
Review the Transcript:
Quianna Marie
You are never ever too young or too old to start something new. If you have a calling in your heart to turn your hobby into a business, to contribute more financially for your family, or simply to provide more opportunities for your future, now is the best time to take action. I’ve been in the photography industry for over two decades, and I’ve experienced lots of growth pivots, and the many seasons throughout the photography journey.
When I was in high school, the thought of becoming a full time photographer was only a dream. In fact, many of my own teachers thought the only success I would find was if I became a photography teacher within the school district. That was the only way to find job security and guarantee a steady income. Flash forward to today. I’m so grateful I pushed through not only my own limiting beliefs, but the limiting beliefs of the adults in my life that I admired.
For today’s episode, I have the honor of introducing you to a thriving business owner that started his journey in high school too. With a young heart in the photography industry, Reed Gallagher is wise beyond his years.
Today we’ll be chatting about what it takes to align yourself as a professional even when you’re young and just starting something new. Read graciously shares his business journey from the beginning and his high school days juggling homework and tennis matches to today, when he’s now his own CEO running a profitable business with associates offering education and trailblazing the industry for entrepreneurs of all ages.
Reed specializes in senior photography and offers a ton of resources for marketing your business online and building a brand you’re proud of. It’s truly an honor to introduce you to my friend read and to share the possibilities of entrepreneurship and photography. Yes, this conversation is saturated with photography, business education, but it’s a beautiful message for all business owners, businesses business day, we can all learn a ton from each other and apply these skills to our own industries. from Arizona to Texas. Please welcome Reed Gallagher.
Welcome to Quianna Marie Weekly, a podcast for creatives who love to celebrate wins, big or small by dancing in the kitchen photographers who are excited to serve their clients and friends who are ready to chase really, really big dreams. You can find all of the resources mentioned in this episode at Kiana murray.com/podcast. Join me as I share weekly motivation, chat about growing pains, finding genuine connections and celebrating your wins through the lens of a photographer at heart. Come join me for a dance party. Ready? Oh loves though. Hey, hey, welcome to the party. Read. I’m so honored. You can join us today.
Reed
Yes. Hi. I’m so excited to be here. Thanks for having me on!
Quianna Marie
Of course. Well, I am incredibly impressed with you and your business, and how quickly it seems like you have grown over the years. So I would love to just jump right into the questions and and really chat about how you started your business while you were still in high school. You’re only 15 years old. And that is so impressive. So impressive read. So can you please share more about perfect like proving your worth and proving your professionalism at such a young age? How did that fall out?
Reed
Yeah, so I started my business as a 15 year old but high school student, which means I didn’t have a driver’s license, I was going to school every day. And I had all the things going on in my life at the same time. So there was definitely a lot that was being balanced. So you’re juggling between. But I was really excited just about this opportunity to create a business and kind of show up as a professional even at a young age. But like I said, I didn’t have a driver’s license. So my mom actually would drive me to all of my photo shoots as a photographer, and my very first wedding as a lead photographer, my sister had to drop me off at the way.
Then my second photographer drove me from where the ceremony was to where the reception was. So definitely kind of went through it with being a young photographer. And I know it can be really overwhelming to just think about building a business when your competitors are older than you they have more experience with you.
But I absolutely believe that it’s really possible to just create a brand that stands out and presents yourself as a professional No matter your age. So when it comes to gaining trust, there’s a few different things that kind of come to my mind. I think number one would be just showing up as the professional with things like communication and elevated branding.
A big priority for me when I was starting was making sure that my messaging sounded professional, even though it was only 15. I was like no one has to know that necessarily. They can still see this elevated copy. They can see like elevated branding, and I made sure I had a professional website that kind of would show that professionalism. And I think that was kind of the biggest thing for me was taking myself Seriously, and showing up as the professional.
On top of that, something else I focus on is what I call the four E’s. So that would be experience, education, equipment, and exposure. And these are the four things that I really focused on in my first year to a business. So I’ll kind of break those down one by one. So the first one would be experience, even though my experience was a little bit limited.
When I started, I made sure to highlight every experience I had. I would talk about how I photography classes at school, or I talked about how I had been a second photographer, for more established photographers in the industry. How I was constantly just at photoshoots, I made sure to highlight my experience online, no matter what second one education, I would really prioritize showing that I was taking online courses, or that I would go attend workshops or conferences, I made sure that I was telling my audience about these things.
They could see that I was actively learning next one equipment as a photographer, I would tell my audience, you know, I may only be 15 or 16 at the time, but that means I don’t have bills to pay. So I’m able to take all of my profit and invest it right back into the top of the line equipment. And so once I made, you know, my first one or $2,000, I instantly upgraded my camera to have really nice equipment from the beginning. And then the last one exposure. For me social proof was a really big thing, because I was only 15.
But I thought, you know, what if I can have these testimonials, and I can really share some social proof online, and I’m gonna be able to back myself up. I also prioritize things like publications. So I was published in a few magazines here in Houston and more on like a national level when I was 15. And I remember when I was 16, I had some photos and like Martha Stewart’s wedding, and for me that was kind of like the game changer. I was like, no one can take me like not serious anymore. Because I can say, no, no, hold on. Like, look, I wasn’t Martha Stewart’s wedding like, that was a big deal for me to have that exposure. So those were the four E’s that I really focused on to show up as a professional and kind of prove my worth. As a young business owner,
Quianna Marie
Those are all incredible points. And I’m so happy because this is how my brain works, too. I love that because I love list. And I love actionable items. So thank you, Reid for laying that out for us. And I can absolutely attest to every single one of those because we may be thinking at a very young age, gosh, you know, I am professionals, will people just believe me, right? Like, I need to be in these rooms, I am capable of taking beautiful photographs.
But why doesn’t anybody trust me? And I feel like, I feel like your list right there is perfect because it it truly adds so much value. And one of the things I always tell not just young entrepreneurs, but just business owners in general, is we like, you know, speaking as you and I as friends, like you never have to prove your worth to us. You are inherently fantastic. But you do have to prove your worth to strangers online. Right. And so I feel like what the way you listen to your four E’s is a great way to explain that. Thank you. Yeah,
Reed
for me, it was just a really good way to kind of keep track of what I needed to work on in my first two years of business to show, okay, if I can remember these four E’s. And these are the things I can kind of talk about online. I’m going to be able to prove my worth and kind of back my professionalism up.
Quianna Marie
Incredible. And you didn’t wait around. You took action. And you showed up. And you’re just full of wisdom at such a young age. I’m so proud of you. Well,
Reed: Thank you!
Quianna Marie
I think those are really, really great. Do dudes Right? Like take notes, go start taking action with this. But I would love to know, in your opinion, what mistakes do you think photographers make when trying to go full time?
Reed
Yeah, so for me, this is kind of a funny one, because I never really had like a nine to five job. So I didn’t really have anything. I was like, Oh, I’m gonna leave my other job and go full time with this business. I have always been in school while building my business. But I think the biggest mistake that I saw in this might be a little bit different of an answer. Because I didn’t have another job to leave is that I always felt like I had to do everything on my own.
Because I almost wanted to be so professional, that I felt like I had to go above and beyond on my own to prove that worth. So looking back, I wish I could have told myself a little bit sooner. You know what it’s okay to take help from other people, and then really be able to see what’s there for you. So once I did learn after a year or two, hey, there are people offering help or there’s other people who are here to support you in this business. It was able to really see what possibilities for growth there really were. And once I did that, and kind of opened up in my business I was able to grow really fast and kind of get to that full time level. Oh,
Quianna Marie
that’s amazing. So I have to ask, and it wasn’t even on our questions. But when you were in high school, who was like the photographer that you were looking up to, I love sharing education. And right, we have so many different mentors and stuff. But like, who did you seek? And how were you learning? Who were you first investing in?
Reed
Yeah, so there’s three different people that kind of comes to mind, which is definitely two more than what you asked for. But the very first photographer who was kind of like my hero, or who I looked up to was a local photographer here in Houston. Her name is Ashley, and her photography business name was Hey, Pretty Baby photography, and just in the town outside of Houston that I grew up in. So he was like, the photographer, like, everyone used her for her senior pictures.
I remember being 15 years old, and she followed me back on Instagram. And like, my whole year was made, like I screen shotted that, and I posted on my story, like, oh, my gosh, guys, look who followed me like, she was just such a great supporter of me when I was starting out. And I’ve learned a lot from her just by following her on Instagram.
Outside of that, there are two photographers who really helped me kind of get started at a young age number one is Caroline Logan, I went to her workshop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, when I was still in high school. And she also started at a young age, I believe she started at 14 years old, and she kind of just gave me that inspiration to you know what, if someone else can do this as a teenager, then I can do it too. So she taught me a lot about photography, and like shooting and editing and posing kind of on the like photography side of things.
Then on the business side of things I really looked up to, and I still look up to help Taylor because she also started at a young age, she has been such a great supporter and mentor for me. And now I can call her friends who because we’ve gotten to know each other so well over the last few years. So those are kind of three people that I’ve looked up to a lot as a young entrepreneur.
Quianna Marie
I love that so much. And I love that you started locally. Right? So whether that was you seen other like other friends in your high school being photographed by Ashley? And and then taking that one bubble bigger? Right, like, I just think I just think that’s amazing. If anyone’s listening Yeah, like, this is where it starts finding these local mentors in your hometown in your neighborhood and your local cities. Then really using hashtags and other resources to get like that knowledge out there like to just start searching. And really, yes, we have to surround ourselves with people that not only have walked the walk and talk the talk, right, but are taking action and willing to educate us and help us along the way. Right.
Reed
I’m so grateful for every mentor that I’ve had along the way is helps me grow my business to where it is now.
Quianna Marie
I love that so much. Oh, my goodness. Well, let’s keep it rollin. I feel like I have so many more questions for you read. So I would love if you can tell us more about niching down to seniors. Was that something that you went full force towards? Did you start with maybe family photography and then kind of whittled down to seniors only? Tell us why seniors?
Reed
I started, I kind of did everything. I wanted to dabble around in every niche and kind of see what I liked best. So I did family sessions, I tried newborn sessions. I did seniors from the beginning. But when I started the goal, or the end goal for me was I wanted to be a wedding photographer. So I started with that I did a lot of second shooting, I interned with a local photographer in Houston, and I actually got high school credit for doing that.
Then after that, I kind of went full force into being a wedding photographer. By now I’ve probably photographed over 150 weddings, and I loved every second of it. full transparency, though, it was a lot for me to do weddings for year after year after year as a high school and college student, I miss prom to go to a wedding. When I got to college, I wouldn’t have to say no to things like football games and other social events. So after about 150 weddings, I kind of looked at my business and was like, you know, I love being able to tell stories through photos.
But what if there was a way that I could take this creative outlet of photography, still make the same amount of money, but just do it on the weekdays. And that’s kind of where senior sessions really became big for me. I think I made this pivot back in about 2021. So I looked at my business and I was like, How can I make the same amount of money that I’m getting from weddings, but with senior sessions.
So I really brainstormed I got a few different ways and now I’m able to make over four figures person your session. And if you break down the time, I’m actually making more money as a senior photographer than I was as a wedding photographer. So I did the whole wedding thing. And I loved it. It really was so amazing. And I loved getting to be a part of so many stories, but I kind of started a really slow pivot and about 2021 So where I was facing out of weddings and is really prioritizing on seniors. Incredible
Quianna Marie
and I’m still I’m happy that you’re really transparent about that to about this shift. And this pivot, I believe, I don’t know where we get this from as photographers, but weddings truly are, I would say like the top of the pyramid, right? Like in a lot of our things like you are not, there’s this belief, let me make this clear that the right there’s just a belief that wedding photography is the ultimate end all be all. And that’s just not true.
I really believe that you can photograph anything that you want and be incredibly successful, connecting with these families, curating these gorgeous stories and these heirloom pieces. And I also believe two weddings, in my opinion, they’re very seasonal as a photographer, right? I feel like you get to pick and choose what’s best for you.
So like, for me, for example, I feel like I am starting to phase out of weddings, because I’m looking at my life, I’m in a very different season than you were. I’m like, I want to start my family. I don’t want to have a year to two years of my life on a calendar, right? But I will say like, right, because I’m comparing that, to me wanting to start my family versus you like finishing up school and having other priorities at this time. Like, we’re all on different timelines.
We’re all in different seasons of our lives. And I feel like with weddings, you can pick and choose. And I feel like you don’t have to have like an end all be all, if we wanted to pick it up one more time. We absolutely can. And that is just the beauty of being our own bosses. So I love your transparency in that. Yeah, I
Reed
absolutely agree. I think that’s something that I don’t hear talked about a lot in this industry, is that once you get to weddings, like you can’t cut them out, or you have to keep doing weddings to make money. And I just think that’s not true. I love what you said about how it’s not the end all be all, when I decided that I wanted to make a pivot, I really debated like making a post on Instagram being like, I’m leaving the wedding industry. But I did it.
I’m so glad that I never had any kind of announcement that I wasn’t doing weddings anymore, but because I know that doors always still open if I ever want to go back. So I didn’t necessarily cut out weddings completely. It’s just in the period or the face of life that I’m in right now what I’m focusing on is, you know, photography, not to say I can never go back to weddings, but it’s just really nice to be able to have those options. And I think that’s the beauty of this industry almost, is that there’s so many different niches and so many different path that we can go down as a photographer, and just as a business owner, that wherever your passion is, at the moment, that’s what you can pursue. Yes.
Quianna Marie
And I feel like I just have to mention this too, if you are listening, and you happen to be a photographer, really striving to break into the wedding industry, like bold read, and I support that 100% Like we need authentic, super passionate, super creative photographers and professional photographers in this industry. There’s always room for more. And if yes, and if that’s what you’re striving for, we support it. We have resources for you, we have support for that.
This is the beauty of these conversations on here on Kiana Murray weekly is like, we get to share about these different seasons as photographers and entrepreneurs. So if you’re listening, thinking, oh, gosh, I’m getting started into weddings. I don’t wait, should I pivot? Like what’s happening? You know, definitely pursue it. You’re on the right track. I feel like Reed and I are just both really good examples of being in different seasons. So I just had to like, say a little caveat for anyone. That’s curious.
Reed
Yeah, I’m so glad you brought that up. Because I agree. 100%.
Quianna Marie
Now that we chatted about weddings, and these pivots, and this growth, I just want to share with you read that I am so incredibly proud of you like as a big sister in the industry, watching your business, just thrive has been such a joy. I would love to chat about how you have built out a team. Right? So I would love to chat about the mindset that you had to adapt or that you had to grow into being not only your own boss, but then also leading an incredible team. So can we chat about that?
Reed
Yeah, absolutely. So I always knew that I wanted to step into the role of CEO. So I was very much business mindset. First, when I went to college, my major is entrepreneurship. So it just kind of felt natural to start a business. I knew I wanted to do something in the business realm where I was the one getting to create a business and kind of step into the entrepreneurial role. So being a business owner is actually really what I love. I think of myself as the business owner first. And photography is actually my creative outlet as a business owner, and this is something that I really struggled with for a while. I was like
Oh, I’m a photographer, like I need to be an artist or this is kind of what I need to claim as I need to claim myself as an artist but I always would struggle looking at my work being like, you know, I don’t really feel like I’m In the storytelling kind of person, or that I’m super artistic with that, I love photography. But what I really love is being a business owner and getting to make these marketing decisions and getting look at things like KPIs and metrics and launches all of these kinds of things. And it took me a while. But once I could kind of claim that I was able to step into this role as the CEO, and then I was able to make more strategic decisions when it came to growing a team.
Quianna Marie
Wow. Oh my gosh. So with that in mind, I love how you mentioned that because I feel like a lot of us as photographers, we kind of get thrown into this business, right? Like we actually are photographers first, like you mentioned, right? Like, we are creative. We are definitely right brained people like for the most part, right. So, yes, so I would love to chat about let’s think a little bit deeper. And can you please share, like the first thing that you outsource? Like the first thing that made you think this is the first step into becoming my own CEO? Like, what? Where did you get started?
Reed
Yeah, so technically, the first thing that I outsource was I hired my mom to the My like online business manager or studio manager or virtual assistants, she’s had a lot of different tiles over the year. So she started as Uber driver. And then she kind of worked her way up the scale within the business. So she’s gone from Uber driver up to business manager now or her official title, as she will claim it is She is the CEO, or the chief operating officer of reed Gallagher photography.
So that was typically the first thing that I did was I brought her onto the team. And I was really reluctant at first, kind of like I talked about earlier. So I wasn’t I wanted to do everything myself. And I wasn’t sure if I wanted to kind of bring people on. But once I was able to kind of bring her onto the team, just a little things like inbox management, or scheduling or doing things within my CRM, I was able to see Oh, outsourcing could really work. And so the next or more professional move that I made was I hired an editor.
For my business, I feel like when I talk about outsourcing within a photography business, this might be the first thing people really think of is that I hired an editor and that was able to give me a lot of time back to do the things that I loved, like marketing and creating candle graphics and posting on Instagram. Hiring an editor was a really great decision for me. And then after that, I hired an associate photographer. And then after that was when I hired an OPM or an integrator,
Quianna Marie
Oh my gosh, okay, well, I just have to like backtrack real fast. I can’t have you mentioned your mom, and then like speed right by that. So I think that that is incredible that you took that first step. And I don’t think like it’s a baby step. I don’t think it’s like an easy way out. Like, I am incredibly proud of you for asking your mom for help letting her Step into it. I’m sure like, what are those dynamics? Like? I mean, is she still is she still fully active in your business? Like, what was it like when you guys first started? Did she come in with all these ideas? And did you have to kind of shut her down? Like, what was that? Like? I’m so curious.
Reed
Yeah. So the very first thing that she did was she started helping me with inbox management. So I was very reluctant, but I gave her the password to my email. And she could go in and she could help just kind of make me a to do list each week. That way, when I finished up my homework assignments for the week, I can look at that to do list, like, okay, here are the emails that I need to send. So she started with more like, what I would call VA tasks, inbox management, she would, she learned how to book and she learned our CRM, and she started sending out the contracts and the invoices, and then they kind of developed into more of an online business manager role.
So once she learned how to book she decided, Oh, well, I could implement some workflows, so we can have some more efficiency. And then from there, she decided that she wanted to learn how to do SEO and blogging. So now in 2024, what she does for me now is she still does the inbox management, and she still does all of our CRM management, but she also is the full credit. So I’ll give her a full 100% credit for all of our SEO and all of our blogging, she blogs every single senior session that we do. And it’s been kind of amazing to just watch inquiry start to come in from Google.
If you Google our keywords, we’re the number one on the search page for Houston. And I will give her full 100% credit for all of that. So what started small so you kind of just took more and more steps over the years to make it into more of a bigger role for her.
Quianna Marie
Wow oh my gosh, well, that I feel is I feel like one of the most like recent or up to date American dreams, right is like how can we like instead of us as kids going to work for our parents, right like you like totally did like flip on that and having your mom or with you like I just think that is a totally different perspective and, and really encouraging. So after like I love that mom is still very active in your business, and she’s helping you grow and all the SEO like, I feel like that could be an entirely completely new podcast like.
But I would love to share about building your associate team. So at what point I guess I would really like to ask you, what was the breaking point? was the breaking point for you to hire an associate? Was it developed because you had too much business? And you had too many inquiries that you needed? Or were you thinking, Oh, I really want to expand my business. And the only way to reach more is to bring on an associate, like, what kind of came first?
Reed
what comes to mind first with this question is, every summer I go work at a summer camp, outside of Austin in Texas. And what started with like three weeks a year, eventually it turned into like 11 weeks a year. And I would get all of these inquiries for weddings that were in that timeframe. So a really busy wedding season for us in Houston is like May through August, even though it’s 105 degrees, don’t about time people to get married, people love to get married, then. And I would get all these inquiries for this timeframe where I was out of the office. And I was kind of thinking, Well, I don’t want to turn down these opportunities.
But at the same time, I’m taking this other job, and I can’t necessarily come back for it. So what can I do to still be able to take on these opportunities. That’s when the idea of an Associates team came to me. And so we did the wedding associate team for about two or three years, it was very successful, I was able to serve a lot more clients than I would have just on my own. Then when I pivoted into senior photography, I took that idea of an associate team with me. I hired a photographer and associate photographer for senior sessions.
That is what allowed me to kind of double my client roster. So instead of just doing three senior sessions a week, our business was able to take on 60 new sessions a week. And that was allowing us to just serve more clients while also making more income. And it’s definitely like a super fun thing that we get to do. When possible, I would try to like double up our sessions, so we could be at the same location at the same time. And then I would get to meet all the clients. And it was just a really fun way to be able to take on more business, when there was only so much that I could do on my own.
Quianna Marie
That’s amazing. And I love how you recognize that, right? You’re like, Hey, I cannot be a two places at once. So what’s next? And so what is that? Like? What did that hiring process look like? For you? Like? Was there an extensive training experience that your associate needed to go through? Where you kind of handpicking someone that you found, like, how did this associate come into your life?
Reed
There were multiple times kind of over the years where I would do like an application for an associate photographer. And there would be so many people who apply. And it was great to kind of get to meet them and get to work with them. But the way that I found the best associate photographers were the ones who would just kind of be really present throughout all aspects.
So people from my local area who would engage with me on Instagram and would maybe ask me questions in the DMS or who would volunteer to second shoot of a wedding, when people I could kind of develop a relationship with and then the two photographers that I worked with now, as associates, the way that I hired them was essentially me reaching out to them and saying, hey, you know what I love wherever relationship is right now, would you ever be interested in associate shooting, and to my best interest or my best thoughts, they said, Yes.
I was able to work with them from there. So I had one photographer who I primarily worked with for weddings, her name is Ali Matej. And we did a lot of associate weddings together, we would plan styled shoots together that we could use kind of as our training. So we could figure out, here’s how we want to style details. And here’s how we want to do all of these things. And we would kind of just work together with a series of the series of years.
Then when I pivoted into seniors, there was just a photographer in the area who had maybe attended one of my styled shoots before, and who I kept in touch with on Instagram, and I knew her personality pretty well. And I just reached out to her and was like, Hey, would you ever be interested in doing this? I think your work is so amazing. I’d love to kind of walk you through how I photographed senior sessions. We did a little bit of training, where they would come to shadow me for senior sessions. Then I would tag along with them for things like model calls. And then after a little bit of training, they were able to take sessions on their own. Yes.
Quianna Marie
Oh my gosh, well, and I feel like that’s a perfect testament to that. If you are interested in his business or any business for that matter. You have to immerse yourself right like just get started and I feel like this is kind of a full circle moment. Going back to when you were interested in Ashley, Right like you were looking at her business and you were just admiring her and the way she worked.
She followed you on Instagram, right? And then I feel like this is how these other associates or these other young budding photographers are now looking up to you as an expert. So if you’re listening to this, and you’re thinking, Okay, how do I crack into this, I’m interested in either becoming an associate or even having an Associates team, like, you absolutely have to just get started, you have to reach out, you have to show up, be kind, and, and start actually doing the work. So people reach out to you, right? Like, I love that you share that!
Reed
And it’s so funny looking back, like how I looked up to people like that, and I shadowed them. And then I was kind of the same process when people started to shadow me or second suit for me, looking at Ali, specifically the photographer I mentioned, she actually booked a mentoring session with me when I was 16 years old. Because some for some reason, I did that when I was 16. We did a mentoring session at my house. And then we had like a little mini styled Sue. Then after that, I asked her to second shoot for me. And then I asked her to be an associate photographer.
Now she is like, fully surpassed me in the wedding industry. She is fully booked and busy, she charges more than I do for weddings. She is just so amazing with her style. And I think it’s just further testament that the growth that she’s had over the last few years is amazing. I’m so glad that I was able to just be a small part of her story with that very first mentoring session.
Now I can look at how successful her wedding photography business is. And I just get to continue cheering her on, even though I may not be photographing weddings, I can kind of live through her with what she posts like on her Instagram, and kind of see her growth there too. Yes,
Quianna Marie
well, I would love to kind of kind of shift the conversation. I feel like now that we’ve totally established that you have put the work in that you have created an incredible business. And then I’d like to talk more about what was that shift for you? Like what needed to happen to build that confidence. So you could start educating if you wanted to crack into education. And I love that you mentioned you started at 16. That is so freaking cool. So So what did you need to experience? Or what kind of like was the breaking point for you to start offering education? Yeah, so
Reed
I did this really early. But looking back, it was maybe a little bit too early. But kind of the point for me was I was just getting asked so many questions all the time on Instagram, people would just DM me on the day like, Oh, how did you edit this? Or how do you book more clients or I love your posing style. And after just getting kind of an influx of messages about this, I was like, Maybe I should just offer a mentoring session. So I started with in person like one on one mentoring sessions, mainly just with people from the local Houston area.
It was on pretty much like intro to photography, like, here’s how you can use your camera. Here’s how you can oppose people at a session, kind of the more like intuitive photography, kind of the little bit of basics. So I started with one on one mentoring sessions, they would come on over to my house, which was my parents house because I was still in high school. And I would sit down with them on my laptop and just kind of show them some things.
Then we would go photograph outside. From there, I kind of transitioned into workshops and styled suits. So that would look like doing a one day event where there’d be anywhere from four to 20 people kind of attending. And that’s when I was still walking them through my posing style, walk them through styling details, things like that.
Then from there, I transitioned into online education, that’s when I started to focus on things like marketing, I did an online course I started a memberships selling digital products. So it was definitely a little bit of a slow journey. I didn’t necessarily go all in right away. But I started with mentoring when I was 16. And then went into workshops. And then around 2020 is when I transitioned into online education.
Quianna Marie
Oh my gosh, well, I feel like that is something that people could definitely take notes on. So if you’re considering tapping into education, it really starts with like I mentioned before, like you have to live it, and then people will want to learn from you.
Right? So I love that that was a very organic shift for you when, after a certain point, you start getting the same questions and you think, okay, how can I just create one resource to answer a handful of these things? Oh, okay, well, let’s start doing mentoring. Let’s start offering styled shoots and workshops. And I see how it was just a beautiful evolution of sharing your knowledge.
Reed
Yeah, that’s exactly what it was. It was just kind of the influx of oh, what camera do you use? And so I made like, here’s what’s in my bag, and then the questions would just get a little bit more in depth from there and it just kind of naturally evolved into that process where it was very one on one very small scale just slowly got into a larger scale from there.
Quianna Marie
I love that. Can you share more about your shop? I love that you have some digital products in there and like what was your very First digital product? Oh,
Reed
that’s a fun question. So my very first digital product was called, it was called the Instagram toolkit. And it was for wedding photographers. And the whole concept behind it was everything you need to master the Instagram game for the next 30 days. So it was 20 Caption templates, like 10, candidates template and Instagram story prompts.
Then just some other like social media prompts, but it was essentially 30 days of done for you Instagram content. I got just awesome feedback on that with things like, Oh, my captions are so easy to write now, or Instagram feels really easy. That kind of helped me focus on maybe I can make more resources that are really focused on marketing, because this is something for me that it’s really fun. And it seems really simple.
But it’s a way that I can help other people and kind of educate them on, here’s how marketing works for me, here are the resources I can provide for you. So from there, when I transitioned from weddings to seniors, my digital products kind of transitioned that way as well. So now we have a range of products ranging from $7, all the way to $297, as far as digital products goes, kind of covering a very varied set of topics, but most of them kind of fall back on focusing on digital marketing, and showing up online to grow your photography business.
Quianna Marie
I love that you are so so giving and so generous with your education like that. I mean, looking back, because I remember starting right like in high school as well. And in my early 20s, just out of college, and I wish we had the resources that we have today. Like I just, it just makes my heart so happy. So if you’re listening to this thinking, Gosh, I feel stuck. I don’t know where to begin, like, you’re in the prime education here, because there were so many educators like read, like myself that have resources for you. And it’s just a matter of reaching out and asking. So I’m so thankful that you have this shop, and it’s readily available, how can we find your shop?
Reed
Yeah, so you can find my stop at really gallagher.com/shop or the new page, actually, it’s realgar.com/everything. And that has all of my offers. So it has the digital products, it has my membership, it has my coaching program and has any like, more elevated like VIP day coaching offers as well. And that will have everything on there. And then you can also go to photography, growth hub.com, which is a direct link to my membership for photographers, that is all about showing up online and booking more of a client. So those are the two links where you can find me,
Quianna Marie
oh my gosh, well, those are all be linked in the show notes. And before we wrap up, I have a couple questions for you. Because I definitely want to chat about the the photo bundle and how that came to be because I know when you reached out for me to submit either a product or some type of offer. I was so honored. It was just like, oh my gosh, this is so cool. And it’s such an incredible concept. So can you share, like how that came to be? And a little backstory on on the photo bundle? And what’s it about?
Reed
Collaboration has always been really big for me and my business, when I was working with seniors collaborating with hair and makeup artists or the wedding industry would look like collaborating with wedding planners or venues. And I would see so much benefit from that and just the huge results you get from from collaboration.
So when I kind of stepped into the role of educator, I knew I wanted to take the same collaboration concepts and bring it into my coaching business. And I had seen bundles before. That would be just for coaches, or maybe for photographers, but I never seen one that was really focused on just marketing. So I knew the direction I wanted to take my coaching business with my digital products was focusing on marketing and selling up online.
The whole idea behind the photo bundle was bringing together the best of the best in the industry, just to talk about marketing and how you can book more clients with your photography business. So the photo bundle was ran back in August of 2023. And it was a collection of 20 different courses, templates and resources from different photography educators all about showing up online and booking more clients. You could get all of these resources valued at over $2,000 for $97. And it was just such a fun way to bring different educators together and be able to help photographers just meet their goals for 2023 and be able to grow their business and show up online. So it was super fun. I am planning to do a round two of the photo bundle later this year in 2024.
So if you are a photographer listening and you’re interested in learning from the best in the industry and learning from multiple educators at one time, then definitely tune into the photo bundle when it comes out. Yes.
Quianna Marie
And I feel like you’re absolutely right. It’s collaboration like even just being a part of the bundle as a contributor. I was introduced to Do incredible photographers, but I didn’t know yet, right? And so I think sometimes we can be in the industry and we get in these bubbles, and just being exposed to other creatives, other business owners is the best. And what a frickin deal to get that type of quality content for such a little price like that is just incredible.
Reed
Yes, all the contributors were so generous to be a part of then contribute their products into the bundle. And I agree with what you said, Absolutely. It was such a great way for everyone involved the photographers who are purchasing the bundle and the contributors who are part of it, just to get to meet so many new people and get to be introduced to new faces in the industry. Yes.
Quianna Marie
Oh my gosh, I am already looking forward to I’m like inviting myself. I would love to share a behind the scenes course. Like that would be so fun for the bundle next time. Yes,
Unknown Speaker
absolutely. You mind? 1,000%?
Quianna Marie
Yes. Oh my gosh. Well, in closing, I love to ask every guest here on Quianna Marie Weekly about a key tip. So what key tip read? Would you like to highlight and share with other photographers, what’s something that we need to know and something that you wish you knew sooner?
Reed
There’s so many things I could say to this. But if I had to pick one thing, and this is something that sticks with me all the time, it’s that Done is better than perfect. When it comes to growing your business. Sometimes you just have to do it scared. There’s a whole industry or really a whole world who’s out there like waiting to see your talent and waiting to see your passion.
So get your content out there, start growing and just be ready for what’s to come. No one can see your talent and expertise if you don’t give them that constant. So there might be a typo, there might be something that could have looked a little bit better if you waited two more days to put it together in Canada. But at the end of the day, Dawn is better than perfect. And there’s a whole world who’s waiting for your content out there ready to consume what you have to offer. Yes.
Quianna Marie
Oh my goodness, that is the best advice and the great little mic drop moment for this conversation. And I think it truly is a testament to your growth. And all of your success read is because you did it. You showed up. You were like, I want to try this thing. And then you did it. For like all aspects of your life like this is just like a human example of Done is better than perfect. And, and just to see I saw Oh, sorry, I was just recently at a live podcast event.
One of the buzzing you know, there’s always these really great takeaways that we take from everything was, you know, stop being fearful of what you’re about to do? And actually be more afraid of what would happen if you didn’t do it? Right. Yeah, that’s good. Like, this is so good. And it applies to basically all of our conversation. So thank you so much, Reid, for sharing your expertise, paving the way for other photographers and young entrepreneurs. So how can we be your BFF? How can we connect with you? Yeah, so
Reed
You can follow me over on Instagram, it’s read Gallagher photo, that’s the probably the best way to just kind of stay in touch with me. I’m always answering my DMs always in there. So send me a message. I would love to chat with you. You can also find me I reached out to.com that has my photography website and all of my coaching resources on there. Amazing.
Quianna Marie
Please make sure to check out the show notes as well to collect all these links. And I’m just so grateful for your read. Thank you for this conversation.
Reed
Yes, of course. Thank you so much for having me on. This was so fun to talk about.
Quianna Marie
Thank you have a beautiful
Reed
day. You too.
Quianna Marie
I feel like I could talk to read for hours. I love this conversation. And I hope it leaves you feeling fired up overqualified and inspired to take action towards your dreams today. Your read is out there, my friend. He’s growing a very powerful associate team for his business, jetting off to step on stages around the country to speak at conferences and events, dropping courses and educational resources and never passing up some chips and queso read is the best friend and mentor that we all look up to for guidance and support.
This is your sign to get out there. Show up and try something new. If there’s a calling in your heart to start a business now is the best time to get started. Remember, you’re never too young or too old to follow your dreams. Thanks so much for joining the party today. Please make sure to follow along with Reid and check out his shop for more resources. If you have a friend that needs to hear this conversation. Please share, send them a link to this episode.
You may just be the one cheerleader someone needs to take that leap of faith. I hope you have an amazing day. Okay, love you. Bye can’t wait to chat next week. That’s a wrap on another episode of Kiana Murray weekly. Thank you so much for your listenership and support.
You can find the resources and show notes for this episode and more at QuiannaMarie.com/podcast. I’d be honored if you show your support by leaving a review and rating on your favorite podcast app. Until next time I keep on dancing.
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