Meet the one woman who rocks my (business) world – Nicole
Meet the one woman who rocks my (business) world – Nicole
Running your own business is hard work and can often be lonely and knackering, so to do it well and to keep your sanity, I quickly learnt that you need to surround yourself with the right people. I am very lucky in that I have my awesome bf who supports me on many levels (finance, emotional, admin, practical – i.e. makes the dinner lol) but with the growing number of clients that I’ve been working with over the last year, it became very clear that I needed support on a client management level – I needed another photographer. And, not just any photographer. No, I needed a photographer who understood this crazy new genre of photography that I have created. After meeting and interviewing a handful of talented photographers, Nicole, was the one that made the final cut and here’s why.
Why I love Nicole
1. Her portrait photos are beautiful and capture a lot of personality
2. She is amazing with clients on a shoot – she simultaneously relaxes them, even if they are feeling incredibly tense and nervous, and takes control of the shoot from the get-go so they are never left wondering what they need to do or how they need to be
3. She is rock-solid reliable – critical in any client-facing role of course
4. She takes real pride in her work
5. She is good fun to be around
6. She is curious and interested in life and so is able to connect with clients quite quickly
7. She is passionate about photography
8. She can handle any number of jobs that I send her way (sometimes on the same day with very few breaks – eek sorry girl)
9. She has almost completed 100 dating photo shoots for Hey Saturday!
10. Clients LOVE her!
11. She understood the Hey Saturday brand really quickly and creates photos that are so very Hey Saturday people can’t tell the difference (including my own bf & his cool kids – I know because I tested them)
So who is this amazing woman who totally rocks my business world? Let’s find out a bit more about her….
What do you love about working for Saturday Night’s Alright?
I love meeting all kinds of different people. Sometimes I find people in London can be quite isolated, but that’s the great thing about my work for Hey Saturday – I get to know lots of different people and I love hearing what makes them tick.
Which are you favourite London locations and why?
There are so many really good locations here, but I think my two favourites are Holland Park and the Southbank. Holland Park is so versatile and beautiful. Even before I started working with Saskia, I loved spending time there. The Southbank is the same, there are so many different backdrops within a 15 minute radius. It also has a different feel than a park, it can also be a bit more urban and hip.
Where would you love to do a shoot in the UK, if you could choose, and why?
I’d love to do a shoot in Scotland. It’s such a beautiful country and I love the history. It all goes back to my interest in the Outlander books really, but even before that I’ve always been fascinated by the place.
You are brilliant at making clients feel relaxed, how do you do that?
I don’t really know. I think you just have to be open. I always ask clients lots of questions about themselves, trying to make them forget that I’m taking photos of them. Often we find something in common – movies, books etc and then we get talking about those interests. I’ve always been quite curious and I love learning new things from our clients. The questionnaire we send clients prior to the shoot helps me to build up a picture in my mind of who it is I’m about to work with which helps me to prepare for each shoot.
What do you love best about portrait photography?
Apart from meeting all sorts of people, I love the challenge of capturing someone’s personality. I think this is quite difficult and it all goes back to relaxing the client and finding a common ground. I also enjoy fashion portraits as you can be really creative and I like trying out new things.
What is your top piece of dating advice?
I’m not really an expert, but I’d say just be yourself and be proud of who you are. Don’t pretend to be something or like something for the sake of sounding more interesting or to impress your (potential) date.
