***All images in this post are copyright Carrie Viohl***

NEXT WEEK: Elizabeth Messina

{To nominate women you'd like to see in this series please list them in the comments-make sure to include your info in the comment fields so that I can get in touch with you- or write to me at: davina at davinafear dot com }

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CarrieV:

Carrie, I remember seeing your firemen project about a year or so ago and loved what you were creating. Your images have such a magical feel to them! You have a successful studio and a family and I'm so excited to have you here on the Women and Business series!

Thank you so much for being here!

You have 2 kids, right? What does a typical day look like for you?

That's right... a 9 year old daughter, and a 7 year old son. I'm-unendingly-lucky that my husband, Phillip, is such a hands-on dad. I get the kids up & dressed at 7:00, and by 7:25, Phil and the kids are in the truck on the way to school. While he's taking the kids to school, I take the time to watch the day's local weather & national news. I also do a very quick, 5 minute yoga morning stretch, called the Sun Salutation. (This helps me a LOT, since I spend most of my photo shoots sprawled out on the floor!) He gets back at around 8:00, and we are at the office by 9:30 each day that the studio is open. Our staff gets there shortly after, and we open the doors of the studio at 10:00AM! Depending on the week, I either have shoots or selling sessions thru-out the day, a constant stream of people coming in for portrait planning sessions, bridal consultations, and people coming to pick up their portraits! Phillip does all of the accounting and most of the management work. At 2:30, Phil goes to grab the munchkins, and brings them to our studio. (They have their own small "office" in our office area, complete with a homework & snack table, a computer desk, and a TV/couch area.) The kids have Piano, Yoga, French, & Violin classes, and seasonal sports. We all split the chauffeuring duties!By 6:00, our staff all go home, and the studio is closed, but I often have another outdoor shoot, so I drop the kids & Phil off at the house. My husband happens to be a great cook, so if I'm home, we cook a meal together, if I'm doing a shoot, he cooks! (He's amazing!)

Our unwind time is after the kids are in bed... I get a lot of creative excitement in fashion & culture magazines, and a good glass of wine! Phil loves to read as well, but he's also likely to go meet up with his guy pals after supper... he spends ALL day with women!

What do you think are the most important things you do as a mom and every day?

I'm a big believer in family time. I'm so lucky that this career has allowed my whole family to be together most of the day. The kids are at funny ages right now... they are not babies anymore! *sob* but they aren't teenagers, either. I want to soak up as much time with them right now as I can, because soon, they will be WAY too busy for us old fogies!

I saw that you’ve moved into a new studio space fairly recently. What did you do to prepare to make that jump?

We had been renting a studio across town for about two years. It was a funky, crazy old Edwardian building that stuck out like a frilly, sore thumb in an industrial area! We loved it, but we knew from the beginning that we would rather own a building, so that we could really modify it to suit our unique style. We started saving for a down payment, and then began the LONG search for a building that we loved. We looked at everything from a 4500sq ft building with a 5 acre yard out in the country for $400,000, to abandoned houses, and garage studios, and finally, a 115 year old building in our city's historic downtown district. The 115 year old building simply spoke to me! It was an utter mess, as it had most recently been a charity thrift store & soup kitchen! But we bought it for only $35,000, and with about 3 months worth of renovations, we had a studio that REALLY suited our style! (Not to mention a financial asset for the business.!) We opened the new studio with a glorious Open House party one year ago this month!

How did you incorporate your branding and colors into your studio?

We have a relationship with an interior designer that has been helping us for a while. We were working on a new logo to go with the new look of the studio, and when we showed her our new, understated logo, she took off from there. We decided on a color palette that centers around olive green and natural copper. We painted the walls a pale blue green that really made our "focus colors" pop. All of the frames in the studio are copper. We bought big expanses of corrugated metal and had them powder coated copper. The front facade of our brick building had been painted beige. We painted over the beige with "our" green, to make our building really stand out. After our colors started to come into place, we started working on the overall look of our studio. I wanted to make the studio look like stepping into one of my photos. So, we went for strong textures, and beautiful lighting. We tore down the plaster in some areas to expose the amazing 115 year old bricks, and we left all of the overhead ductwork exposed, as well as the original 14 foot tongue-and-groove ceilings. We have one long hallway that we've treated as a gallery, so we used museum track lighting there, but everywhere else, we have soft, indirect lighting for a spa-like feel. We want people to feel both cozy & artsy when they are with us in our studio, and from the comments we hear, I think it's mission accomplished! :)

What do you think are a couple of mistakes that women make as business owners/photographers? What advice do you have to avoid these mistakes?

I think women artists almost always undervalue (and underprice!) their work,especiallyat first. Icertainlydid! I think the best way to overcome this fear of pricing was to get solid business education. In my case, my amazing friend, Ann Monteith, forced me to look at my pricing and my work from an objective, business point of view. She told me once, "You don't have a business, you have a very expensive hobby!" OUCH! Spend your education dollar learning the BUSINESS of photography!

How did photography find you? And why did you decide to go into business?

Strangely, photography has been kinda *chasing* me since I was a kid. Part of dress-up with my sister always included a photoshoot. Back in the early 90's, I'd dress my kid sister up as a fairy, and then put her in the window of an old barn. Our mom would just roll her eyes and laugh when the developed film came back! I always admired the silhouettesof dead trees, and the tiny creatures in the grass, and the way that light fell into a room in the afternoon.

In 11th grade, my journalism teacher took one of my photos to the Student Journalism state competition (behind my back!) and it claimed the first prize.

Cleverly, I went to college to study psychology.

Then, I got married at the ripe ole' age of 19, I dropped out of college, and we moved to Germany. A year later, we had our first child , and of course, our families demanded photos of the new baby! Right away, people started asking who created the photos of my daughter. I took photos of other people's kids for fun quite a lot! Still, the thought of becoming a professional photographer never occurred to me.

It took a chain of strange events, and 4 more years, for me to even consider photography as a valid means of financially contributing to my family. When the thought finally floated into my brain and stuck there, my wonderful husband was in college, studying accounting. He told me, If you think that photography is what you want to do, I will support you as well as I can while you get started. He was going to school during the day, and bar-tendingat night.

After 3 years, the studio was growing fast enough that I was able to convince my husband to come work with my full time!

How do you stay creative?

Creativity takes time, and work. When I've got my head buried in lightroom & photoshop, working to crank out the next presentation for a client, I do NOT feel creativelyinspired. Editing is a rote,reflexive action for me. I much prefer my creativity to be in the camera room, or on location shoots. The lighting, the posing, and the stories that we are telling in camera are what keep me excited about photography.

I prepare for a session first & foremost by having really good planning sessions. Every client of mine comes into the studio about a week before their shoot to work with me on brainstorming for their session. We talk about their unique family story, their favorite colors, their dream house, their dream vacation... whatever it takes for me to get into their mindset. After a good planning session, I'm just as excited about their shoot as they are!

It's my job to stay inspired and focused, so I make it a part of each day to feed myself visually. I have a folder on my desktop called "inspiration" and it's filled with images, textures, colors, phrases, places... whatever stirs the right side of my brain in a new way! Reading escapism novels keeps my brain from falling into a rut, and fashion magazines like Vanity Faire & Vogue keep me up on trends in colors, textures, and lighting.

Also, get OUTSIDE, for goodness sake! There is no greater inspiration than the living world that we so often forget is out there.

You have a fairly large studio, what does a day look like at your studio, who do you have working for you and what do they do to help you manage your studio and life?

Yes, there are 5 of us working here, 4 that work in the studio full time, and one who designs from home.

We have a somewhat unusual arrangement, inspired by my wonderful friend, Carol Andrews. For one full week, I shoot & edit, and then the next full week, I meet with clients, and view proofs/ sell. This is vital to me, because I'm just not that clever, and shooting, editing, meeting, and selling, all in one day would be a NIGHTMARE for my brain!

Renee, our production manager gets in at 9:30, and checks to see that all of the orders that were placed the day before have successfully made it into WHCC's system. UPS normally comes at around 10:30-11:00, and she handles the incoming images. She takes all of the images into her production room, where she sorts, inspects, and packages them, and labels them to be either shipped or picked up. Renee also coordinates with me to research new marketing ideas, new goodies for clients, and we are always working to improve our packaging, and overall customer experience.

Rachel, our Customer Service rep, gets in around 9:45, checks the voicemail, and her email, and makes any changes to the schedule that might arise during the day. Rachel also manages my personal calendar, scheduling things like vacations, Dr. appointments, kids' activities, and the like. She greets clients as they come in, answers the phone and email all day, and enters new clients into our database. She also enters orders into SuccessWare after the purchasing appointments, and delivers the orders to Renee, who places the orders through our various vendors.

Haley, who works from home, designs all of our books, for weddings, babies, and seniors. She comes in about once a week, to deliver completed books, catch up on what's going on in the studio, and pick up more orders to be designed! Phil does all the accounting, payroll, and together we manage the overall operation of the studio.

You are married, what do you do to keep your love fresh and fun?

Phillip and I have been married for 10 years now! We are both passionate,opinionated people; so we butt heads in the studio. But when we walk out of the studio doors, we go back to being just married folk & parents. We leave any heated discussions at the studio's door. I think moving the business out of our house was vital for our marriage. When I used to work at home, I could never really turn off "Work Carrie," and I could see that it was becoming a problem. Phillip & the kids saw the back of my head more than anything. In the new studio, Phil and I share an office, and we oriented our desks so that we can look across the room and talk to each other, face to face. *awwww*

At work, I'm the boss, and the final decisions usually come down to me. But outside of work, I feel like it's important for Phil to be the head of our household. (Plus, my brain a little fried from making decisions all dadgum day!)

We tend to LIVE for our free weekends! We L-O-V-E hiking and nature trails, so if we have more than 4 hours' free time, we throw the kids in the truck, and head for a little mini-adventure!

Moms who are business women have so many things vying for their time. What do you do to market and how do you fit that into your already busy schedule?

This is so true! I'm a huge believer in blogsites. I have had a blog as my website since 2004. It's been my main marketing tool, and wildly successful! Our blog gets about 600 unique visitors per day, and it keeps our phone ringing. We've found that treating our clients like friends is the most natural, productive way to run in this industry. The other major marketing we do is TV commercials in about a 100sq. mile radius from my city. We purchase the commercials through our local cable company, and so we get a great deal, and really great, saturated distribution! Between the blog & the TV spots, we stay VERY busy! :)

What 5 tips do you have for women who are feeling overwhelmed with trying to manage life, business, being a mom, etc. etc. etc.?

1.) Take a pen & paper to bed! :) Seriously, one of the worst things in my daily life is when I wake up at 2:00am, with my head full of everything I have to do the next day ! If I have a pen & paper on my bedside table, then I can just jot down what's in my head, and then I can (usually) let it go and get back to sleep.

2.) Take a bath! With the door SHUT! I call it bathstorming. A LOT of my best creative ideas come to me while I'm relaxing in a quiet, warm bath. Creativity takes time, and so does sanity, so find a way for you to make quiet, peaceful alone time. Even if it's only 15 minutes a day. It doesn't have to be a be a bath... one of my favorite friends finds the same peace while she's gardening, and my mom gets up each morning by 5:30 AM to read and pray. Find "your" time, and make it a priority.

3.) Don't waste your off time! Off time needs to be OFF TIME. Turn off the computers, and spend time with the people who love you. If you're a mom, I can guarantee that your kids will appreciate your time MUCH more than facebook, photoshop, or any photographers' forum.

4.) Stay healthy! As momish as it sounds of me: eat your veggies, get fresh air, and take care of yourself! It's much easier to be stressed out & depressed if your body isn't feeling 100%.

5.) Find your self esteem! This was the turning point in my business. When I found out that it was OK for me to feel great about my photos just the way they were, it changed the way I did everything. Find a person you trust, and ask them to tell you what's GOOD about your work. Make sure this person is knowledgeable, honest, and NOT your Mom! :)

My website: http://www.studioviohl.com

The PPA's Studio Management Service's website:http://www.ppa.com/studio-management-services/

Ann Monteith's Website:http://www.monteithworkshop.com/ (Check out her wonderful blog!)

***All images in this post are copyright Carrie Viohl***

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