Picture Perfect Branding With Photographer Jatoya Rector

Capturing the perfect picture can be tricky, but it can also help companies brand and tell their stories. In this episode of the Class E Podcast, we sat down with photographer Jatoya Rector and discussed how she helps companies’ brand with her business, Jatoya Lanisha Photography. Additionally, she shares what she learned from the Greenville Starts program, and emphasizes the power of networking and branding.

Guest: Jatoya Rector

Website: https://jatoyalanishaphotography.pic-time.com/portfolio

Host: Mary Sturgill

Producers: Kayla Patterson '23 and Isabella Martinez '24

 

SHOW TRANSCRIPT

MARY: Hi there, everyone. Welcome to this episode of the Class E Podcast. I'm your host, Mary Sturgill. You know, this is the podcast that's brought to you through a partnership between the Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship here at Furman University and the Communication Studies department here as well. This episode is part of our Everyday Entrepreneur series in which we talk to graduates of the Greenville Starts program about how that program helped them and where they are in their ventures in hopes of inspiring some of you. So we have a very special guest today. Jatoya Rector was in the very first Greenville Starts cohort with me and she joins us here today to talk about her business which is Jatoya Lanisha Photography. Jatoya, it's good to see you.

 JATOYA: It's good to see you Mary. I’m so happy to be here. We meet again.

 MARY: I know. I know. Our cohort… it was, I mean, I'm sure all of them are like this, but we’re the best.

 JATOYA: Yeah, exactly.

 MARY: But our cohort…we have such camaraderie amongst us and it's so good when we run into each other and see each other at events.

 JATOYA: So excited. We're so proud of each other. We made it through and we're all like dreamers you know, going after what we want in life. So that's really good.

 MARY: I love that and I mean, that's exactly how I always end my podcast is “Dream Big everybody.” You know? And that's a huge part of what we're doing as entrepreneurs. So let's talk about this. How did you…you have an MBA right? How did you parlay an MBA into photography?

 JATOYA: Well, see.. I think that really helped me with like all the admin stuff and everything behind behind the scenes, but it really was, you know, taking something I want to be passionate about like photography. It wasn't as… using the MBA, you know, you don't get to be as creative as you want to be. So photography gave me a creative outlet and it really helped me to showcase, you know, my passion and then being able to work with people is really really what I wanted to do.

 MARY: How long ago did you start like taking pictures and when did you discover that photography was your passion?

 JATOYA: You know what? I think I've always been taking pictures like in the group of friends, I'm always the picture taker and I just always want to make sure everything, everybody looks good and everything's right. So I think that was always my passion. And I take a lot of pictures myself. So I think that… it's just photography just came to me, especially like branding photography. When I saw like people starting businesses but didn't have those high quality images, and I was like, I can fix that so I picked up a camera and it's been all ever since.

MARY: So that's exactly what you do in your company is you help people with their branding. So for people who might not understand how you do that through photography, how do you do that through photography?

 JATOYA: Well, it's pretty much taking the person and make… and showing their personality basically. You're gonna take like lifestyle pictures or pictures of you planning, doing things behind the scenes for your business. And I make sure that you have those images so that you can share that with your clients and the clients you want to attract so they can not only see your business, what you produce, but who you are as a person. So it's really about showing the person behind the business.

 MARY: And I think that's so important because so many people make decisions on companies to go with. Say they're, you know, searching for something, someone to do something for them or someone to hire. And I know a lot of people are like me, I look at those photographs, and I'm like, who do I connect with?

 JATOYA: Right. Exactly. You want to see a little bit of you in that person and you want to have something to connect with that's just beyond the product. You're like, what are they into? Are they a nice person? Do they have pets? You know, what are they doing for vacation? You just want to see them outside of actual work to make sure that you align together.

 MARY: Exactly because that’s so important. Let’s talk about your path to get to opening the company. What did you… what did you do once you, did you go straight through for your masters and work out in the field somewhere?

 JATOYA: Yeah, I definitely…So my career path is in IT. So I've worked in IT for over 18 years. I was a Project Manager. Well, that's still kind of what I do now during the day so I still have that day job. But with photography, I pretty much started shooting my friends, family, anyone just to get that practice. Just starting is pretty much what will get you going as you know, just, you know getting out there and getting it going. So once I started, I was like, I can turn this into a business, I was getting really, really good and I was getting a lot of clients. So I was like I need to, you know, formalize this and make this a real thing.

 MARY: So you run this on a subscription type of basis. Is that correct?

 JATOYA: Yes, I have clients. I have clients that do subscription where they do monthly, like maybe four or five months at a time they subscribe and they have a set price but then I do still do clients who you know pay as they go or whenever they need me. I still have that option as well.

 MARY: The photographs that you take are like headshots, lifestyle shots, anything that they might need for websites, potential videos and social media as well.

 JATOYA: Yeah. If you're going to an event, you're gonna get an award, you need someone there to take your picture, make sure you have that. Anything that's going on with you personally. And then anything… maybe you want some with your kids or family to show that side of you as well. So anything to do with your lifestyle and then anything to do with your business as well. Yeah.

 MARY: So I love that because as you said, you know you're getting an award or something. I'm just, I'm thinking about you know, when back when I was a journalist, all the awards I won. I’m like usually I'm the one taking the picture up here. I’m like hmm, should’ve had a picture of me getting that award.

 JATOYA: Right. You're the winner. You need your picture…

 MARY: Exactly.

 JATOYA: …up there receiving your award that you can show everybody.

 MARY: Right. Right.

 MARY: So… some people might think well, what does an MBA have to learn from Greenville Starts, right? So for people who might not know, Greenville Starts is a program that's hosted by the Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship with our community partners, the City of Greenville, among others. It's an eight week program that people go into and they meet like twice a week. And it gives them training and connections and we meet with people who have access to capital who could help you get access to capital, anything to either launch or grow your business. So some people might say, well, what does an MBA need to do Greenville starts for?

 JATOYA: Because Greenville Starts was an awesome opportunity. It was about the networking like it was the people in the community who came in and like really poured into us and then you don't know what you don't know.

 MARY: Right.

 JATOYA: Like, exactly. It's about… they were telling us things and businesses and places to apply for things that we didn't know and then there's a legal side of things. So, you're not a lawyer, so they had someone come in and tell us, you know about IPs and things like that. So it was really about them pouring into the behind the scenes and how to actually run a successful business that you just really wouldn't know unless you had the opportunity to connect with folks.

 MARY: Yeah, for sure.Did you… what were some of the takeaways that you were like, okay, I have to apply this to my business in particular?

 JATOYA: I think the basic… the major takeaway was I needed to really formulate my pitch on where I'm reaching clients or reaching out to investors, really formulating what I need and kind of putting that in a very executive and clean place. I mean, clean order so that we can like understand what our needs are. I think the program really helped us to focus and streamline our needs and what our ask is, when we go out to the community and we present ourselves or we ask, we're in front of investors, we know how to you know, go down our executive summary and kind of formulate that ask.

 MARY: Right. So…and to be able to tell your story.

 JATOYA: And tell our story. Absolutely.

 MARY: So important, so important. What…you know, lots of us fail. I mean, you still of course are doing two things at one time…running the company And still working in IT. But what…has there been a time when you have failed, but you've learned something from it that you can share with our audience?

 JATOYA: I think it would be dealing with overworking yourself and burnout. So it's really like being able to stay on top of all the tasks you have to do. Once you put on the CEO hat, that's not your only hat.

 MARY: RIGHT.

 JATOYA: And you have to, you know, do customer relations and everything like that. So I think failing would be, you know, overbooking yourself or overworking yourself and not having that balance. And I really think that's really important with me right now is just finding, getting in the right tools and resources, even the right people to help you along the way so that you could actually scale so yeah, I think that would be it.

 MARY: So where are you now in… in the process, are you because you can't be everywhere. And most I would think that most of these photography sessions probably take place nights and weekends because of other people's schedules, not just yours.

 JATOYA: Right.

 MARY: And then that leaves you with no personal time. How are you balancing that? What kinds of things are you doing?

 JATOYA: Oh, really, it's all about my calendar. So I literally live off my calendar, blocking off those weekends and making those vacation plans and making sure I have that time blocked off and being available for my clients to be in… I'm flexible, and they're pretty much flexible too. So if I do run into a time where I need that break, they're always willing to kind of say we can move it to this day. And it just, yeah, just making sure you block your time out. Absolutely.

 MARY: What other advice do you have that you've… something that you've learned that you're like, oh, I wish I'd known that before I started?

 JATOYA: I think I wish I would have learned the power of networking. I think that we, we go through life and we're like, learning all these things and we're, you know, getting our degrees and we're working working really hard but it's really relationships that's gonna take your business to the next level. It's really people knowing people knowing people so it's really about getting out there and I wish I would have, you know, got out there earlier. So as you know, making your face known in the community so that you can meet the right people to kind of propel you into your dreams.

 MARY: Yeah. I want to talk a little bit more about the branding and how just good photography helps with branding. What are some of the things that you've noticed that you've been able to help your customers with, just by upgrading their photography on their websites and on their social media?

 JATOYA: Yeah, I think that… I think that branding is, I think people don't understand what branding is. It's not like modeling or high fashion. So being able to kind of tell your story and make them comfortable with themselves and not thinking they have to pose and do all this high fashion runway type of thing. People get that confused and branding is more about, you know, you relaxing into who you are. Your genuine smile, your genuine, you know, activities that you will be doing on your laptop, on your phone. I think having people just calm down and understand that it's not you, it's not all about you posing, it's about you just being your natural self in front of a camera.

 MARY: And, and you as a photographer being able to capture that, I think.

 JATOYA: Absolutely. And bringing that out of people because a lot of people are super nervous. And I, it's just like calming them down and saying this is this is not, you know, anything that's gonna be scary, I’m gonna work with you and I'm definitely gonna guide you so you don't have to worry.

 MARY: Yeah. So it's really a lot of, of human interaction and…

 JATOYA: Yeah.

 MARY: It really takes some people skills to be able to do that.

 JATOYA: Absolutely. Absolutely. I get that a lot that people like, oh, God, I was really nervous. But then you got here and I got here. I’m very comfortable with you. So it's a lot of calming them down, talking to them, letting them know it's gonna be okay. And yeah, just really having that personal time with them before we get started to say hey, this is what we're gonna do. And everything's gonna be okay.

 MARY: Yeah, it's always gonna be okay. Because you can always take another picture.

 JATOYA: Right. I show them like, look, this is how it's going. So they are always comfortable. Like okay, this is going okay,

 MARY: And they’re like okay, it’s better than I thought.

 JATOYA: Absolutely.

 MARY: Like I have a sister who wants no pictures whatsoever ever taken of her. And she would be, she would be one of those clients that you have to work with.

 JATOYA: You look good. You look great. Look at this. I'm always like, trying to let them see what I'm doing so they get comfortable.

 MARY: Yeah. What is your plan to grow that because like I said, there's only one of you right? And you can only do so much.

 JATOYA: Right. Jatoya’s going to need a team. So right now I'm thinking I'm gonna need the space so I'm… I want a creative space where there's like different setups, like different scenes, living room, bedroom, couch that I can have. And then I'm going to need a team that's definitely going to be able to help me with that and grow. Also, you know, having people who can go out and shoot the content for me and bring it back to me to edit or you know, watch…even train editors so it's gonna be really about building Jatoya’s team and finding the space that I need to create this studio that can translate to really good content for whoever needs it.

 MARY: Yeah. And that's huge to be able to have that space that people can come to you that you don't necessarily have to travel to them all the time.

 JATOYA: All the time. Right. And I'm definitely willing, but yeah, having that space they can come to. Because some people don't have, you know, offices. A lot of people work out of their homes…

 MARY: Right.

 JATOYA: …as entrepreneurs, so having that space they can come to looks really, really good and is what I want to have.

 MARY: Yeah. And that you can change. Because you don't want everybody to be looking exactly the same.

 JATOYA: Exactly. Change some things out Make it whatever they would need it to be.

 MARY: Exactly. So it reflects their own personality.

 JATOYA: Right.

 MARY: I love that. So how do people who want to get in touch with you… how do they do that?

 JATOYA: There are several ways. They can follow me on Instagram @theimagequeen. My website is Jatoya Lanisha Photography.com and they can find me on Facebook - Jatoya Lanisha.

 MARY: I love your Instagram handle.

 JATOYA: Thank you! I know. I was like, how is this available?

 MARY: I know. This is so good.

 JATOYA: It’s perfect.

 MARY: It is perfect. People who are watching this on YouTube will know what we mean when we say it is perfect. Because you are… she's a hot tamale. That’s what she is. So, she is the image queen.

 MARY: So Jatoya, before I let you go, do you have one more piece of advice for anybody who might be thinking it's just not the right time to start a business?

 JATOYA: For anyone thinking it's not the right time, now is the time because there's no other time than now. If you wait, you're, you're just delaying your progress. You have to start to get started. So it's just basically get out there, get it going and follow your dreams because if you believe in it, and you have that passion, people are gonna come to you and be attracted. So, now is the time.

 MARY: Yeah, I love that. Gotta start to get started.

 JATOYA: You gotta start to get started.

 MARY: That should be your motto.

 JATOYA: That’s right.

 MARY: That should be every entrepreneur’s motto.

 JATOYA: Absolutely.

 MARY: Jatoya, thank you so much for joining me today.

JATOYA: Thank you for having me. I loved it. I loved seeing you.

 MARY: It was so much fun. Good seeing you too.

 MARY: All right, guys. Remember if you know of anyone who's an entrepreneur, or you're an entrepreneur yourself, Greenville Starts is a great place to get that jumpstart into your business, no matter what level your business is at if it's just an idea in your head or if maybe you've started and you have some clients, but you just got to figure out how to get to the next level so that maybe you can leave your job and really do this full time whatever the case may be, Greenville Starts is a great place to start. However, just Google Greenville starts at Furman and get yourself on the list for the very next cohort that's coming up. We are both advocates that will say you will not regret putting in the time to do that. That does it for this episode of the Class E Podcast. Remember guys this podcast is brought to you through a partnership between the Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and the Communication Studies Department here at Furman University. It's produced by student producers Kayla Patterson and Eliza Polich, who are a prime example of the Furman Advantage here and they are just wonderful producers. They put in a lot of hard work. I want you to check out our YouTube channel if you like watching people talk instead of listening to them, go over to YouTube and check out our new YouTube channel there but of course you can find the podcast wherever you listen to your podcast. We'd love to hear from you as well. So if you have any comments or whatever, just pop them in there on the comments on our website or on our YouTube channel as well. Thanks for tuning in everybody. I'm Mary Sturgill. Dream big everybody.