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The ins and outs of editorial wedding photoshoots - Molly McCauley
204 Plays2 years ago
Happy Woo Wednesdays! Molly McCauley is in the Get a HECK YES house.
Hot topic: The ins and outs of editorial wedding photoshoots and workshops
Molly goes deep into the importance of play in your craft.
She is very direct, which can catch people off guard -- but she likes to flush through the fuss to help people get results.
Molly McCauley is a fine art photographer Based in Los Angeles and New York. With a masters degree in photography and a background in design and fashion, Molly's approach is thoughtful and curated, with a spontaneous edge. If given the opportunity, she'll always choose a timeless black and white photograph as homage to her days in the darkroom.
And more recently as a wedding photography editorial host with Make Pretty Workshop, photo mentor, and brand curator
Connect with Molly
https://www.instagram.com/makeprettyworkshop/
https://makeprettyworkshop.com/wedding-editorial-course
Connect with Carissa
https://www.instagram.com/carissawoo
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Transcript
Introduction & Freebie Promotion
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy new Wednesdays! I got a freebie, I got a freebie, I got a freebie, hey, hey, hey, hey! Download my new freebie, it's Six Steps to Heck Yes. You will learn what to do right when you get an inquiry, all the way to asking for the sale, and celebrating when you get that heck yes on the car in 24 hours, super fast.
00:00:17
Speaker
I know it's ghosting culture, but not in the get a heck yes. How? So go to my website heckyesmedia.co to get the freebie and much more.
Guest Introduction: Molly McCauley
00:00:27
Speaker
Today I have a special guest, a friender of mine, Molly McCauley, photographer and educator of Make Pretty Workshops. She is a true gem in the industry and shoots five figure editorial weddings, so crazy. I love her story of mine, 6K worth of men's luxury shoes. Sometimes you gotta fake it till you make it.
00:00:47
Speaker
Molly is a real deal and go check out her course.
Carissa's Photography Journey
00:00:50
Speaker
It's insanely amazing. Enjoy this episode.
00:00:56
Speaker
Welcome to Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. I'm your host, Carissa, and I've been a Los Angeles wedding photographer for over a decade. I've traveled the world, built my team, and seen it all. I now coach wedding photographers hit 10K a month and build a thriving business. In this podcast, we are going to deep dive into how top wedding creatives get that heck yes from their dream clients. We are not holding back on the struggles of the business and how to push through the noise. Some healthy hustle, mindset shifts, up-leveling your money story,
00:01:25
Speaker
Time hacks because I'm a mom of two, a little bit of woo woo, and most importantly, self-love and confidence are just a few of the many things we will talk about. I want to give you a genuine thank you for following along my journey. I hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesday so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast.
Molly's Photography Style and Experience
00:01:43
Speaker
See you guys soon!
00:01:48
Speaker
Hey, everyone. You know me. I'm Carissa Wu. Welcome back to Get a Heck Yes. I have my friend Molly McCauley today here. She is a fine art wedding photographer based in Los Angeles and New York with a master's degree in photography and background in design and fashion.
00:02:04
Speaker
Molly's approach is thoughtful and curated, but the spontaneous edge is totally you. If given the opportunity, she'll always choose a timeless black and white photograph as homage to her days in the dark room. And also more recently, she has a photography editorial host
00:02:21
Speaker
with Make Pretty Workshops. She's a photo mentor and a brand curator. Welcome Molly.
Molly's Creative Beginnings and Education
00:02:27
Speaker
Hey girl, how are you? Good. When was the last time I saw you? It's been a while. Oh my gosh. I feel like it was a while. The most memorable time was probably when we, when you had to get together at your house. So like, I feel like there were just a million people in your house, but it was super fun. But that was a while ago.
00:02:44
Speaker
Yeah, we went to like the knot party together and I think it's a farewell party for Hannah one time at your house. Oh my gosh, just lots of lots of little things. I love our community in Southern California. It's so nice that everybody gets together. Yeah, so good to see your face and hear your voice. So are you based in LA and Europe right now? What's
00:03:04
Speaker
It's so funny. I love to keep it a little bit of a mystery. So many times when I have client inquiries, they're all just like, so where are you based? And I'm like, I'm glad that you don't know.
Pursuing Photography and Workshops
00:03:17
Speaker
But I am based in Los Angeles. And my other market is New York, but I do a lot of destinations. So it's really kind of ambiguous. My East Coast headquarters is in New England. So like, I'm just all over the place.
00:03:32
Speaker
Yeah, I love that. I love that. And I love your new website. It looks absolutely stunning. Oh, thank you. Yeah, go check her out. On Instagram and website, everything's going to be linked. And today's going to be our topic is the ins and outs of editorial wedding photo shoots and workshops. You have an amazing workshop that we're going to talk about. But before that, I want to just get to know you and your story because I've all about your story. So just walk us through like, we're
00:04:01
Speaker
everything like from when you're a kid and then also like to where you are now today. Very good and I tend to be long-winded answering so we're good there. It's interesting, I grew up in a very creative family. I'm from the
00:04:17
Speaker
middle of nowhere in Northeast Wisconsin. So you wouldn't normally associate that with an overly outgoing and creative family, but my mom was an art teacher. She's a goldsmith. My sister has always worked in, has always been creative, but worked in creative fields as well. And I found that that was just always such a place of ease for me. Growing up, I was not great in school.
00:04:44
Speaker
I always found creative projects and art. And I was a competitive dancer for 15 years. So I found all these art forms to be such a way of releasing and feeling at ease and often used to make up for my lack of school abilities. I wasn't a very studious student. I wasn't good at school. Yeah, you're creative. I was creative, exactly.
00:05:12
Speaker
So, super lucky to grow up in a creative family. When I went to college, I got my undergraduate at the University of Minnesota. During that time, they did not have a photography major, so I was actually very fortunate to be able to
Feedback and Benefits of Workshops
00:05:27
Speaker
create my own degree within
00:05:31
Speaker
three different facets of the liberal arts college. So I was able to petition for a specialized degree. And so my degree technically is in design, retail, merchandising and photography. Wow. Yeah, I always have had an interest in fashion, design, just really anything within that realm. So at
00:05:52
Speaker
Like my junior year of college, I went and did a study abroad program in London. I worked for a fashion house. It was so amazing, such a transformative year. And then when I graduated from college, I moved to Los Angeles to help some family out. I moved there with a suitcase. I was not planning on staying in return. And then 15 years later, here we are, right? So it was not a planned move. But when I moved there,
00:06:20
Speaker
worked for a fashion company for a while, realized real quickly that I didn't really love the ethics of fashion. So got out of that. I was a nanny for a while and then just really knew that I wanted to be doing something with photography. I always kept feeling that pull. So in 2009, I went and got my master's in fine art photography with the
00:06:40
Speaker
intention to teach I was always intending to actually go the collegiate route so funny enough the the not smart student is looking to be a professor which you know when you're in when you're in the arts it's a little bit easier but yeah that was my goal was to be a professor teach photography
Editorial Wedding Photography
00:06:59
Speaker
teach art help other people who struggled like I did so
00:07:04
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Oh, you know, a decade later, here we are still haven't still haven't done the professor route but have really honed my craft built a super successful photography business but have really allowed my strengths which are teaching in person and like mentoring and helping people and like having this visceral hands on experience.
00:07:27
Speaker
That's a strength of mine. It's something I love to do. So I was able to kind of trade my MFA for in-person workshops that really just feed my soul. And I find that people are much more receptive to information and learning and especially those who learn how I did. So I'm glad I'm able to kind of like fill the gap there. Oh, that was a great story. Oh, I've told it a time or two. Yeah.
00:07:56
Speaker
And of course you would like petition for your own major because you're supposed to go get it. Do I ever do anything normal? No, I'm not a normal human being. Oh my God. Okay. So tell me about this Spine Art Masters. I know you mentioned professor, but I never heard that before. No, for sure. I went to get my masters and
00:08:18
Speaker
Quite frankly, it was a really, really brutal experience. Anyone who's been to art school understands how you're just scrutinized day in and day out. You are forced to really look at your work. I think that's actually
00:08:33
Speaker
you know, double edged sword, that's how I got such a discerning eye within my work. I'm able to be
Organizing Photography Workshops
00:08:39
Speaker
ruthless when I'm calling, when I'm editing my work down. I always feel less is more in a lot of cases. So for me, it was a really hard experience. I was one of 13 people and I was definitely the black sheep, not only just in attitude, but the type of work that I produced.
00:09:00
Speaker
I was often given the feedback that my work was quote unquote, too pretty. And what's interesting about that is I've now made a career out of being too pretty and like producing pretty work. So I, you know, got the last laugh, of course, you know, and not bitter at all.
00:09:21
Speaker
That's so interesting. Yeah, it was a really tough two and a half year program that really allowed me to examine how I am able to produce conceptual art, like obviously, you know, advance my craft and get so much more better, be a better photographer overall. But it was a very, very like taxing experience. I always say it was the best thing I would never do again.
00:09:46
Speaker
Wow, that's so interesting. I never heard anyone go through that type of experience. Just to relate with you,
Enhancing Photography Portfolios
00:09:53
Speaker
like I am from a creative family too. Yeah, there is a like a journalist writer, like my dad like did photography, like my cousins are photographers and artists. So and I did really bad like in school too. So we're kind of yeah. And also, me and you are coaching sounds very different. Like, we teach totally different things.
00:10:14
Speaker
We'll talk more about your workshop, but I'm for Zoom, you're more in person. I guess walk us through what it's like, we're gonna get into it, but what it's like taking a workshop of yours. Yeah, it's funny because I offer a couple different opportunities, if you will. Yes, we have the overall workshops, but for me, when I decided, okay, I'm not going the professor route and I wanna create this,
00:10:42
Speaker
hands-on, but just very tangible like education and mentorship. That's really kind of what it is. So yes, I do Zoom calls. I prefer in person, but I do Zoom calls. I do website audits. I do all of that kind of stuff. So there's a facet of ways that we work together. However, I think
00:11:00
Speaker
um the in-person workshops are where people really really benefit and it's not only a chance I always think there's such an opportunity when you allow yourself the chance to play and I think often on a wedding day we shouldn't be taking like we shouldn't be experimenting on someone's wedding day like I understand like if you're really honed in and you got all the shots and you want to do something a little like different cool but like
00:11:27
Speaker
we shouldn't be learning as we go we should really really try to like continue to protect our or perfect our craft but what i love about a workshop is that you just get to be hands in it you get to say oh that worked for me that didn't you get to start you know playing with more editorial posing if you're sick of like the stagnant
00:11:49
Speaker
you know vanilla cookie cutter posing this is this is the opportunity to see oh what do i like what would my clients like if if i'm attracting a client who really loves style me pretty or martha stewart they're gonna pose very differently than people who want to be featured in vogue
00:12:07
Speaker
or Harper's Bazaar. So when I'm educating people and coaching them, guiding them through on these workshops, I'm usually there side by side. I'm
Understanding Style and Target Clients
00:12:15
Speaker
there happy to direct for people if they need to see how I direct my clients. I also give them the freedom and space if they just want to roll, like that's totally fine. But I'm there to help really just kind of push the envelope and help them experiment so that they can uncover maybe
00:12:32
Speaker
something that they didn't realize they loved and that they want to implement further into their, you know, business. So yeah, three editorial workshops changed my business entirely. And it was because I felt so stagnant and so stuck in my work that I created three editorials for myself because I'm a control freak and I want to be the one that's, you know, doing it. It's not for everybody, but like,
00:13:01
Speaker
It changed my business. It allowed me the chance to create work that I had been wanting to create rather than what the clients were hiring me for. A lot of times I wasn't working on weddings that I was inspired by the design or the decor or they weren't very fashion forward. Those are all things that I love. So I was able to create those opportunities for myself and obviously for others who attend my workshop that
00:13:29
Speaker
really just like give them that elevator, get them excited again and give them the confidence to put out work that they're proud of. And, you know, in turn, like, you know, put them up against different photographers that they've never thought they might be competing against or raise their prices or so many different things. But really, it all comes down to just expanding your vision as a photographer. Oh, that's a good one.
00:13:53
Speaker
Yeah, I know maybe you talked about this long time ago, but I think you were kind of like a workshop junkie and you would go to a bunch and you would kind of like you felt like you left with
Career Resilience and Personal Growth
00:14:03
Speaker
maybe like nothing or stuff that you
00:14:05
Speaker
you heard before. But I think maybe like your background and all this like education and the two years of master's like and going to all those workshops like really helped you. I don't know create this amazing workshop that people like get out of it. What is something like what is like a great review that you got from a past student end up like going to one of your workshops.
00:14:26
Speaker
Oh, that's such a good question. I've got so much good feedback. What I appreciate is Make Pretty was essentially born out of feeling that there was an aesthetic that was missing in the editorial wedding, like, workshop space.
00:14:42
Speaker
I feel like when you think of fine art wedding editorial, you think of this very romanticized European fairy tale in a chateau or wherever, right? That's kind of what would always come to mind. And I see a lot of those being implemented. Don't get me wrong. They are beautiful. I am not here to say that anyone like that it's not great. I've attended a number of those and I've gotten really amazing images. However, my personal aesthetic
Personal Insights and Business Goals
00:15:09
Speaker
is different and I meant to fill the gaps and I'm so grateful that people are resonating and that they're getting like content that they love. I think a number of the remarks that I've gotten from past attendees have just been how helpful it's been to be on site and willing to give them feedback in the moment. I think a lot of times at workshops sometimes the workshop lead takes initiative to make sure that they get all the shots
00:15:38
Speaker
Whereas in my workshops, yes, I'm shooting alongside with you. I'll show you the back of my camera to show you techniques and all that kind of stuff. But it's not about me. It's about you guys getting like the content that you want and that you need. One review that stuck with me actually was a gal who attended our workshop in London last year and
00:15:59
Speaker
She came back, she edited her work immediately, put it up, did a blog post and within like six weeks or something like that, she booked a client for that venue. And that to me was just so exciting that that return on investment was there. And you know, like I've had others say the same. It's just like the level of fashion has really allowed them to like
00:16:21
Speaker
you know, display a bit more of an elevated portfolio and the design details and that it's not looking like what everything else is out there. So I'm grateful. Yeah, people are invested. No, that's amazing. I mean, it's interesting that you said like, it doesn't have to be like in the chateau or you could, you know, have editorial shoots, luxury shoots, like at a like a
00:16:47
Speaker
I don't know, downtown LA or anywhere, anywhere. Um, how would you describe like your style and how do you get a dream client? Yeah, I, um, my style, I would say I would lean. I definitely think I still have a very romantic style, but more on the sultry sexy side and less on like the fairy tale side. If that makes sense, that definitely
00:17:12
Speaker
translates into my editorials, you'll see that in styling, you'll see that in fashion. Rarely am I going to get like the massive tool gown that is, you know, like flowing down a staircase.
Advice for Photographers
00:17:25
Speaker
Like I'm not typically going to source that kind of stuff, but designers like Naeem Khan and like
00:17:31
Speaker
uh just so um like Danielle Frankel she's like my favorite designer um that sleek sexiness that is definitely my style my aesthetic when it comes to tabletop and and other detailed decor I always say Scandinavian chic because if you think of
00:17:48
Speaker
When you think of that in terms of, I'm always very influenced by interiors. When you think of that, you think of very streamlined, clean, sometimes minimalistic, but it definitely doesn't look cheap. Not minimal on the cheap side, like let's, like luxe and lush in its own way. So in those like minute details and very stylized moments. For example, I had a,
00:18:14
Speaker
editorial sea ranch lodge and that's in the like along the Mendocino coast on northern California last summer and it was beautiful but these if you look it up it's called sea the sea ranch lodge and the buildings the structure everything everything leans to that area it's a very niche type of community in northern California so everything's designed around where we're going and what is there and what's local and
00:18:42
Speaker
you know, but with my little nuanced, like, influence infused. Wow. I mean, I think that was probably the best. I don't know, the best time I've heard someone describe their style. Like, Oh, really? Oh, guys.
00:18:58
Speaker
That was extremely descriptive. I'm such a visual person that I have to draw in other sources to really like get my point across or for me to understand things. So I'm probably overly descriptive in some way. It's the only way that I can really process like the parts and things that I love and what I aspire to, you know, have within my style too.
00:19:24
Speaker
No, that's amazing. Like even after becoming a coach, I actually articulate my style differently now. Like I say, Oh, one of my core pillars is variety. And I totally explained it to the T from like start to finish. And I would have never kind of found that unless I started teaching people that. And that's so important to like, it's so important to understand that you that you have range.
00:19:46
Speaker
Yeah. Oh my God. Totally. Okay. So our hot topic today, we pretty much have been talking about, but it's the ins and outs of editorial wedding, photo shoots and workshops. Explain this hot topic and why it's so near to and dear to your heart. Yeah. I think.
00:20:01
Speaker
because I, like you said earlier, I actually probably wasn't a workshop junkie. I loved going to anything social or going to any shootouts or anything like that. In terms of workshops, I hadn't invested in too many only because I really wasn't drawn to the aesthetic. So
00:20:19
Speaker
The ins and outs, in my opinion, is I don't think people should go to a workshop just to go if you don't feel pulled. I think you should definitely feel this yearning once you see a mood board or once you see the venue or the design partner that people are working with, any of that kind of stuff. There needs to be this visceral reaction in order
00:20:42
Speaker
for you to invest in something. Because let's face it, these aren't cheap. They're not cheap to produce, first of all, but they're not cheap to attend either. And it's like you're looking at having this one day potentially be able to make a huge shift in your business. So it's worthwhile, the investments worthwhile. But there's so many nuanced parts of it that I think people
00:21:05
Speaker
don't realize or don't understand and I think the number one thing is like really just feel a pull towards whatever that is whether it's the venue or style but the ins and outs for me are really paying attention to the details like what do you need to tell a story what do you like what are you able to capture
00:21:27
Speaker
um are you getting really full story details from flat lays to tabletop to outfit changes to cake cutting like what what does that look like and every workshop's different there's kind of different tiers if you will there's kind of content days where they might have a bunch of different stations where you can just get a lot of like kind of standalone hero shots and then there are definitely styled shoots that might be a little bit more
00:21:52
Speaker
thought out and like have a storyline behind them and then of course there's workshops where you really are there in my opinion when someone labels something a workshop they should be getting education alongside of it so that's the hand you know the hand holding or guidance as much or as little as people want those are kind of like the three categories that i consider styled content days um yeah yeah
00:22:16
Speaker
But I keep explaining that because I think some people don't know that. I think it can get confusing. I think it can get confusing. And I also think it gets confusing when people think, oh, I'll just do this myself. I'll just put this together myself, where people don't understand how much things cost. People don't understand that having a beauty team on site is hundreds and thousands of dollars. The venue site fees, you shouldn't
00:22:45
Speaker
be putting together styled content at any venue or with any vendors that don't align with you or where you want to go. And the thing for me is like, I'm willing to pay five grand to have a workshop at a venue that I feel will really elevate people's portfolios, that it's a sought after venue that it's seen as a luxury venue.
00:23:07
Speaker
Um, I will, I will gladly pay that fee because that's worth it. And then of course, you know, you just have to charge accordingly, you know, on that kind of thing. But if you're looking at doing content yourself, you don't realize that's one element. That site fee is one element. You still need, you need beauty, you need shoes, you need details, you need jewelry.
00:23:27
Speaker
you need models and I'm a firm believer that like you should be working with professionals because I know so many people will just group together and do a shoot for free but just because it's free doesn't mean it's gonna really get you anywhere it needs to be stylistically aligned and oftentimes I'm always seeing like oh model call for this and I used to do it I hold my hands up I used to do it all the time
00:23:54
Speaker
Um, but I will say that like, since I started doing my own editorials over the last three years and launched the workshop in late 2021. I only use professional models and I find professional models who are real couples so it's like, it takes, it takes the work out of meeting.
00:24:12
Speaker
to see if there's chemistry or see if and then like there's nothing worse than going on a workshop when they're not a couple so you can't get a kissing shot or that kind of stuff right so they know how to move their bodies they understand a bridal portrait will have to look like this or like that grooms can really just kind of bring the oomph that we want like instead of this like stagnant hand over you know crossover in front which most of our couples aren't models right so like they don't know but
00:24:42
Speaker
The more you get to work with professionals, the easier it will be to make your clients look good.
00:24:49
Speaker
I was shooting weddings basically for free or for like a grand. And I was having to haggle for every single session to try and like show them my value. And now I have clients coming to me saying that they want to work with me. And I have more importantly other people in the industry recognizing my worth and asking me to work with them.
00:25:15
Speaker
which to me means even more than the clients because they're people who've been in the industry for 10 plus years. They've seen you know hundreds of other photographers and they're able to recognize me and the value that I can offer them.
00:25:32
Speaker
Yep, that's my student Kimberly. She's just one of my dozens of students crushing it. Go on my website, www.HeckYesMedia.co and book a 15-minute strategy session with me. Only if you want to be booked out on multiple preferred vendor lists and have a proven marketing plan.
00:25:54
Speaker
Oh my god. Yeah, I just it just brings me back to when I first started I would go and model mayhem and like ask them if they have a boyfriend. And then my first yeah, my first out shoot at the OVI I kind of put it together and I it was so stressful but and I got high it was like I like broke out into like rash and another style to like
00:26:14
Speaker
We got, we didn't know it was like they're charging, you know, by over an hour. So every like 30 minutes. Yeah, that bill kept going up and then at the end we got hit with a large bill or like, oh crap. Yeah. And it's just like, it's all those things, like even just producing the shoots in London, like London's one of the trickiest places to actually produce anything or film anything because of how the city is actually structured.
00:26:41
Speaker
and anyone who's going there might not know that and might not know this but like I needed like six to seven different permits just to shoot in the different locations that I wanted to and it's like not everyone's gonna do that research and it's not producing your own stuff I'm not saying people have to but um it you know it can be very rewarding to have your own branded content but just know that it's a lot of work and it's a lot of money. How the hell did you do a workshop in London?
00:27:08
Speaker
It was a lot of work. So like I said, I studied there and honestly it was probably my most transformative year of my life. Like there was just so many life changes that happened. It was at like a pivotal time just like in becoming like a woman. Like I was turning 21 there. It was just like feeling, definitely feeling like more myself and developing who I was. But it's always been my favorite city since living there.
00:27:33
Speaker
And I always the help that I was like, I will come back here and I will work here. I've always wanted to move back. But in the meantime, it's like I want to just find a reason to be here. And when I was developing my calendar last year, we started the year off in Mexico, which was amazing. And then because I'm based in, you know,
00:27:54
Speaker
California and New York, I always have kind of have a flagship workshop in California or in a flagship in New York. So I knew I had multiple dates. I had two in California last year and one in Santa Barbara and one in Sea Ranch and then had a few New York workshops. But I knew that I wanted something in Europe. And I was like, if I'm going to do Europe, I'm going to do the city I want. And it was London. And it was a lot of work and a lot of chaos.
00:28:22
Speaker
um but so rewarding and and then look that gal you know was able to book a uk client because of it so i mean super rewarding but a ton of work wow okay that is so impressive i have this kind of a weird question but i like
00:28:39
Speaker
I like shopping and clothes, but I don't know any brands of high fashion or designers. If someone really wanted to reach out high-end clientele, like your clientele, where would you start giving them tips and tricks of what to start reading or where to start
00:28:57
Speaker
themselves or what sites to go on? Absolutely. I think the number one thing is first determine where your ideal client wants to be published. So everyone has an ideal client or who they're reaching for, right? If your ideal client wants to be published in Vogue, their fashion sense is probably going to be a little bit different than people who want to be publishing Martha Stewart or
00:29:23
Speaker
Brides or something of that nature, right? So the first thing would be identify where your Ideal like client wants to be published. This is so funny because I actually am you're getting the inside scoop. I'm releasing a course on this
00:29:38
Speaker
on editorial. Yeah, like it's not, it's not out yet. It's, it's soon. Um, but I, I, all of this information is in there because these are things that people just don't know. So it's identifying where they want to be and then finding the common denominators within those type of clients, right? So, you know, your vogue and Harper's is going to be a much more elevated level of fashion. It might have a bit more edge,
00:30:04
Speaker
So, you know, you're looking at Prada, you're looking at Gucci, you're looking at all of those. Whereas somebody, you know, who wants to be in Martha Stewart is going to be a little bit more like
00:30:15
Speaker
tightened up like they're much more of a Chanel Chanel bride or like a Chanel client, right? So just thinking of your clients in that capacity is really helpful when you want to start up leveling your other content. So I always like tell people the fastest way to make a portfolio look more expensive or more luxury
00:30:38
Speaker
is to create your own flat lays with luxury shoes and jewelry. So I, you know, fake it till you make it, right? Like go buy all the shoes at Saks or Nordstrom, shoot them, return them after. Like, you know, no harm, no foul. You're not wearing them. No shame in the game. No shame in the game. Every celebrity stylist does this.
00:31:01
Speaker
stylists do this all the time where they pull and return so like it's no big deal if as long as you're not wearing the wearing this yeah yeah but you know there was one day where I had a box show up from Nordstrom with like five pairs of designer shoes was that like a that was like a six thousand dollar like oh my god
00:31:19
Speaker
you're returning it. Like if you have the capability, I'm not telling anybody to go in debt into debt, shooting and creating content, but if you have the capability and you know that you can return and that they are returnable items, it's a really quick and easy way to just like stop in at the store, pick it up, shoot it the next day and return it. Um, you know, easy ways also to play with how you're, you know, facilitating your flat lays. Like maybe there's something a little bit more avant-garde that you want to play with or
00:31:49
Speaker
or you want to try rather than that you know normal like what we out how we always see shoes or jewelry or a veil or whatever it is right that applies to anything so I totally I totally get it I would I had a subscription to newly and you know why and it was like $70 a month or maybe 80 and I would get like four or five dresses and
00:32:12
Speaker
a month and I would just bring it to my engagement session because you know, you give them style of guys, you tell them what to wear, you tell them to go shopping and then sometimes they just, you know, they, I don't know, they look kind of mad. No, they don't know what they don't know.
00:32:26
Speaker
And even if you tell them not to wear stripes, somebody's going to wear stripes and it's going to look distorted on the images. Then they're going to ask you about photoshopping and all those kinds of stuff. So yeah, style guides go so far. I think what's really nice is I'm at a point now in my career, like obviously this isn't always the case, especially if you're like,
00:32:49
Speaker
trying to get out of luxury or trying to get out of budget brides and move towards like middle market and like high end and then into entry level luxury. Those are all different types of clients. And what's tricky is when you're in that in between, they're not hiring a stylist. They're not hiring those people that like your
00:33:07
Speaker
entry-level luxury, luxury and ultra luxury are they're working with stylists. They're not necessarily pulling their own clothes. But when you're working with this like middle market, you definitely have to guide them. And it's visuals. I used to make mood boards for all of my clients so that they would know what like the vibe was that we were trying to go for.
00:33:28
Speaker
I also was very hands on on planning their engagement sessions. I was hands on determining the locations like just because we live in Southern California doesn't mean you have to have your engagement session at the beach. I'm just telling you right now I give you permission to tell your clients that they don't have to get
00:33:45
Speaker
They're photos taken at the beach there. I don't like my car gets almost. It's like it's one of those things where it's like, and you know you just never know is there going to be overcast am I actually going to get a really good sunset like we don't know so it's.
00:34:00
Speaker
There's just, there's so many elements to it, but the more hands-on that you can be in helping to curate your clients, especially in that medium market, like it will help you to refine the imagery to start bumping up and, you know, start working with people who are more attuned with their own personal style and have, I'm not saying people don't have tastes in the middle market, but I think there is just a level of,
00:34:26
Speaker
Um, refinement that, you know, as you move up in the, in the wedding markets, it's refreshing to have clients that just know. Oh, I love that. What is your biggest accomplishment in your business?
00:34:42
Speaker
still being in business. I think, what is it? Like the failure rate for photographers is so high, especially in that first guy. Molly Coe is not going to fail, that's for sure. Yeah, no, it's one of those things. And I've had iterations. It's like funny because I actually just dropped the Coe. I'm no longer Molly Coe. I'm now Molly McCauley. So I'm my full name because I decided to let go of my associate program. That's when you have other photographers shooting underneath your brand.
00:35:11
Speaker
I realized I just didn't like it. I am not great at relinquishing control. So for me, it was actually more of a stressor than exciting. I was like, regardless of how much I'm charging for these weddings, this is not, I don't like that. I didn't think it happened.
00:35:28
Speaker
Yeah, you just don't know. And if I mess up on a wedding, that's on me, I can take credit. If I have an associate mess up on a wedding, I'm just pissed, you know? So it's like, it's one of those scenarios. So yeah, I've had many iterations. I'd say, I would say honestly, just the resiliency of like, finding out
00:35:49
Speaker
what you're good at and for the longest time I was trying to blend in. I was just trying to blend in and I realized that I've always been a black sheep growing up just being out there like in my MFA program. I'm not meant to be somebody who like gets lost in a crowd and it took me a lot of time and like confidence building to get to a place where I can say that without feeling like I'm being like cocky or arrogant.
00:36:19
Speaker
It's more of just a confidence in myself and my style and my ability and what I offer to my client, the expertise. And now what I'm offering to other photographers through my education, I just feel so lucky that I've been in it for as long as I have. 15 years is no small feat.
00:36:37
Speaker
I've experienced a lot of different scenarios. I feel like I've been able to weather storms left and right, like throughout the, you know, growing pain years of, you know, not knowing, should I go full time? Should I not? I don't know all that stuff. So, I mean, it's just been such an evolution. I think it's a resilience.
00:36:59
Speaker
You know, I'm, I'm pretty very resilient too. And I'm just trying to think about, you know, my daughter or my daughters and just instilling that in them. So when I tend to like, I feel like I always like want to give them like everything they need to the T and this and this and classes, blah, blah, blah. But it's like.
00:37:17
Speaker
What actually makes a person resilient is the struggles and not having everything. Yeah, struggling a little bit. I think that's what my mom told me once. She's like, if I ever had to describe you in a word, it would be perseverant.
00:37:33
Speaker
like it's just like I'm the type of like I'm an Aries I'm an Enneagram eight like I'm just the person I was like I'm just the person that's gonna get it done um and that's always that's always been my MO um I'm not gonna lie I will say booking my first five year five figure wedding was a pretty amazing accomplishment that felt that felt really good um but I think just
00:37:57
Speaker
being able to stay relevant in a saturated industry and in a market where stuff changes so often trends come and go and just being able to say true to myself but also be just in it still. Oh, that's beautiful, Mommy. Okay, some fun, rapid questions. Let's see. I love this kind of stuff. You never know what you're gonna say. You never know what you're gonna get from me. What's like your
00:38:27
Speaker
I don't know, favorite place you ever traveled to for a wedding? For a wedding, Geneva, Switzerland. Oh, crazy. Amazing. What do you like to do for fun?
00:38:38
Speaker
I like to watch movies with my husband. He works in the film industry so it's like we used to have Sunday morning movie dates before COVID because now movie theaters are like there was like a whole stretch where movies just like weren't a thing for a while so I love doing that. I have three dogs so I'm constantly you know dealing with those fluff balls. It's funny because I love to travel so I'm
00:39:05
Speaker
was really, I feel grateful that I was able to make that a core part of my business because I get fulfilled by that, like for work, but I also just like, I love to just go out and explore live music in other cities. I love that. Oh yeah. I miss seeing your dogs on Instagram stories. I used to see them all the time. In one word, how would you describe your style? Just one word? I would say effortless. Oh, I would totally agree.
00:39:34
Speaker
Yeah, I would say effortless. I mean, I'm going back and forth between effortless or timeless, but I feel like timeless is an oversaturated word in the sense where people also think don't use it appropriately. But because I have a film photography background, I think there is a part of me that always just relishes in the fact that
00:39:58
Speaker
people aren't going to know what year my photos were taken based off of editing styles or based off of certain things. So it's timeless in that sense. But I think the number one thing that I get back from my clients is that it's their favorite portraits of themselves, but also that they didn't realize that they could ever feel like that and that I was able to put them at ease. So I think that translates into the work. Yeah, totally effortless.
00:40:27
Speaker
If you could have a magic wand, where would you see your business in three months, 90 days?
00:40:33
Speaker
Um, a successful course, course launch, which is, you know, coming at the coming like next week or the week after, um, we're, we're starting to dribble out, um, different, uh, fun little tidbits there. So a successful course launch, um, gosh, so three months. What does that put us at? That's in June. Okay. Um, I've got a number of like different events. I'm shooting at New York bridal fashion week. So just having a really successful, um, week there, networking with people, getting, you know,
00:41:02
Speaker
getting further connected there. Gosh. And I think maybe just like booking out a few more weddings that are just like that feel like heck yeses, you know, like that you're like really, really excited to book. I'm fortunate I'm at a place where it's, you know, they're
00:41:20
Speaker
The stars have to align for both of us. I'm not at a place where I have to take weddings because I feel the need or the financial pull like I used to, but I'm excited that I get to say yes to weddings that I'm very, very invested in. That's a dream. Attacking a few more of those on wouldn't hurt either. That's a dream. Okay, last question before you tell everyone where to find you. Sure.
00:41:44
Speaker
Wedding photographers, professional explorers, DJs, everyone in the industry like struggling either to book or to find their style or to like shoot these high-end weddings. They just feel like so stuck or down themselves. Like what's your best advice to give them?
00:41:59
Speaker
usually this is like the hard truth for a lot of people. I really think there's a lot to be done when you do some self-examination and reflection on who you are and what you're wanting more of, and then really, really looking at your work. So if you are a photographer, planner, whatever you are,
00:42:19
Speaker
Is the work that is out there circulating? Is the work that is showcased on your website, is that what you want? Because if it's not, you need to curate. You need to figure out how you can shift that. You're not going to attract the people you want by showing work you no longer are interested in shooting or, you know, designing. Or, you know, if you still have burlap on your website, get it off.
00:42:41
Speaker
You know, so it's, it's that kind of stuff, you know, I think, I think the first, the very first thing would be curation. And the second thing would be, if you have the means, and I'm not saying this just because both you and I work in this space.
00:42:56
Speaker
But as soon as I had the means to invest in somebody who I could use as a sounding board, who I could use for honest feedback, and really just like coaching someone who had been where I want to be, getting that insight. As soon as I started working with a, I've worked with a number of different coaches throughout my business. But as soon as I started working with somebody and really just like,
00:43:22
Speaker
sometimes you're too close to it and you need that outside voice. As soon as I started working with people like that, professionals like that, I was really able to get a grip on how I wanted to expand and tangible things to do to try to appropriately market to those things, to get more bookings, to get more exposure, whatever it is that is your goal.
00:43:45
Speaker
I love that. Amen to that. I mean, and I'm not I'm not saying I say that to everybody. And it's like not even to people who I work with. But I'm just like, oh, go find somebody. Go out there and find someone. Yeah, even to the answer. And then where can everyone find you?
00:44:02
Speaker
I have two different Instagrams. So I'm going to give you all the workshop content first. So the workshop is Make Pretty Workshop and the website is makeprettyworkshop.com. The Instagram is Make Pretty Workshop. So you'll be able to see all of the latest happenings there. There's an email list if you want to get, I always give our email list first dibs to any workshops. Something that's a little bit different about mine is I limit it to six attendees. It's a very intimate experience. So oftentimes workshops sell out to our email list.
00:44:32
Speaker
So that's a really, really nice way to get all the details first. There will be a course launching in the next week or so. So if you get onto those platforms, especially Instagram, that's going to be the place where you'll see that drop and be available to you.
00:44:51
Speaker
And then my personal photography business and website is mollymacaulay.com and that is mollymacaulay underscore photo on Instagram. So you can find me there. Lots of pretty happening. Yay! It's so nice to catch up. This is an awesome conversation. Oh, thank you for having me.
00:45:16
Speaker
Thanks for joining me this week on Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. Make sure to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or tell a friend about the show. Take a screenshot and post to IG. Tag me. Also, don't forget to download my free guide on how to become a lead generating machine. See you next time, wedding pros.