Hogs Breath Saloon | Key West Restaurant Marketing and Branding Photography

After new owners took over Hog's Breath Saloon, the iconic Key West establishment that's been a staple of island life for decades, I received a call to work with them on their new branding and marketing photos. The saloon’s website and social media are getting a fresh makeover, and I was excited to capture the content that will be part of this new campaign. Check out my take on how the shoot was planned, some of the creative challenges it presented, and the final outcome of some of my favorite photos from that day.

BrandingKarrieApril 5, 2024Inn at Key Westcontent creation, social media content, marketing shoot, hogs breathComment

Don't Market your Personal Brand to an "Ideal Client Avatar" (Do This Instead)

Sit in any marketing workshop, download any worksheet, or follow any social media guru, and they will start by telling you the same thing: “Start by identifying your ideal client avatar”. The conventional wisdom makes sense on the surface. If you know who it is you want to buy from you, then you can easily gear your offer around their general preferences. The problem for personal brands, however, is that not all interactions, not all decisions, and not all metrics are quantifiable. So I recommend a different approach.

BrandingKarrieMay 2, 2022blog tips, content creationComment

Kirby's Closet | Personal Branding Shoot for New Key West Boutique

Any new business owner will tell you that one of the most important things when you’re opening up is getting the word out there. For Kirby, owner of Kirby’s Closet in Key West, Florida, part of that strategy had originally included foot traffic going by her downtown location. When COVID-19 hit shortly after signing her lease, she realized that it would take some creativity and social media content to spread the message that not only was she open, but what it would be like once you arrived. For that, she booked a Personal Branding shoot, and a few weeks later we were on set putting her vision into practice.

Why "I know the owner" 🤝 is such a powerful statement

There's a reason you do business with places where you know and like the person running it. Whether you actually know that person in your everyday life, or you simply have built up a personal connection over time coming into their shop, the point is you feel you know them, and regardless of what their competitors are doing, you’ll often default to their business out of respect and loyalty to that person. In effect, they have earned your business through their Personal Brand!

Level Up Your Brand by Improving Your Quality of Life

When you are your brand, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is as much an exercise in business development as writing a new marketing plan or hiring a new employee. You can’t operate at your best in your personal brand if the person - aka “you” - are struggling with your quality of life. But making your life better requires focus and planning. Here’s a quick digest into how.

BrandingKarrieAugust 13, 2020Inn at Key Westself help, confidence series, personal branding, quality of life, self promotionComment

Branding Shoot for Inn at Key West

When I was contacted by the agency for the Inn at Key West, they had one simple goal in mind: to get enough content for the hotel that they would have social media posts for the upcoming year. It would, of course, be supplemented by current events and other timely content, but the overarching goal was to eliminate the need to worry about “what am I going to post today?”

BrandingKarrieMay 5, 2020Inn at Key Westblog tips, content creationComment

3 Blog Ideas for Key West Business Owners

If you're looking for ways to keep the momentum going in your businesses, one activity with a very high return on investment is...yep...blogging! You know it's useful, but you either never have time, or you can't think of anything to write. Well, now is your chance! Keeping in mind the goal is to add value to your customer base - teach them something, provide them with a resource, and point them to tips and tricks.

BrandingKarrieApril 25, 2020blog tips, content creationComment

Captain Kate McCue - Editorial and Branding Shoot for NY MOVES Magazine's Power Women Edition

The call came in from the publisher for New York Moves Magazine. She shared that they had their annual Power Women edition coming out, where they celebrate influential women at the top of their industries. Helena Bonham Carter was being photographed for the cover in New York, but they’d seen my work in women’s portraiture online, and needed photos of the first American female cruise ship captain. Naturally, I dove right in!

Behind the Scenes in the Studio

If you’ve ever seen an image online and wondered what it took to achieve it, now’s your chance to be a fly on the wall, and go behind the scenes during my studio photo shoot with Zanna, in one of my favorite sessions to shoot - a contemporary women’s portrait.