443: Trina Julius – Everything you wanted to know about kindergarten photography business

443: Trina Julius - Everything you wanted to know about kindergarten photography business

 

Andrew Hellmich: I recently interviewed newcomer to kindergarten photography, Sam Gilmore, who shared how he needed to get some cash flow happening in his business, and he turned to preschools to generate bookings and sales. He since then had his two best months of photography. When I posted about that interview in the PhotoBizX members Facebook group, Trina Julius of Red Cherry Kindy Photos added a comment under that post. And she said, "As a fellow kindy photographer, I'm so happy to see my genre being talked about." "There just aren't enough podcasts or guests talking about how amazing kindy photography is." She went on to say, "I've been running a full time booked out year round busy kindy photography business for the last eight years in Brisbane. I offer online galleries for families with photos taken outdoors in the play and portrait style, and once I nailed my workflow, my communication, my style and my brand, I've never been out of work with both kindy photo sessions and the rebound family sessions that come as a result." So after reading that, I contacted Trina for an interview, and I'm rapt to say that she's with us now. Trina, welcome.

Trina Julius: Hi, Andrew, thank you. Thank you for having me and just to helping to shine that spotlight on kindy photography. It's wonderful.

Andrew Hellmich: Look, it's my pleasure. One of the things I'm interested to hear, or straight off the bat, is the fact that when I interviewed Sam, he talked about like a downtime, you know, "it's going to go into a quiet period", but you seem to have year round, like a busy season all through the year. Is that right?

Trina Julius: Yeah, well, basically I am shooting just in the kin in the school terms. So I start up around beginning of March, and then I always take the school holidays off, which is fabulous for family life. And I'm usually finished by about end of October. But in the last couple of years, I just came to see on going until like December, early December, which is exhausting. But yeah, so my downtime is January, February, which I do look forward to every year.

Andrew Hellmich: Wow. So do the kindergartens actually close down through that period, or you're just taking a break?

Trina Julius: The kindergartens do close down over the school holidays, but childcare centers don't. So they keep open year round, except for public holidays, obviously. But yeah, the kindergartens are definitely just staying to the school terms as well.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so just so just so the listeners got a good idea of exactly what we're talking about. So you're talking about kindergartens, and is it pre-schools and child mining centers.

Trina Julius: Yeah. So childcares are the full day care ones, and they're Monday to Fridays. And the kindergartens are just for the four to five year olds, and they usually run from about 8:30 to 2:30 in the afternoon during school terms only. So yeah, so the childcare centers are sort of more year round as well.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so really, if you want to be working all year, you could be.

Trina Julius: Yeah, absolutely you could be, and depending on the style that you're offering. Because I offer the outdoor style photography, of the hotter months of December, January and February here in Australia, obviously don't really suit my style, because the kids are usually sweaty and un-sweaty, and I try to shoot a lot more during the middle months of the year where it's cooler, particularly here in Brisbane, Australia. It's very hot over our summer, so yeah, and usually by January, February, I need a break by then, and I am quite happy to have a few, a long holiday over January, February, which is really nice.

Andrew Hellmich: Fantastic. I want to get more into the photography side of things in just a second.

Trina Julius: Oh

Andrew Hellmich: But just so the listeners got an idea. Can you give us a snapshot of your business in regards to figures revenue?

Trina Julius:
Yeah, sure, so for probably the last four years now, I'm well into the six figures. Last year was my best year, and I was well into 220,000 for the whole year, that's just in sales.

Andrew Hellmich: $220,000

Trina Julius: Yes.

Andrew Hellmich: Wow, congratulations. That is awesome.

Trina Julius: Thank you. I'm incredibly proud of my business. And you know, when I first started out, I never imagined that I would get up into those figures.

Andrew Hellmich: Amazing.

Trina Julius: Yeah, I used to be a Registered Nurse, and, you know, I always thought it was just going to be a side gig, and I keep Registered Nursing going. And it just grew really quickly, and I just ended up giving up registered nursing because I just loved it so much. I loved what I was doing with the kindy photography. So I was excited about where it was going to go.

Andrew Hellmich: Wow, that is so good. I mean, I think any photographer that gets into something like kindy photography would be thinking it is going to be a side gig. I mean, I don't think many people would even see the potential to make $220,000. That is so good.

Trina Julius: Yeah, absolutely I didn't either. I mean, last year was a bit of a funny year because of COVID. And, you know, it was really hard to tell how it wasn't going to go. And I guess here in Brisbane, we were very lucky. We were kind of shielded from a lot of it. We just, we had practically, you know, no cases. And I guess we kept going, we kept working, which I'm very, very thankful for. You know, a lot of my fellow colleagues in other states didn't have that opportunity, which is not great, but yeah, so that's why I was it, was able to earn that amount last year because people had more money to spend. This year, I think it's been a little bit of a different kind of feel. You know, my figures sort of aren't quite up there that far this year. But, you know, there's a little bit of anxiety around, still about COVID, I guess, and hopefully next year will settle down.

Andrew Hellmich: So when you say this year's not, hasn't been as good, still, over 100,000?

Trina Julius: Oh, yeah, definitely, definitely, I'm up around the 150 mark at the moment, I've still got a few centers to finish off for the year, but still, I'm happy with that amount for this year.

Andrew Hellmich: So, so good. What portion of the revenue is coming from kindy photography, as opposed to the family photography that comes afterwards, if you get much of that.

Trina Julius: Yeah, well, 90% is definitely kindy photography.

Andrew Hellmich: Oh, okay, that much.

Trina Julius: Yeah, look. And because I'm working just during the week with my kindy photography, I really only take on two family sessions a month. Because I kind of like my weekends, and I kind of like having that for family time. So I work hard during the week. And then, you know, I take on a few families, and I do absolutely no marketing for that at all. They're just, they come from the kindies, and, you know, they contact me because their children have got to know me during the time that I'm at the center with them. So yeah, and they love the work that I've produced from the kindies, so they contact me to do family sessions.

Andrew Hellmich: Wow. So you've got a business that, let's say, for argument's sake, is $180,000 a year revenue, and you have weekends off, you have long holidays?

Trina Julius: It's fabulous, isn't it?

Andrew Hellmich: And you love what you do?

Trina Julius: Yeah, well, I'm really happy. Like, I never imagined that it would get this way. You know, the first couple of years, like, anything that you get into, it was hard work. I was working, you know, not five days a week. I was working seven days a week to build the business and to, you know. And over the course of time, I've really refined my skills and my workflow down so I cannot work as much on the weekend? You know, I'm not going to lie. I do still answer some emails and fix up some galleries or edit on the weekends, you know, sometimes, but I really try to keep it during the week.

Andrew Hellmich: Got it. That's fantastic.

Trina Julius: Yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: Again, so the listeners got a good idea, because I think, you know, when I was talking to Sam, and he was often referring to Elena Blair, they're really focused on, you know, setting up a background, a couple of studio lights, and sort of going through that style of photography, and you have a totally different look. You're out in the garden, out in the play centers, the play areas, and photographing more natural outdoor portraits, aren't you?

Trina Julius: Yes, absolutely. So I do all my photography outside in the kindy play areas. So, you know, I'm taking each child out, and I'm spending between, you know, five to 10 minutes per child. So that is a longer time frame. So it's not as quick as the, you know, the backdrop style type of photography, but I get that chance to really connect with the child and get a range of different expressions. So yeah, so I'm choosing, you know, a couple of different areas within the kindy playground. And, you know, directing the children around. I'm grabbing portrait photos as well as posed play. So I call it pose play because I am directing them. I'm getting them into the position where I know it's sort of more photographically pleasing. And you know, they're looking at the camera kind of thing here.

Andrew Hellmich: But when I look at your photos, they are absolutely gorgeous. They're beautifully lit. Don't think you must have an assistant, either holding a flash off camera or using a reflector?

Trina Julius: No, no, none of that, none of that.

Andrew Hellmich: Nothing, not even a reflector?

Trina Julius: No. I just, I'm a bit lazy in that regard. No, I just shoot all natural light. I'm using a 50 mil. Actually, my preference for years was a 50 mil 1.2 and I'm shooting at 2.5 but recently, I've changed to mirrorless with my Canon EOS R, and I'm loving, loving that. But I'm using a 24 to 70 for that at the moment, because I haven't got the RF lens for my mirrorless yet. So, yeah, so 50 mil and no lighting, no flash, nothing like that. I'm just making sure, and I guess over the time that I've been doing this, I know where to look in the kinder yards to get that natural light and that lovely bright light.

Andrew Hellmich: I mean, you do a phenomenal job, because the catch lights in the kids' eyes. I'm thinking, is that a reflector, or is that I'm trying to have a look and see what you're doing here? So again, then you must be doing some pretty fancy post processing to bring the lights out and make them spark away.

Trina Julius: No, no. What I do is just bring them into Lightroom and just batch at it.

Andrew Hellmich: Wow.

Trina Julius: So, yeah. So I'm culling in Photo Mechanic first, because that's the quickest and easiest way. So I'm generally shooting during the morning, coming home into the office, and then culling that afternoon, that very same afternoon, which is about half an hour to 45 minutes per day's work. And then I load them into Lightroom. And I'm actually now using image and AI to edit.

Andrew Hellmich: Oh wow.

Trina Julius: You had them on a couple of months ago, I think.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah.

Trina Julius: So I tried them out, and they were fabulous. So it's really just completely, I like my edit time has just gone from, you know, a quarter of the time now I'm spending editing, which is fabulous.

Andrew Hellmich: Wow. So that service from Imagen AI that would be perfect for what you do, wouldn't? I mean, because you, you've got a certain style, and that would be easily be able to emulate that with the artificial intelligence.

Trina Julius: Yes, yeah. And, like, it works 90% of the time. You know, a few times I have to go in and maybe brighten something, or, you know, change the warmth on some images. Or, you know, the cropping is, I find the cropping is, is great as a starting point, but sometimes I do need to adjust it, just in case I've got a subjective type of crop that I need to do with a particular photo. So, but most of the time it's fabulous. It changes all the light, brightens them all up to my usual editing style, and I don't have to do much at all. So thank you for introducing me to them.

Andrew Hellmich: It's good, my pleasure. Are you the only one working in the business?

Trina Julius: I have two other photographers that I am working with as well. They work for me, and I'm still training them to shoot similar to how I shoot and to produce the same quality of work, but it's generally me. I'm doing all the admin and the shooting as well.

Andrew Hellmich: So, so are they coming on as subcontractors?

Trina Julius: Yes, yeah. So they shoot a couple of hours with me, and they invoice me. I'm, you know, I've just subcontract out to them. They give me the cards at the end of the day, and I take overall from then on.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, right. So you'll hire them if you've got a bigger kindergarten or you just need a break. Or how do you determine when you need them?

Trina Julius: Yeah, well, basically, I have someone with me all the time if I've got 10 children for the day, or if I've got 40 children for the day. If I have got a lot of children on that day, I tend to use two photographers as well as myself, but usually it's just me and one other photographer.

Andrew Hellmich: Right.

Trina Julius: So we genuinely get through it okay. And you know, my usual numbers are anything more than 30, and that's enough for me for the day. I'm not like, you know, Sam mentioned he can get through a lot more in a day. I tend to schedule the children over a couple of days be at the center for a couple of days. So I don't have so many per day.

Andrew Hellmich: So you're talking about 30 kids per day, not 30 frames per child.

Trina Julius: No, no, no, I'm talking 30 kids per day. So I'm doing, you know, at least 10 to 15 different photos per child. But when I say that, that's kind of like minimum, I'm usually offering in online galleries a lot more than that. So I, you know, under promise and over deliver, I guess.

Andrew Hellmich: Got it. Got it. So when you turn up to a kinder, we can go a little bit back in a minute.

Trina Julius: Yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: But when you turn up to a kindy, if you know, there's say, 30 kids in the class, do the teachers schedule? You know, who's going to be first, who's going to be second, who's going to be last? Or is it just ad hoc?

Trina Julius: Ah, yes. . Okay, so going back a little bit, my process now is, for years, I used to get all the parents to register online before photos start. And you know, then I would schedule children per day who was going to photograph, and I'd send out flyers, and I'd have their photo day on it, and I do all that. It was just a lot of a lot of work to have to do that. But now I actually have them sign up before photo day, and they can choose the day that they want their child photo on depending on what days that I'm at the center.

Andrew Hellmich: Right. So you say I'm going to be here from Monday to Wednesday at this particular kindy, the parent gets it, they get an email. Or do they get notified by the kindy itself?

Trina Julius: Yeah, so in the beginning, they get notified by the kindy, and I send out like flyers for every child, and then they just go on. They scan the QR code, and that takes them to a page on my website where it directs them to register. So they then choose the day that they want to have their photos taken for their child, fill out all the other details, and then that comes through to me. And I make up a spreadsheet so then I know when I turn up at the center which children I'm photographing for each day. And I just, you just, we just work through our list for the day. We give the teachers a copy of it, and there we go. So I'm actually a little bit different to Sam, I guess, in that regard, is I only photograph children that are registered, so the ones that don't register. I actually don't photograph at all.

Andrew Hellmich: And I'm guessing the idea of giving the parents a date to choose is they can choose what their child's gonna be wearing that day. They're ready.

Trina Julius: Yes.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, prepared for it. And are the parents pre-paying? Or they wait to see the gallery?

Trina Julius: Ah, yeah. So this year, I actually introduced what I call a deposit system. Before that, I was not charging anything up front, so now I charge $25 and that is then given back to them as credit towards their purchase from their photo gallery. You know when they see all their images.

Andrew Hellmich: So why did you do that? And has there been any pushback?

Trina Julius: No, I thought there would be a lot of pushback, but there actually hasn't been. Look, it was a decision that I was tossing around for a few years, and I was going in and photographing every child, and you know, because I'm spending so long with each child, I really felt that, you know, some parents weren't actually logging on and even looking at the photos, despite how many emails you would send and text messages for them to have a look. So that percentage I'm now not having to photograph, so it's usually around 10% at each center that just, you know, they would sign up and then they would just not purchase at all. So I thought, well, you know, I've been doing this for so long now. I just, I have to charge a deposit.

Andrew Hellmich: Right.

Trina Julius: Yeah, I just, I just copy, going there and photographing children when the parents just aren't actually interested in having photos taken at all.

Andrew Hellmich: And have you found that if someone pays a $25 deposit, they're definitely going to be buying?

Trina Julius: Yes, so they definitely do, because I offering so many in their gallery, that it's very rare, that, well, actually, I've only had one come back at me and say they don't want to purchase anything in the gallery. And that was actually out of my control, because that child hadn't been changed into their photo clothes for that day. Like, so there's nothing I could do about that.

Andrew Hellmich: No.

Trina Julius: I just said, and there were lovely, smiley photos, but you know, that's kind of what happens sometimes. And you know that's a little bit out of my control, but generally, people can find at least something that they want to buy for their deposit and use their deposits.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah, definitely. I mean, looking at photos would be crazy not to buy something when they see that with the photos. Just let me take you back quickly to the subcontract shooters that you have. Today, you have to sign a contractor, like a non- compete contract, or anything like that, because isn't there a fear that they're going to go out and do the same thing as you after they see you doing what you do?

Trina Julius: Ah, yeah, I've always worried about that a little bit. No, no. I look, I generally try to have a good relationship with them in the beginning. And, you know, they can see how much hard work it is, you know, on the other end. And they generally don't want to do that anyway? So they just want to just get the experience. So the two photographers that I have at the moment are relatively new to the field of photography. So, you know, they're quite happy at the moment just to come along and help out and learn as well. Ah, yeah, so I just haven't had that problem in the past.

Andrew Hellmich: Nice. That's great. That's great. And are they shooting over your shoulder, or are they taking one child? Will you take another?

Trina Julius: Yeah, no, they're definitely taking though. In the beginning, they were just watching me and assisting me until they felt confident enough to go off and photograph on their own. So I generally try to give them children who I can see are going to be a little bit easier to work with, a little bit more, I guess, camera friendly, so it's a little bit easier for them during working with that child.

Andrew Hellmich: So good, so good. Take it back to the early days. I mean, were you doing family photography? And thought kindy photography would be fun. Did you go and assist another kindy photographer? How did you discover this and get into this genre?

Trina Julius: Yeah, well, I started off just doing some family shoots and a few weddings, actually. And then at the time, my kids were quite young. The center that they were going to, the director knew that I was doing family photography. She said, "Oh, how about you give the kindy here a go." And I was like, "Oh, my goodness, no." I was thinking, you know, there's 80 kids. How am I going to do that? And I was, because I actually had in the back of my mind when I purchased my kids photos, I was like, "Man, if they offered me more, I would buy the lot." Like, you know, it's such an emotional spend really pictures of your kids when they're this young. So, and I thought it's just such a shame that I'm just limited to this one photo in front of the background in, you know, five different sizes. I would certainly buy all of them if there was, you know, pictures of my children playing on bikes or swings or slides, because I'm not going to capture that when they're at kindy. I'm not going to see that start that part of them when they're at kindy. So that actually is how it gave me the idea. And I spoke to her about that, and she's like, "Oh, that's a really great idea. Can you do that here?" And I was like, "Yep, I can do it." No, I'd have a tendency to jump in the deep end and just worry about the details later. So I said, "Okay, yep, let's do it." And so within a couple of weeks, I was there at the center and photographing all these kids. I actually had no processes at all. I just sort of jumped straight in. And I was completely exhausted at the end of the day because I did it all myself. And yeah, but the response from the kindy was, you know, fantastic. And the sales just sort of sucked me in a little bit, and, yeah, I thought, "Oh, I could do four of these a month." And I'm, you know, I'm set. That's good. You know, it took a little while to build up to that level, of course, because a lot of the kindy photography game is really word of mouth. And, you know, directors talk, just like Sam mentioned in his podcast. "Directors do talk between each other. They move around a lot of different centers." And you know, that's how you get known, I guess.

Andrew Hellmich: So. I mean, talking about Sam, would it be unrealistic to expect that a kindy would have say Sam photographing his style of photos in the same kindy as you would be working would a kindies generally tend to choose one or the other.

Trina Julius: Yeah, they generally choose one per year. And quite honestly, if I knew that a new center was coming along, they'd already had photos for that year, I would say, no, I would love to come to your center next year. Generally, because, you know, families aren't going to want to purchase twice in the same year. So not that I've known of and you know, and I do know of a few photographers who have gone and done that, because the center hasn't been happy with the previous photographer. And their sales haven't been great because, you know, the families of that center have kind of lost a little bit of trust in the process. So, yeah, so it's definitely something that I would say, let's do it next year.

Andrew Hellmich: Right, okay.

Trina Julius: You know so.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah, I know that when I when Linda and I were photographing local soccer teams, soccer clubs and football clubs, they're now asking for a kickback, like some of them almost expect, like, $1,000 for us to come in and do their photos, because this is what the Sydney photographers are offering. Wow, is that happening in the kindergarten game as well?

Trina Julius: Oh, look, it used to, it used to be a big thing, you know, 10% of sales or, you know, and I simply just have not done it. I just have not done it. I say to them that, you know, the kickback is they get complimentary staff photos, so in digital format and print, some five by seven inch prints of each staff member as well. As, you know, if any staff have got their own children at the center, I'm quite happy to take a few photos during the morning of them with their child, as well as, like, kind of like a little bonus. And also, they're getting copies of the class photo. Also offer a couple of other little incentives as well. You know, if they refer me to another kindergarten, I do a one hour event shoot for them so they have, like, Father's Day or Mother's Day, or some other Open Day. On the weekends, I come along and spend an hour and just take some promotional photos for them, so I sort of, you know, give back my time rather than money.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah. I like that because, yes, it's getting, like, almost dirty the way that was right, like, for them to even ask, that's bloody rude.

Trina Julius: Mmm..

Andrew Hellmich: But it's almost becoming normal, and I've guessed they're looking out for themselves.

Trina Julius: Yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: But yeah, I just didn't like it at all.

Trina Julius: Yeah. Look, I did have one center try that, and, you know, I just, I declined actually photographing at that center because they wanted it in cash. That was just like a red flags to me. And I just went, 'no'.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah

Trina Julius: Yes.

Andrew Hellmich: So tell me about your process. Let's say a new kindy opens. You go in there. Do you take an album? Do you just take your laptop with examples of your work and your website? How do you get them across the line to say, "Trina, yes, we love what you come and come and photograph our kids."

Trina Julius: Yeah. Well, in the beginning, I was taking around a little photo book with me when I was trying to sign up some centers and that, so, you know, they could see my style as well, and I have my laptop as well. So I showed them the process. But now I actually don't have to do that. Every inquiry I get is them coming to me through my website or through word of mouth. So, you know, I did the hard yards in the beginning. So now I don't have to. I actually turned down about 10 centers this year because I couldn't not fit them in.

Andrew Hellmich: Wow.

Trina Julius: So, yeah, I just, I gave them on to other photographers in the the kindy photography group that I run. So, so I passed on the work.

Andrew Hellmich: Oh, wow, that is awesome.

Trina Julius: Yeah, yeah. So I just don't like to overwork myself too much. I take on one center per week, and that seems to be enough for me.

Andrew Hellmich: Sure. Yeah, okay, that sounds unreal. Okay, so let's say then you do get a call from a kindy, and they've heard about you from another kindy.

Trina Julius: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: And that they want to take you one you've got time. You're going to do it. What happens next?

Trina Julius: Yeah, so what I get them to do now is I send them a contract, actually. And it's not something I did in the past, but it's something they've started in the last six to 12 months, and it goes through everything. It goes through all my processes, you know what to expect, etc, and you know just all my policies as well. So I have them actually sign that, because then we're on the same page. They know exactly what I'm offering, and I know that they know that as well. So you know, if there's any problems down the track, I can refer back to that. So, you know, that's generally what I do in the beginning, after I've shown them, they've, you know, I've asked, have you looked around my website? Have you looked at my style? Do you know, sort of, you know, I photograph in the outdoor area of your center? Is that okay, you know? And one particular element of that that I make sure that they're aware of is that, because I'm taking photos of the kids outdoors, I don't, it's going to be, you know, up to them to try and shuffle kids out of the backgrounds for me. Because I shouldn't be selling photos with other children in the background. So that's also a privacy issue. So you know, that's going to work for some centers, but it's not going to work for all. So if they don't seem like they're too keen to sort of keep kids inside for that hour and a half or so that I'm at the center in that particular area of the playground, well then I just sort of explain kindly to them that perhaps I'm not the photographer for them. Because that is kind of like what I need to produce the work that I'm producing on the websites.

Andrew Hellmich: I love this Trina. I mean, you're running your business like, you know, we hear that we should be running our portrait and wedding photography businesses, where, if a client's just not right, we just, we shouldn't just, you know, bend to suit them. It's our business. That's so good.

Trina Julius: That's right. And I did in the beginning, and

Andrew Hellmich: We all do.

Trina Julius: It just caused me so much grief. And I just thought, no, I need to have rules. I need to, you know, be confident and strong and positive in the way I want to run my business. And you know, if I'm not for one center, there's 500 more in Brisbane that I could possibly work out. So it's not a problem, and it's just not something that I've worried about. And you know, if the directors know this upfront, and you establish a good relationship with them, and you know you're upfront about how you work, you're going to have a good relationship the whole way through, from beginning shoot right to the end to delivery of photos. So you want to keep the communication strong and positive throughout.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah, for sure. So with the contract, did you have that drawn up by a solicitor?

Trina Julius: No, I know I should.

Andrew Hellmich: That's all right. That's why I was asking. I was wondering if you did.

Trina Julius: Look, no, I try to keep it a bit light hearted and a little bit, sort of a little bit. I probably should, but it's not something that I'm going to hold them to anyway. So it's more than I'm being upfront and transparent about my practices and how I work. So it's just something that I can refer to. It's not something that I feel that I've needed to get someone, a lawyer, to write up for me.

Andrew Hellmich: Right. It's not like you're going to be taking people to court over this stuff.

Trina Julius: I don't think so. Oh, that would be terrible. But I don't think so, like, they just wouldn't hire me the next year if they weren't happy. So, yeah, which is fine, I don't get unhappy. You know, that's obviously happened, because they think that my process is probably a bit too long. But you know, honestly, the parents are the ones that are happy with my work, so and they get the feedback from the parents anyway. So generally, they come back to me the next year, if they go off and get another photographer. The next year, I have had centers come back to me the year after and go, can we have you back? Yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: So let's say I'm the working there at the center. You speak to the directors, don't you call them directors?

Trina Julius: Yes, yeah, yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: So I'm a director. We've agreed. I've signed a contract. Do I just then hand everything over to you? Are you contacting the parents? Am I giving them access to my database? What happens next?

 
Sign up to listen to the Premium Version at https://photobizx.com/premium-membership
 

Andrew Hellmich: Trina, you are amazing. What a business you've built, and I love that you piped up straight away, as soon as Sam's interview went live and told us a little bit about your business. I'm so happy you came on and shared everything that you have. Listeners will be blown away. Where's the best place for them to check out more of your work?

Trina Julius: Yeah, so it's redcherryimages.com.au is my main kindy photography site. And if there's any sort of interested kindy photographers out there. I run a Facebook group, so just send me a message and you can join us. Yeah, and I offer mentoring programs as well, if that's you know, if anyone wants to learn what I do and how I do it and as crazy as me.

Andrew Hellmich: So tell me about the group that you've got. Is that for Brisbane kindy photographers, or for anyone around the world?

Trina Julius: No, it's for all. Mostly a lot of Australian photographers, but I do have some from New Zealand in there as well as America. Yeah, I think that's about the extent. But there's about 450 members in there. And, you know, I try to foster a real supportive and positive environment. And, you know, it's just not a genre that's, it's well talked about, or there's not a lot of support out there for us. So that's why I started it about four or five years ago.

Andrew Hellmich: Well, hopefully this will help. I'll put a link in the show notes, and then they can request access.

Trina Julius: Absolutely. I just I get them to answer a few questions for make sure they answer the question, yeah, and have to feel or want to feel, to sort of be entered into. So I kind of keep a good check on that. So yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: And then with the mentoring side of things, again, is that only for Australian photographers, or can be a photographer from anywhere in the world?

Trina Julius: Oh, it can be from anywhere. I've mentored a fair few in the past. I had a course that I was offering, but I'm just in the process of updating it, and I'm hoping to get it out in January. But at the moment, I'm just offering mentoring program. So it can be for a couple of hours, a full day, or like a three month kind of program where I take them through everything. So that's something that I'm going to be concentrating a lot more in January at getting going a little bit more. But I've definitely have a few students I've taken through, and they've done my course, and I keep in contact with them to see how they're going.

Andrew Hellmich: Unreal. Let me know when that goes live as well, and I'll make sure it gets shared on the podcast.

Trina Julius: There's a link on my website. It's under Education.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, perfect. Well, I'll link to that in the show notes so listener can go and check that out. Trina, you have been amazing. Thank you again so much, and congratulations on your success. You are amazing.

Trina Julius: Thank you. Thank you for having me. And you know, I've been listening to your podcasts for ages, and I always am amazed at how you ask the questions that are in my head. So you're doing a great job.

Andrew Hellmich: Well, hopefully we've done that today as well. For people looking to get into kindy photography.

Trina Julius: That's right. Thank you.