Conversations with Kendra Knight

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kendra Knight.

Hi Kendra, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
My photography journey began in 2017 with capturing newborns and families, I was intrigued with documenting the intimate moments of giving birth, the joy expressed and the closeness created reminded me of miracles and hope! Soon that would start to be restrictive due to hospital policy and overall safety and concern for the parents and the people in the room, especially pending a pandemic that would eventually close all access to expecting parents.

Soon after in I’d start working with two other women, one a photographer and the other a stylist and makeup artist, where we’d host creatively styled boudoir photo sessions. Boudoir is intimate and revealing but it’s also therapeutic and empowering, it definitely was an opportunity to see so many women get out of their comfort zones, have fun, and know that they are truly enough! But…

Boudoir became difficult to market, there are a number of aesthetics these sessions can present but when it comes to social media it seems to only have two options of marketing, that’s naked (for likes) or tastefully naked. This presents a problem because you don’t have to be fully naked for your sessions to be deemed boudoir worthy, but essentially we’d have to pose our clients specifically to market and this was tough because it took the beauty out of creating something THEY LOVED! All clients may not want to be marketed and that’s their choice, it’s a private and intimate session. Overall, planning, scheduling, and executing were overwhelming.

I decided to pull myself away and focus on photography in a way that was organic and allowed me to work with women for impact and purpose. It took months to focus on a strategy and build a business plan that was unique to my strengths and pivot in an area that didn’t feel forced. I remember I wrote down the stories I’d loved from working with various women, I’d write down the women I enjoyed working with, their personality traits, I wrote and I planned.

My goal, my vision became clear in 2019, I wanted to create a brand that came from my soul, a heartfelt warming business, something striking and clear. Something I could fight for against all odds! I spoke to my close friends/photographers who helped me pivot into brand photography and I’ve never looked back.

The heartbeat of my business and the reason I do what I do is that I decided to identify a variety of women-owned businesses and brands that inspired me, they have similar target audiences and I connect to their messaging. I continuously decided to build creative networks on and offline and connect with women who strived for impact and purpose.

This is why I do what I do and my journey of where I am today.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Some of the struggles were mentioned in the story earlier One of the main struggles in my brand photography career was the pandemic, I’d just launched in December 2019 and the country would be shutting down in March 2020. It was hard to process how I would continue this business and receive clients, I decided to continue to focus on building strategy for my business.

One goal I wrote down at the beginning of the year was to network with other photographers and the city of Greensboro.

I spent that time networking and aligning my business to the goals I wrote down. It wasn’t easy because most interaction was done virtually but overtime right after the summer I’d start to see people create businesses and organizations and they connected with me, the city eventually reached out to me for projects also.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a storyteller brand photographer, based in Greensboro, NC but serving the Triad and surrounding areas. I help women leverage their brand messaging and marketing strategy by capturing and filming their business, services, and products to produce elevated and high-quality media.

As a storyteller brand photographer, my job consists of understanding by researching you, your audience, and your business to position you as the expert being able to tell a story through images and film that reflect you, your workspace, your process, relating to the stories that move and matter helping clients show consistency and solve their marketing problems making it easier for them to do their business

What sets me apart and what I’m most proud of is my ability to impact and bring other women together, I see women. I see how they’ve transitioned, I see how they’ve had to adjust and pivot in ways they never thought they could. I see their wins, I see the growth and the possibility for progress.

As a photographer it’s my hope to be seen and not just captured for a moment, I truly wish to be felt. I desire this for other women.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is defined on my own terms – it has to be – if 2020 taught us anything is that everyone has their own struggles. What others have more of doesn’t mean they are happy or successful.

Success is gratitude, success to me is adding value to your life, success is deciding what you want and what will make you happy.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: kendraknightphoto.com
• Instagram: @kendraknightphoto
• Facebook: Kendra Knight Photography and Videography

Image Credits
Kendra Knight Photography