We had the good fortune of connecting with Becki Freed and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Becki, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I believe that the most important factor behind my success is self-discipline. Discipline to keep myself motivated, continue to learn, put in the time, and to not getting distracted! This is not always easy but the payoff is immense. I also believe that continuing to learn new marketing techniques and strategy has led to the success of my own brand. I utilize the same brand strategies that I share with my clients.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I specialize exclusively in personal brand photography and visual brand strategy for business owners, influencers, and other professionals. I provide a great solution to the typical business headshot by creating an empowered VISUAL BRAND IDENTITY for my clients through curated, lifestyle, portrait, and product images that are shot on location and in studio, so my clients get the best of both worlds. Their images are designed with their brand colors and aesthetics in mind. I include themes and categories to give their social media a curated look and their target audience loves it! I also help my clients tell their brand stories through photos for their events, promotions, newsletters, and their everyday social media posts. Personal brand photos should be carefully crafted to tell an authentic story, based on a professional’s core values and offerings. When done correctly, they will showcase my clients as the face of their brand and as experts in their industry, adding credibility and increasing influence, visibility, and revenue.

Personal branding is today’s NEW MARKETING MODEL. My clients are always thrilled to share their beautiful brand images in their blogs, newsletters, social media pages, and on their websites. They also use the images for speaker submissions, magazine articles, book covers, ads, sales pages, press kits, and more. One of the services that I always include for my clients is IMAGE EMPOWERMENT. My team of experts and I provide a highly customized photography production. I bring a lighting specialist and state-of-the-art equipment with me to all on-location sessions to ensure that my clients will look amazing in any lighting situation. Our service includes professional wardrobe styling. We don’t just provide a few ideas on what to wear, we send our wardrobe stylist out to the client’s home, and they are completely styled from head to toe with a number of great looks that are perfect for their brand. We also have a very talented celebrity makeup artist and licensed hairstylist who works with the clients in advance to determine exactly what looks will be best for them. I am very proud of the fact that whether my clients are speaking, performing, working, teaching, etc., I capture them in a way that allows them to share their stories beautifully and authentically with their audience. All of the extras and options that my team and I provide work together to create stunning, highly personalized images that their target audience will love. I’d say one of the most important lessons I’ve learned since starting my business is that it is my job to use my knowledge and expertise to help my clients see the bigger picture (pun intended), in addition to listening closely to what they want. Working with them together as a team allows us to perfect their visual brand and is always a win/win situation.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would definitely take them sailing on the bay, one of my favorite pastimes with my husband, family and friends. We would go to Del Mar Beach for a walk, then enjoy lunch or dinner at the Poseidon restaurant. Del Mar Plaza is also fun. I would probably take them on a short road trip up to Laguna Beach one day and enjoy lunch at one of the rooftop restaurants. Balboa Park is a must, especially since I live right across the street from it. Always so much to see and do there, and that would include the San Diego Zoo. Walking around my neighborhood in Banker’s Hill, including crossing the Spruce Street Bridge is always beautiful. Eddie V’s in La Jolla for dinner and live music one evening would be nice, and the La Valencia Hotel is a must see as well. Walking around La Jolla village, doing some light shopping and enjoying the art studios. If it’s the right time of year the flower fields in Carlsbad are beautiful! Also the Del Mar racetrack depending on the time of year. And we would have to check out the Hard Rock Hotel and other cool spots downtown, maybe do some dancing in the evening. The Belly Up is always a blast too!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutout definitely goes to my husband Mark. On one of our first dates years ago we went on a hike and I had a little point and shoot camera with me. I had to keep stopping to take photographs of the scenery every few minutes, and I told him this is who I am and he should get used to it. ha ha Not everyone could deal with that. (And I still do the same to this day, using my smart phone if I don’t have my camera with me.) Fast forward nine years and Mark has been a HUGE support of my love for photography and branding all along the way. He helped me find the right equipment to invest in when I was first starting out, and he also helped me understand so much about managing a business, as he is a successful business owner himself. When I used to cover events Mark would go with me and help man the lighting and even act as a second photographer at times. He is pretty good! When people would treat him like “just a lighting guy” he took it all in stride, which I’m sure was not easy for a successful real estate developer. He listened and offered great advice when I was learning and growing, and dealing with a few challenging clients. He helped me with all of the details of my business launch party, hanging the wall display, helping to take photos at the event, and much more. He also dealt with me working late into the night for many years. All of this has been an incredible display of love and support that I will never forget. Thank you Mark!

Website: www.beckifreedlegacyphoto.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beckifreed_legacyphotography
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beckifreed/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/beckifreed
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beckifreedlegacyphotography
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2WhljpsJQkBxlujRZ5z9iQ?view_as=subscriber

Image Credits
All images were taken by me. The first collage is behind the scenes on a couple photo shoots with my team.