Today we’d like to introduce you to Nichole Howard.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Because I grew up in a single-family home, I was taught the value of hard work at an early age. I’ve been working since I was 14, when others had hobbies/sports or activities I worked (babysitting, waitressing, bartending, etc.). * Early on I set my sites had the traditional 9-5 and went to school for psychology because I was always fascinated by the mind.
Right after I graduated, I landed a job I liked in the non-profit world, the only caveat was it paid less than the current minimum wage; but I was so excited to be a “professional,” in a job that was helping others – I found myself working 2-3 jobs at a time; essentially leaning back on the service jobs I was so eager to leave (waitressing/bartending) to make ends meet; at one point I remember thinking, this isn’t what I want from life; to be scraping by! I knew how to hustle, but I felt like all the hustle wasn’t amounting to much. – I loved that I could help people but I thought I was never going to be out of debt…. so, I did the obvious thing; I went back to school to get my master’s in Communications (Haha). Luckily though, at the same time, I ended up landing a full-time at role at Penn Medicine as an Executive Assistant, which was a role that not only paid for my Master’s, but eventually morphed into a position that taught me a lot about business; I became a Project Manager within their C-suite; After I graduated from the master’s program, and while working at Penn, I only needed one job so I finally had some time to find my passion. I was given a DSLR camera as a gift and I was so happy I cried tears of joy when I got it! That camera changed my life, I started by taking photographs of my city and travels, then one day a friend asked me to take a photo of her son who was graduating from high school; I said sure! Why not!? And from that point on, I started building a photography business on the side of my full-time position. I worked with incredible female mentors along the way who have helped me greatly get to the point where I am today, as a full-time traveling brand photographer. I feel everything happened for a reason and brought me to this point. I feel immensely grateful I am able to work in a profession now that is my passion; every day!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think of myself as an accidental entrepreneur, I started out thinking I could never own my own business! It was too BIG of a dream and I didn’t think I had any talent I was good enough at. I also barely had time to explore my passions because I was working so hard to make ends meet early in life, I definitely had a lot of inner (yay therapy!) and outer work to do, to get me to where I am today. And it’s an ongoing process!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Nichole MCH Photography?
My Mission is to create beautiful branded high-end photography for the ambitious woman, so she can worry less about attracting ideal clients because the photos do it for her!
My main niche is small to medium-sized female-owned businesses with their brand photography in my area (while also supporting lifestyle some family portraits, and maternity photos).
In an oversaturated market with thousands of messages being sent at us each day through – e-mail, text, social, streaming services, and friends/family conversations; you want your unique message to stand out and resonate with your audience; In fact, in a recent study, it was found “When people consume information, they’re likely to remember only 10% of that information 3 days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retained 65% of the information 3 days later.” (Brain Rules)
The service I provide is to use the photography to help women to continue or become the energetic match for the clients – and ultimately the money – they want to bring into their businesses by helping them expand on their “like, know, and trust” factor; becoming more of the likable expert in a (consistent, fun, witty, thoughtful, inspiring), etc.
I offer three tiers of packages to meet my client’s needs which are much more than just photography – the packages include a brand deep dive, styling recommendations from professional fashion stylists, and more.
Pricing:
- Personal Branding Packages start at $797
- Family & Maternity Photography starts at $497
Contact Info:
- Email: nicholemchphotography@gmail.com
- Website: www.nicholemchphotography.com
- Instagram: @nicholemchphotography
- Facebook: @nicholemchphotography
