On The Photo CEO
A new, self-published book!
Welcome to the Tuesday post for all subscribers, which features an incredible interview. On Friday, paid subscribers will receive a recipe for peanut butter and jelly bars. As always, if you want to learn more about my work (or hire me!), you can check out my website here.
Tamera Darden is a photo producer and photographer behind Darden Creative, a stills + motion production agency that creates fun, fresh and modern content for product and lifestyle brands. She’s also the writer of the Photo CEO Substack and the author of the brand new book The Photo CEO, in which she teaches women how to work smarter and create a photography business you love.
Laura Scherb: So you have this book coming out soon. I'm just so curious about this process because you are doing this 100% yourself. And I have so much admiration for that. So tell us about the process. How you got started what even planted the seed for you to want to write a book?
Tamera Darden: Yes, I am self publishing! I started my business in 2016. When I started there weren't a lot of examples of photographers sharing information for how to run a business. The act of photography itself, when you think about the entire work process, is really only 20%.
So as I was growing my business, it required a lot of trial and error. And along the way, I noticed that there were certain practices and behaviors that I pulled from all the jobs I previously held. And I said, oh, there's a method to this madness. I started sharing advice on Instagram and I noticed many women asking, how to price their photography services? What is does my workflow look like? What about copyright and usage? How do I book clients? I knew I wanted to put everything I learned in one place and demystify how to run a sustainable photography business.
LS: Yeah.
TD: And also, I was earning a lot of money. I think it's really important to say that because there are so many misconceptions around women and money. The messages society tells women to create this illusion that women aren't great with money, or that we don't know how to earn more money. But that's only because society does not place a high value on women's labor. As a result, we have internalized these beliefs, and it negatively impacts how we show up in our business.
I hit the 6% Club (6% of women owned businesses that more than $100,000 annually). I believe it's now 12%, but at the time, it was only six. So it's great that I’ve hit this goal several times, but there were still women who wanted to make photography a viable source of revenue. How dare I not have something that I know is of value and just keep it all in my brain?
I knew that Instagram was not a place to have long-form content around pricing or negotiations, and though I started my Substack, I decided to write this book. I felt I had a personal responsibility to share this information because there are not many places that we can go to have real conversations around business and money.
LS: I love it. I can't wait to read it myself. Because I think that there are so many times where you do almost feel like you're in a situation where you need permission to advocate for yourself as a business and it can put you in a really difficult position when you're trying to negotiate.
TD: Honestly, it really comes down to just having audacity. I was writing an article the other day titled “Why charge what you're worth advice just doesn't work.”
In my research, I read something I thought that was fascinating. When asked about pricing and negotiations, women compared it to going to the dentist whereas men compared negotiations as like playing a game, like winning a ballgame. So even just our language is different. When it comes to self advocacy we don't champion women who speak up for themselves. We actually use it as a strike against them. And so, yeah, it just made me really angry.
LS: Well, thank you for doing something about it and giving us all this book. Tell me about the process from you know, this moment that you decided you had to write a book to when you know, the book is gonna show up in the mail and I'm gonna hold it in my hand.
TD: Sure! I started the writing process in February 2023. I partnered with a writing guide who's really amazing, Amirah Cook, and she just provided a lot of resources at every step. There are a lot steps within the steps when self publishing!
I could have gone the traditional route, but I didn't want to have a lot of red tape, and I wanted to control what was kept in the book. Amirah’s guidance was really great, because she provided PDFs of everything that I needed to do at every step. The first step is drafting an outline, and then researching based book genres and average word counts, etc. It sounds boring, but that's the stuff you have to know.
People have different methods of writing their manuscript. Some people like to write chronologically, some people like to write based off of how they feel from one chapter to the next, and not necessarily in order. I wrote my manuscript chronologically, just because that's how I taught it. I also recommend readers read the book chronologically as well.
Writing the manuscript was a very emotional experience. Writing the manuscript takes the longest. In the first three chapters, I staged the scene for the rest of the of the book. And so in chapter two, I break down how I got here, and just writing that chapter brought back so many emotions, because I just remember who that girl was.
LS: Yeah.
TD: I remember the feelings I experience, how the idea (for my photography business) came to me, and why I started a photography business. I cried a few times writing the first draft. It’s a very empowering experience to be able to write down the last 10 years of your life and say, wow, you really did it.
LS: I'm sure that was just such a cathartic experience.
TD: Yeah, it was incredibly cathartic, because I think a lot of times we're working and we're not taking the time to actually say, “Wow, we have come really, really far”. Lastly, writing the manuscript taught me like this shit didn’t happen overnight.
LS: That can be so important. From the outside, I'm looking at you and I'm like, she has nailed every aspect of running her own business. But I'm sure from your perspective, you're like, you have no idea!
TD: Yeah! But also, no one can tell me I am not that girl. I think every photographer, especially women photographers, should take time in their day to literally write out every single thing that they have accomplished. From the time they decided to pick up a camera and say, I am going to make this work to where they are today. Lastly, the exercise may encourage or reveal to photographers they should should probably quadruple their rates right now.
LS: Did you hire someone to edit for you? Or did you self edit?
TD: I completed three rounds of self edits and my friend Michelle Kuo did a proofreading edit.
LS: Oh, that's so smart.
TD: I wanted to make sure people really resonated with the book and I invited a few people to read the manuscript (before publishing). I didn't think people were going respond and I was really afraid to request beta readers, but the response was surprising. I chose five, a few of them I knew personally— one was a photo producer and 2 are photographers. The exercise was incredibly helpful and made me feel more confident. I also invited friends to provide their insight on topics that I was not familiar with.
LS: I love that.
TD: So with taxes, I'm terrible. I invited a really great friend of mine, Keila Trawick-Hill of Little Fish Accounting, to provide insights on taxes. I invited another friend Imani to talk about per image pricing. Charlene McCraney provided insight on SEO. Writing The Photo CEO was definitely a collaborative experience. It definitely taught me how to ask for help. I was able to rely on my network to have them provide their expertise and advice.
My good friend Michelle was my proofreader and book cover designer. The easiest part was uploading to Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform.
LS: So are you done with all of that now?
TD: I am done. I recently ordered proofs. They arrive tomorrow. So that will be the first time I have the book in my hands, and I’ll make sure everything looks good before approving and pressing publish!
LS: Wow. That is so exciting. I can't wait to see it. I can't say enough how much of a resource you've been so I am so, so excited for the book.
TD: It really is a group project. When you look at people who get these big publication deals, we only see the author. We really don't know all of the things that happen behind the scenes. Self publishing really forced me to ask for help. A lot of times, I can feel embarrassed for asking for help which leads to feeling unsupported. But not asking for help makes the belief a self-fulfilling prophecy. Writing a book is a village project and I am incredibly thankful to my network.
LS: What was the biggest thing you learned about yourself during this process? Is it that you need a village to support you?
TD: Yes and I deserve all the good things that have happened in my life because I've done the work. I think I needed that reminder. Sometimes when work is slow, we tend to spiral. We forget about all of our experiences, all the knowledge that we posses, and how we’ve contributed to our societies. This experience has taught me that I've always been capable. It’s still surreal. It really still hasn't hit me yet.
LS: I'm so excited to see your new career as an author blossom.
TD: Thank you! I tried to take myself out of writing this book many times. Sometimes I feel like the only time you see a person of color in the media sometimes is to speak about diversity. And Black people can talk about so many other things including photography and business. It’s important to be mindful of the things we tell ourselves. being mindful of the things that we tell ourselves. It's okay to have a negative thought, but don't let the thought run you. If the thought comes, acknowledge it, but also think what’s the best possibility?
LS: You're just a fountain of wisdom. I could listen to you talk all day. I really could. Thank you.
See you back here on Friday for PB&J bars! Feel free to share this post far and wide.