Behind-the-scenes at our big photo shoot

by | March 29, 2024

Shifting the focus from my individual expertise to our strengths and approach as a team

Many of you have been sending applause and sharing excitement in response to the sneak peeks we’ve posted about our big company rebrand so far.

You have no idea how much I appreciate your enthusiasm. Sharing this process has been a way for me to peel back layers of our ideology and work, and it’s also been a great big experiment in finding out “how much do people really care?”

(More on that another day, because oh man, the irony. The marketing expert who constantly encourages you to share your process gets nervous about sharing her own…)

FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 9AM, YONKERS​
​
As I backed our Subaru up to the loading dock at TODO Studio, all I could think was:

“We have way too much STUFF.”
​

  • Bags of clothing
  • Bowls & glassware
  • Props & jewelry
  • All the shoes
  • Citrus fruits up the wazoo…​

Former company photo shoots were focused on warm and welcoming images of us “at work.” In several cases, Whitney Browne & Christopher Duggan (they’re the best!) captured us while we did actual work.Like, for real. We held meetings and took notes and drank coffee and laughed over our laptops. They captured us at our desks, dressed in our best, with our own thermoses and MacBooks, and those photos have served us well for years and years.

But at this point in our growth as a marketing firm, we feel driven to shift the focus from my individual expertise to our strengths and approach as a team.​
​
Thus, with Hillary Weiss Presswood’s creative direction, this photo shoot became something bigger. Instead of capturing us at work, we aimed to capture the spirit of that work. This shoot was thematic, it experiments with metaphor, it leaned into our creativity and our backgrounds as dancers.

In fact, I insisted we avoid all work-related props. No laptops, no phones…

And so, this photo shoot was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.

Rather than holding a team meeting, we were “on set.” All of us stepped into brand new roles. Jessica shared with me afterwards that it felt strange not setting up the shoot or managing the schedule… Instead, we were there as the subjects, the ones in front of the camera, the ones at the center of the story.

We spent a full 8-hour day shuffling from space to space in the studio, setting up shots that speak to the major components of our marketing process.

Every photo reveals a new aspect of our work:

  • our energy as a team
  • our arts knowledge and creative backgrounds
  • the feeling behind our work
  • the frustration and challenges our clients face day-to-day
  • the solutions we offer
  • the outcomes we achieve…

All of the concepts were very clearly connected to our work, not just pretty, staged images (although WOW ARE THEY PRETTY 🤩). I can’t wait for you to see them!!

As we packed up the car again at the end of the day, I felt differently about all that STUFF. The amount of planning and detail we all brought to this day was immense. The intention behind all our choices still blows me away. Carrying it in, I felt apprehensive; carrying it out, I felt accomplished.

Thank you to everyone* who made this day a huge success. We’re editing photos now, and I plan to share even more about our rebrand process soon.