From Project Manager to Brand Photographer: What I Learned About Visibility

How a career in structure, timelines, and spreadsheets became the unexpected foundation for helping women entrepreneurs show up boldly in their businesses.

There’s a version of this story where I tell you I always knew I’d be a photographer in Toronto. That I picked up a camera at age seven and never put it down. That art school was the obvious next step.

That’s not my story.

My story starts in boardrooms. With Gantt charts, stakeholder meetings, and project timelines colour-coded to within an inch of their lives. I was a project manager, and honestly, I was a good one. I could take a sprawling, chaotic initiative and turn it into something organized, actionable, and on schedule.

But here’s what nobody tells you about being good at something: being good at it and being lit up by it are two very different things.

The Moment Everything Shifted

Upon return to work as a Senior Project Manager from my first maternity leave, I was excited to hit the ground running and dive into a new project. However I soon realized that it wasn’t an option. I was put on the same project I was previously on for two years before I left, it was now phase 3 of the project. The long hours I once spent in the office that also allowed me to exercise my creativity through joining social committees and volunteering to be on leadership projects had to be temporarily curbed so that I could manage daycare drop-offs and pick-ups. I soon found myself feeling like I was starving for creativity. A side of myself suddenly felt unfulfilled at work and I questioned my entire career path until I realized photography was calling me.

Outside of work, I had just completed the Digital Photography certificate over a year and a half of evening classes I went to after work, and found myself happily capturing wedding and baby showers for friends on the weekends. By the time I went on my second maternity leave about a year and half later, the vision was clear. I desired to be exercise my creativity and be in a position that brought me closer to the customer. I wanted to become a full-time photographer.

I remember the tension of holding two truths at once: I had built something stable and respectable that had tenure and all sorts of accumulated benefits, and I wanted to walk away from it. If you’re an entrepreneur reading this, you probably know exactly what that feels like. That pull toward something that doesn’t make sense on paper but makes complete sense in your body.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that I wasn’t walking away from project management at all. I was taking every single skill I’d built and channelling it into something that finally felt aligned.

What Branding Photography Actually Is (And Why It’s Not Just “Getting Your Photo Taken”)

Let me clear something up, because I think there’s a massive misconception out there. Branding photography is not a glorified headshot session. It’s not showing up, smiling at a camera for twenty minutes, and walking away with a handful of polished portraits.

Branding photography is a strategic visual system for your business. It’s a library of images that tells the story of who you are, what you do, who you serve, and why it matters, across every platform, every touchpoint, every moment someone encounters your brand online.

Think about it this way: when someone lands on your website, scrolls your Instagram, opens your email, or sees your course sales page, what do they see? Do those images communicate authority, warmth, expertise, and trust? Or do they communicate “I grabbed this selfie in my car between meetings”?

There’s no judgment in that, by the way. We’ve all been there. But if you’re building something real, a coaching practice, a consulting business, a wellness brand, your visuals need to work as hard as you do.

Learn more about about my approach to personal brand photography here.

How My Project Manager Brain Makes Your Photoshoot Better

Here’s where it gets interesting. Because most photographers will talk to you about lighting and composition and angles. And yes, those things matter, I care deeply about the craft. But what sets the Pictonat experience apart is everything that happens before and around the camera work.

Strategy First, Always

In project management, you never start building before you have a clear scope. You define the objectives, identify the deliverables, and map out the plan. I bring that exact mindset to every branding session.

Before I pick up my camera, I want to know: What are your business goals for the next six months? Where will these images live? What content pillars drive your marketing? Who is your ideal client, and what do they need to feel when they see you?

These aren’t casual questions. They’re the foundation of a shoot that actually serves your business, not just your ego.

Detail Orientation That Borders on Obsessive

My clients laugh about this, but I notice everything. The way a necklace is off center. The wrinkle in a blazer that will bother you every time you look at the photo. The coffee cup in the background that doesn’t match your brand colours.

I spent years catching details in project plans that could derail entire timelines. Now I catch the details that could derail your visual brand. Same skill, infinitely more fun.

A strategic planning session along with a Brand Playbook is also the secret sauce to a branding photoshoot experience. Clients feel an instant sigh of relief seeing how it all comes together in one place. Imagine your personalized project plan, story buckets, shot list, along with your brand photoshoot vision all in one place! It’s something I love putting together.

Timeline and Communication You Can Actually Count On

You will never wonder where you stand with me. You’ll know exactly when to expect your planning call, your mood board, your shot list, and your final gallery. You’ll get clear, warm communication at every stage, because nothing creates anxiety like silence, and I refuse to be the vendor who ghosts you after the session.

One thing I truly value is efficient delivery of service which means that galleries are sent to clients shortly after their photoshoot, within 1.5 weeks, often within days so that they can move the needle in their business. I remember having a negative experience of waiting 6-8 weeks before receiving my newborn photos back from the photographer and was really disappointed with the experience because of how it made me feel to have to wait so long with multiple delays. I made a promise to do things differently in my business.

This is pure project management DNA. Stakeholder communication was literally in my job description for years. The stakeholder just happens to be you now.

The Visibility Piece Nobody Talks About

Here’s where I need to get a little vulnerable with you.

When I made this career shift, I had to confront my own visibility fears head-on. I went from being behind the scenes, the person who made sure everyone else’s work shone, to putting my own name, face, and creative vision out into the world.

It was terrifying.

From the moment I started to charge for my service and market myself as a photographer online, I felt fear. It was stepping into a whole new world with no performance reviews and no one to report into but myself. I worked hard and built up a portfolio that I’d sell my services with however I never thought to show myself on camera. The first time a client took out her phone to take behind the scenes of me and ask me to say a simple ‘hi’ on camera, I completely froze. I was like ‘you want me to do what?!’ and I literally ran away! That moment was meant to happen, it made me rethink how I show up online. I now do branding photos for the client every year and we still laugh about that moment now.

That experience is exactly why I understand what my clients go through. When a founder sits in front of my camera and says, “I hate having my photo taken,” I don’t brush that off. I get it. Visibility asks us to be seen, truly seen, and that is one of the most courageous things a person can do.

It’s also why I’ve woven visibility mentoring into the work I do. Because the photos are only part of it. If you have a gorgeous gallery of brand images but you’re too afraid to post them, too uncomfortable to put yourself on your own sales page, too stuck in perfectionism to hit publish, then the photos aren’t doing their job.

What My Reiki Practice Taught Me About Holding Space

There’s another thread in my story that might surprise you. Alongside my photography journey, I trained in Reiki, an energy healing practice rooted in presence, intuition, and deep listening. And just recently received my Tao Hands Practitioner certification to learn a practice that works with energy and intention to support healing and transformation.

I don’t currently do Reiki during photoshoots (however it will soon be available as an add-on!) however I always ground myself and clear the energy in the space before the photoshoot begins. But that training fundamentally changed how I hold space for people. It taught me to tune into energy, to notice when someone is guarding, when they’re opening up, when they need a moment to breathe.

I truly believe the magic behind photographs is the energy that comes from the subjects versus what they look like. When I do a photoshoot, I tend to get in the ‘zone’, client often share that experiences with me are comfortable. My approach is to not going to ask them to “just smile bigger.” I’m going to help them connect with their purpose, their mission, the people they’re here to serve, and let that energy come through in the images.

The key message here is this, instead of leading separate identities… as a Project Manager, as a Photographer, as an Energy Healer, and a Mentor… I choose to embrace all parts of me as one. You get to experience it all. Holding space and delivering an experience that is thoughtfully curated you is something I put in high regard.

What I Want You to Take from My Story

If you’re reading this and you’re in the middle of your own reinvention, building a business from a career that looked nothing like this, piecing together skills that don’t seem to fit on the same resume, I want you to hear me say this:

Nothing you’ve done is wasted.

Your corporate experience, your healing training, your years of mothering, your side hustles, your “failed” projects, they all converge into the specific, irreplaceable magic you bring to your work. And that convergence? That’s your brand.

My convergence happens to be project management precision meets creative vision meets energetic awareness. Yours will be something entirely different. And it will be exactly right.

The question is: are you showing it? Are the images on your website telling the full, rich, layered story of who you are and what you bring?

If the answer is “not yet,” that’s not a failure. That’s an invitation to connect.

Thank you for reading about my journey, learn more about me here.

Ready to Be Seen, Really Seen?

If my story resonated with you, imagine what we could create together. I’d love to hear about your brand, your vision, and where you want your business to go. Let’s start with a conversation, no pressure, no pitch, just two women talking about what’s possible. Book your complimentary brand clarity call here.