Renee Giarrusso and the importance of Personal Branding Photography for your Business

I recently met Renee Giarrusso at a Bayside Women in Business networking event where she was the speaker of Self leadership, Communication and Leadership Branding
for Impact
. Blown away by her energy, I was immediately drawn to her.
Several months later Renee approached me to shoot her personal branding photography. I was absolutely thrilled! Inspired by Renee’s personality and business mindset, I couldn’t say no! 

After our photo shoot I have asked Renee several questions about the importance of investing in personal branding photography as well as her experience in my studio, which I am extremely happy to share below.

About Renee and her purpose:

What lights me up is growing and developing individuals and teams within organisations and businesses.
I love building Limlitless Leaders and Limitless Teams resulting in organisations that flourish.
I do this through speaking events, tailored workshop and coaching/mentoring programs specialising in communication, leadership, influencing, sales effectiveness & mapping motivation for performance. 
We have run thousands of programs across 24 industries at all levels of management, within multi-nationals and medium to large size businesses and organisations. 

I believe we all have the potential and possibility to achieve anything we set our mind to and I’m obsessed with providing the tools, support, and insight to make this happen!

Why is personal branding important for you and why did you decide to have your business portraits taken? 

Personal branding captures the essence of the real you and what you offer and how you solve people’s problems. It is what sums you up, what people see, feel and hear when your name/business comes up! They represent me to my existing and potential clients, many I may never have met. This is all they have to go on apart from what people say and the results they may have visibly seen. Personal branding photographs have to capture my energy, passion and who I really am and how I really look. Nothing worse then meeting people who look nothing like the images presented of them. They need to be relevant and up to date and above all, real and authentic. They are what people relate to on my social media, website and other collaterals.

Personal branding is so vital in portraying the essence of you are and what you do for your market. 

As a thought leader as an individual I am big part of the brand and therefore I knew it was time to refresh it and my business, myself and my clients and my offer as it has evolved. It’s been 5 years since my last branding photos and I as I’ve changed and progressed I knew it was time to update! 

Where are you going to use your personal branding images? 

The images will be used for an upcoming book and for future books I am writing. I will utilise some of the images to brand my fortnightly blog. Social media is imperative to my brand and my business and the images will used across all platforms including: Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Special thanks to my social media guru Nia Mc Martin who has been utilising all the images in these posts.

Brochure on our signature program will also include images and we will refresh our bio and speakers pages along with our website www.reneegiarrusso.com

What made you choose Ksenia over other photographers for your business portraits? 

I needed to see their work and capability. What was also important to me was someone like Ksenia to understand my brand, my energy and what I was looking to capture in a natural way. I also wanted the session to be fun and an experience that wasn’t a chore but time to play and be so the essence of me was seen and captured.

I love Ksenia’s energy and edginess along with her professionalism and obviously the great work that she does. She’s personable, made the day fun and put me at was just to be myself and take the session lightly, although I did bring 42 outfits!!!

What were your main concerns before the photo session? 

What clothes to bring as I’m an alternative thinker and couldn’t decide, so all 42 outfits came along. I’ve never let anyone do my make up and hair, so I was bit nervous about that, but Lisa was amazing. Also being able to switch off and be present for the shoot with so much going on in my business, I felt a little indulgent, but know how important branding is and what the results could be for my message and business.

How was your overall photographic experience with Ksenia?

From day 1 all interactions went seamlessly. Ksenia was extremely thorough and got me thinking about the look and feel of the shoot weeks before the actual session. I sent her a few photos of some of the outfits as I love colour and wanted to capture my high energy and passion so the photos weren’t one dimensional. The actual session was great and an hour in I started to relax, good music, great coffee and I felt real rapport with Ksenia and the camera. Her styling was great and she was so invested in every photo and look. Ksenia even organised a piece of fabric in my branding colour to use a backdrop, a great over and above initiative! 

I am delighted with the photos and how natural they are. They were shot in natural light with subtle edits and Ksenia kept true to what I asked for and over delivered on this.

I want photos that resemble me, I don’t want to be that person you meet who’s photos do not represent them or even how they look. 

The final results are fantastic and I have a repertoire of looks and expressions to choose from to use within Social media, bios, my website and keynote presentations.  

Ksenia has exceeded my expectations. From the way she interacts, her follow up and above all her profound ability to capture the energy and presence of who you really are. She’s a quality person and a professional in what she does.  

Any highlights?

The popcorn shoot! A few people call me popcorn due to my high energy levels and passion and Ksenia purchased a bucket of popcorn (that I kept eating :)) and we used this in a prop for some action shots. It was later in the day and I think it kept both our energy, laughter and fun up!  

I will and already have recommended Ksenia’s work and will continue to do so. Her capability and passion as a photographer is second to none. She makes the experience enjoyable and every interaction has provided me with a brilliant customer experience which results in the session and the results exceeding my expectations.  

***

I am extremely grateful for this beautiful testimonial from such a strong and inspiration business woman. I am truly lucky (and I do work hard for it) to do what I love and will continue delivering only outstanding experience to my clients who in most cases become friends in life. 

Click here to read what other clients say about their experience. 

Update: last week I attended the launch of an inspiring book “Leaders of Influence” (Samantha Jansen Publishing), where Renee was one of 6 authors with her own story and what Leadership means to her. I am so happy when my clients are very successful and reach their business and personal goals. Well done, Renee! 

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