From startup founder to fiction author - Dani’s personal branding experience
Dani and her dog Bambi
Dani Fankhauser made a very unusual and fascinating career pivot recently. She went from being a tech startup founder to pursuing her dream of becoming a \fiction author and is currently working on her first novel.
From the moment she reached out to me, I was excited! I’m a huge fan of fiction of all kinds - from space dramas to thoughtful explorations of social issues. I was thrilled to be able to support an author in the early stage of her career.
Here’s a summary of her post-session interview. The full video is at the end of the post.
What got you thinking about doing this photo shoot?
I dd a photo shoot and headshots when I last lived in San Francisco and worked in a tech company. It was a reward for myself for being promoted to Director. Those were very professional headshots meant for LinkedIn, and they reflected who I was at that time.
Since then, I moved to NYC, adopted a dog and the pandemic happened. I had been a startup founder, a role that I left late in 2020 to write fiction full-time — something I wanted to do since I was a kid. A lot shifted in the last year. So when I went on social media and saw my profile photos, I realized that the photos didn’t really fit or capture me anymore.
How did you decide to go from being a tech founder to writer?
I was born an author. From childhood, I was coming up with stories and imagining scripts. Over time, I realized that this wasn’t something that everyone else did. So I dreamed of becoming a writer, but I also kept thinking, “who am I to be a novelist?” I think other creatives can relate to this.
Eventually, I started taking writing classes and actually writing. I realized that not everyone wants to do this, and not everyone has these stories floating around in their head.
When I started writing short stories, people really loved coming into my imagination and thought that was something of value, just like I’ve always enjoyed experiencing the world through the eyes of someone else. Eventually, I got to the point where I had that confidence to do the thing I wanted to do most that was also something I was good at.
My interest in science fiction came out of working in tech. I would see something like Soylent, the meal replacement drink, and that became the inspiration for my first novel. It’s a dystopia where all animal and plant products become toxic to humans because plants and animals are trying to wipe out humanity to save the planet.
That’s amazing! How was the process of planning the photo shoot?
The mood board was really cool. I was excited to do that.
Dani’s mood board included a lot of headshots of authors, musicians and actresses who she felt had the same vibe as her.
I started looking up other authors to see what they had done for their headshots. Then I also looked up actresses and musicians who had created work that I felt had the same vibe as mine.
As your guidelines suggested, I went about picking up photos that I gravitated towards, not really thinking about it. The next step was going through and seeing if there were themes.
Dani wanted to capture some ‘day in the life’ photos, where she can share her process as an author.
The big thing I noticed that I hadn’t thought of before were the smiles: most of the photos I gravitated to had more mysterious, subdued smiles rather than the typical big smiles you expect in headshots.
You also suggested a prompt: “If the New York Times did a profile on you, what would you want to show?”
That prompt made me reflect about what I wanted to post on social media. I’ve found that people are very interested in my creative process as a fiction author. I constantly get questions like: “Do you have a standard writing practice or do you just wait for inspiration to hit you? Do you sit down and write at the same time every day?”
I liked the idea of capturing my typical day in photos; whether it’s drinking coffee in bed, using my journal, sitting at my desk and my couch. And of course, my dog Bambi had to be in there because she’s always around!
How did the actual photo shoot go for you?
I originally wanted a shoot outdoors in a park, but it was raining that day, so that part was a bit hit or miss. However, we had good light through my windows, so we got a lot of shots indoors. I appreciated your bringing extra lighting for the spots where it was dark. Having my dog around made me much more comfortable.
Having her dog Bambi close to her helped Dani relax during her session.
One thing that helped me immensely was being able to refer to the mood board. Having you show me a photo and say, “let’s do one that looks like this” helped me get into the right frame of mind. Your directions on what facial expression to do or how to hold my hands also helped a lot.
Awesome! What has it been like to see your photos and share them around?
It was amazing to have so many that I loved! I expected to like one to three photos based on my past experience with photo shoots.
I’m not someone who takes a lot of selfies or even vacation photos of myself, so I’ve never felt comfortable with how to smile for the camera and that sort of thing. I was a little bit nervous and unsure about how the photos would turn out.
There were so many that were just gorgeous, and different from each other. We did a great job with a variety of outfits, backgrounds and expressions. There are many more photos than I even know what to do with?
I’ve already updated my website on day one and I’ve gotten so many compliments. A couple of people have asked me who my photographer was. For my profile photo, I ended up using the one of my lying in petals. A lot of people have been really into that.
“I went from a business person to a person who has petals in her background.”
It’s funny how a profile picture is basically a way to express yourself. In my old headshot, I was a business person. I’m not that anymore. Now I’m this person who has petals in her background.
Would you recommend this experience to a friend? What would you tell them?
I’d definitely recommend it! The biggest thing I’d tell them is that there was a lot of good planning involved. Between the mood board and planning calls, it’s not just about showing up on the day of the shoot and hoping for the best. There was a lot of thought put into what we’re going to capture and how we’re going to use it. That really stood out to me!
Thank you! How can we learn more about your work and upcoming novel?
My website is https://danifankhauser.com, and my username is @danifankhauser on Instagram. I’ll definitely be posting a lot more when there’s book news to be shared!
