“I want this to be real”: Liz’s personal branding experience
Liz Leary (LinkedIn) has been an employee experience leader at Trello for 6 years, with a passion for organizing retreats, offsites and other large company-wide events. In particular, her biggest event every year was Trello Together, with Trello’s global team coming together for 3 days to do no work! She absolutely detests awkward icebreakers and loves thinking outside the box about activities that really engage and excite people. She’s passionate about event planning that’s thoughtful and inclusive.
In the last two years, she has been responsible for building Trello’s remote culture from the ground up. This experience opened her eyes to the possibilities of remote work, and what she wants to do with her life and career. She’s now planning to launch a blog to teach other employee experience leaders what she has learned about the best practices to create a remote work culture. In addition, she has taken the lead in organizing virtual 3D events, which many event planners think of as the next frontier in employee experience.
This session was simply one of the most fun shoots I did in 2021, because of Liz’s sparkling personality and her engagement throughout the entire process. Oh, and did I mention she’s a total Harry Potter fan?
The post below is a summary of a conversation I had with her about her experience, with the full video at the end.
What got you interested in doing a photo shoot?
In her photo shoot, Liz wanted to convey some of the reality of event planning, including the stress, the intense work and the joy.
I’m launching a blog called Gather with LL, centering around employee experience, best practices for remote work, and how to pull off an event, whether it’s virtual or IRL. What do you need to think about? What did I learn in my experience and my journey? What did I do wrong? I really want to kind of go into the human side of it and not approach it as if I’m an expert who does everything right. Instead, I want to talk about the things I did well, things I got really wrong, and how others can learn from them and apply them to their companies.
I'm hoping that the blog starts to gain a buzz and is something that people want to read. Maybe it'll start consulting opportunities for me where I can work with companies to reinvent practices to make them make more sense. I want to put my name out there, have a professional look to it and be taken seriously. If I'm going to do this blog, I want to do it right. That starts with having a really good brand behind you.
As far as photos go, I didn’t want them to be fake. I see so many photo shoots that are so — professional and so formal. I want to show the human side of me, what I do on a daily basis and what it’s really like. When I saw your portfolio, it was clear that was something you aim to achieve as well. I want this to be real.
What was the mood board process like for you?
Liz wanted her mood board to span the entire gamut of emotions that come up in event planning, using a mix of poses, props, outfits and settings. View the board here on Pinterest or just click on the image.
Liz wanted to capture the moment of glory after an event is successfully executed.
Oh I loved that experience! I'm so glad that's part of your process. I'm a big fan of lists and mood boards in general. I like isolating the exact feeling that I want to achieve. From the second you asked me to do that, I knew immediately what I kind of wanted and what I was going for, but it really did make me focus. It’s a great practice to have in play.
When I create a mood board, I rely on my first instincts. What’s the first thing that you see? Don’t stop yourself and analyze right away, just go with it. Once you have a library of images, you can come back to it, analyze and streamline from there.
I tend to be a type A personality, even though I’m also very creative. I like systems and processes, so having this process was really helpful for me.
I love the process of planning an event and getting everything set up. It’s my absolute favorite feeling in the world to see everybody so happy, get the accolades coming from everywhere. Some of my favorite pictures have been of the moment after an event when I sit down and have my glass of champagne. I realized that’s the process and moment I wanted to capture; what would bring out my glow the most.
How did you feel going into the shoot, and what was the experience like?
I was nervous at first! When you’re in front of a camera, you’re putting yourself out there, you’re being as vulnerable as a human can really be. It’s terrifying for most people, that just comes with the territory.
You put me immediately at ease. I thought I was going to get all in my head and shy. But when we did the breathing exercises together at the beginning, it was just a good experience that loosened me up.
The rest of the shoot was great! I was very surprised at how much more relaxed I was. We picked someone’s apartment for our location. So there were times I was laying on this random stranger’s bed and I could have been really uncomfortable, but I just wasn’t. It has a lot to do with picking the right place and environment and selecting a location that speaks to you.
It also felt a lot shorter than I thought it would. The day went by really fast! I found myself seeing different opportunities along the way for my creative side. I started opening up and suggesting ideas. It was really fun; I felt like I was involved in the process and not just along for the ride.
Liz first thought she’d feel uncomfortable doing a shoot in a stranger’s (rented) apartment, but she quickly made herself at home.
What did it feel like to see your photos for the first time? How has that evolved for you?
Oh, when I saw them for the first time it was like seeing a totally different person. “That can’t be me!” I felt POWERFUL. That’s the only word that properly describes it. “Damn, I’m badass!”
Like many people in the world, I second-guess myself a lot and I can be hard on myself. But this was a moment when I felt like I could actually feel good about myself. I continue to feel that the entire time when I go to replace a profile photo, or share them with someone who wants to see them. It’s such a proud feeling. “I did that!”
Everyone I’ve shared the photos with tell me how much confidence I’m exuding in them. I think they’re proud of the ownership I’m taking and that I’m going out there and getting what I want. It’s a great feeling.
I’ve gotten a renewed sense of confidence from this and if the photos were used for nothing else, that experience was worth it!
Would you recommend this experience to a friend? What would you tell them?
Of course I would! In addition to all the reasons above, I’d say that you should do this if if you want to feel good about yourself, or if you’re second-guessing yourself before going on a new adventure. You’ll get to know yourself a little bit better, the experience is worth it and I’d 1000% recommend nobody else but you because you’re such a calming and creative presence, with just a great energy to be around. I don’t think a lot of photographers bring that; it’s a special thing with you as a person and a professional.
Special question for you. What’s an icebreaker you actually love?
Scavenger hunts! It doesn’t put people in awkward conversation situation, but you immediately need to work with others. You learn things about others in the process. Scavenger hunts are a great way to break the ice without really knowing you’re doing it.
