Client: Kat O’Sullivan
Kat is a professional keynote speaker and growth consultant. In 2020, during the pandemic, she realized she needed a new direction in her business and her life. Even though she’s in her mid-60’s, she didn’t let that deter her in any way. She dove into the project and figured out how to move her and her husband’s entire life to Mexico. Today, as a keynote speaker, she talks about the magic that happens when you let yourself say “Hell YES!” to change.
Kat’s Mood Board
Kat was both highly meticulous and organized in her mood board, while at the same time letting her fun, joyful, colorful personality shine through. She divided her mood board into sections: people, objects, moods. Through it all, what was obvious to me was that she wanted to capture various aspects of her incredible journey and sparkling, vibrant personality.
Some photos from Kat’s session
During the session itself, we aimed to capture three major themes: the Before, when Kat realized that she was stuck needed a new life the Transformation, showing her deep in her research and figuring out how to make things happen, and the Now, where she has created her joyful, magical new life.
What helped this process was the fact that Kat’s keynote session is also about her own journey. Her keynote covers this entire arc, and uses a wide variety of visual metaphors and props to make her points. As a result, all she had to do was to go through her keynote with us and embody the various parts of her story.
This is a great example of how we work with speakers. If you’re a speaker, your talk itself already has many elements we can capture your session. We’ll also make sure to capture some ‘speaking’ shots that you can use on your site.
What Kat says …
“The process of creating my speech helped me ground myself: Who am I? What’s my vision? What’s my purpose? How do I want to communicate that? I realized I wanted to make a shift from a corporate business brand to a personal brand,
My brand has to be authentic because I want to attract like-minded people who value who I am and how I go about what I do. It’s very personal and vulnerable. That’s a keyword: vulnerable. You can hide in a business. You cannot hide in a personal brand.
I wholeheartedly recommend the experience with Raj. You want somebody who’s going to ‘get you’, create the environment for you to show up in a way that’s really authentic and vulnerable. You want to work with a team that’ll create a safe space for you. The overall experience was so positive and unexpected in a positive way. You’ll be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t work with Raj to do your photo shoot and capture who you are and what you’re about!”
Client: Meghna Majmudar
Meghna Majmudar is a DEI consultant and leadership coach. Her branding session was not only about getting new photos for her work, but a deep exploration of her own journey, finding her inner power and expressing a deep desire to explore a way of being powerful and deeply feminine at the same time. I absolutely loved the deep level of introspection she brought to her session.
Meghna’s Mood Board
Meghna’s mood board explored various models of powerful, confident feminine women, especially women of color, but without the standard business poses or power poses that are often associated with stereotypical images of successful women. The outfits she was drawn to had bright colors that reflect her personality as well as her immigrant background.
Some photos from Meghna’s session
In her session, Meghna wanted to explore her inner journey, from her former corporate self in power suits, through her transformation in 2020, to her future vision for herself; a feminine presence who is deeply comfortable in her power of creation (as opposed to procreation). We explored that journey through a sequence of outfits as well as locations. We started out in an indoor location and ended up in the Rose Garden in Oakland at sunset, a location which allowed Meghna to express her playful, colorful self.
What Meghna says …
“It was great that we did part of the shoot indoors and part outdoors. The indoor half of the session resulted in photos that are very professional and I know I can clearly use them that way. The other half – I have no idea how to use them right now, and that’s not a bad thing! That’s the half where I’m like, what is this energy? What is this photo showing me that I’m still not willing to connect with, that I’m still rejecting about myself?
There’s something unique about your process that isn’t just like, ‘Hi, just show up and we’ll take some pictures!’ You have a commitment to stewarding and being a partner in a growth process for your client. It’s also taking a snapshot of a moment in time; I can see myself doing another shoot in 5 or 10 years and seeing what’s changed or shifted.
I also like you as a photographer! You’re bringing a certain way of viewing that’s based on your own life experience, which I profoundly respect. You’re able to see people and the intersectionality they live in, the multiple contexts and identities they embody, with a very gentle and supportive eye, and total commitment to their full actualization in the world.”
Client: Marcia Dawood
Marcia Dawood is an angel investor, podcaster and speaker, focused on helping women and POC entrepreneurs raise funding for their ideas. She’s passionate about the power of angel investing to have a huge positive impact on the world, and is on a mission to persuade others to join in that cause. She’s the Chair of the Angel Capital Association (ACA) and runs a podcast called The Angel Next Door, which educates current and potential angel investors.
Marcia’s Mood Board
Marcia’s goal in the session was to show her friendly, approachable side, which helps her connect better both with other investors and with startup founders, who she loves to help no matter where they are in their journey. Her mood board radiated a sense of warm, friendly yet classy, sophisticated and professional. I noticed that several of her shots included coffee, so we knew right away that was going to be a prop. She also had a thing for cute accessories, including hats, scarves and so on.
Some photos from Marcia’s session
We decided to use a ‘day in the life’ story to show different aspects of Marcia’s life. She’s often perceived (not surprisingly) as a very successful investor and somewhat inaccessible, so we thought that showing more of her life would humanize her a bit and bring out her genuine inner warmth and playfulness.
The shoot was at a gorgeous apartment in Greenwich Village in NYC. We started with a bit of a ‘morning routine’, with coffee and a journal, then moved to Marcia recording her podcast episode, followed by a work session. Then we moved on to some ‘speaking’ shots, followed by some lifestyle shots on the streets of the Village and the rooftop.
What Marcia says …
“Working with Raj is a different type of experience. I’ve had professional pictures taken before. I remember getting pictures taken in school, or when I was graduating from high school or college. But it was always the same kind of stale environment. There would be one or two different backgrounds, a couple of positions the photographer might have you stand in. This was a whole different level of experience!
I’d highly encourage people who are building their brand, even if that means you’re building your brand as the executive of a company to work with Raj. You don’t have to be an influencer or someone famous. You’re literally building a brand based on who you are as a person.
Raj’s process had me thinking: What did I want to use the pictures for? What did I want to put out in the world about myself? It had me picking words that would better describe me both as an individual and as a thought leader. I was able to showcase what I want to show the world and how I want the world to see me.”
Client: Ana Melikian
Ana Melikian is a speaker who wants to spread the word about positive psychology and how we can really tap into our potential as humans. She has a deep and diverse background, with a PhD in psychology, and years of experience as a therapist and professor. In the last decade, she switched away from academia and therapy to life coaching and eventually to business coaching. She wanted her photos to reflect her evolution, capture her current sense of comfort and self-confidence, and build her new brand as a professional keynote speaker.
Ana’s Mood Board
In her first cut of her mood board, Ana picked a few images of celebrity speakers with short hair, focusing on what she wanted to look like. After some encouragement, she let her imagination free. Her mood board is gorgeous: full of emotion-invoking close-ups, detail shots, with a sense of comfort, joy and serenity. Her board clearly reflected her desire to use props and visual metaphors that related to her beliefs and values.
Some photos from Ana’s session
Ana is working on a keynote speech called Happiness Fallacies, where she debunks common myths about happiness, and instead, talks about how to get to a deeper, more genuine happiness. Her talk has a natural story arc, incorporating personal stories, visual metaphors and meaningful props. We decided to capture the entire arc of her speech: what it looks like when she’s preparing a talk, various concepts that parallel the ideas in her keynote and finally, what it feels like after delivering a successful, transformative speech.
What Ana says …
“The photos I had were 7 years old, and very limited. Nowadays, visual variety is essential; we have to show different dimensions of ourselves in our brand. When I saw Raj’s website, the style and variety felt right in a way that I couldn’t articulate before.
The keynote I’m working on is the most important thing for me right now. When we landed on the idea of using its narrative arc for our shoot, it made it very easy for me to embody those emotions instead of just ‘posing’!
When I heard that the shoot would take 4 hours, I felt a little ambivalent. But in reality, the time just flew by! The structure of the session, with breaks and all, helped me feel energized and excited throughout the day.
I wanted the photos to represent me where I am today, and they do. My first reaction was: WHOA! My friends agree that these photos truly capture my essence.
If you’re a coach, consultant, speaker or trainer, you know that you're you are the service and the product and the face of your business. You know how important it is to have something that represents you visually out there. Working with Raj will allow you to level up your game in terms of your photos.”
Client: Sophia Sunwoo
Sophia is a serial entrepreneur and startup founder, a Forbes 30 under 30 honoree and currently, a startup guide for women entrepreneurs. A few years ago, she was burned out and went through a transformational journey to discover a sense of purpose. Currently, she advises her clients on how to create moneymaking businesses while maintaining a sense of balance in their lives. Sophia wanted her photos to be raw, natural, vulnerable and honest about her life. After all, that’s what she advises her clients, so she wanted to ‘walk the walk’!
Sophia’s Mood Board
While creating her Mood Board, Sophia found herself completely drawn to photos that were completely raw, natural and vulnerable. She had almost no photos of anyone posing for or even seemingly aware of the camera, but of people simply being and existing in their space. She wanted to capture a wide variety of emotion, showing all of herself.
Some photos from Sophia’s session
During the session itself, we aimed to capture three major themes: the Before, when Sophia was in her #hustle phase and burnt out, the Transformation, showing her gradually finding her way to the light, and the Now, where she has embraced who she truly is and has found her purpose. The photos we captured show Sophia’s evolution through these three phases in her journey.
What Sophia says …
“The type of people I surround myself with have a journey similar to mine. They’re exploring ways to be more authentic, to tell their story and show up in the world as their true selves. You are the photographer for that type of person; someone who’s a little quirky, who isn’t afraid to march to their own drum.
It’s really rare to find photographers who are less obsessed with the superficial side of photography. We all want to look good in our photos, but you hit another dimension by going deeper, beneath the surface layers. I felt that I could have hard conversations about authenticity, who I really am and honoring all sides of me; good and bad. You really capture and honor that experience!”
Client: Rebecca Siler
Rebecca Siler is an executive coach, working with high-level leaders who are stressed and burned out. Her clients are typically people who are perfectionists and have trouble delegating, traits that have helped them enormously to get to where they are, but are not working for them anymore. Rebecca uses a variety of techniques to help them find their inner center and release emotional stress, so they can find their own solution to their challenges. Genuineness, joy and flow are core values for Rebecca in her practice. She wants her clients to experience those feelings as they work with her, and that’s exactly what she wanted to show in her photos.
Rebecca’s Mood Board
Rebecca created the first version of her mood board in my free personal branding workshop. As she worked through iterations of her board, it became clear to her how much she valued genuine emotions. She was drawn to big, genuine smiles instead of pretty perfect ones. Movement, joy and flow were other values that stood out to her.
Some photos from Rebecca’s session
We did Rebecca’s session in two phases. Phase one was indoors, in a brightly colored studio space. During that time, we walked through the entire emotional journey that Rebecca’s client goes through, and as she was talking through it, she embodied those emotions. We also captures some specific techniques that Rebecca uses with her clients; most importantly her anger and emotional release work. Phase two was outdoors in Prospect Park. We wanted to capture a carefree vibe in nature, full of movement and joy, depicting the place that Rebecca helps her clients reach in her work with them.
What Rebecca says …
“When I first spoke with Raj he started with the question "What's the story you want to tell?" As I talked he listened and took notes. You can tell the same story in lots of ways, so to help me clarify how I wanted my story to look and feel Raj invited me to his free workshop he does each month. He made sure we were clear on the vision for the shoot before we talked about tactical things like clothing, location, and dates. I'm thankful the process because on the day of the shoot, I got to simply relax into the experience.
Normally I become self-conscious and stiff when I know a camera is pointing at me, but not this time. I felt like me the whole way through. The resulting photos are stunning and actually look the way I felt during the photo shoot. I don't know of any other photographer who is this deliberate about supporting their client as they craft their dream outcome for a photo shoot. Try it, schedule a call with Raj. Once you do, I think you'll understand why I chose to work with him and sing his praises.”
Client: Tyrona (Ty) Heath
Ty, a B2B marketing leader at LinkedIn, is on a mission to help marketers understand their power, to understand that they’re part of the socialization that impacts our entire society so they can use this power responsibly. She’s also her own brand; co-founder of a conference called TransformHer, which invests in connections between women of color and allies. For her, this photo shoot was about stepping into this new and evolving identity as a public figure and speaker.
Ty’s Mood Board
Ty had been a national-level track and field athlete in college, so sports are a huge part of her life. The first iteration of her mood board had several photos of women in high-end athletic outfits.
But as the shoot drew closer, she realized that while athletics was important to her, she wanted to focus more on who she was becoming. The second iteration of her mood board had bold, glamorous, powerful black women that she was inspired by.
Some photos from Ty’s session
The shoot was scheduled on a beautiful spring afternoon in Harlem and the northern end of Central Park. It was bright and sunny, and we got to use the sun to enhance the photos. At the urging of a friend, Ty decided to go bold with a bright orange dress, very different from the muted colors she normally wears. This was her way of claiming her new powerful, glamorous self.
What Ty says …
“I shared the photos with my mom, and of course, she took them to work and showed all her friends! She said, “Oh, I wish I had someone to take a picture of me like that at that age!” She was just so happy!
Raj’s process is incredibly professional from end to end. If this is not something you usually do, you can trust that Raj will help you feel comfortable and confident and coach you. He’s gonna listen to what YOU want to get out of it. And then when you change your mind like I did, he’s going to flex with you.
It was a great experience and I just want to acknowledge Raj for shining a light and supporting this community. One of my values is freedom and I want that for everyone. The work he is doing helps people break free, see themselves and other people see them.”
Client: Liz Leary
Liz Leary is an employee experience leader who loves organizing retreats, offsites and other large company-wide events. She’s passionate about event planning that’s thoughtful and inclusive. In the last two years, her eyes have been opened to the possibilities of remote work, and through that, 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.
Liz’s Mood Board
While creating her mood board, Liz realized she wanted to convey the entire arc of event planning, ending with the joy and pride of executing a successful event. She wanted her photos to be professional, but look human and real. She’s not interested in being the all-knowing expert, but someone who’s honest and vulnerable about what they’ve learned.
Some photos from Liz’s session
We met up in a gorgeous rented apartment in Bushwick. Liz had brought a TON of props and items that she uses during her event planning process: laptop, phone, oculus, journal, label maker. From the first steps of brainstorming, to the deep focus of planning, the frantic energy of putting it together, and finally the relaxed joy and pride of an event well done, she embodied each stage of her process to let me capture them. At the end, we went out to catch a few shots in the beautiful golden hour against graffiti on nearby walls in the neighborhood.
What Liz says …
“I wanted photos that look professional but also convey the human side of me. I want my new brand to be real. When I saw Raj’s portfolio, it was clear that was something he aims to achieve as well.
I loved Raj’s process from start to finish. The mood board helped me focus and isolate the exact feelings and story I wanted to achieve. On the day of the shoot, I was nervous at first, but Raj immediately put me at ease with his calm, creative presence and great energy. The day went by really fast! I felt like I was deeply involved in the process and not just along for the ride.
When I saw my photos for the first time, I felt POWERFUL. “Damn, I’m badass!”. That feeling continues every time I look at them, and that renewed confidence alone makes this experience worth it. If you want to feel good about yourself, get to know yourself a little better and feel confident before going on a new adventure in life, I’d 1000% recommend working with Raj!”
Client: Ejieme Eromosele
Ejieme Eromosele is a senior customer success executive, and an early-stage startup advisor + investor. In addition, she has started Success in Black, an organization focused on helping Black customer success professionals accomplish their dreams. She wanted photos for her website and her newly developing personal brand. But more importantly, she wanted to use the shoot to reflect and reimagine her legacy. In her words, “How can I make sure that I leave people I connect with better than before? How can I have a fresh perspective on myself and how I show up in the world?”
Ejieme’s Mood Board
Ejieme started her mood board with photos of some women that deeply inspire her, Tracee Ellis Ross being on top that list. She then added photos of other successful, high-powered Black women she was drawn to. However, she wanted to go beyond power poses and show some softness, joy and vulnerability underneath.
Some photos from Ejieme’s session
We did the shoot in Ejieme’s gorgeous Hudson Valley home, just trying to capture a day in her life. We started with her morning routine: journaling, drinking coffee in the living room, followed by shots of her at work. Finally, we went outdoors and captured some shots in a gorgeous evening dress. Through this entire shoot, I encouraged Ejieme to actually ‘get in character’ and embody what she was doing, whether it was journaling or working.
What Ejieme says …
“I wanted a photo shoot not only to get images for my emerging brand, but also as a way to dig deeper, share myself with others in ways I normally don't, and as a way to reimagine how I show up in the world. Raj's process with a mood board helped me expand my vision of myself based on images of strong women who inspire me.
The actual shoot was a really fun experience that was relaxed and comfortable, and I loved how the photos turned out. Going through his process is an opportunity to do some deep work, and capture the journey and the moment that you are currently in. I would absolutely recommend the experience!”
Client: Chante Harris
Chante describes her journey as one of ‘not reinvention, but re-acceptance’ of who she is and what she envisions her life to be. Her goal for this session was to capture her new sense of purpose and her acceptance. She wanted the photos to depict a sense of feminine power and confidence, but from a place of comfort and serenity. As an urban sustainability expert, she also wanted to incorporate the city and transportation into the images.
Chante’s Mood Board
Chante focused on a feeling of confidence that comes from being completely comfortable in one’s own skin. She included several women in cozy sweaters. She also picked several photos of Tessa Thompson, one of my favorite actresses (I love Westworld!) that depicted that sense of feminine confidence and power she was looking for.
Some photos from Chante’s session
We made the shoot happen at short notice on a rare warm day in February, in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Chante picked a very cozy-looking sweater dress, along with a herringbone coat she had inherited from her great-aunt. The coat reminded her of all the strong women in her family who have influenced her life. This was the first time she wore her hair natural in a photo shoot. At one point during the session, she opened up to talk about a challenging time in her life and how that shaped her. That vulnerability led to some powerful, emotionally charged images.
What Chante says …
“I describe this experience to my friends as a gift you give to yourself. The process had this vulnerability and openness baked in from the very beginning. I’ve never had a shoot where the emotions and story was so key. You sharing your own story at the beginning of the process set the stage for it. The entire experience made me reflect on the vision I have for my life, how I communicate and who I am. And of course, I love the photos! It’s exciting and beautiful to see all the ways of capturing who I am.”
Client: Natalie Nava
Natalie Nava had a highly successful environmental non-profit career before she burned out. Taking some time off to recover, she decided to become a burnout coach for other women, particularly women of color. Her values were very much around depicting rest, recovery and relaxation without the tyranny of #girlboss and #hustle culture.
Natalie’s Mood Board
In my planning session with her, I suggested we do a few shots with her laptop. Her reaction? “HELL NO, I don’t want to show anything related to work. I’m all about rest and getting away from work. I want pictures of me knitting and napping.”
Some photos from Natalie’s session
We did Natalie’s session in two parts; one indoors and one outdoors. The indoor section captured her in her thoughtfully decorated space in Oakland, with books, her favorite hanging chair and her knitting, along with the much requested ‘napping’ shots. The outdoor portion, at Berkeley Marina, captured a sense of joy, relaxation and most importantly, pleasure.
What Natalie says …
“I absolutely loved it. I think it's a really nice gift that someone can give to themselves - just being able to feel it. It's hard to put into words the feeling of having someone make art that you are in.
Seeing those pictures of myself is just powerful and I think it really does change your brain to see yourself doing a particular thing. I hope that everybody gets to have that experience. So overwhelmingly positive and just so much fun.”
Client: Georgie-Ann Getton
Georgie-Ann (who also goes by Georgie) is an entrepreneur, a mom and the founder of GSD solutions, a branding and business development agency in NYC. For her, this photo session was not just about upgrading her brand, but also about overcoming personal confidence issues and showing up for herself the way she wants to be seen.
Georgie’s Mood Board
Georgie wanted to be seen as tall and powerful, with an “I mean business” vibe in most of her photos, but also have a few that showed her softer side. Her idols are strong, confident Black women like Viola Davis, Issa Rae and Bozoma Saint John. During the shoot, she discovered that simply by her taking up space, people around us on the High Line started treating her like a model. That experience was an eye-opening reminder for her about the power of showing up the way you want to be seen.
Some photos from Georgie’s session
We did Georgie’s shoot on the High Line in Chelsea, NYC. From the beginning and throughout, we emphasized her tall, powerful, authoritative presence, but made sure to capture both some softer and more playful images, as well as incorporate some bright color. It was truly amazing to see Georgie’s confidence emerge as passers-by around us started complimenting her and giving us space. The last shot in the set below was taken in a local gallery, the High Line Nine, with a giant art piece as a backdrop.
What Georgie says …
“During the shoot on the High Line, at least a hundred people passed by. They know I’m not a model, but they treated me like one, ooh-ing and aah-ing and complimenting me. People were looking at me like I was a model. People were interacting with the space like I was a model.
I realized that if I show up how I want to, other people will get the memo.
This is an opportunity not just to get some photos, but to capture your essence and get to a deeper understanding of yourself. Especially after 2020, it has become even more critical to think about who you want to be and how you want to show up in the world. That’s what this photo shoot really got me to do, and I would want other people to experience that as well.”
Creative session: Sara Anders
Sara is a Black biracial filmmaker, actress and activist in the Bay Area. Her session was part of a bigger project called “My Hair is Natural”, telling the stories of five Black women and their journeys around accepting their natural hair. The project, which was in collaboration with stylist Janet Pak, was published in a San Francisco magazine, The Bold Italic.
“I will not draw attention to myself”
When she was 10, Sara had to write this sentence 1500 times in the Principal’s office as a punishment.
Her egregious offense? Going to school in her natural hair. In the all-white school in the all-white Oregon town she grew up in, her hair was deemed an unforgivable distraction by her teachers and Principal.
It took her two full days to write those sentences. She was forced to miss class during that time. Over two decades later, she still has the scars on her fingers.
In this session, having her hair completely natural was really important for Sara, both as a protest against those who shamed her for it as a child, and as a way to experience her freedom and power today.
Using a playground as our main set, Sara first expressed the trauma that her childhood self faced - the isolation of growing up as the only child who looked like her, the constant racism that she had to endure, the feeling of being trapped.
And once she had gotten the tears out, the rest of the shoot was about her being playful, whimsical, and joyful, reclaiming the childhood innocence that she, like many young black girls in this country, was not allowed to have.
What Sara says …
“Really love them and and EXTREMELY love the ones I put as my favorites. There isn’t one bad shot you are amazing. Our collaboration was so dope 🙏🏽🌟
The picture with the yellow lines is my absolute favorite, and speaks volumes to me as a biracial person. There are clearly two sides of the street and yet here I am smack dab in the middle. I am both Black and white, darkness and light, feminine and masculine, yin and yang. I’m am EVERYTHING! 💁🏽♀️🌟👑🖤🥰💄🤷🏽♀️📸🌟”