Michelle Lynne 0:02
Welcome to design for the creative mind, a podcast for interior designers and creative entrepreneurs to run their business with purpose, efficiency and passion. Because, well, every design is different, the process should remain the same. Prepare yourself for some good conversations with amazing guests, a dash of Jesus and a touch of the woowoo and probably a swear word or two. If you're ready to stop trading your time for money and enjoy your interior design business. You are in the right place. I'm your host, Michelle Lynn. Well, hello, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast designed for the creative mind. It is a business podcast for interior designers and creatives. So I'm really happy that you're here today. Because I have Molly rose. Today. Molly is an interior and architectural photographer. She's based in Southern California. You might know her for her bright and colorful photography style. She's both business minded and design minded, which brings a unique edge to her galleries because she's always looking to help her clients grow their businesses with their photography assets. So I met Molly on clubhouse. And when you started speaking, I was like, Oh, this girl is my girl. Like, you were like your creative but you were talking business. Yeah, I was like, Oh, we've got to be friends. And you've got to be on my podcast. This is amazing.
Molly Rose 1:35
Yeah, totally. And Rick was on it, too. We love
Michelle Lynne 1:39
Yeah, Rick was one of my very first guests on on the on the podcast.
Molly Rose 1:44
Oh my gosh, so yeah, it's just great people just such a blessing. Yeah,
Michelle Lynne 1:50
it's a blessing to have good people in your life. So thank you for joining me super. Yeah, let me ask. So here we are. We're on zoom right now. So for the listeners I'm looking at Molly right now. You know your your zoom says Molly Goodman. But I know you as Molly Rose is Molly rose your business
Molly Rose 2:06
No. So Molly Rose is my married name, my personal name, my business name everything Goodman's my maiden name. I've managed to change my name everywhere except for like my digital places. So like, it's hard to do it on Zoom. I can't get it off my stinking iCloud. So every time someone gets my number now it says Molly Goodman. And they're like, oh, it's Rose your middle name. So it literally says in my Instagram bio. Yes, Rose is my last name because nobody really believes me. That could be I have three first names. So I'm not a NASCAR driver. But I like to. That's
Michelle Lynne 2:38
hilarious. And I totally understand because Michelle Lynn, Lynn is my middle name. And pant is my married name. But I still have my maiden name. Like, I can't get it off my Pay Pal and a few other things. So it's just like, yeah, it's a thing, women. Do you understand this? And
Molly Rose 2:56
I got so many questions. I mean, this might be because I just got married, like, not even one year ago. So last October gratulations.
Michelle Lynne 3:03
That's exciting. Yes, it's
Molly Rose 3:06
been very nice. I have nothing but good things to say about marriage so far. I'll let you know in another year. I remember when I was getting married. There are a lot of women, especially business women, and it was just a hot topic. Like, are you going to take your husband's last name? And if you do, what are you going to do for your business? Because my previously my business was Mark Goodman photography. And I because there was already another Molly Goodman photo photography. So I was like, Okay, I'll be more Goodman photography. And then when I got married to my husband, I wanted to just keep us rows because it's so stinking pretty. Like yeah, good man is only roses few but roses. Like who wouldn't want to marry Zach rose for his name and he has a twin so I mean, there's lots of roses out there but there were so many Molly roses, like Molly roses, who were photographers. Because all these girls use their middle name and so I you know, I just decided to go for it. I mean, there's already a million of us why don't I just joined the ranks instead of trying to like distinguish myself
Michelle Lynne 4:06
I can appreciate that. Well, I think that your your work is going to distinguish you.
Molly Rose 4:09
Yeah, so totally stunning.
Michelle Lynne 4:12
So let's let's talk a little bit about photography and interiors interior design, so is your specialty interiors. Do you do real estate photography Do you just shoot for because I know there's a difference between real estate and interior photography. So
Molly Rose 4:29
I don't shoot real estate unless it's like, for some reason somebody wants my style on a real estate listing. I really caution Realtors against that because buyers and sellers are so conditioned to seen a certain type of photography when they're looking at a listing. I'm like, Okay, you might want my style but maybe you just have me come in for like a half day and shoot the details on something, but really bring in a real estate photographer because they're going to do that like maximize the space. So what I do, which is different from real estate photographer. I'm not usually shooting from like the corner of the room trying to like capture the square footage. I'm trying to capture the build quality, the custom furniture, I want to show all of those layers, those textures, you know why you chose each, each piece and how it comes together? I remember thinking, my mom's an interior designer. And so that's kind of how I got my, my toes in this pool. Yes, yes, yes. And when I was a kid, my mom was my parents both owned their own businesses. And they took me to work with them a lot. And I would go to work with my mom, and I look at how she approached a room. Like, how does she this is like me at like, you know, 11 years old, I could not get it through my head, how you get something like the flooring, to go with the countertops, to then go with the couch, like, fabric in the other room. That was not a talent I had, I did not understand that. But when the picture was complete, when everything was done, I loved it. And I would be like, Oh my gosh, this is so cool. And you know, I'd go with her on her home tours or whatever it was, you know, back back then. She wasn't necessarily in a lot of magazines that there were a lot of home tours. And so I mean, there still are, but that's really how she built her business was through home tours. And so I would be like, you know, 11 years old, like walking through listening to everybody talk about their favorite pieces of the house. And I feel like that's where I learned to tell the story photographically about how these pieces come together. And so, as a photographer, as an interior and architectural photographer, I'm looking at shape, texture, color layer, all the things that come together to make this this different from just, it's a ranch style house, and we're going to try and sell it. So exactly the houses I shoot are not for sale, they're usually a portfolio piece for a builder and architect or interior designer. And
Michelle Lynne 6:52
I think that's really important because I didn't know the difference when I first started having photography taken of my work, because I was a home stager. So I had a home staging photographer, there was real estate, and then I started learning some of the nuances. So from from your point of view, what value do you think interior photos? Bring to design projects? Versus like, or just in general? Yeah,
Molly Rose 7:18
for sure. And that's such a good question. Because I do work with a lot of new interior designers. I mean, a lot of interior designers I work with, they have established businesses, they've worked with other photographers before, and then they come to me and, you know, we have to sort of find a new partnership and that way, but I really love working with people who've only worked with real estate photographers before because there's a certain rawness you know, there's a lot of raw material there that we can work with to create their brand identity through their photography and telling the story about their design. And to the difference. Your question was the difference, correct?
Michelle Lynne 7:52
just clarify? No. So what's the value? So we talked about the value? Yeah, yeah. So what that like, how do you from a photographer, because when we, when we first met, there'll
Molly Rose 8:03
be not that brand identity, I think, yeah, I'm like, here's your brand, through your design, because there's brand identity, and you're like your logo, your website, and maybe your tone of voice, your messaging, and the value you offer to your clients in the customer experience. Then there's the brand identity and like how your thumb prints of your interior design stand apart from other interior designers. We're seeing a lot right now of these blue couches, white shiplap, return wicker, we're seeing a lot of this beachy, Bohemian kind of feel in Southern California, a lot of designers are doing it super well. So how do we distinguish one from the other? And I think that's super important because they are distinguishable. It's not like everyone's it mean, there's a lot of the same themes, but there are there is a way to say, Okay, this is what I do differently. This is how I do this, it's maybe it's I do this kind of grout line, maybe it's I might or my tile, too, you know, everything is perfectly lined up. But maybe it's you know, however I baseball stitch my couches, and that's like something that you know, I'm known for. So being able to tell that story with your interior designers is super important. And I think that for me, part of it is that I speak the language. So maybe I understand interior design and I can I can have that conversation with them and they feel really like they can trust me with that. Okay, well, this is what we did. And we want to make sure that this is really communicated through the photos where another photographer like a real estate photographer, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna knock on me they do an incredible job. It's just a little bit different. I don't necessarily necessarily know that they're always paying attention to those details and when you're just doing a job when your job is to say how might not Yeah, you might not photograph the furniture in that way. With interior designers furniture is a big part of it.
Michelle Lynne 9:47
Absolutely. And I think that it does bring a lot of value because the it shows up in your the consistency and the cohesiveness between projects. Yeah, so if you're using the same photographer repeated Li, then while like my firm ml interiors group, we have all sorts of different styles, like we do not have an aesthetic that represents us. So having that cohesive photography makes our portfolio cohesive, it doesn't look like you're walking into Disneyland and you've got frontier land over here and future land over there and right, completely different. So I love that, as a photographer, you're thinking about your designers best interest and looking at their business, that maybe they haven't looked at their business that way, because they just haven't gotten to that point. Right,
Molly Rose 10:36
it's good to have a second set of eyes for sure. Last month, as Interior Design Group, just quickly, such a cool company, they really do what their clients asked them to do, like, I mean, they really do it, their thumb prints are not all over the work, but the quality of the work is on believable and that's where I noticed that their their portfolios consistent. Yes, the detail is insane. And I love these people too. They're incredible people and that shows up in their work. So we're at the end of the photoshoot, it's a two day photo shoot, it's down on the ocean. I mean, we're like wind blasted where our store from carrying furniture and rearranging rooms for the photos. You know, I mean, all, all of us are just like wiped. And I said, You guys, this house is my favorite so far that I've seen that you guys have done. This is unbelievable. You've done such a great job. I mean, they brought furniture in from Paris, they went to Paris before COVID picked out all the furniture, put it on a crate, sent it back to America. I mean, it's on marble. And I said this is just unbelievable. You guys, I am absolutely blown away by this project. Is this your ideal design? Because it was so well done. I thought that both of the designers would say, you know, this is a project that we would like to live in the house. And I I asked them and they both said, I don't think so I don't think that this is what we would say is like our style.
Michelle Lynne 11:59
Why do you never know? No,
Molly Rose 12:01
you'd never know. Because it was so it was immaculate? I said, Well, so what is your style and one of the designers answers, and I'm just leaving their names on because they don't want to you know, they don't want their their client to know this. But she said, I really love authentic mid century modern. We are in a French, like, home. I mean it like imagine we're literally in France, this house is a French country home. But Perfect, perfect, perfect. Mid Century Modern, are you joking me. Boys are so talented. If you can do that, you can do this. And you love mid century modern. That's. And so that's what I like to show that portfolio consistency to be able to do mid century modern, I mean, because some of the projects they've done are so different from this front right country style. That is where the consistency comes in. It's the personality. So being able to distinguish yourself, apart from it's maybe not even within your portfolio, that design style, but who you are and how you show up in the details that really counts or when you're trying to get your next client?
Michelle Lynne 13:06
Absolutely, especially if they don't see this French Country style in your portfolio, you can still convince them that you can do it and do it well, because of all of the images that you have representing your attention to detail. Yeah.
Molly Rose 13:22
We're talking to on clubhouse about just to bring this a little bit full circle. When we were talking on clubhouse, I think the question came up of like, using other people's photos to show your interior design style. And I kind of said, you know, I think the point of hiring photographers and getting your work out there. Sure. When you're starting out, you're going to need some content to fill your feed and to shoot talk to your ideal client like we would do work like this. But how cool is it once you get down the road a little bit, you have a great relationship with a photographer, that you can have a library of images to say, this is what we do, and you can source inspiration from your own previous work. And I think that's, that's really the end goal that I have for my clients is it's not so much like, let's just shoot this perfectly and get it in a magazine. But how is this job going to get you the next job?
Michelle Lynne 14:17
Y'all this podcast episode was made possible in part by foyer, a lightning fast interior design software that creates photorealistic renderings. I'm not kidding, you can barely tell that it's not a real room. So why don't leave your beautiful designs up to the imagination of your client when you can show them what their space is going to look like. You will sign more clients and get more approvals with the software. It's powered by artificial intelligence and a whole vouch for its ease because if I can do it, anybody can because y'all know that my design team are the ones who do all the work. Find them in the show notes. So you had you touched on having a relationship with A photographer. What let's let's dive a little bit into that. Because I think that oftentimes, it's just seen as a service that we hire out. Like, I just, I just need this photographed, right? What that like, why should we have a relationship with you like the Hey, I'm gonna call Molly, like, yeah, or another call a photographer,
Molly Rose 15:22
I look at it not so much as a marriage, but a friendship, you can have a lot of friends, you can have a lot of photographers, and I think that's healthy. And I think that's good. I never expect that of my clients. I'm their only photographer, one because that would be like crippling anxiety for me to think like, oh, no, if I lose them, you know, I'm never gonna get work again. And that's good. But I think also, it's really cool that us photographers, I have great relationships with a lot of photographers, you know, we get to bounce ideas off of each other and stuff. And for some of those photographers that we share clients, it's not competitive, because the client sets the precedent of like, I just need the right person for this job. And I think that that's really cool. So the relationship aspect comes in for the interior designer, the architecture, the builder, knowing what the photographer is going to do, how they show up on shoot, how they interact with the client, maybe their terms or conditions, their contract, like the licensing, that might be something that they have a fit, that would be something that they consider in terms of the relationship for shooting that project. But you're right, I don't think it's necessarily a service, you just hire out. I mean, we do provide a service we do provide a product and the the photography product to some degree, but knowing what you're going to get when you hire a photographer, that's super good for for you guys as the interior designers because or the architect, whoever you are, mostly because of how much work goes into just getting the house set up for shoots, like, right, it's so insane. So if you can, for the 72 hours before shoot, know that once it's set up, the photographer is going to execute in the way that you're anticipating. That's really important. So I think that's a big part of the relationship. But also, I
Michelle Lynne 17:08
also think that conversation, yeah, but it's also the conversation like, we work with a photographer here in Dallas, and it's taken us a long time to figure out what works for us. But it's that it's that collaboration. It's that, hey, this is what i This is the story, I want to tell Hey, this is the story of this client and their family. Hey, this is what they have going on. It is the whole, okay, do you like this? Let's move this a little bit. And instead of the pre Madonna photographers that just come in and say, This is what we're going to do. And you just kind of have to sit there like,
Molly Rose 17:44
this is me. Yeah, and there are there are some that do that. I've heard stories like that. Um, I'm really not. I don't think I'm the kind of photographer
Michelle Lynne 17:53
things a little bit that I know about you. I don't think that you have the capability of being a prima donna,
Molly Rose 17:59
I think there are some things that I say I can't do. Like, I can't make a totally black room, bright white and airy. I can't make a powder room look like, you know, a master bathroom. There are some limitations to the job that I do have to be rigid on. But I think you're right, there's nothing. Nothing's ever cut and dry. So the more collaborative I can be on the job, the better. But also, it's all the communication upfront, as long as we're communicating before the shoot, there usually aren't many surprises. I mean, so you
Michelle Lynne 18:30
can't read minds. Well,
Molly Rose 18:32
I've tried therapy, so yeah, all the collaboration upfront, I think it's super important. You know, like, hey, Molly, we thought we were gonna get this side table in or this, this console table and it's backed up like six weeks, can we change the shoot, we have a relationship, and you're a cool person, I'm a cool person, we value each other, we value the business relationship. Easy, breezy, change it, you know, I mean, I've pretty flexible terms, like there's some I can't change, like push and push and push and push until the end of time. But I will keep working with you if you keep communicating with me. So that's where that all comes into. And
Michelle Lynne 19:12
I think that the photographer, the relationship there, it's just as valuable as the relationship that designers have with their general contractor. So while the general contractor isn't busy implementing the design, it could be delivered beautifully. The GC and his subs could have perfection. If we don't have a photographer that can take that and translate it to images, like you're talking about all of the details, then what the hell good is having the best contract GC in the world? If if we can't showcase it to our other prospective clients, because like you said, get your next job. It's not just to show off like I love photos. That's great. My end goal is to get washed. My end goal is to get Next better and better and better and better job because our designs continue to get better over the years.
Molly Rose 20:05
And so this is something that I often find is a rub in conversation, you know, I'm gonna use my own family members as an example here, because they're easier to throw under the bus than anyone else. But I'm going to be photographing in a family member's house in the next couple of weeks. And they said, hey, just budget wise, we can only afford a half day. I was like, I totally get it. You know, there are budgetary concerns, like, and I think that those need to be observed and prioritize. But here's, here's what you missed on the back end that if if you don't invest the full amount, which is like, for this house, honestly, this house should be a two day shoot, but because it's family, I'm doing it in two days for the price of one because family, you gotta take care of your family. No one else gets that deal. And I just explained, this is this is what you lose when you don't invest everything in the house. And so you're gonna lose those things like, like, just going back to the former examples, getting that baseball stitching that is so if you baseball stitch a couch, it's gorgeous. That's such an incredible detail. And everyone notices it. As soon as they come. Come over to you know, the homeowner has a party, and everybody's hanging out. Wow, I love this couch is just gorgeous. Wow, how'd they do that detail? If they're noticing it at a party, you want to make sure people are noticing it on Instagram. So I want to get all of those details. But I can't do 8500 shots, which is full rooms, vignettes and details. I mean, really, on a pool house, it's going to be 100 photos. I can't do that in one day. And so having that conversation with the with the client upfront, what do you want these photos to be used for? How big of a project is this? What is the budget and then finding that matrix that time budget, and how the photos are going to be used is super, super important? Well,
Michelle Lynne 21:55
and oftentimes, I think interior designers might think that because the project's already done, spending the money on a photographer is an expense when in reality, it's an investment. Yeah, cuz it should make you money. So I mean, y'all factor the price, like find out how much the photography costs and factor that into your design fee. Like factor it in, just make sure that you have that because it's, it might be an on your p&l, it's an expense, but it's an investment in all reality.
Molly Rose 22:28
And make sure to when you like, I can't stress this enough. If you have a budget, like I mean, I'm, I'm the kind of my my husband is so sweet. I invest almost all my money back into my business. I really do. I mean, I'm constantly innovating my clients, like I'm, I have probably one of the most technologically like, easy ways to book like, I'm constantly like trying to implement any of their feedback, like, yes, it was so easy to pay your invoice. It was so easy to sign. The contract was so easy to do this, I'm trying to like always invest in that amazing ology side of things. And it's expensive. And I know it's expensive, but I always like to think like if I was an interior designer, and I was coming in for a photoshoot, I wouldn't just budget for the photo, the photoshoot portion. Here's some other things to consider. You need to budget for your own time, you're gonna take two or three days to style shaman, install budget for that time, because you're not making money off of your other clients. When you're ironing bedsheets, you're not Yes, you are probably going to do if let's say you are trying to go into a magazine with this project. Find out what stylists are available in the time frame that you're going to be installing. Find out how much they cost. It's not cheap. Stylists do incredible things. They are magicians I'm in love with their work a few in particular, and it can't all rests on my shoulders or your shoulders to make sure that the flowers are arranged in such a way or that the whiskey glasses are filled just so or mean styling is that where the poetry comes into the photos, it's not just capturing the interior design, it's like this is where it goes from a project to really a production and I think that if you have those goals in mind and they are lofty goals, if you want to achieve that have the budget at the very beginning to know that you have to pay yourself you have to pay the stylist and then you have to pay the photographer potentially also sometimes people send their clients out to a hotel for a couple of things so that they can get this job done. So photoshoots can get up to you know 10 $15,000 quick but then knowing you have the the publicity strategy on the backend to to like that investment is going to get you in for being the traditional home whatever it is that your goals are having that all in line at the very beginning. I mean, it just saves you headaches. So oh
Michelle Lynne 25:02
my gosh, yeah. And you don't end up going, oh shit, I just spent my entire profit, or whatever the case may be hopefully making
Molly Rose 25:09
sure that you build it in. And you have to know to which client this is, this is magic right here. Not every shoe is going to be that level of production worthy. And you're going to know that immediately based on the chemistry you have with your client. If your client is constantly butting heads with you about, oh, we're just crushed. You know, we're really not sure about this countertop. What do we do? We don't know, if we want to gloss or if we want to do honed, that detail alone will make your break whether or not you want to publish the project. So Oh, my gosh, this
Michelle Lynne 25:42
is so true, because we've had clients that are similar, and we're like, Okay, well, I guess we're not going to, you know, our photographs will be limited, or it will just instead of a two day shoot, it's just a one day shoot. So just get in there and get the shit done so that we have something for Instagram.
Molly Rose 25:55
Yeah. And so at the beginning, if your clients like we love all of your ideas, like first pass production, like first pass of your proposal, or, Oh, wow, this is great. In the show, we love all of this incredible, you already know, we're gonna shoot this baby, this is going to be a good one. And so I think planning, you can really plan your shoots that far in advance and billing for them appropriately. And there's going to be investment on your part. But there's there's a lot of ways to recover that into how you structure your billing for how you charge your clients.
Michelle Lynne 26:28
Yes, I love that. And you're right, because, you know, like, we know, okay, this, this, this one's just going off the rails, it's not exactly what we thought it was going to be they've changed budget or whatever, a couple of times. So just get it done. And yeah,
Molly Rose 26:44
and that those those tough clients aren't worth shooting the project, because it is, you know, we all have to feed? Absolutely, yes, it is. And it's also anecdotal in the way of like, hey, we kind of we butt heads with this client, but still look at the beautiful work that we were able to squeak out of this one. And so it is worth shooting it but maybe to not to the production level that we're talking about for those Oh, wow projects,
Michelle Lynne 27:09
for sure. And I think it's important that we always have content because you need images. When you're writing a blog, you need images for your monthly communication with your with your email list, you need content to put on the website, you need content to put on Instagram and so forth. So like you said, while it might not be a production, and I love that it's it's a production, it doesn't need to be for every project. Let me interrupt myself to take a quick moment to thank satin off Insurance Agency for sponsoring this episode of The designed for the creative mind podcast. Their support and understanding of the interior design, decorating and home staging industries is unrivaled. Satin off understands what our businesses do, and they provide insurance that lets me sleep at night. Yep, this is the firm that I use. And they will do the same for your sleep habits. And your business too. They're more than an insurance agency, they're an extension of my business. They take care of the worry, because they are the experts, which allows me and my team breathing room to do what we do best design beautiful spaces. You can find their contact information below in the show notes. Give them a call today. So Molly, like other than interior design photos, what other types of photos do you think designers should be sharing? That's
Molly Rose 28:27
my favorite question. And I think I'm going to answer it differently and say what types of interior design photos and also what other photos because even within interior design photos, there are specific photos that we need to be sharing, because I think we've talked a lot about how to use the photos in your business in terms of like your proposals and your future clients. But what should you be sharing on Instagram? This is a different, you know, that's what I'm going to? That's how I'm going to answer this question. So one thing that I think is super easy for interior designers just to do on their phones, when they're in their office, things like that. It's flatlays arrange you know, when you're at the design at the design center, pick up, pick up all the different finishes, pick up the fabrics that you think are cool, you know, pulp tear sheets, get those kinds of things, cut them out, be a little scrapbooker like cut out those cute little tear sheets and, and arrange the bed and arrange the chair to arrange the fabric sample. And the finish is just so because I think that if you can just shoot that and be like, this isn't a work in progress. But this is a work like this is something we are inspired by, or project we're looking to do. I've seen a lot of Fatah or interior designers do these flatlays right now, my favorite thing is it doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be professionally shot. You can shoot it yourself. It can be fun content, it fills up really nicely. And I think that that's really a great way just to be like this is who we are.
Michelle Lynne 29:52
So I have so many interior designers like going to my interior design business bakery and like in my Launchpad Facebook group and stuff like that. Or like, I don't have any content, dude. Like, how come I never came up with that? That's genius. Go get some flat lace.
Molly Rose 30:08
Yeah. My first I've done a lot of flat lays, I used to do them for my mom like just in her office with her. But I had one interior designer at the beginning of this year in January, we were doing her headshots. And she was like, can you take these five flatlays for me that I've arranged. I was like, These are gorgeous. You did such a good job. I mean, it was unbelievable how much thought went into it, and your clients are gonna see that your photographer isn't just gonna see that the people who you're trying to get to, you're gonna be like, Wow, I love that fabric. Wow, I
haven't seen that before. Everybody got together?
Yeah, they don't need to see it on a chair itself or on a polo. But you can show them just in the palette. And honestly, that is the first phase of design, right? You mean? That's basically what you're doing? So if also you have a book of flat ways that you really like, how easy is it to just go through your own source of flat ways to sell your next design project? So yeah, we haven't done this before. We're inspired by this. Do you want to do this for your kids bedroom? Yeah, we love that, can we just change this and this, boom, it's done. You just saved yourself hours of work for sourcing on a bunch of stuff, too. So think of it that way.
Michelle Lynne 31:17
Interesting. Yeah. Another
Molly Rose 31:19
bucket of content that I always encourage people to do is like behind the scenes and portraits. Again, you don't need to hire a professional photographer. Our phones are unbelievable, I probably wouldn't recommend anyone photograph the whole house on their iPhone. But you can definitely get a cute shot of you. And a cute shot of like you're doing something behind the scenes. They're a great filter on it and add it to your feet. People when it comes to consuming content, your followers really don't want the polished version of you. They're tracted to that. So they want the sweat pants, they want the driving from ponytail holder to vendor, they don't they like it. And so if you can do that well and do it Q and have fun with it. Yesterday, I just found another photographer whose work I love. And I don't know if she would be listening. But I love you, Amy. My name is Amy Zenga. And I just love how she's in her own photos. I mean, it's just she's a photographer, but she looks great. And I can tell it's a photographer like that would be uncomfortable, like and she's just doing it. And I think that's super important. So just getting your own behind the scenes photos in your portraits, well, then what we
Michelle Lynne 32:32
do is so personal. So it's not a logo that they're hiring, it's not a brand that they're hiring, it's this person. So if we can be out there and we can be real, people are gonna relate to that, because who wants to work with somebody who's perfect all the time, or looks, you know, just only shows themselves being perfect all the time?
Molly Rose 32:49
Totally. I've seen a lot of lately, I've seen some really great reels from builders and interior designers doing behind the scenes walkthroughs there's no furniture in this house is it's mostly it's mostly just framing. And it's like the toilet is gonna go here. The bed is gonna go here. It's literally like drywall. And I'm obsessed. I watch them more than I watch any of the other content. So maybe it's because we're in the industry, but I think it's cool to see the process. I think it's cool to
Michelle Lynne 33:20
be building a house or doing a renovation or something. They want to see that you know, your shizzle
Molly Rose 33:25
Yeah, exactly. And I think I think that the BTS can also be your real life, and that's going to be something I'm going to work toward in the next few months. I don't know why I get so nervous. Like, if I'm posting a picture of like me and my husband out for a drink. I have this like, you know, business owners guilt that I'm like, not behind my computer editing photos. It's like everyone knows girl personal life. So I need to get over that. That's for sure on me. Yeah. I'm gonna work on it.
Michelle Lynne 33:55
Now you have all this, your, you know, you just said that to the entire audience. So you're you've got to be accountable. We're going to do another one. We're gonna do another podcast, I'm gonna ask you about it.
Molly Rose 34:06
Awesome. We'll check that again. And then the other three categories of photos, these can be for interior design, or these can be for lifestyle photos. So a really great business to follow that I do these four is coastal neg Collini, coastal Caapi, Li Mi, coastal mag, who owns that business, she and I are in a creative love affair. And we just like pump out some really fun content. And with that, we've been able to like arrange really cool tablescapes and techniques and stuff she hires a lot of really creative people to bring that together. But getting those catalog style photos where it's like that lifestyle, like almost sounds cheesy but like LL Bean moments like, like those behind not behind the scenes like very much produced beautiful shots of like, gorgeous.
Michelle Lynne 34:57
Yeah, like a party. Yeah,
Molly Rose 35:00
I want to be invited. Or just like, if you have I have like a gorgeous like marble coffee table. I don't I can't afford a marble dining table yet someday but I could like put, you know, a martini and a beautiful like cocktail napkin and like a beautiful, not even a charcuterie board just like in will appetizer, like, right? Take a photo of that even on my iPhone, and post it and be like, this is like you know, loving these kinds of moments like ready for the weekend like stupid captions, I don't even want to like, talk about captions. That's not what it's used for. But is that catalogs are
Michelle Lynne 35:32
designers think that we have to have so many quote unquote rooms, to show what you're saying is so freeing to the individuals who are just, like obsessed with a room? No, you don't have to have, you can have these. I love, love, love that.
Molly Rose 35:50
Yeah, you can make a lot of your content at home. And, you know, I think that there's something about Instagram three years ago, where we saw all of these interior designers pumping out projects like they were, I mean, it was unbelievable how quickly they were burning projects. And they had a ton of content in terms of photos. But now we're kind of getting on this authenticity train with what we're seeing with reels and we're seeing people's personality. And so I think that when that switch has really flipped, we don't have to have such polished photos all the time. Of course, your primary projects, you want to photograph those professionally, but your own content can be a little bit raw, a little bit on done, save your money, do not hire a photographer for every, you know, thought that passes through your head, you don't need to it's it's totally okay to shoot it on your phone, just find some really great filters and do that. I think that would be love. I think that's a really easy way to create that aspirational style for your brand. And then in terms of just interior photography, and like photographing your projects, it's the mix of wide shots and tight details. Blacks and Whites, I mean, get at like, constantly be mixing your staff wide, tight exterior, interior, bathroom kitchen, just play with that constantly. Love
Michelle Lynne 37:15
it. And Molly, I can't tell you just how genius. Some of those details are for designers who like right now our projects are taking for me to to complete, we'd like to get to photography for a while right now. So what you shared like with the flatlays, and just the like the catalog style imagery, I think is something that is fantastic right now in between projects, as well as for individuals who are just kind of starting and don't have a lot of projects in their in their rearview mirror.
Molly Rose 37:50
Right, like have a dinner party, invite your friends over make a gorgeous meal and photograph it like yeah, on your phone. And I think like
think about like, the phones are amazing,
amazing. And like the Twilight light is so easy. It's so beautiful. You don't need a professional photographer. So like it's your phone's gonna be able to do a great job.
Michelle Lynne 38:09
Yes, I think that's such a valid point. And our phones are Heck, I look better with the filters than you know like on Zoom. So
Molly Rose 38:19
photography photographer, just to plug another photographer Madeline Harper has really beautiful, like a Lightroom I think it's Lightroom I don't know what they are. She has beautiful filters.
Oh, Madeline Harper, so Okay, love herself. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, she's awesome. She's in. She's in Texas. Oh, yeah. She's a Cutie Guy.
Great work. Yeah.
Michelle Lynne 38:39
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Well, Molly, you know, I love to talk about all things business like that just makes my heart go pitter patter. But I love to have a little bit of fun. So this next segment I didn't prepare you for, but it's a rapid fire q&a format. Okay. off the table. Okay. So let's see what questions come up today. Are you ready? Yep. Okay, any or outie belly button? Any? If you couldn't be in the profession you're in now, what would you be doing
Molly Rose 39:08
here? Really? Yeah, I'd like to
Michelle Lynne 39:12
create a new hair. Yeah, that is fun. Who is your favorite superhero?
Molly Rose 39:17
Oh, Groot. Groot. Groot. Yeah,
great. Man. A few words.
Michelle Lynne 39:27
Coffee or tea? Coffee. Yeah. Red or white wine. Red. favorite ice cream flavor.
Molly Rose 39:36
Probably chocolate chip cookie dough.
Oh, sounds good. Yeah, I don't really
Michelle Lynne 39:42
not a lot. Yeah, me neither.
Molly Rose 39:44
Although I haven't better answer. Okay. Oh,
favorite ice cream flavor is actually skipped the ice cream I want a dirty martini.
Michelle Lynne 39:56
That's a pretty damn good answer. Yeah. But it's kind of in a cone, right? Yeah, exactly. So technically it could be. Yeah, so that is amazing. What's your favorite book?
Molly Rose 40:09
Oh, I
just finished Cersei this year and I Cersei it's about the goddess Cersei see i RCE by Madeline I can never remember author's names. Gorgeous. Unbelievable book. Really goddess Circe, her life. Beautiful, fun.
Michelle Lynne 40:26
introvert or extrovert?
Molly Rose 40:28
extrovert? Can you tell?
Michelle Lynne 40:32
If you could have one superpower? What would it
Molly Rose 40:34
be? Mind reading?
Michelle Lynne 40:36
For me back to the laundry. Going back to the fact that you're newly married? Yeah. Or maybe not sometimes.
Molly Rose 40:46
I think I did marry Great. Sometimes. Zach is just a man of few words. I'm like, What do you got to say? What
are you thinking?
Tell me anything. That's
Michelle Lynne 40:55
so funny. That's so I would probably be the group in our in our marriage. I don't talk a lot. Oh, yeah. Oh, no, I don't good for you. Yeah, my husband is a communicator? No, I think it's a balance. Yeah. Like I think if both parties in my humble opinion, if both parties are the extrovert, or both parties are the introvert or if one is the communicator and the other is also the communicator. Sometimes I think too much of a good thing is too much. Yeah. So if you can have that yin and your Yang, it's like, it's that tension. That makes the marriage so much more interesting. Because if you guys were too much alike, you might as well just be hanging out with one of your girlfriends. Right?
Molly Rose 41:35
I think my husband is very quiet unless you get him going on like birds duck hunting, trout fishing, any kind of fishing, then then you'll never get him to show up shot. Oh,
Michelle Lynne 41:45
that's fun. Yeah. And that's how I am about business. So like, like, mood a little. So that's fun. Oh, girl, this has been so much fun. Thank you for being on the show today. Yes. Thanks,
Molly Rose 41:57
Molly. Having me. I love it. So much fun. And well,
Michelle Lynne 42:01
I do want to have you back. And I want to talk about how do you prepare for a photoshoot? Because I know that that's like a whole other conversation. So we'll get that scheduled.
Molly Rose 42:13
And I'm trying to like learn about in my business too. So I don't have necessarily all the answers, but I'm trying to figure them out. So I'll share them as I do that.
Michelle Lynne 42:21
I also know what not to like. Yeah, like what not to do. So we could almost reverse engineer it and have that conversation because I made plenty of mistakes. And you would probably roll your eyes and say Michel de dum dum.
Molly Rose 42:33
Now I really want to be like a producer at one point, I really want to be like a, like a producer for these level of shoots, but takes a long time to get there. So
Michelle Lynne 42:43
yeah, for sure. That's a lot. So tell the audience how they can connect with
Molly Rose 42:47
you, please. Um, I'm on Instagram, Molly rose dot photo. And my website is Molly Rose photo.co CEO. I know that's, there's just so many monitors what it is, it was all that was left. So it's a code. And I Yeah, I'm just I'm on Instagram, you can email me through my website. And that's like how we connected people and then usually love to just set up phone calls and do chit chats like this while I'm on a walk or running errands. I just talked to people all the time. So
Michelle Lynne 43:15
that's amazing. So especially for the designers in Southern California who were listening. Yeah. Now, Molly, do you travel?
Molly Rose 43:21
I do. Yeah. And not as much as I I mean, I try. It has to be the right person and the right project. I love my I love to be strategic with our tire. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, yeah, traveling. And it's like it takes two other photoshoot days to go travel for one photo and traveling. glamorous. Yeah, no, it's not. And especially with my all of my equipment I traveled I was shot in New York City this summer and like fine with all my equipment. I was just some dollars worth of equipment on this airplane right now. Probably more than that. Oh, yeah. Hard bottoms. Like I'm probably with my whole livelihood. All insured, but like especially right now, with all the shortages. You can't even get like anything very quickly. It took me like three weeks to get this one lens. So yeah, so scary. I just drive cross country.
Michelle Lynne 44:10
Because then I can control. Yeah, exactly. I can take everything. Oh no for Well, when you have all of your equipment, that's your your lifeblood for your business. It's definitely nerve wracking. Yeah, well, I will make sure that all of your links and information are in the show notes that our audience can can check that out. And for those of you who can benefit from even more resources surrounding the business of running your interior design business, join my growing community on Facebook. Yes, I know it's Facebook, but hop in there anyway. It's called the interior designers business Launchpad. Oh, and also, wherever you're listening to this podcast, please leave a review. It definitely helps other creatives find the podcast it's part of the search optimization thing of a digging on podcasting. So, drop a drop a note, drop a thumbs up. And until next time, thank you, Molly. We'll see you
Molly Rose 45:07
guys later having me see you all.
Michelle Lynne 45:11
Hey, y'all. If you love the show and find it useful, I would really appreciate it if you would share with your friends and followers. And if you like what you're hearing, want to put a face with the name and get even more business advice. Then join me in my Facebook group, the interior designers business launch pack. Yeah, I know it's Facebook, but just come on in for the training and then leave without scrolling your feet. It's fine. I promise you'll enjoy it. And finally, I hear it's good for business to get ratings on your podcast. So please drop yours on whatever platform you use to listen to this. We're all about community over competition. So let's work on elevating our industry, one designer at a time. See you next time.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
