Success looks a little different to each and every photographer, but for Megan McComb of Megan Grace Photography, it’s capturing deep connections and realistic interactions for her families. Her passion is creating memories to last a lifetime for her clients through beautiful depictions of their relationships. 

But capturing these moments on film isn’t just a product of chance. Megan has a finely honed process that she uses to bring out her client’s confidence and help them relax and interact on camera in meaningful, realistic ways. That way, their timeless photographs will always reflect the deep bonds her clients feel for each other. 

In today’s episode, Megan walks us through the methods she uses to make her clients comfortable and build trust in their relationship with her before she ever starts shooting. She’s also sharing how she uses those same principles to bring out the confidence in her photography coaching students, by forming personal connections to help them grow into their strengths – not just become a carbon-copy of her.

This conversation touched on everything, from family to success to rediscovering your inner confidence. There’s something for everyone, and I’m so excited to share it with you today.

What’s in this episode:

• [04:06] How Megan’s definition of success aligns with her desire to give her clients a memorable experience and to give her coaching students the confidence to build their businesses
• [09:32] Megan’s advice for photographers struggling for consistency in their work, and how she uses direction in her photo shoots to capture both posed and authentic moments
• [14:49] How Megan encourages motion and movement in her images
• [18:04] How Megan builds a relationship of trust with her clients and her students, and one of her favorite sessions that shows how special it is to get photos with your older children
• [32:30] How to sign up for Megan’s coaching program

Tune in to this episode with Megan to discover how you can capture deep, timeless moments of connection for your clients! 

SUBSCRIBE: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher

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Meet Megan

Early in her career as a photographer, Megan was drawn to capturing the unique connections her clients have with their loved ones, which led naturally to Megan specialising in family, maternity and newborn photography. Megan’s talents lie in her ability to really see her clients, their story and the energy between them – the laughter, the fun, and the special quiet moments. Through experience, training, and trial, Megan has learned that drawing these moments out, or capturing them when they present themselves, rarely happens by chance. Through patience and experience, Megan has crafted a process and workflow that delivers relaxed, present and connected clients, who openly show up as themselves – allowing Megan to capture real representations of the moments and memories we all want to hold on to. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, she is now leading the next generation of photographers with her group coaching programme for photographers who want to level up their work, connect with their clients, and deliver powerful, emotive, show-stopping galleries.

Connect with Megan

Megan’s website

Follow Megan on Facebook

Follow Megan on Instagram

Did this episode with Megan inspire you to try out a new process for capturing moments of connection on camera? Check out this episode from Jodi Lynn that offers you even more insight on fostering client relationships!

Transcript

AS Ep 156 FINAL.mp3

[00:00:00] Megan Grace Now children morph from these beautiful little newborn babies into gorgeous little squishy toddlers to kids. Like my my babies are kids now. And so they just growing up so quickly. I just feel like our oldest is going to be a teenager before we know it and we forget all of those little moments. So I just being able to show my clients how they are in that stage of their life and show how loved they are and how the children are. And so they can kind of remember like the way they smell and the way that they looked at them. But also as your kids get older, being able to I’m kind of digressing a little bit here is how children get older. And what I’ve noticed with my kids is that they love looking back at photos of themselves and how we love them. So as much as it’s important for us to remember how our kids were at that stage and how we were with them, really seeing how they were loved, I think just really helped support them as well. I mean, a lot. 

[00:00:59] Lisa DiGeso Welcome to the Art and Soul Show, where we dive into heart opening chats on photography, business life, and that messy in-between. I’m your host, Lisa DiGeso, a mom, a photographer and entrepreneur, and I’ll be sharing honest conversations and advice for photographers with insight on mindset, entrepreneurship and creativity. The goal of this podcast is for you to be able to gain insights and strategies that will get you real results. Because let’s face it, having a photography business can be lonely, but it doesn’t have to be. This is the place you can go when you need a boost of encouragement, a kick in the pants and inspiration to pick up your camera. This is the art and soul show. Hello, my beautiful friends. Welcome back to the show today. I’m super excited to dive into today’s conversation with Megan Grace. Now I stumbled across her stunning work on Instagram and I knew I had to bring her on the show. Now, Megan’s talents lie in her ability to really see her clients, their stories and the energy between them, the laughter, the fun and the special quiet moments. Through experience, training and trial, Meagan has learned that drawing these moments out or capturing them when they present themselves rarely happens by chance. Through patience and experience, Megan has crafted a process and workflow that delivers relaxed to present and connected clients who openly show up as themselves, allowing her to capture real representations of the moments and memories we all want to hold on to. She’s based in Auckland, New Zealand and is now leading the next generation of photographers with her group coaching program For photographers who want to level up their work, connect with their clients and deliver powerful, emotive showstopping galleries. So without further ado, here is Megan welcome. 

[00:02:45] Megan Grace Hi thank you so much for having me. 

[00:02:47] Lisa DiGeso I’m so excited to chat with you today. So tell us a little bit beyond that bio who you are and what you’re really passionate about. 

[00:02:55] Megan Grace So my name’s Megan as you said and I live in Auckland, New Zealand, and I guess what I’m passionate about is just being out and about with my family and enjoying our beautiful beachside living that we have here in New Zealand. You know, we’re pretty much surrounded by water. 

[00:03:11] Lisa DiGeso Yes. 

[00:03:12] Megan Grace And so we live in a little area just north of Auckland, and we live at the beach so we can walk down to the beach on the weekends. We make friends down there. We load up the trolley with all the gear for the kids, for three young children, so they kind of keep us busy doing a little bit, but I just love spending time with them. We can basically drive, we can walk to the beach here, but we can drive to the West Coast in about 45 minutes to an hour. So we’re so lucky in terms of all of the outdoor activities that we can do. And I guess that kind of relates or goes into my work as well with my clients because I think that’s kind of what I’m drawn to and passionate about in terms of my work, because I can spend my time with them, with my feet in the water and the sand and enjoying all of those moments that they have with their loved ones as well. 

[00:04:01] Lisa DiGeso I love that. So you’re doing what you love. Where you love to do it. 

[00:04:04] Megan Grace Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, very lucky. 

[00:04:06] Lisa DiGeso I love that. So I love talking about success and finding out everyone’s definition of success, because what I have really found over the year is that there’s no one true definition of success. So what would you say success means to you? 

[00:04:23] Megan Grace I guess with photography and this career that I’m lucky enough to be in is, you know, I kind of I guess I kind of started it as a way to still be around my children. So our kids are five, eight and ten, so they were quite a bit younger when I first started getting back into this properly. And I really wanted to stop traveling into the city for work. Stop spending an hour there and an hour back, sitting in someone’s office. I wanted to be here. If one of the kids was sick and, I needed to drop things and go to the gym or if they had something special on as school that I could kind of rearrange my schedule around. So I guess one of the biggest things for me is being able to have that work life balance around my family. But also, you know, photography is such a beautiful job and career, like it really fills my cup in a way as well. So but that’s probably one of the biggest things. And I guess in terms of for my clients really being able to deliver galleries to them so that they can kind of see how they are with their families in this moment that they’re in. Children morph from these beautiful little newborn babies into gorgeous little squishy toddlers to kids like my my babies are kids now. And so they’re just growing up so quickly. I just feel like our oldest is going to be a teenager before we know it and we forget all of those little moments. So I just being able to show my clients how they are in that stage of their life and show how loved they are and how the children are. And so they can kind of remember like the way they smelled and the way that they looked at them. But also as your kids get older. I’m kind of digressing a little bit here, but as our children get older and what I’ve noticed with my kids is that they love looking back at photos of themselves and how we love them. So as much as it’s important for us to remember how our kids were at that stage and how we were with them, really seeing how they were loved, I think just really helps support them as well in their life. So and then I guess with my coaching too, for my what I kind of define is success around that is really getting to say I think the confidence is probably the biggest part of it, which I kind of going into it. I didn’t really realize how big a piece of the puzzle it would be for my students. So really having the confidence to realize that they are good enough to do this, that they can do it as a full time job and that they can charge the prices that they should be getting, you know, int terms of for the career. So to make it a full time job. 

[00:06:56] Lisa DiGeso I love that. But I think those are some great definitions of success. And I’m the same. It’s like time. Time is my Like, it’s and it’s funny. For years I think I was chasing I think it was money and like being a six figure photographer or being, like, fully booked. And I’m like, actually what I really want is probably more time with my people. 

[00:07:14] Megan Grace Yeah. I mean, and that, you know, we all want to be able to have the nice things and go to the holidays and that’s all, you know, up there. But when it comes down to it, time is 100% what we all need, right? Yeah. And I think we probably get to know that a little bit more once we’re out of that, when we’re in the thick of the newborn stage and it just feels like it’s never going to change. We’re going to be missing, you know, we’re always going to be like on the treadmill with rocking to sleep and cursing and buckling in and all those things. And now that we’re actually it really went so fast. And now to hold on to that and not let it disappear in a blink. 

[00:07:52] Lisa DiGeso I know. And it’s like it’s funny, the other night, my my son fell asleep on the couch. He’s 13. And so my husband and I are like, what do we do? Like, we can’t carry him to bed. He’s like, huge. Like, we’re going to break ourselves if we try. And we’re like, When did this happen? When did he get so big that we we can’t. We can’t carry him. Like. 

[00:08:13] Megan Grace My daughter was struggling to go to sleep, so she fell asleep in our bed and my husband yelled out to me. It was kind of, you know, we were heading to bed. And you look at this and he had scooped her up somehow. I don’t know how. I mean, she’s ten, but she’s all arms and legs. 

[00:08:27] Lisa DiGeso Oh, it’s so gangly, yeah. 

[00:08:29] Megan Grace Yeah, that’s what I mean not as big as your 13 year old, obviously. But she just they were just legs and arms everywhere. It was the cutest thing. But she used to be so tiny. 

[00:08:39] Lisa DiGeso I know, right? And like, I know. And like, all those times that you were like, I need to 5 minutes. I’m trying to get something done. I’m like, I wish I just stopped and picked you up. I wish I did. Like hindsight. 

[00:08:50] Megan Grace Right? I know that It’s like, oh. 

[00:08:54] Lisa DiGeso I know. 

[00:08:55] Megan Grace It’s like. It’s crazy. 

[00:08:57] Lisa DiGeso It is. And you remember it. But I remember when my son was born, someone once someone said, like, don’t blink because it goes by so fast. And I was like. 

[00:09:07] Lisa DiGeso This is exhausting. And then. 

[00:09:10] Lisa DiGeso I like 13 years later and like, they were. 

[00:09:12] Lisa DiGeso Right. 

[00:09:15] Megan Grace The Fastest, the slowest time, this bizarre thing to try and get your head around. I’m just going to ride the wave. 

[00:09:20] Lisa DiGeso I know you just gotta ride it. You got to ride it, whatever. Like whatever season of parenting you were currently in is the hardest. That is it. 

[00:09:28] Lisa DiGeso Well, you know, 100%, yeah. 

[00:09:32] Lisa DiGeso So switching back to photography a little bit. I love looking through your work because undeniably you have a stunning and a cohesive style. Now, what advice do you have for those photographers maybe struggling with that consistency in their work? 

[00:09:44] Megan Grace So I truly believe that we need to kind of start looking at us as photographers and as artists before we try to find a style and find an edit that we love and all of, you know, and Instagram and following photographers and things. I think if you pull it right back and if we just start by looking at what really what makes Elle and what Elle story is to start with and what inspires us to create the work that we do. I think if we start there and pull it back, then it kind of will naturally lead into your work developing and your client’s story kind of being wrapped up in there and it will just naturally become your style because it’s what you it’s part of you, rather than kind of just trying to find that style. So that like this question actually, I was just looking back at some old work last week, and although my, you know, my it has changed a little bit. Wardrobe has changed a little bit. My camera has you know, my technique has got better, really, I can see my style right from the beginning in terms of me. I can see me and I can see how I am with my kids. I can see how I feel. What I want to remember about my children being little, but also as much as it’s my story. That’s the one piece of the puzzle in pulling your client’s story into it to really see how they are. So, yes, I want to try and get them to pull out all of these feelings that they have with their children, but in their own way. So it’s really authentic to them. So if they don’t kiss the kids on the lips, I don’t want them to kiss the kids on the lips, you know, like really kind of showing me how they would play with them and cuddle them and rock them. And if they don’t throw them in the air, we aren’t going to do that. So it’s really kind of wrapping all of that into one. I find has helped me keep that consistency along the way. 

[00:11:42] Lisa DiGeso Your work also seems like a stunning combination of both posed and authentic directed moments. As you’ve mentioned, you’re asking those little prompts. Do you find you spend much time with your clients directing them? Do you have to or do you find that you really just let the moments unfold? 

[00:11:59] Megan Grace Yes. So this is actually really intentional on my part. So it’s interesting that you can see that because that’s what I’m really trying to do along the way. So I really believe that my workflow leads to which starts right from the very beginning, from when my clients get in touch with me and from when they look at booking from that very moment right through to the session is me trying to prepare them, make them feel relaxed, get them to think about how they are with their kids so that on the night of the session they can just kind of be themselves and they’ve just got me tagging along. So yes, I do direct definitely at the beginning of the session I direct a lot and depending on the family as well. Some families need a little bit more support and some don’t. But really, by the time we get to a session, I know them quite well. So really, I will start with directing and then kind of they’ll naturally start to feel more and more relaxed as the session goes on and then I just wait. So, so waiting. I like to direct and get them feeling comfortable in a certain spot that looks good with the light and the wind and then whatever is going on around us, but then kind of encouraging them to show me themselves and then just waiting and waiting for that moment to kind of come forward. But I really believe that right from the get go with the prep guides and the questionnaires and I jump on a call with my clients as well so that we can kind of put a face to the name. Here it is. You know, a lot of people a lot of photographers have said to me that’s so much more work doing that, but it just pays off so much, really connecting with them and showing them that you’re just a normal person. Like we talked about before that it’s just us, really, and this and that. I’m here to show them their family and their family story and how they are with their kids. So I really believe that getting them, if we kind of do all of that, the clients, all my moms are really feeling good about what they’re going to wear. They’re going to feel confident when they get out of the car and they know how to prep their husband and the kids. And she’s not worried about that because I’ve explained how that will work and what I do to kind of support the kids along the way. During this session, when that little thing we get to the shoot and little things might crop up that are out of our control. And that’s easy because we’ve done all of the hard work. We’re all ready to go. The client’s relaxed if little things crop up, then it’s just a simple, quick fix and we just kind of adjust during the session, but it’s not really going to flip the whole session upside down at that point because we’ve put the work in beforehand. So. So, yes, in answer to your question, I do direct, but it’s all very intentional and a way of kind of getting them to relax so that they can show me themselves. 

[00:14:49] Lisa DiGeso I love that. What I noticed also in your work is a lot of motion and movement. Like they’re like twirling or spinning or kissing or like walking or there’s some sort of movement Now that’s got to be intentional as well. But I know for a lot of photographers and myself previously included, we often get these clients that just freeze. And so do you have any favorite prompts to encourage that motion and movement in your images? 

[00:15:13] Megan Grace Yes, I just thinking about the images and they are I kind of I’ve always been really drawn to that messy, messy, imperfectly perfect in a way, because they’re still beautiful. They still have amazing. Yeah. And look, they pace. But also, I think that’s just part of my story, wrapping into it in a way, because like, we’ve got three kids. 

[00:15:35] Lisa DiGeso Yeah. 

[00:15:37] Megan Grace Life is busy and chaotic, but it’s also amazing that like, these kids are just so beautiful and we have just the most amazing life. And I think that’s what pulls into it for me is really kind of that whirlwind of life. Yeah, that I’m trying to replicate it. But, but yeah, so in terms of going into a session, if it’s windy I’m getting them to move or if it is windy I’m like, Yes, we got some wind and. I’m not going to have to make them do silly things. But one of my favorite prompts, actually, and that probably is it is movement, but it’s really I mean, there’s so many things along the way that I love to do in terms of that movement and getting that into my images because I just feel like it kind of it’s that natural emotion into the work as well. Like with that and a really kind of thank you very much. It’s just a beautiful added emotion in there. But one of my favorite prompts is towards the end of the session when it’s my sessions are an hour long. So if the kids are small, so, you know, two or under in by the hour, they’re all getting quite sleepy or a bit over it or just a little bit scratchy. And also the sun is getting quite light here at the moment. So, you know, it’s getting a little bit late for them. So one of my favorite things to do, instead of asking the parents to really kind of keep them going and keep them happy and smiling because we’ve got there at the beginning of the session when they’re okay, when they fresh. So towards the end of the session, instead of kind of trying to get them to do something that they’re really not into, I really just ask the parents to just enjoy them instead and snuggle them in and give them a big like, I want to point things that I quite often say, Oh, hey, don’t worry if she’s a bit tired. Just snuggling in front of you and just, sniff her hair, do you remember what she smelt like when she was a baby and which was little, you know, they just smell. So I mean, I just then take a deep breath and just naturally, I think the movement of taking a deep breath as well. Yeah, it’s something. And like whenever I’m culling photos, I’m like, Oh, there’s the deep breath. So it’s taking a deep breath and just really enjoying them in that moment. And I kind of have goosies thinking about it, but I think I’ve spent so many hours with my children doing that exact same thing when they were small that, that it’s just really it’s just as hard as it was at the time. It’s just one of those moments that you just don’t want to let go of. Yeah. So this one is probably my favorite prompt, and it works really well when the kids are getting tired at the end of the night and they just want to cuddle up with mum or dad. 

[00:18:05] Lisa DiGeso So you do coaching as well. And I want to talk a little bit because I’ve had mentors over the years and I think one of the hardest things with finding a mentor is becoming coachable and learning to trust your mentor. So can you share your approach to building your clients and your students trust? 

[00:18:21] Megan Grace Yeah. So I take the same approach with my students that I do with my clients. So I really just want to connect with them and find out what success means to them. We’re all so different and I want, you know, when I started this journey, I wanted to create my own path in terms of my story and what lights me up. So I really I’m not trying to teach my students how to be like me by any means. I’m giving them some tools along the way that will help them to get to the goal that they want. So it’s really kind of connecting with them in a way that I will jump on a voice note on Instagram with them before they’ve even signed up just to chat with them about life, about where they’re at, what they’re trying to achieve. I want to make sure that we fit together as well. So I actually have an application process with my program so that I’m not just, people aren’t just booking in because I want them to make sure that they want me to work with them and that we connect and the same for me with them as well. So that connection is so important for me and every aspect of my business. 

[00:19:29] Lisa DiGeso With my experience with coaches is like having someone who doesn’t think for you but helps you learn how to think for yourself has been because you can’t outsource the thinking. That’s one thing that I’ve really had to learn the hard way. 

[00:19:47] Megan Grace Same. I Think just look. I mean, I love a chat and I love having conversations with like minded people as well. And I guess that is probably what comes into a lot for me is really kind of connecting with people and using these awesome platforms that we have like Instagram to really kind of, yeah, see what it is that does it for them and really kind of what they’re really hoping to get out of this journey and kind of getting them to understand that it can be more than just a side hustle. It can be more than just a job because we have kids and it works around our family. It Can be more than that. You know. 

[00:20:20] Lisa DiGeso I think I think often our photographer students and and friends maybe forget how capable they are. And sometimes they just need that little love and coaching along the way, too. 

[00:20:32] Megan Grace Yeah. I think that’s when I went into the actually into this that was or into coaching I kind of I had this you know this is the workflow that we do to get these authentic moments. And it’s, you know, if you follow these steps, which I still believe this is a big piece of the puzzle, but for my photographers coming in, the biggest thing for them is confidence, lack of confidence, lack of like belief in themselves. I think I don’t know if that’s something that we lose when we have children, because I’m pretty sure that we’re not we’ve not always been like that. 

[00:21:06] Lisa DiGeso I it’s it’s funny, you know, you’re right. And I think also because I think we all suffer a bit from imposter syndrome. So like even and it’s almost like the longer you’ve been in this, the stronger the imposter syndrome gets. 

[00:21:19] Megan Grace Yeah. I really need to stay home and put out blinkers on and. Right. Yeah. So it is. It’s so easy to be derailed though, isn’t it? 

[00:21:27] Lisa DiGeso Yeah, it truly is. It truly is. And it’s funny because you don’t even realize you’re being derailed and then you derail yourself and you’re like, nobody else put me in the ditch but me. 

[00:21:36] Lisa DiGeso So it’s. Yeah, there’s a lot of that. 

[00:21:41] Lisa DiGeso And that’s why you need a mentor. 

[00:21:43] Megan Grace We all do. We all do. 

[00:21:45] Lisa DiGeso We really do. 

[00:21:46] Lisa DiGeso Now, can you share maybe a favorite session and why It’s one of your favorite sessions. 

[00:21:52] Megan Grace Yeah, actually, I was thinking about this, and I talk a lot about my younger families and cuddling these babies and really having these beautiful moments with our little ones, but so they’re probably mostly the sessions that I get is younger families, but I do do quite a lot of older families with teens, and I love them so much because I think I get a little bit competitive, just a little. And I like to really show people that your kids don’t have to be little to have photos. They you can still have these amazing moments with your kids no matter what age they are. So there’s one family in particular that booked and the mom was like, oh, like, you know, my oldest son is 19 or 20 and I just don’t think he’s going to be into it, but he’s going to be gone soon and he’s going to have girlfriends and then I’m not going to be loved, you know, all this stuff. And then her youngest is actually six, so she had a big range of four children. And so it’s like, okay, I’ve got you. I’ve got a plan. We’ve got this location and we’re going to walk in and it’s going to take us like 15 or 20 minutes to walk and chat and the kids will relax and the boys will see that I’m not too crazy and old. And that we can have a bit of a laugh and be silly. And it’s just relax. It’s just me. So so yeah, we went there, we did all the prep and got all organized. She was feeling really good and super excited. And then we got to the session day and I bought all of the things that I’d been working on over the years in this workflow that I was super confident was going to work for every family no matter what. And I tweak it a little bit depending on the age. Like obviously if I’m not going to take a 20 minute walk for a one year old or two year old, but for older families, walking into location is so good for them just to be able to relax and also fast as photographers because it can be a little bit daunting going in with these older kids. And all of a sudden we’re the old ones. So we go into the session and we, you know, we start off with the look at me and smile photos and it’s so good and we’ve got that. I’ve got those here. And she’s nervous. And I can tell I mean, we work through this flow of, you know, we start here and we walk down there and then over there, and I can just see the boys shoulders relaxing and they kind of playing with their little sister and they’re being smart with their dad. And they’re suggesting different things that they could do. And I was like, yes, this is just exactly what I was hoping for. And then, right towards the end of the session. I mean, I love the whole gallery, to be honest, but towards the end of the session, I’ve got their feet in the water, the waves are splashing the sky is pink. It’s just absolutely beautiful. And the boys are just all over their mom. And I mean, the little girl was like the star of the show. Don’t get me wrong. It was like all about her. She was just on fire. But I was watching these boys and the dad. The boys were just all over arm. And I’ve got these beautiful photos of their arms draped around her just so them and how they are with her. And she has got the hugest smile on her face. It was just so cool. So yeah, I think that is probably up there with one of my favorite sessions. I think just kind of showing showing her that they’re still her babies and they do love you still and they’re always going to be there, you know? 

[00:25:03] Lisa DiGeso I love that totally. You know, it’s funny because I haven’t thought about a session I had very similar to that years ago. And there is this one little boy and he was probably about 12 or 13 love playing guitar. got picked on a lot and we ended up doing a rock star shoot for him. And the mom was like, Look, I mean, that’s not my genre or that’s not something I do. But I was like, Let’s just do something different. And just like the mom, like after, like I have pictures of her because we did family photos with it to her just so happy, her son just feeling like himself and having that confidence. So like, yeah, I love that. 

[00:25:40] Megan Grace Yeah. It doesn’t matter if you don’t do rock star shoots, let’s make our kids feel like them and feel loved and feel confident in themselves. That’s all it really comes down to, doesn’t it? 

[00:25:50] Lisa DiGeso Yeah, You know, it’s funny because we we forget like when you’re in that when you’re in the day to day, I think you forget the impact that what our lenses and our eyes and our like and how we see a family can affect a family or a child or confidence and how we do have an incredible power to show them how amazing they are. 

[00:26:10] Megan Grace Oh, yeah. I mean, that’s what we were saying before right like my kids, just love looking back at themselves with us and photos of us with them and how they were carried. But even as they get older and looking back a year ago, just how they’ve changed and in growing up and to this day, kids, it’s just, yeah, when. 

[00:26:30] Lisa DiGeso I need to print more photos. 

[00:26:31] Lisa DiGeso For you, my son doesn’t even have a baby to make it look like there’s another one, I think. Like all the photos. 

[00:26:42] Lisa DiGeso So you’re ready for our lightning round? 

[00:26:43] Megan Grace I think so. 

[00:26:45] Lisa DiGeso Okay, so oceans or mountains and why. 

[00:26:48] Megan Grace Wow, you can probably get ocean. Although it’s funny, because I grew up in the country, so I’m a farm girl. But not many people believe me when I say that. But yeah, we grew up in the country but spent a lot of time at our family beach house, which is in the Coromandel. And also if you ever come, you’ve got to go to the coromandel it’s so beautiful so lots of time on boats and in the water. Yeah, definitely. 

[00:27:11] Lisa DiGeso Dreamy, dreamy, dreamy, dreamy, most luxurious vacation you’ve ever been on. 

[00:27:16] Megan Grace I have to say, probably our honeymoon to Hawaii, but purely because prior to that, we had done a lot of backpacking. 

[00:27:24] Lisa DiGeso Yeah. 

[00:27:25] Megan Grace You know, we were traveling through Europe and on a budget, and then we got married and all of a sudden we stayed at this resort for ten days and it was amazing. So it was definitely probably up there. 

[00:27:36] Lisa DiGeso What did you want to be when you grew up? 

[00:27:38] Megan Grace I don’t know really. I just this is one thing I’m trying to like instill in my children that it’s okay to not know because I. I took photography at school and I learned photography in a dark room and on film, and I loved it, but I didn’t end up doing that right away. It took time and timing is everything. But anyway, back to your question, here we go again chatting. So really, I think I loved the idea of traveling the world. So I decided I wanted to be a travel agent, but I actually don’t think I wanted to be a travel agent. I just wanted to travel. 

[00:28:12] Lisa DiGeso So did you know that I am also certified as a travel agent, but never worked as a travel agent because I also just wanted to travel. 

[00:28:21] Megan Grace No. I really. I wasn’t ever officially a travel agent. I worked for, like, a bus tour. I like for backpackers in New Zealand here for a little while. But then I was like, Well, actually I’m not making any money. So even I mean, I think 21. 

[00:28:37] Lisa DiGeso I. Love it. I got certified when I think it was 21, 22 and then that was sort of when the Internet and people started booking online. And so the travel agency that was going to hire me, they’re like, actually, we don’t have a job for you. And I was like, okay, I guess I’m going to do something else. Yeah. 

[00:28:53] Megan Grace Yeah. Oh, well. 

[00:28:57] Lisa DiGeso What song lifts you up when you’re feeling down? 

[00:29:00] Megan Grace I’m probably gonna get teased for this because I love if I’m feeling down, I crank on this, on this, on my theory. Actually, the Mariah Carey or Ariana Grande do anything super girly and loud and with big voices, it picks me up again. 

[00:29:18] Lisa DiGeso I love it. My my favorite song is November Rain by Guns and Roses. 

[00:29:25] Lisa DiGeso Like that is my jam. 

[00:29:26] Megan Grace You’d get on well with my husband. 

[00:29:30] Lisa DiGeso I like. That part. What it amps up at the end. And it’s funny because I can play piano and this is the one song that I still know how to play. And my husband’s like, He knows when I’m in a mood when November rain is happening. 

[00:29:41] Megan Grace So and my husband know that they will. 

[00:29:44] Megan Grace Know. 

[00:29:44] Megan Grace Mariah Carey for anything. You know, I just walk away. 

[00:29:49] Lisa DiGeso I love it. 

[00:29:50] Lisa DiGeso What’s your favorite comfort food? 

[00:29:53] Megan Grace Actually, there’s an amazing Chinese takeaway shop just down the road from us, and they do a wonton soup. And if I’m ever feeling down about life, we’ll get it. And it just fixes everything. So good. 

[00:30:06] Lisa DiGeso Nice. Where do you feel most centered and happy? 

[00:30:10] Megan Grace Probably. You know, I mentioned the Coromandel before where we go and probably there with my feet in the sand, with the surf, with the sun on my back that that fits the dream. If I could chase Summer, if I could just not have to worry about winter. So that’s probably the dream one day is to take this coaching and really push it and do retreats and just be able to travel, bring all of those things that I love into it, you know, support people. 

[00:30:40] Lisa DiGeso Love it, love it, love it. What has been the best piece of business advice you’ve ever been given? 

[00:30:45] Megan Grace Really investing in yourself and investing no matter how you do that, really, and investing in time to put into growing and developing yourself as a photographer. But also we we’re photographers. We take beautiful photos. It’s really all the business things we are expected to kind of just know and be able to put on all of these different heads. 

[00:31:09] Lisa DiGeso And we don’t. 

[00:31:10] Megan Grace We don’t. 

[00:31:12] Megan Grace And we’re not good at everything. We’re not like, I’m not great. 

[00:31:14] Megan Grace No. 

[00:31:15] Megan Grace You know, some things in my husband is great, but that and he can happily take anything with accounting. 

[00:31:21] Lisa DiGeso Budgeting, What’s that? 

[00:31:27] Megan Grace Yeah. So it’s really kind of investing the time to keep developing ourselves really, and kind of growing and showing our clients that we’re still growing and developing because that’s not just a normal job where you go into a corporate world and you sit down and you learn your job and that’s the job that we do. If you want to keep growing and growing your business and growing your work and your art, we see that evolving way. So to have that support along the way I think is really key to kind of the success that we. 

[00:31:54] Lisa DiGeso So I love that. I love that. Now, what advice would you give to your younger photographer self? 

[00:32:00] Megan Grace Well, just thinking before about the Megan in the Dark Room at high school, I would probably say just hold on. The time will come, photography will come. Believe it or not, one day you will have a career with photography. So I just thinking about my younger self that I would just be so, so stoked, you know, to think that someday that was going to happen and just to yeah, know what future I have and what’s to come still and yeah. Just time. Timing is everything. 

[00:32:30] Megan Grace It really is. It really is. So where can our listeners learn more from you. Can you share a little bit about your coaching program? 

[00:32:37] Megan Grace My coaching program is called Eight Weeks to Authentic Family Photography. So it’s called Chasing Connections. I basically work alongside the photographers in two week blocks that’s broken into four modules, and we work through the program together. But in saying that, you know, I have three kids. We know how busy life is. So the content is available to come back and rewatch. But I have another program starting in February, on February the 13th, actually, and it’s open for applications at the moment. There are some spaces left. So if you would like to jump in and chat with me and learn a little bit more about that, you can go to MeganGracePhotography.co.nz. And there’s a tab on there for photographers that they can read more and then yeah they can message me or just on DM. I love voice note and I love a chat. 

[00:33:22] Lisa DiGeso I love that and we’ll make sure to include that link in the show notes too. So I love to end my interviews just with this last question and it is what are you currently curious about or artistically curious about? 

[00:33:37] Megan Grace So currently, currently curious about really this diving deeper into coaching and supporting other photographers, really diving into sietting photographers up in a way that they can feel confident in what they’re doing and really pushed. That makes people feel confident and pushing the prices up. Now, I’ve had a photographer that is currently talking about doubling her prices at the moment and having the confidence to do that, I think. But I think the lack of confidence is what’s so really kind of growing on that. I just would love to be able to develop this more. I would love to be able to go on the pipeline at some point is to do retreats and to get together in real life. That is one thing that I’m really missing from this is the connection and bouncing off people and really getting that energy from each other. Although in the coaching program at the moment, we have a Facebook group and the women in there just amazing and super supportive that is just would be so much more amazing in real life. So watch the space beautiful and warm with our feet in the water, no doubt. 

[00:34:42] Lisa DiGeso I love that. I love that. Megan, thank you so much for joining me today. 

[00:34:47] Megan Grace Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. It was fun. 

[00:34:48] Lisa DiGeso Oh, my beautiful friends, I hope you love this conversation just as much as I did. I’m sending you so much of my light and love today and every single day. We’ll see you next time.