Lessons I’ve Learned from setting up a Photography business
Meet Tanja Pleis
German by origin, Chicagoan at heart, this “Moments to Motivate” blog sees Your AJency speak to Tanja Pleis - the owner of Tanja Pleis Photography, a Chicago-based women portraiture photography studio.
At Your AJency, we’re proud to work with Tanja as a client and watch her business go from strength to strength. The story of how we met as “two foreign women" in Chicago goes to show what can be achieved when two women support each other to grow their businesses, despite the fact that we now live on different continents again! We enjoy a deeper connection given that Tanja is German and I spent a lot of time studying, working and living in Germany when I was younger.
We both know that the world is a small place. Having a global perspective means I know how to operate locally but also have a wider insight to help navigate any potential global expansions on the horizon! I can be that vital sounding board that every business owner can benefit from.
In less than a year of working together we have rebranded Tanja's business, had viral reels and launched her passion project - her SHINE Campaign. We are on a shared mission to support women get the visibility they deserve!
So without further ado,
Meet Tanja Pleis…
Tanja! It’s so good to welcome you to the “Moments to Motivate” series. Your AJency love helping people no matter where they are in their business journey. What prompted you to take the plunge to move out of corporate HR and become a successful photographer?
Photography has always been my passion, ever since I was a kid running around with my dad’s old film camera. Being so passionate about the business definitely helps me get through the hours and hours (and the tears) of running my own business!
When we moved from Germany to Chicago, I was still working in HR but when my office closed down, I had a “now or never” moment and decided to launch my own photography business. I think the American in me took over and told the German side of me to quit playing it safe! Launching my business here was probably much easier than in Germany. Honestly, I don’t think I would run my own business if I still lived in Germany. Germans are in general more risk-averse and that is how I grew up. Entrepreneurship doesn’t get much support. You will hear all the concerned “what ifs”.
When I launched my business, my daughter was 3 and I loved capturing family memories so I naturally went into family photography. When the pandemic hit, I started a portrait campaign focussing on women and their stories. It’s safe to say that this is where I found my purpose and in 2022, I rebranded my business to “Tanja Pleis Photography” specializing in women portraiture. I’m now on a mission to help as many women as possible feel empowered, fearless, beautiful and strong through a transformative photoshoot experience and powerful, authentic portraits.
Do you think your corporate HR background has helped you in launching your business?
Yes. Working in event management and HR - I would say serving others, organizing, leading and listening are the skills that I mostly used in those careers and they are still what I need and use today. Being an empath is a trait that also helps me succeed.
You set up your business in a foreign country! Not everyone would be able to do that but I love that you did. What was the biggest challenge in doing so?
One of the biggest challenges came a few years in. I realized I needed to change how I ran my business so that it was sustainable, so that I could make a living, pay rent etc from it. I whole-heartedly believe in my business and that my photography makes a difference in other peoples' lives. With today's technology, almost anyone can be a photographer and the photography market is very saturated. Only a few people value the art, the creative process and the service that portrait photographers offer. Taking the risk to lean into a a higher-priced, service-oriented boutique service, accepting the fact that a lot of clients from my first two years in business would not follow me (and then finding my ideal client) has been the biggest obstacle for my business.
As an in-person service, how do you manage working internationally and targeting clients you can reach in person with a globally growing audience?
In-person networking, client referrals and collaborations with other female business owners with a similar target audience is key to finding that client. Instagram has the biggest impact on connecting with a globally growing audience. No matter where my audience is located, I always try to establish a personal connection. That’s the foundation of my business and today’s technology luckily makes it possible.
You mentioned how collaboration is central to your business growth and I love how you built this into your Shine campaign! Collaboration is something we are huge advocates of at Your AJency and we often suggest it as a way to network and grow your business. Why is collaboration so important to you at Tanja Pleis Photography?
My work has allowed me to build a network of amazing women. I support and collaborate with other female business owners whenever possible. Whether that is through simple things as reposting their content on my social media or inviting them into my VIP group to speak about their businesses, referring their services, working with women-owned businesses myself and supporting their projects and charities.
© Tanja Pleis Photography
How do you select your collaborators? Who have been some of your favourites to work with?
Instagram and personal connections are a big factor when it comes to collaborations. It is important to me to select collaborators who I love and know my audience will love too. When I launched my SHINE campaign, I created the SHINE Empowerment Series as part of the campaign and I collaborated with fellow female business owners and experts whose mission it is to help women shine, feel and look their best.
Having worked with women touched by breast cancer and listening to the stories of more and more battling cancer, I am looking to partner with an amazing charity this year called Twist Out Cancer and support women on their breast cancer journey.
I have loved some of the collaborations I’ve done in-person and on Instagram, some of which Your AJency have even helped to facilitate! I ran a giveaway with @chelliecarlson who shares our vision of empowering women by helping them to align their wardrobes to who they are becoming. Similarly I partnered with @thenicolevillani who worked with me on a manifestation collaboration as her background is helping women drop negative self-talk - something which is so important for us as females.
You’ve mentioned how important it is for you to make women from all walks of life feel empowered. We often encourage clients to speak about their “why” in their marketing, so what’s yours? What’s your ultimate reason for launching Tanja Pleis Photography, and the campaigns you run?
We as women are our worst own critics. We tend to see everything that is not perfect, the wrinkles, the gray hair, the extra pounds, the missing curves, etc. We witness the seemingly perfect life of others in the media and on social media which all together often leads to a constant nagging thought of "I'm not perfect, I am not good enough".
As a mom to a young girl, I ideally want her to grow up without the constant influence of unattainable beauty standards and the expectation to fit in. She is my “why” for what I do - showing the women I work with through my lens how beautiful they are, exactly as they are, at each stage in their life. I want my portraits to become a counterpart to the negative messages they might be surrounded by.
This rings so true for me as a mum of a girl too. It’s a theme that was so apparent in your Fearless Over 40 project. Can you tell us about why you launched that?
With Fearless Over 40, I wanted to do something that gave women the opportunity to focus on and reconnect with themselves. I wanted them to feel seen, beautiful, confident and validated. Especially as moms, we fill so many roles and usually take care of others, always putting our own needs on the back burner.
The project was only meant to be that - a passion project, before returning to family photography. But the stories of the women who participated hit me in such a beautiful, emotional and sometimes gut-wrenching way. The campaign sparked the transition of my business to where it is now, with a focus on women portraiture and the mission to empower as many women as possible.
I love that so much. As a female founder, it’s important to celebrate the wins for sure and something we work hard to do with each of our clients (and ourselves too!) It's hard to launch and run a business on your own, impossible in my opinion. Who and where have you sought the necessary support other than each other?
Running a business and being a mom and wife to a traveling husband is definitely a stretch. Loving photography and running it as a sustainable business is another challenge. Besides investing in education and classes, I surrounded myself with other ‘mompreneurs’ when I launched my business. We supported each other professionally and personally when things were hard. I was also lucky that I had a supportive husband, family and friends.
And what do you do for yourself personally to keep yourself going?
I intentionally make time now to fill my cup. Whether that means to take a break when needed, meet with friends, get a massage or just an hour "off parenting duty”. It all helps to keep me going. I’ve always been hustling throughout my life. I thought stress was normal and “required” but I started meditating at the beginning of this year which helps me to stay focused and grounded, despite the challenges of being a business owner, mom, wife.
I’m so pleased to hear you’re getting more of the balance you want and need! Do you have a motto you live and run your business by?
I didn’t use to have a single quote I live by but now that I meditate every morning, I think “take a deep breath and trust the process” is becoming my life motto :)
What has been your personal highlight for Tanja Pleis Photography so far?
A highlight for the business is my “Fearless over 40” campaign. The women I photographed were incredible. We laughed together, we cried together and it was a very rewarding experience to connect with so many inspiring women and share their stories through my photography. I can’t wait to create and experience the same with my new campaign SHINE!
We can’t wait to see the results of SHINE either!
© Tanja Pleis Photography
What has been the single biggest thing you have done that resulted in growth?
That’s a tough one - joining the right mastermind and outsourcing my social media are equally responsible for the growth in my business.
We as women don’t like to ask for help but we don’t have to do it alone! Investing the money is scary but you have to spend money to make money. After long hours every night, not spending time with my child or husband at all, being burnt out and physically exhausted, I learned that I must outsource tasks. Hiring Your AJency to take on my social media marketing has literally saved my sanity - and helped grow my business further!
And is there one thing you would have done differently? What’s been your biggest lesson so far?
If I were to launch my business again with the knowledge I have today, I would hire a mentor right away and create a roadmap for a sustainable business. Most importantly I would force myself to focus on that one mentor, listen and execute. I made the mistake of getting class over class, joining several masterminds and got stuck with implementation.
Success looks different for everyone, what is success for you?
Success to me is running a sustainable business and being able to do what I love! With that being said, I definitely want to continue what I do now and further grow Tanja Pleis Photography here in Chicago. Working with everyday women, empowering them through glamour or boudoir photography and also helping female founders to grow their businesses with professional brand photography.
At Your AJency, we only work with ambitious women and you are no exception! What are your plans for Tanja Pleis? What’s next?
The biggest goal is to grow my business internationally. I love Chicago! When I followed my husband and moved here in 2012, we were supposed to stay for a year or two like I said. 11 years later, we are still here! Our entire family is in Germany though and we do travel quite a bit back and forth. My dream is to have both, a Tanja Pleis Photography studio in Chicago AND a second location in Germany. Then Europe and beyond…!
Thanks so much to Tanja for giving us such an insight into how she has launched her business. We for one can’t wait to see what happens next for her and Tanja Pleis Photography!
Tanja Pleis is a female woman portraiture photographer, German by origin, Chicagoan at heart. Her mission is to help every woman to see herself through the eyes of someone else and help her realize how strong, confident, fearless and beautiful she is, Seeing the transformation in every single woman is nothing short of amazing.
For more information, visit Tanja’s website: www.tanjapleisphotography.com
Or follow her on Instagram: @tanjapleisphotography