Business consultant and photographer Shelly Waldman talks mentorship and networking—the cornerstones of professional growth
Shelly Waldman was always a photographer, even if she didn’t get her professional start until late in her career. Growing up in a house filled with photographs, and with parents who photographed the big and small moments in their work and family lives, Shelly internalized the importance of seeing and being seen. After more than a decade and a half spent working in public relations, marketing, and finance in the pro sports and banking arenas, an international move became the impetus for Shelly to pick up her camera and rediscover her love of—and gift for—photography.
As an expat in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Shelly turned to photography to help her make sense of her new surroundings. She went about documenting her and her husband’s experiences in their new city, enrolling in a community photography class to bolster her shooting and editing skills. When Shelly and her husband moved back to the United States, she found herself reconsidering her career options. The photography instructor’s compliments on her work had ignited a spark, and Shelly was determined to find a way to make photography into a business.
Today, Shelly is a commercial food, portrait, and lifestyle photographer with a robust presence in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other West Coast cities. Strong mentorship experiences and lots of fruitful networking early in her career put Shelly on solid ground as she grew her business acuity and presence. Her offerings now include mentorship and business coaching for creatives, key elements of Focus on Women’s vision. Shelly brings the breadth and depth of her networking superpowers to her role as Podcast Chair, producing and cohosting the Focus on Women podcast, which launched in early 2020.
We spoke with Shelly about mentorship, leapfrogging among opportunities as she developed her photography and business skills, and the future of Focus on Women.
Your launch into the photography business began with kids. But you are doing more than that now. Tell me about the trajectory of your business.
I went on a hike with Sheri Angeles, a wedding/fashion photographer friend of mine and she invited a friend of hers who was an experienced food photographer, Jessica Boone (now a full time food stylist). We started chatting and I asked her about that aspect of the photography business. I knew people got paid to do those ads, but I didn’t know how any of it actually worked. She offered to help me, and she became a friend and mentor. She encouraged me to take my ideas and set up photo shoots to get material for a portfolio. I didn’t know what a test shoot was, or what to even say in a call to a modeling agency. So I recorded her telling me what she would say. I made a script from the recording. I picked up the phone and I did that whole dial/hang up thing a few times. Finally, I got the courage to share my ideas, and guess what, an agency sent me kids that I could photograph. Jessica helped put my first printed portfolio book together. Two weeks later I took my new portfolio to Palm Springs Photo Festival for my first in person reviews.
Did you get any jobs from that first portfolio review?
That first event was more about feedback. I was looking for validation from those first meetings. There was a very steep learning curve. What is commercial photography? And what is the language of commercial photography? Trying to find that information early on was hard, because there weren’t a lot of places to go. Even with APA, and ASMP, and the various industry networks, I still found that no one doing the work, really wanted to talk about the inside of how to get the work.
So you had to create opportunities to learn about the work.
Yes, I started going to more portfolio reviews, because I find that I best show up in person. That’s where my personality shines. I invested my marketing dollars to showing up in person and getting in front of as many people as I could, to get feedback or see if there might be an opportunity to work with someone later. The main thing I learned was that everything takes time. You have to be in front of someone at the right time, and you have to plant the seeds, and then keep watering and watering and watering until harvest comes. The harvest may take a month, it may take a year, it might take five years.
How has networking benefited your photography career?
My first commercial gig came out of a casual interaction during a workshop I attended in Denver. The art director from a large local ad agency was there, and he was reading How to Fascinate, by author Sally Hogshead which is one of my most favorite business books. I had just taken the book’s personality test, so I asked him, “What’s your personality archetype?” It turned out that our archetypes are twins, and we geeked out about that. I stayed a few extra days to meet his staff and showed him my portfolio. Two or three months later, he called and asked me if I had a food portfolio. Coincidentally, I had just put up my food portfolio. Through his agency, I landed a job shooting a Miller/Coors campaign, and I was able to hire Jessica to be my food stylist.
Let’s talk about the various things you do. You are running a food photography mentorship. Tell me how is it structured?
In early 2020, I was beginning to teach more and began to think about how to create recurring income and retain my creative freedom. When the lockdown came in spring 2020 I knew it was time to figure out how to run a membership. In August 2020, I cast a vision for a coaching membership to my list. I had 10 founding members and I have continued to grow the membership by opening the doors 4 times a year. Every other month we flip the topic between business and creative. There are guest speakers and subject matter experts that bring in new perspectives and knowledge. Members have a roadmap to help them navigate the materials as well as self assess what they need to work on.
How did you meet Traci and become involved with Focus on Women?
When I met Traci three or four years ago, our 20-minute meeting turned into two and a half hours, and we haven’t stopped talking since. Our conversations over the years turned more and more to Focus on Women and in 2019 when Traci wanted to start a podcast, I said, “I can help with that!” I had done a lot of research into podcasting because I was going to start my own podcast. I shared my knowledge, and helped her find an editor and I put together a workflow for the show. We pooled our networks and I started booking guests. The pandemic really expanded our reach, and I moved into co-hosting the podcast in season three.
What is the importance of Focus on Women?
For me, it’s sharing the point of view. One of the things I love about photography is the storytelling. And I think, historically, it’s been mainly from a man’s point of view. I love that we live in a world where today we get multiple points of view, and we get multiple walks of life, and we get people who haven’t lived the same lives we’ve lived. I think Focus on Women is so important because we can use our platform to elevate those stories. We can uplift the people who feel that their story—their walk of life, their perspective—hasn’t been shared.
Where do you think Focus on Women will go from here?
Focus on Women is growing. We have mentorship. And education. And the number one thing—the most important thing—networking. Getting women in front of the people who make buying decisions is the number one ask of the group.
There is a lot of you in there. I wonder, since you had such a good mentor at the start of your career, how important is mentorship to you?
Extremely. Having people on your side who are honest and supportive, but who can also show you tough love, can really drive you. There are times when you need mentorship more than others. And sometimes we can outgrow our mentors and need to look elsewhere for what we need to flourish. Especially when you are starting off, or thinking about making a pivot—those are momentous times to have guidance. Having someone alongside you to help light the path that you may not be able to see for yourself is priceless.
About the author: Megan Reilley is an editor and writer living in Western Maryland. She holds an MFA in Nonfiction from Goucher College, where she teaches undergraduate writing.
