Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Tsay.
Jennifer, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have a background in investment banking and strategic finance, and I am also a working actor. About ten years ago, while I was still new to acting and trying to figure out career balance, I applied on craigslist to work as an admin at a startup. As soon as I met the founder, he decided that he would rather run business operations on the ground for him due to my skill set. I worked for him for about a year and a half until operations became virtual, and I was out of a job.
We reconnected in 2018, and with my background in the arts, we decided to work on a photography startup to attempt to address the gig economy on the photographer side and drive demand on the consumer side by making professional photography more accessible to everyone. With that idea, Shoott was born, and we’ve since built up a team of six women (half of us are moms!) to run the entire operation which now supports 70+ photographers across the country.
Our core offering is a 30-minute outdoor photo session that is free upfront. You receive a digital gallery of high-res, lightly-edited photos in 3-5 business days, and you only pay for the photos you want at $15 each or less. We are a 5-star rated service on Facebook, Google, and TripAdvisor and take pride in providing a fun, empowering, and convenient experience while producing Insta-worthy photos that are ideal for personal branding, social media, family portraits, holiday cards, modeling portfolios, or just to treat yourself (or your pup!).
Based in NYC, we’ve built up the business to serve the NYC metro area and have recently begun a national launch rollout that included San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin, Dallas, Phoenix, and Philadelphia. We plan on adding more cities in 2020.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Does any startup ever travel a smooth road?!
Figuring out our business took a lot of experimentation. Finding the right offer so it was appealing to customers while also being good for photographers took some time and growing pains before we struck the right balance.
Our team is also 98% remote, so figuring out how to manage and integrate numerous, integrated workstreams when people are not all in the same room and keeping people on task, building trust, strong communication skills, and solid work processes took a lot of collaboration, time, and trial and error.
We also spent time focusing on partnerships that didn’t come to fruition or didn’t turn out to be what we thought and trying out agencies that we hoped would really be a silver bullet. What we’ve found is that there is no such silver bullet apart from the hard work, knowledge, and expertise that only our team can bring to the table.
We had to build everything from scratch, be willing to take risks, and adjust and adapt from our mistakes and findings.
Shoott – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Our mission is to bring great photography to everybody. Professional photography is traditionally only accessible to the wealthy and often leaves photographers stuck with spending all their time marketing and finding clients. Shoott excels at solving both of these problems with our bookable 30-minute photo sessions and pay-by-the-pic model.
We’re known for our Insta-worthy photos that are affordable. We’re known as a great, convenient photo solution that is fun and practical with just the right amount of shoot time for everyone involved (yourself, your spouse, your kids, your pup!).
I am proud of so much, but I love (in no particular order):
Our 100% female team of 5 that is comprised of 50% moms. We’re also 98% remote so have nearly perfected a system of communicating, being super productive, and knowing how to accommodate and respect each other’s work styles and strengths.
Our photographers are all hand-picked and have been vetted by a rigorous interview and test-shoot process. We’ve interviewed, met, test-shot, and trained every photographer so we’re confident that we’re providing our clients with fantastic photographers – skill-wise and personality-wise. Instead of just being a site that any photographer can sign up for (like a marketplace), we’ve developed and maintained a personal relationship with each and every photographer. We provide notes and feedback, and with the volume of sessions each photographer has via Shoott, we get to see them grow in their artistry over time which is incredibly exciting and rewarding.
Our team has built the business from scratch. I’m so proud of our website, of the proprietary gallery system we’ve built, of how we’ve been humble enough to let ourselves be wrong at times, how we’ve learned from our mistakes and grown from them, how we’ve managed our clients, how we’ve worked to solve customer issues, and so much more I can’t even remember. In just over a year, we’ve been able to start expanding nationally, which is so exciting!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I honestly think of success as how well my team is working together in the pursuit of our common goals. I’ve found that the more we’re on the same page, the faster we meet and even surpass goals without being solely focused on that, which can be really limiting and stressful. When we’re working well and effectively solving problems together, nothing makes me happier.
I’ve found that the combination of being flexible and open to challenges as they arise, understanding situations versus reacting/judging them at first impression, and maintaining healthy, respectful, and joyful relationships around me both personally and professionally is really the magic mix of things.
The “markers” I look for are really found in my team themselves: are they communicating honestly, fully, and with transparency? Do they seem confident and engaged with their work and their team members? Are they able to voice their opinion without fear? Does everyone understand why decisions are being made? Are they comfortable with decisions being made? These are the types of things I look out for.
Pricing:
- Only pay for the photos you want at $15/photo or less!
- Buy 10 photos for $120 or your entire gallery of 40+ photos for $220
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shoott.com/?city=dallas
- Email: info@shoott.com
- Instagram: @shoottphotos
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shoottphotos/
Image Credit:
Shoott
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