In a previous post about what makes a good profile pic, I listed the following as reasons you might need to have a new corporate portrait taken:
- You are currently using a poorly taken selfie
- You are currently using a photo of yourself cropped from a group pic
- Your current photo is more than a few years old
- You have had some major change to your appearance (e.g. lost or gained weight, significant change to your hair style or colour, you have started wearing glasses all the time)
- You are targeting a different segment of your market
- You are re-branding
- You have a promotion or a campaign coming up where you will be needing a range of good images to use in a co-ordinated manner for social media, press releases and print campaign
Well, the lovely Julie Attwood was listening, apparently, and came in recently to update her professional images. Here’s her before and after.
We took the image on the left a few years ago. (You can read about that shoot here. It was a fun one!) Since then she’s not only significantly changed her hair colour, but her business has ‘changed colour’ too. Julie is a chartered accountant, but she is most definitely no longer ‘a suit’. Her business has been built around kitchen tables. Quite literally. You see, Julie’s business is mobile. She will visit you in your home to help you with your personal or business tax needs (or both), and she doesn’t mind whether you’re in your Sunday Best, or in your dressing gown and slippers.
Here she is in her own words:
Tell us what you do for work, Julie.
I’m a chartered accountant and registered tax agent.
Why did you start your business?
I started my business because I was frustrated with working for employers who I thought were doing a bad job, the theory being that if they can do it, then so can I, and probably better. I’ve wanted to run my own business ever since high school, so the goal had been sitting there a very long time. I also wanted to be more flexible around my children.
What is it about your business that makes you different from other chartered accountants?
Being a mum, I understand what it’s like to be busy and juggling everything and so I go to see my clients for appointments when it suits them in their own house – I don’t judge how many years are outstanding, if their house is a mess, if there are kids running around being noisy. Nothing bothers me at all. I’ve been in meetings with clients in their pyjamas, toddlers toilet training beside me, babies being transitioned to solids and fed while we chat, dogs and cats on my lap (not all at once, but then again that wouldn’t bother me either).
What does a typical day look like for you?
A typical day starts with coffee and checking emails and Facebook, then either dropping the kids to school, heading to a meeting or getting stuck into some work. I’m usually at home when the kids arrive home from school so I hang out with them and chat over afternoon tea before they head off for afternoon sports. In the evening after dinner I’m generally out seeing clients.
What do you like most about the work that you do?
Getting good results for clients – no one really likes paying taxes so if clients feel they aren’t paying any more than they should be then they’re happy.
If there were one piece of advice that you could give all of your clients, what would it be?
Wear the damn dress!* No seriously, I quote Ferris Bueller “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
*Julie is referring to our conversation at her first photo shoot about a very expensive silk dress. You can read that conversation here.
What’s one of the best things to happen in your business life?
One of the best things to happen was getting a refund of over $50k for a client – she was a combination of speechless and in tears.
We’ve all had days when things have gone awry for us in business. What’s the worst thing that has happened to you in your work, and how did you ‘recover’ from it?
The worst thing to happen would be to actually make a mistake (I’m human, it happens) – after wanting to be violently ill and run away I contacted the client and was brutally honest and waited for the ranting response but they were totally fine.
What do you do in your down time?
I try and get through a book a month for the book club I attend, I also attend the kids sports (jujitsu and rugby league) and I watch UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) – hey I’m in a house of boys.
Dog or cat?
Both dog and cat – a rottie and a ragdoll but I also now have an eclectus parrot, to overcome my fear of birds. I adore them all and the cat and bird tend to hang out in my office when I’m home.
When I was a kid I used to collect…..
Biggles books – still do.
If you’re looking for a chartered accountant or tax agent who can come to you, then you might like to get in touch with Julie. You can find her on Facebook here.
And if you’re ready to update your own corporate portrait, or you’d like to book in for a full personal branding session, you can get in touch with Jen from vividity here.