The Everyday Entrepreneur with Krystal Kenney: The Eiffel Tower at Sunrise, a Business Model
Please ensure your overhead items are secured - Next stop Paris!
Today I’m sitting down with Krystal Kenney, who I had the pleasure of meeting on my last trip to Paris. I’ be chatting about how she decided to not only start her own business at the age of 26 but also move to a country where she didn’t know the language or a single soul.
Her boldness is truly inspiring (I, myself, left the conversation contemplating how to get my desk to Bali) and she offers some great advice to those first starting out in their business. Not to mention I could practically smell the croissants through the phone while we talked. I would just do anything for a café creme right now!
Krystal knows what I mean: she packed up everything and moved to Paris in 2012 to start her career as a photographer! Over the last 7 years, she has shot for many institutions including the American Ambassador to France, the Musee d'Orsay, and many more. She has worked with celebrities including Roman Polanski, Jimmy Buffet, and Salman Rushdie. She loves shooting weddings and portraits and traveling as much as possible in her downtime.
Holly: Welcome Krystal! Thank you so much for being here today. I am so excited to have you on The Everyday Entrepreneur. It was such a pleasure working with you in Paris as a photographer and getting to know you as a business owner.
Krystal: I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me.
Holly: Let’s dive in! I'd love to hear your story first… who is Krystal and what do you do exactly?
Krystal: Yeah, sure. I’m Krystal Kenney and I'm originally from Annapolis, Maryland. I've been living in Paris for seven years now as a professional portrait and event photographer. I specialize in vacation portraits as there's a lot of people that come to France, especially Paris.
I’ve found people really want nice pictures of themselves to remember their trip. I shoot a lot of bloggers, couples, and families. They want great shots to remember their vacation and not have to give their phone to a stranger, knowing that they're not going to get the shot they wanted as a result.
Holly: Yeah, totally! Social media and especially Instagram have really changed the way people value photos from their travel. You're taking that up a level and give people professional, beautiful photos that they’ll treasure for so many years.
Krystal: For sure. I try to become your friend in Paris at that moment. I really like to give more than just photos. I like to give tips about the city, things to do… and don't do. I want to help create a fun experience for you.
Holly: I totally felt like you were my friend in Paris! I loved our shoot, I felt so comfortable in front of the camera, you obviously know what you're doing. I think it's one of my most favorite shoots I've ever done.
I’m guessing it hasn't always been this easy, though. As every business owner starts out, there are ups, downs, and second-guessing. I'd love to know how you went from Annapolis to Paris. That's a huge leap!
Holly: What was your decision-making process as you decided to leave the country?
Krystal: Terrifying would be the first word that comes to mind! I was 26 when I moved to France. I had never lived alone. I had never lived abroad. I was just starting my company in America.
And so I had been shooting in the U.S. and tried the nine-to-five thing because I was fresh out of college. I got a job in an office doing accounting and I was absolutely miserable. I knew that that could not be my entire life. I just wouldn't survive, it would be devastating to continue on like that.
I was always interested in the arts and I wanted to go to art school, but you know when you're in your teens everyone tells you not to do what you want to do. Do the same thing as everyone else, go to school for something where you know you can make money, blah, blah, blah.
A couple of years out of university, I realized, you know, I should try to do what I want to do. I have nothing holding me back. I don't have a car or house payment. I don't have a husband. I don't have kids.
So if I'm going to do something crazy. Let's do it now and see what happens.
And that's when I decided to move to Paris. I thought that I would live there for just one year, have some fun. Try to get some photoshoots in and then just move around the world doing other photography jobs.
The most important thing I can say to people that are trying to follow their dreams doing something creative is to just do it.
Take the first steps and then things seem to just fall into place. Changing your life and doing something huge is out of your comfort zone. It's terrifying because you think about all the things that you need to figure out.
When I moved to Paris I didn't speak the language. I didn't know the culture. I didn't have a home, everything was very difficult.
The best thing that I did was connect with other people there. I realized that I needed to get off of my computer and start talking to people. The most important choice I made was to get away from my computer and the emails and start talking to people in person.
There are all kinds of groups you can join, depending on what you’re interested in. I joined a lot of entrepreneurial and networking groups for women in Paris. I went in and I told everybody who I was and what I was doing. Once I started introducing myself that is when the work started coming in.
Holly: Wow, you’ve made a ton of progress and going from not knowing the language, not having a plan, to traveling the world, to seven years later! You're still in Paris, you're fluent in the language and your business is flourishing!
You've completely immersed yourself in the culture, the people, and the city.
So kudos to you for getting out of your comfort zone in so many ways.
Holly: What was the very first step you took that started your Paris journey?
Krystal: I started looking up visa options, like what paperwork I needed. The second thing I did was to look up photographers I admired there. And once I knew I was going to move there, I reached out to them.
Holly: Putting the wheels in motion and your intention out there by starting some research is pretty low commitment. Baby steps! Once you had done that, how did things start to change regarding your potential move?
Krystal: Before taking my first step, everyone was telling me, “don't go until you figure out exactly what you're doing.” But once I started looking at what was possible I couldn’t get Paris out of my mind. I became a little obsessive about it.
Holly: There's always going to be those unsupportive people that are saying “don't do it. That's crazy. You'll never make any money. Why don't you stay somewhere safe and more predictable.” How would you advise someone who's hearing “don’t do it” from their support network?
Krystal: I heard so much of this when trying to do something new. And what I had to remind myself is that those are not my fears. Those are people projecting their fears onto my reality.
And they're doing it from a place of love or sometimes not. But usually, it's love and they're putting themselves in your shoes and thinking of the reasons why they can't do it.
That's what they're afraid of. But it doesn't matter if you just have the passion to try it.
Holly: Yes, I one hundred percent agree that other people’s fears are not your problem. Too many times people get bogged down on what people think or say.
The important thing is to listen to your heart - these dreams and ideas are coming up for a reason. And look where you are seven years later because you listened to your heart!
Krystal: Yeah, it's so important to follow your heart. I went through years of difficulties but honestly, the failures and the hardships are what make me that much better today.
It’s important to know that you're going to have issues and you're probably going to fail. But that's not the end. You just keep going and you keep changing and adapting and that's how you get where you want to be.
Ultimately I just wanted to be doing what I love doing. And now I totally have that work. Some longer days leave me exhausted, but it’s always so satisfying.
My typical day now is doing sunrise shoots. So that means getting up before sunrise to take the Metro to the Eiffel Tower before the sun rises. In the summer that's a 4 AM wake up time.
Then I get to the Eiffel Tower and meet my clients. I usually do one-hour shoots and I have anywhere from four to six clients a day. So it's back to back. It can be physically and mentally draining because you're using both of those aspects doing this kind of work.
Holly: Alright, so when we did our shoot, we were obviously in a highly populated tourist area in front of the Eiffel Tower. Do you have any crazy, funny stories shooting there?
Krystal: I'm usually shooting in that spot every day, so I do see a lot of weird things. The funniest thing that happened to me was when I was there early for a client and there was this giant yoga meetup. Everybody was wearing orange and about to do sunrise yoga at the Eiffel Tower.
There were thousands of people wearing orange in front of the Eiffel Tower which was great but not great for me because taking photos with 1000 people in orange is not ideal.
Holly: So what did you do?
Krystal: We had to move locations, luckily I knew of another place nearby where we could shoot.
Holly: Well that's a perfect example of staying flexible and improvising on the fly. Switching gears a bit, a question I get asked all the time is, how do you find clients?
Krystal: When beginning in the photography industry, I recommend volunteering your services for organizations. I did a lot of volunteer work for music, the American Chamber of Commerce, and different groups in Paris. I would shoot their events for free or a low price.
Through those events, I met a ton of people and obviously social media is huge - Instagram and Facebook have been a big part of how I find clients as well.
Holly: Final question, if someone is visiting Paris. What is your favorite hidden gem that you think is a must-see? (not found in most travel guides)
Krystal: Well, I'm a big fan of Montmarte because I live there. There is this romantic, sweet, hotel bar that's tucked away. It's called the Montmarte Hotel. I love sending my clients there because it's hidden away in the city. When you arrive there's a black gate, you have to be buzzed in and then you walk down this quiet little cobblestone street and you have this magnificent view of the Eiffel Tower. You turn left and you're in this little garden bar it's just kind of fun. It's your own secret hangout spot. They have food, music, and drinks and it's really beautiful.
Holly: I wish I would have asked you that when I was there! Now where can people find you online?
Krystal: So, @missparisphoto on Instagram, my website, and Facebook.
Holly: Awesome. Is there anything that you want to mention or talk about that we didn't cover today that you think would be helpful for people to know or anything you're excited about anything else you want to share?
Krystal: Um, yeah, I think the biggest tip I can give to any entrepreneurs out there is just kind of keep moving. You know, and it really helped. Even when you feel like you're failing or nothing's working you're exhausted. It's so important to just keep going. Even if you're feeling really terrible, or like it's not working, just keep pushing forward. It's going to get better.
And one other thing: I'm working on my book! I'm writing a memoir about what it's like to start a business in Paris, some of the things that have happened to me there. And that will be advertised on my website, very soon.
Holly: When are you launching it?
Krystal: Well, I'm working on writing it still so it should be out by next year.
Holly: I can't wait to see when it comes out and read it and share it with others. Thank you so much, and kudos to you for all the hard work that you do in Paris! You’ve really made your dream a reality and while living overseas, I think that's incredible. It’s something I would definitely consider someday. So you've also inspired me, Krystal! Thank you.
Krystal: Thank you!
I know I can speak for all of us when I say I cannot wait to read that book. The spontaneity of the whole thing is so glamorous I can hardly take it! I’m glad we were able to dig a little deeper with Krystal to learn about some of the more trialing experiences and how she overcame them, too. It’s so inspiring to hear how the simple task of putting one foot in front of the other can lead to nearly a decade of successful business, especially in a foreign place.
I’ll definitely be day-dreaming about Fedexing my desk to Bali for the next 24 hours...They could do it, right?
Holly works with professionals to create services-based businesses using expertise and strengths they already have. Holly is the creator of The Consultant Code, a program will have you up, running, and profitable with your services-based business in 60 days or less! Want to learn more? Drop her a note at: holly@hollyknoll.com