Paulina Gwaltney is a portrait photographer based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She was in business for nine years creating beautiful portraits but was found herself unable to make significant income. Gwaltney began to realize that to make the business breakthroughs she needed, she must address her deeper underlying issues. She entered therapy, studied the self-value teachings of Sue Bryce, and sought out mentorship with Saray Taylor-Roman, and then, everything changed for her.

Gwaltney recently sat down with Nikki Closser  on The Portrait System Podcast to talk about how she was able to overcome her blocks to earning money, which you can listen to here. In the Q&A below, she talks about how she made her biggest business breakthroughs, including overcoming her money blocks, working with fear, quitting her day job, and building the business of her dreams.

What have been your biggest business breakthroughs?   

I have been in business for over nine years and never got “traction” or made significant income or income at all. I could not figure out what I was missing. I listened to many workshops. I made countless notes. I have been in therapy for over two years, and I had to face the fact that I did not respect, value, or appreciate myself at all. I gave my work away over and over again. I resented everyone and burned out over and over again. This year, I faced the fact of either closing my business or making a breakthrough. I hired Saray Taylor-Roman (Take Action with Saray) to get a better grip on money in my business. It was intense. It was scary. It was nerve wracking. But all of a sudden, everything clicked into place – the way I work, getting new clients, and building my future. My breakthrough was looking inwards. Everything I needed was in front of me. I just did not see it through my mental blocks. I cannot stress enough how important it is not to look outwards but inwards. 

How did you push past fear when building your business?   

I did not push past it. I learned to accept it as part of the journey. Fear is good. Fear keeps us alive, and I am ok experiencing it. There is never a simple solution on how to handle it. It is part of running a business. Sue’s words sit very deep with me. She said that the more success you get in life, the more hardship you will get. For me hardship comes as fear and doubt. I balanced it by the joy of creating and being grateful that I can make things….like from thin air. I can create this image, make a story, bring feelings to people, leave something behind for the world to see and experience.  

Making a connection with your subject is one of the most important parts of a great portrait. How do you make lasting connections with your clients?   

I am a huuuuuge empath. Maybe it is a bit too much to say, but I experienced childhood trauma…like 20 years of narcissistic parents. With that my survival depended on reading people around me. Now, I make a gift out of it. I use it to help my clients or whoever sits in front of me feel good. When they feel good, they relax, they listen to instructions better, they allow themselves to let their guard down. I walk to the studio and always tell myself it is not about me. My skills, my lights, my ability to style does not mean anything. The only important part is for people around me to be joyful and happy. I chat about everything with my clients. I stop shooting when I see they get “tangled” in a process. I want them to feel that they are the most important person in the whole wide world because I know how painful it is when people do not care about you. I do not want them to ever feel that in my presence. 

How has The Portrait System changed your life for the better?   

For me The Portrait System is Sue Bryce – even after growing into this massive education platform. I have followed Sue since the first online workshop I saw with her back in 2012. This platform gave me courage to quit my job, to build my portfolio in my kitchen, to move my business four times, to restart it four times, and to be relentless in my effort to create and build my future. It is part of my life for good. I always say it is like a recipe book, and you will be able to find anything you need when you are starting your journey in photography and in business.  

Where do you see your business in the next 5 years?  

I want to become a business owner and not be self-employed. There is a huge difference between those two. I have solid skills as an artist. Now I need to sell it and build a future where I do not worry about my price list and bookings – just serving my clients. I am currently creating online tutorials in costume building and also am creating a new service for photographers with a goal to travel to very cool places and spend a couple days creating, eating, drinking, resting, and connecting with fellow photographers. I am super excited about it since there is nothing like this out there. It will help so many folks build their portfolios and images for competition that are out of this world.  The first one will be in New Mexico this Fall. Find out more here.