Business + Marketing
Mastering Mindset: Prepare to Thrive with Felicia Reed Q&A
October 25, 2023
Thriving in the most challenging of circumstances is a skillset that portrait photographer and business mentor Felicia Reed excels in. To Reed, mindset is the key to profitability, and with an average sale that exceeds $7,000, she has the receipts to back the idea up.
Reed has appeared on The Portrait System Podcast many times, sharing how her positive mindset helps her overcome business challenges. First, she talked about how she grew her business even under pandemic restrictions. Next on the Podcast Clubhouse Edition, she discussed how she grew her monthly income from $6,000 to $40,000 in one year with smart goal setting. She returned to discuss how setting good boundaries can make you more profitable. Most recently, she spoke with host Nikki Closser about her successful battle with breast cancer and how she was able to not only keep her business afloat but stay profitable while going through chemo.

Reed recommends joining positive mindset with practical planning. She encourages fellow entrepreneurs to prepare in advance for the unexpected. She was able to weather her health challenges successfully because not only had she been giving herself healthy salary, but she also was putting money away for a rainy day. She also had taken on an assistant, who she trained in all aspects of her business except shooting, and this support was crucial to her being able to run her business while undergoing chemo and four surgeries.
Reed is now doing great and her business continues to thrive thanks to her foresight, planning, and positive mindset. To learn more about Reed, visit her website, and you can also take a peek into her studio in this recorded tour. Below, she shares how she broke through her own limitations to build a thriving business and become a certified mindset coach.

Felicia Reed Q&A
How did you push past fear when building your business?
I was able to push past fear when building my business because I saw evidence in the portrait group. I saw others like Saray Taylor-Roman killing it in the game. I was like, if she can do it, I can do it. I did have the confidence that if I put my mind to it, I would win because Sue Bryce had given me all the resources I needed. I just had to go out there and try different things. I did fail many times, but as I usually say, “Not failure, only feedback.”
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?
My mission statement has a part in it where I am here to serve clients, not just during a photoshoot, but long after. My clients become the FRP family. I make sure to keep up with them on social media as well as create events to invite them to. I now have this brunch group of around 12-15 of us, and the majority are my clients. We started meeting every other month to catch up. I am always looking for ways to support and connect them.

How has The Portrait System changed your life for the better?
The Portrait System has given me the tools and resources I need to be a profitable sustainable business. It has given me a tribe that I can call on. I have met my “bestest” friends through them. There’s nothing better than having like-minded individuals to call on and have support you. It has connected me to people around the world. I am able to support my family, and I purchased my first studio this past year. The list goes on.
What has been your biggest breakthrough in business?
My biggest breakthrough has been my mindset and self-value. I did all that self-value work in the beginning, watching Sue’s videos. I had no idea this was work that needed to be done over a lifetime. I now have my very own mindset coach, and I am now a certified mindset coach. I don’t take things personally. I look for the lesson in it all. Life is here to mold us and teach us. If your mindset isn’t right, then you will struggle and you will react negatively to everything that is happening to you in life as well as in your business. I learned that lesson quickly. Now I bounce back quickly from adversity or negative circumstances that I encounter.
What is your average sale currently?
My current average portrait client sale is $7,016.84
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