Brave Dragonfly Photography Entrepreneur Profile

Brave Dragonfly Photography, owned by Rebecca George, specializes in personal brand photography. Rebecca photographs entrepreneurs, business owners, and influencers doing what they love to do, and provides them with a library of images that help them create a connection through their social media accounts and their websites.

Rebecca has always loved making photos. A few years ago she was exploring starting a blog, and I wanted to avoid using the same stock photos that she was seeing everywhere. She started researching how to improve her photography skills. This led to photography classes online, and Rebecca explains that “the more she learned about photography the more she loved it, and soon it was all she wanted to do”. She finds the whole process of photographing and creating images to be deeply meditative and creatively rewarding. Rebecca claims that, “I am an observant and quiet person, I love to connect with people and discover their stories”. She also explains that she loves how a well-executed photo can show someone’s inner beauty, can preserve a moment in time, and can even tell an entire story with exquisite intimacy, detail, and emotion.

Rebecca explains that, “I’m inspired by creativity, in all its forms….the ways in which all of us are creative and all of us add to our world  — creating beauty, challenging thought, adding layers of our own perspectives to every situation we inhabit”. Her dream is to fill her schedule with photographing other creative people, no matter what form that creativity takes. She dreams of working with artists of all kinds: people who paint, tattoo, sew, cook, decorate cakes, rap, design clothing or buildings, create experiences …. the list is endless and varied. She envisions herself in five years working with clients all over the world, help them tell their stories with authenticity and clarity. She feels, “there’s nothing as exciting to me as seeing people doing what they were meant to be doing. They just light up! —and that is such a beautiful thing. Those are the stories I want to help tell through my photography”.

Rebecca states that her experience in CIC’s Entrepreneur Workshop helped her refine her vision of what she wanted her business to be. She feels she came into the workshop knowing she wanted to start a photography business and that she Ioves the authenticity of unposed, documentary photography, at the time, she was still working out what exactly her business would look like and how it would fit into her life. She explains, “there was so much that was exciting and enlightening about the workshop, but possibly my absolute favorite thing about the whole experience was learning the stories of all my classmates. There was so much creativity, energy, and inspiration in that room”. The marketing week of the workshop helped Rebecca see all the ways to use social media to market her businesses, and she realized how effective images can be in growing and promoting a business. She says her “head was full of all the possible images that would tell the stories of the entrepreneurs in the workshop”.

During the next few weeks, Rebecca started developing a plan for photo sessions with entrepreneurs and influencers where she photographed them doing their work, interacting with clients, and creating their products. Every time she heard the story of someone’s business, she says she could visualize photos that would tell that story with emotion and authenticity, the kind of photos that would create connection.

The creative aspects of starting a business are what excites Rebecca, the details of things like licensing, record-keeping, business structure, and so on she feels are really overwhelming. She says, “it was great to have a chance to go through everything in a methodical organized way, and to do that alongside other budding entrepreneurs was a bonus — it felt so much less lonely, and more supported and energizing”. She found lasting friends and an amazing support network. She explains that she returns often to her notes and the textbook whenever she needs a refresher, and she know that anytime she has questions or needs advice, there’s a CIC person who can help me.

Rebecca advises other CIC entrepreneurs to connect with others in the Entrepreneur Workshop, in the greater circle of CIC alums, and in the CIC office….and nurture those relationships! She feels, “there are so many generous, creative, intelligent, and energetic people in this community and it’s great to know that we’re all in this entrepreneur life together!”