Personal Branding, Visibility, Storytelling & Being a Mum in Business with Fi Mims
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In the latest 10 Years, 10 Stories interview, I chat with personal branding photographer and visibility coach extraordinaire Fi Mims. Fi has taken every brand photo I use in my business, and has a special gift of making you feel comfy in front of the camera.
We explore her journey to becoming a leading personal brand photographer and how her passion for helping women in business be more visible inspired her to create the Shine community.
We also chat about the importance of visibility, how connection and authenticity are critical elements in any marketing strategy, what our favourite project together has been, and some of the challenges and joys of being a mum in business.
Meet Fi Mims from Fi Mims Photography
Relationship to me:
Colleague, Collaborator, Supplier, Client & Friend
Years we’ve known each other:
9+ years
Specialty:
Personal Branding Photography, Visibility and Shine Membership
What we’ve worked on:
Email Marketing, Website Copy, Copywriting for Shine Magazine (before it became a membership!) and Fi is the photographer behind every branded photo I’ve had taken in my business.
Interview Highlights
Meet Fi
Fi was one of those people who didn’t really know what to do all through high school and university, and she didn’t study any subjects that led her in any particular direction.
But she loved to travel. And she loved taking photos.
On a trip to the National Portrait Gallery in London, Fi was inspired by the incredible, large format portraits on the wall. She remembers looking at those portraits, and thinking that was absolutely wanted to do.
It took a while for her to lean into her passion and turn it into a career – but I’m sure glad she did.
After returning to Australia, Fi started her business photographing weddings, before she naturally gravitated to personal branding photography.
She’s a photographer and educator who helps entrepreneurs, thought leaders and business owners build a powerful online presence that allows them to attract more customers and build the business of their dreams. And she does this through her personal brand photography services, content creation days and her amazing membership Shine, where she teaches business women how to increase their visibility and attract more ideal clients using strategies around branding, marketing and mindset.
Our favourite project we’ve worked on together…
It’s easy for me to say that every photo shoot I’ve ever done with Fi has been my favourite.
But if we look a few years back, there was also a project we did together called Shine Magazine.
This was the precursor to the Shine Membership, where Fi interviewed the women she was photographing and captured their business stories and expertise in an online magazine format.
I was honoured to be the copywriter and editor for several issues of Shine Magazine and I’m now a proud member of the Shine Membership, with a group of inspiring women who are making showing up for their business a priority.
I’ve loved watching this evolution in Fi’s business and super grateful to have been a part of the journey.
What we love most about working together…
Fi just has this amazing way of putting people at ease when they’re in front of the camera.
It’s a special skill that not every photographer has, and it means that you can show up as your best, authentic self and connect with your ideal audience. This is why she’s my go-to when it comes to personal branding photography, both for me and for my clients.
In addition to doing copywriting for Fi, I’ve also been a guest expert in the Shine Membership.
Here’s what she had to say about our collaborations:
“You've done work for me over the years. You did copywriting work for me a long time ago. Writing for my website, and then a way that you've worked for me is to come in and run a guest expert on brand story strategy in the Shine Membership.
And you know what, even just last week, I kid you not, your name came up in a conversation with one of the Shine members and she's like, I could just listen to Amey talk forever.”
What Fi thinks will change for business in the next 10 years…
In the AI age, your personal brand is going to be important to your small business. Fi believes it’s the people that are showing up for their ideal client who will get traction and succeed in business growth.
People want to connect with the real you before they decide whether or not to work with you.
“And they want to know that it's authentic connection. That it's not just you turning up, you know, reading off a script or doing something because it's what everyone else is doing. They want to really feel like they're connecting with you authentically. That’s how people are making those buying decisions.”
Fi also thinks that new A.I. tools are going to increasingly be a massive win for small business – and I agree.
She says:
“As small business owners, I feel like we've always been so time poor. And that has been probably one of our disadvantages as well, particularly when starting out, because we don't have the money to invest.
We're still going to have to work hard, show up a lot. We do it because we're passionate about it. But I feel like there's going to be more tools to support us.”
Key Interview Insight
I read something just in the last couple of days where a mum was reflecting on the guilt she felt about not being around for her kids. Cause she worked, she ran her own business and she worked a lot, but then as they got over older, they actually said to her, well, no, we actually admired you, watching you run this business and achieve these things.
So she was like, Oh my gosh, all that time when I was worried, I was actually teaching them, that you can do these things for yourself, you can create your own path and run your own business.
We've got to remember that. We're not necessarily always seen the way we think we're seen by our kids - Fi
About the 10 Years, 10 Stories Interview Series
This interview is one of a series of ten interviews I did in 2024, with ten people who have impacted my business journey throughout my ten years in business.
Each and every conversation full of insight, advice, memories and celebration.
