February 3, 2025 • 23 mins
Professional photographer Carol from Asheville joins us for a conversation filled with resilience and creativity. She opens up about the daunting challenge of rebuilding her business after Hurricane Helene, turning adversity into an opportunity for rebranding in 2025. Carol’s journey from her high school photography days to a successful career in concert photography is inspiring, and her current focus on bringing out the unique personality of businesses through comprehensive branding packages is a testament to her visionary approach. Whether capturing a massage therapist’s tranquil setting or a real estate agent’s friendly aura, Carol’s work goes beyond mere headshots to tell compelling stories.
Entrepreneur's Bio:
The best compliment Carol could receive is someone saying, ‘I usually hate having my picture taken but instead, I enjoyed every minute of it!” She is a true people-person who loves pumping others full of confidence, and was drawn to her art form for that very challenge: to help more people enjoy it. By supporting clients and bringing positive energy, she gives them a natural high that comes from taking and seeing a beautiful image of themselves. In the studio or workout class, she is always rooting for others so they can achieve their goals. It’s hard to be our own biggest cheerleader, which is why she uses optimism to uplift and support others.
Looking for someone to change your headshot experience into a positive one? Carol not only takes headshots but specialize in creating them. Being an expression coach, she'll guide you through the whole process to get the look you want while keeping your genuine personality in mind. From guiding you on what to wear to giving detailed instructions in front of the camera, you not only walk away with a headshot you can be proud of but an experience you will want to tell your colleagues and friends about.
Thanks for Listening. You may contact me at https://billgilliland.actioncoach.com/
All the best!
Bill
Thanks for listening. Please hit the subscribe button, leave us a 5 star review, and share this podcast. You can reach me at williamgilliland@actioncoach.com.
All the best!
Bill
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Bill Gilliland (00:02):
Hey there and welcome to this week's episode
of Epic Entrepreneurs.
I've got my friend Carol herewith us today.
Carol, how's it going?
Carol Spagnuola (00:09):
Excellent.
It is feeling much better thesedays and it actually feels good
to be able to say I'm doinggood, as I know many of us have
probably been feeling, but thankyou for having me on the show,
bill.
Bill Gilliland (00:22):
You're welcome and for those of you that may be
listening to this fromsomewhere other than Asheville,
you know we got hit by ahurricane and certainly Carol's
studio was affected and a lot ofthings, a lot of all of us were
affected.
But anyway, so thanks thatyou're doing.
I'm glad that you're doingbetter and good.
So tell us a little bit aboutyour business.
Carol Spagnuola (00:45):
Yeah, I'm a local professional photographer
here in Asheville, been inbusiness for 11 years now.
I do have a studio in the RiverArts District and I actually
moved from one of the buildingsthat was did not make it through
the storm the Riverview Stationto Film Mechanics.
So we are one of the buildingsthat are still standing.
(01:07):
But I do primarily headshot andportrait work and I love what I
do.
I'm very passionate aboutworking with people and building
their businesses and kind oflike what you do.
And, yeah, I'm really thankfulthat I get to choose my career
(01:29):
for what I love to do.
Bill Gilliland (01:32):
Yeah, and, by the way, she did our headshots,
has done an amazing job.
They're incredible and yeah,and it was a good experience.
It was fun, like I was like, oh, I got to go get my pictures
done, but I got up there and itwas fun, so thanks for that.
You also do a lot of otherthings.
What tell us a little bit aboutwhat else you do?
Carol Spagnuola (01:52):
Well, for 2025, I'm rebranding my business to
create more of a package forbusinesses.
So, yes, you might need aheadshot or portrait for your
about page that goes on yourwebsite or you could use for
social media, but also imagesthat speak to your brand, the
lifestyle of your brand, yourbusiness, the personality of
(02:14):
your business, and also, if yousell certain things, you'll have
product photography, you'llhave restaurant photography,
food photography all within thisbranding bubble, if you will,
of imagery that you can useacross the board for marketing,
for your websites, for yoursocial media, for marketing
pamphlets, whatever that you seefit.
(02:36):
So it would be essentiallypackages that we could do once a
month, or maybe every fewmonths, or quarterly.
You end up with a bunch ofimages to use, and so maybe we
do that as a quarterly thing andwe talk all about the details
leading up to it, setting up theshoot.
I'm really specific anddetailed about that because I
(02:58):
want these images to besomething that you end up loving
and happy with that you end uploving and happy with.
Bill Gilliland (03:07):
So it's all photography-based.
You're just doing more thanjust the headshots, right?
Carol Spagnuola (03:14):
Exactly which I've always done.
I just have not.
I guess not.
Bill Gilliland (03:18):
I want to talk to you.
You said about show thepersonality.
Tell me how you do that,because that's a I don't know, I
don't know how to do it.
You know, I'm not a I'm not aphotographer, so tell me how you
do that.
Carol Spagnuola (03:30):
Absolutely so.
Let's say you're a massagetherapist and we would start
with some headshots, portraitsof you and the personality of
your business.
For that is a lot of times wethink of a massage, we think of
soothing, we think of nurtureand care.
So you would have imagery thatsomebody is showing just that,
(03:52):
maybe during the massage, maybesomebody wrapping like a warm
towel around their head,something that shows that
personality that wants to drawsomebody in to their business.
If you own let's say you're areal estate company, right, and
you of course need headshots forreal estate, but you also want
(04:14):
to show that you're approachableand friendly and that you know
you could show the personalityof you inside certain homes,
walking around and just having agood time, so that people can
feel and connect to you.
So there's just different waysthat you can show personality
and imagery.
Bill Gilliland (04:32):
Right, and so it could be individual too.
I mean you could take, I meanyou could take something that
was maybe not, maybe maybe thinkabout you know a soothing for
massage therapy, but maybethere's like a you know, really
pumped up massage therapist orsomething.
That would be a differentexperience.
I don't know.
That'd be interesting yeah.
Carol Spagnuola (04:52):
Yeah For you.
You boost businesses.
You could do lots of picturesof you with your clients, you
reading books and educatingyourself to show that you're
constantly evolving with whatyou do, so you can bring that to
the table of your clients.
It's all different kinds ofways to get creative.
Bill Gilliland (05:08):
Got it.
I got it.
Yeah, no, that's cool.
That is cool.
So how'd you get into thisbusiness in the first place?
I mean, have you always been acamera bug, or what's the deal?
Carol Spagnuola (05:21):
Yeah, I've done it since high school.
I had a dark room at myparents' house inside the
basement and I did go to collegefor photography and video, but
I didn't do anything with it inmy 20s and then, about when I
was 35 and I owned anotherbusiness, I was like, why am I
not picking up a camera?
And so I had a 35 millimeterfilm camera at the time and I
(05:46):
bought a digital camera andstarted taking pictures at
concerts, which I completelylove seeing live music.
So the two went really welltogether and it evolved really
quickly and people started toconnect with my photography and
then I said this is something Iwant to pursue.
So I started to do someresearch on what type of
(06:07):
photography, because there's somany different niches out there
and I don't want to be a Walmartphotographer.
I don't do weddings, you know.
I mean because there's peoplethat do like everything and I
feel, you know, it's better tospecialize in one specific genre
, if you will.
So it just evolved that way,and five years later I sold my
(06:30):
other business, went full timein this, and here I am, six and
a half years later, and so happythat I haven't looked back.
Don't do the math on my age.
Bill Gilliland (06:41):
Yeah, okay, all right, I'm trying to.
Yeah, okay, all right, I'mtrying to yeah.
So you know it's a, it's a.
I want to talk a little bitabout specializing, because I
think that's useful for somepeople.
I mean, that is a, that is amarketing concept and that seems
to have worked really well foryou.
I mean, what?
What I'm hearing is that you,you chose, you sort of realized,
(07:02):
all right, I didn't want to bea Walmart, I didn't want to do
weddings, I don't like doing.
You know, I wanted someflexibility as well, so I want
to make my own hours.
But the headshots seem to begood because and you came out of
business, so the businessseemed like because, I mean,
headshots are for businesspeople, right, in general, it's
for a website or for somethingalong those lines Vaccine, yeah,
(07:24):
yeah.
Yeah, there's a lot of ways touse them, but you know so they
need to be done.
And it's cool because they needto be done every year or two
anyway.
So, because you know, peoplechange, right, Absolutely.
Carol Spagnuola (07:36):
We grow up.
Bill Gilliland (07:37):
We grow up, but now you're looking at adding
some stuff, which I think isappropriate.
You've established a beach holdand now you approach it, so
what was your thinking on, likehow to specialize and what to,
and how has that worked out foryou?
Carol Spagnuola (07:52):
Well, for the headshots, I know when I was
doing a lot of research at thetime and started studying and
realized that it wasn't justabout taking a picture.
It was about connecting withhumans and creating an
experience for them, because atthe end of the day, when you
look at your headshot, I wantyou to remember how you felt and
that not walked away, notliking the experience because I
(08:15):
hear that a lot.
So that started to connect withme because I feel like my
purpose in life is I'm more of apositive person and I love to
uplift myself and others, andthat just was part of being a
headshot photographer portraitphotographers you know you got
to uplift that person in thatmoment.
You got to get them to beconfident and comfortable and
(08:36):
have a good time and trust you,and so that kind of became
pretty easy once I knew that.
But I always love to dabble in,like I've done some food
photography for some restaurantsand product photography or more
like if it's a restaurant,having people sitting and
(08:57):
enjoying the place or whateverit is that you have there, and
so I started to really enjoythat as well, and so combining
the two only makes sense becauseit's an all around package that
you need for your business.
Bill Gilliland (09:11):
Did it just show up?
Did somebody say hey, can youdo this, can you take some
pictures of some food for us,and maybe can you make us look
better?
How did it show up?
Carol Spagnuola (09:21):
Well, a couple years ago a business the
National Sports Club opened upand they were good friends of
mine.
So I did their marketing andsocial media and pictures for
the year and I had done itbefore, but that was like a more
of a um addition to myphotography business and I loved
(09:42):
it.
And I don't necessarily loveposting for someone else's
social media, but doing the, the, the pictures for it, I
absolutely loved.
So this past year it's been onmy list to start creating and
then we all know this fall weall kind of had stuff pushed to
the side and we're busy, youknow, helping our community out.
(10:02):
So this is the year that I'mgoing to really market this and
rebrand it and I'm in theprocess of redoing my website
for it.
Bill Gilliland (10:11):
Yeah, I mean you can always hire somebody to
post the things once thecreative stuff is done.
I mean that's an assistant or avirtual assistant job.
So I mean that's leaning intothe stuff you love to do and
letting somebody else do all thestuff you don't love to do,
right?
So you've been in a couple ofbusinesses.
(10:34):
I'm sure you've had somelessons in there.
Give us a couple of lessons.
Give us a couple of lessons.
Carol Spagnuola (10:41):
Yes, there's always a lot of them.
One of the biggest lessons Ithink that most businesses learn
a lot from, especially myself,is if it takes you double or
triple the amount of time to dosomething, then you should
probably find the professionalto do it.
I used to do my own accounting.
(11:02):
I've messed things up.
I have to pay sales tax.
I was always late and I'll justbe very transparent.
I always paid it, but I hadfees to pay and finally I was
like why am I doing that?
Just pay the professional totake care of that and take that
one thing off of your plate sothat you can focus more on the
things that you specialize in.
And that was one of the biggestlessons I'll still recommend to
(11:27):
people, no matter what it is.
If it's taking you a long timeto do it, your time is valuable.
So remove that, give it to aprofessional, put it in with the
budget and move on.
Bill Gilliland (11:40):
Well, I mean, and the truth said, in most
professions and most businessowners can make more money doing
the thing that they're good at,that they're actually a genius
Doing the thing that they'regood at that they're actually a
genius rather than doing dataentry or bookkeeping or
something that now a bookkeepercan make more money doing that
because that's what they do.
Yeah, so, because they can doit, yeah, it's crazy.
(12:05):
I remember I hired, I had this,I made this long list one time
of and I needed, as a wholebunch of admin stuff I needed
done and I was like this isgoing to take three, four or
five weeks to do it.
And I hired a um, actually acollege intern, to do it and she
did it in, uh, two days, likeeverything the whole.
Four or five weeks it wouldhave taken me and she did it in
(12:27):
two days.
So it's, yeah, it's, that's agood, that's, that's a good
lesson.
Let's do a quick round.
Epic is an acronym and so let's, let's do a quick round.
Let me get your thoughts on theacronym.
So, um, the B part, it's B EPIC.
So the B part of it's bring theenergy.
What, what, what's your, yourenergetic, what's the?
(12:49):
What's your thoughts aboutenergy and bringing energy to
the work.
Carol Spagnuola (12:53):
That's mindset.
So, we could sit here and belike, oh, I'm so tired.
Or we could sit here and say,no, I'm good, I've got this, and
you know.
Side note on this metaphor partis I run a lot and I heard
recently when you feel pain andlike maybe your calf is tight,
and you say I love my body, Ilove my calf, I love my calf,
(13:17):
then it kind of goes away.
And so I've started to do thatand literally for the next
couple of minutes I forget thatmy calf hurts.
And so point is, if you want tobring the energy, just believe
in yourself, have confidence inyourself and tell yourself that
you can do it.
No negativity.
Negativity will not bringenergy.
Bill Gilliland (13:39):
We're going to call you the energetic
photographer or the positivephotographer or something like
that.
I don't know.
It's awesome, I love it.
No, look, I'm a hundred percent.
I'm with you, mindset.
It's all about deciding Make adecision and go with it.
All right, the E stands foreducation.
So what important?
What do you think theimportance of education is in
(14:01):
business?
Carol Spagnuola (14:06):
the importance of education is in business.
Well, for my field ofphotography, it's ever-changing
and there's a lot of newprograms out there, a lot of
different ways to do things, andstudying is only going to
elevate your business.
Getting to know, like what'scurrent, what's trending, and
also something like, forinstance, if I'm doing product
photography, doing a course onthat, learning about that, find
(14:30):
a mentor that can educate youand improve your skills.
Bill Gilliland (14:35):
Yeah, I think you learn whatever the best way
it is for you to learn.
I like audio, I like podcastsand Audible and books on tape
and all that stuff.
So it's all good you got tofind what works for you.
I love that.
Okay next.
So the E in EPIC is education,the P in EPIC is planning.
(14:56):
What's your thoughts aboutplanning?
Carol Spagnuola (15:00):
I think planning creates a successful
day.
Bill Gilliland (15:03):
Oh, I love that.
Carol Spagnuola (15:05):
I am still working on that.
I even bought these daily plans.
That has time.
So I wake up and I write ineach time spot what I'm supposed
to be doing.
And it really helps, especiallyus multitaskers, that sometimes
(15:27):
you feel overwhelmed with thelarge list.
So if you reallycompartmentalize it to a
specific time, it has reallyhelped me plan the day and be
more successful, especially thattwo o'clock mark when you need
to give yourself 30 minutes.
Bill Gilliland (15:40):
Tough time of the day, I'm telling you.
It is it just so?
Is the?
Yeah, I agree, the mostimportant plan you can make is
the plan for the tomorrow.
Yeah, yeah, I like it.
The I stands for inspiration.
Carol Spagnuola (15:53):
I've also learned that Say that Start
backwards, like when you havesomething, a, something plan,
just kind of go backwardstowards it, which I'm really
trying to master.
I really like that idea.
So, that's the idea there is tochunk it down in smaller steps.
Is that the yes Like?
(16:15):
Let's say we have, I have ameeting at 10.
So I start backwards.
I know I have a meeting at 10o'clock with Bill, and then how
long is it going to take me toset up?
I know it might take me 10minutes to get all of my
computer, blah, blah, blah, andthen how long will it take me to
get ready?
So I know, at 9.50, I have tostart getting my computer ready.
At nine o'clock I have toshower and get all that.
Bill Gilliland (16:35):
So it's kind of like yeah, yeah, yeah, chunk it
down.
Little things make itmanageable.
I mean on big stuff you can dothat.
Carol Spagnuola (16:51):
Sometimes multiple day projects that stuff
the eye is inspiration.
What are your thoughts aboutinspiration?
Well, the inspiration firststarts within you and then also
find, follow people, locals,your friends, anybody that
inspires and uplifts you.
That's somebody that is aninspiration.
It doesn't have to be thislarge, famous person.
It could just be somebody thatyou know, that you know is out
there kicking some serious buttin this world and in life and
(17:14):
they can inspire you.
That's a beautiful thing.
We don't have to recreate thewheel in some ways of just
knowing what feels good and thatcan uplift you and inspire you.
Bill Gilliland (17:26):
Yeah, and I love it, and the C is commitment.
So what's your thought aboutcommitment?
Carol Spagnuola (17:31):
When the tough gets hard, don't bail.
That's your commitment.
Because there are many timeswhere you're like man, I'm
struggling, I don't feelinspired, I don't feel motivated
.
I don't know if I I don't feelmotivated, I don't know if I
want to continue this business.
It's been really hard.
Those are the moments you go no, I am going to push through
(17:52):
this, I'm going to commit towhat I'm doing and get through
it.
And that is I love that,because when you actually get to
the other side and the ballgets rolling again and you're so
glad that you commit it toyourself and to what you're,
about.
Bill Gilliland (18:06):
I love that.
I love that.
So I want to talk about runninga minute.
You said you run a lot.
I've had a few pretty serioustrack athletes that also own
businesses and I've alwaysgotten their thoughts.
How do you think running oreven physical activity, whatever
, however you want to take ithas helped you in business?
Carol Spagnuola (18:27):
Well, I believe working out and running is a
metaphor in life.
Like I love to run up a hill,because to me, running up that
hill it's really tough andyou're running and you're going
to get to the top.
And once you get to the top,you feel so amazing when, if you
set yourself to run I'm goingto run five miles and you push
to get to that five miles.
(18:48):
However, you get there.
Remember, the journey isdefinitely a major part of it,
but getting there and how yougot there is just the most
amazing thing.
And also that you're able totell yourself that you can do
the things that you've toldyourself that were impossible,
but they are completely possible.
Bill Gilliland (19:06):
Yeah, I think running is a great metaphor
because there's always anothergear, there's always another
distance, there's always anotherchallenge.
I do love that.
Carol Spagnuola (19:17):
Yes.
Bill Gilliland (19:18):
Let me wrap this up with one question that I
almost always ask everybody, andthat is what do you wish that
somebody had told you years ago?
What do you wish that you'dknown then, that you know now?
Carol Spagnuola (19:30):
Oh goodness, Do we have time?
No, I'm just joking.
Bill Gilliland (19:36):
You can have multiple.
Yeah, we have some time.
Yeah, go ahead.
Carol Spagnuola (19:39):
Yeah, this might crack you up, but I never
drank coffee for my whole entirelife.
This is so simple, but this iswhat came to my mind and I'm
going to be organic about it.
I drank a latte a few years agoand I came home and did like
that 2 pm.
I will drink a little caffeineand I like totally focused.
So as silly as that might soundand someone might have thought
(20:16):
I was going to come up with thisbeautiful metaphoric response,
there's my organic response,right there.
Bill Gilliland (20:22):
No, I like it, that's real and, like you say,
two o'clock in the afternoon,sometimes I'm headed for some
caffeine, for a tea or something, right?
Carol Spagnuola (20:31):
Yeah.
Bill Gilliland (20:32):
Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm with you.
Carol Spagnuola (20:35):
I'll add.
This is just to remind yourselfof even the bad days are great
days and to give yourself grace.
So I have been.
You know, I've always beenreally hard on myself and push
myself, and push myself and Iwish I had told me myself the 15
years ago to just take eachmoment for each moment, slow it
(20:58):
down and know that you can pushyourself.
But you can also learn when thecalm needs to happen.
Bill Gilliland (21:05):
Yeah yeah, give yourself a little grace.
I love it.
I love it.
Well, this has been awesome.
This has been a lot of fun.
So thanks, thanks, thanks forhanging out and having a
conversation with us today, andyou're an inspiration to all of
us.
So keep up the great work andkeep being an inspiration.
Carol Spagnuola (21:24):
Oh, thank you, Bill.
I'm so grateful that you askedme to be on this.
You're an inspiration to manyas well, and so we appreciate
you in Western North Carolinafor all that you do.
It's awesome, and there's a lotof businesses that have been
doing amazing because of theguidance and your coaching of
you.
So thank you.
Bill Gilliland (21:40):
Well, thanks, and we're having fun.
We get to help people and it'sfun, so it's a good thing.
Yep, hey, until next week, allthe best.
Carol Spagnuola (21:53):
Yes, Thank you everybody.
Have a great 2025.
Hey there and welcome to this week's episode
of Epic Entrepreneurs.
I've got my friend Carol herewith us today.
Carol, how's it going?
Carol Spagnuola (00:09):
Excellent.
It is feeling much better thesedays and it actually feels good
to be able to say I'm doinggood, as I know many of us have
probably been feeling, but thankyou for having me on the show,
bill.
Bill Gilliland (00:22):
You're welcome and for those of you that may be
listening to this fromsomewhere other than Asheville,
you know we got hit by ahurricane and certainly Carol's
studio was affected and a lot ofthings, a lot of all of us were
affected.
But anyway, so thanks thatyou're doing.
I'm glad that you're doingbetter and good.
So tell us a little bit aboutyour business.
Carol Spagnuola (00:45):
Yeah, I'm a local professional photographer
here in Asheville, been inbusiness for 11 years now.
I do have a studio in the RiverArts District and I actually
moved from one of the buildingsthat was did not make it through
the storm the Riverview Stationto Film Mechanics.
So we are one of the buildingsthat are still standing.
(01:07):
But I do primarily headshot andportrait work and I love what I
do.
I'm very passionate aboutworking with people and building
their businesses and kind oflike what you do.
And, yeah, I'm really thankfulthat I get to choose my career
(01:29):
for what I love to do.
Bill Gilliland (01:32):
Yeah, and, by the way, she did our headshots,
has done an amazing job.
They're incredible and yeah,and it was a good experience.
It was fun, like I was like, oh, I got to go get my pictures
done, but I got up there and itwas fun, so thanks for that.
You also do a lot of otherthings.
What tell us a little bit aboutwhat else you do?
Carol Spagnuola (01:52):
Well, for 2025, I'm rebranding my business to
create more of a package forbusinesses.
So, yes, you might need aheadshot or portrait for your
about page that goes on yourwebsite or you could use for
social media, but also imagesthat speak to your brand, the
lifestyle of your brand, yourbusiness, the personality of
(02:14):
your business, and also, if yousell certain things, you'll have
product photography, you'llhave restaurant photography,
food photography all within thisbranding bubble, if you will,
of imagery that you can useacross the board for marketing,
for your websites, for yoursocial media, for marketing
pamphlets, whatever that you seefit.
(02:36):
So it would be essentiallypackages that we could do once a
month, or maybe every fewmonths, or quarterly.
You end up with a bunch ofimages to use, and so maybe we
do that as a quarterly thing andwe talk all about the details
leading up to it, setting up theshoot.
I'm really specific anddetailed about that because I
(02:58):
want these images to besomething that you end up loving
and happy with that you end uploving and happy with.
Bill Gilliland (03:07):
So it's all photography-based.
You're just doing more thanjust the headshots, right?
Carol Spagnuola (03:14):
Exactly which I've always done.
I just have not.
I guess not.
Bill Gilliland (03:18):
I want to talk to you.
You said about show thepersonality.
Tell me how you do that,because that's a I don't know, I
don't know how to do it.
You know, I'm not a I'm not aphotographer, so tell me how you
do that.
Carol Spagnuola (03:30):
Absolutely so.
Let's say you're a massagetherapist and we would start
with some headshots, portraitsof you and the personality of
your business.
For that is a lot of times wethink of a massage, we think of
soothing, we think of nurtureand care.
So you would have imagery thatsomebody is showing just that,
(03:52):
maybe during the massage, maybesomebody wrapping like a warm
towel around their head,something that shows that
personality that wants to drawsomebody in to their business.
If you own let's say you're areal estate company, right, and
you of course need headshots forreal estate, but you also want
(04:14):
to show that you're approachableand friendly and that you know
you could show the personalityof you inside certain homes,
walking around and just having agood time, so that people can
feel and connect to you.
So there's just different waysthat you can show personality
and imagery.
Bill Gilliland (04:32):
Right, and so it could be individual too.
I mean you could take, I meanyou could take something that
was maybe not, maybe maybe thinkabout you know a soothing for
massage therapy, but maybethere's like a you know, really
pumped up massage therapist orsomething.
That would be a differentexperience.
I don't know.
That'd be interesting yeah.
Carol Spagnuola (04:52):
Yeah For you.
You boost businesses.
You could do lots of picturesof you with your clients, you
reading books and educatingyourself to show that you're
constantly evolving with whatyou do, so you can bring that to
the table of your clients.
It's all different kinds ofways to get creative.
Bill Gilliland (05:08):
Got it.
I got it.
Yeah, no, that's cool.
That is cool.
So how'd you get into thisbusiness in the first place?
I mean, have you always been acamera bug, or what's the deal?
Carol Spagnuola (05:21):
Yeah, I've done it since high school.
I had a dark room at myparents' house inside the
basement and I did go to collegefor photography and video, but
I didn't do anything with it inmy 20s and then, about when I
was 35 and I owned anotherbusiness, I was like, why am I
not picking up a camera?
And so I had a 35 millimeterfilm camera at the time and I
(05:46):
bought a digital camera andstarted taking pictures at
concerts, which I completelylove seeing live music.
So the two went really welltogether and it evolved really
quickly and people started toconnect with my photography and
then I said this is something Iwant to pursue.
So I started to do someresearch on what type of
(06:07):
photography, because there's somany different niches out there
and I don't want to be a Walmartphotographer.
I don't do weddings, you know.
I mean because there's peoplethat do like everything and I
feel, you know, it's better tospecialize in one specific genre
, if you will.
So it just evolved that way,and five years later I sold my
(06:30):
other business, went full timein this, and here I am, six and
a half years later, and so happythat I haven't looked back.
Don't do the math on my age.
Bill Gilliland (06:41):
Yeah, okay, all right, I'm trying to.
Yeah, okay, all right, I'mtrying to yeah.
So you know it's a, it's a.
I want to talk a little bitabout specializing, because I
think that's useful for somepeople.
I mean, that is a, that is amarketing concept and that seems
to have worked really well foryou.
I mean, what?
What I'm hearing is that you,you chose, you sort of realized,
(07:02):
all right, I didn't want to bea Walmart, I didn't want to do
weddings, I don't like doing.
You know, I wanted someflexibility as well, so I want
to make my own hours.
But the headshots seem to begood because and you came out of
business, so the businessseemed like because, I mean,
headshots are for businesspeople, right, in general, it's
for a website or for somethingalong those lines Vaccine, yeah,
(07:24):
yeah.
Yeah, there's a lot of ways touse them, but you know so they
need to be done.
And it's cool because they needto be done every year or two
anyway.
So, because you know, peoplechange, right, Absolutely.
Carol Spagnuola (07:36):
We grow up.
Bill Gilliland (07:37):
We grow up, but now you're looking at adding
some stuff, which I think isappropriate.
You've established a beach holdand now you approach it, so
what was your thinking on, likehow to specialize and what to,
and how has that worked out foryou?
Carol Spagnuola (07:52):
Well, for the headshots, I know when I was
doing a lot of research at thetime and started studying and
realized that it wasn't justabout taking a picture.
It was about connecting withhumans and creating an
experience for them, because atthe end of the day, when you
look at your headshot, I wantyou to remember how you felt and
that not walked away, notliking the experience because I
(08:15):
hear that a lot.
So that started to connect withme because I feel like my
purpose in life is I'm more of apositive person and I love to
uplift myself and others, andthat just was part of being a
headshot photographer portraitphotographers you know you got
to uplift that person in thatmoment.
You got to get them to beconfident and comfortable and
(08:36):
have a good time and trust you,and so that kind of became
pretty easy once I knew that.
But I always love to dabble in,like I've done some food
photography for some restaurantsand product photography or more
like if it's a restaurant,having people sitting and
(08:57):
enjoying the place or whateverit is that you have there, and
so I started to really enjoythat as well, and so combining
the two only makes sense becauseit's an all around package that
you need for your business.
Bill Gilliland (09:11):
Did it just show up?
Did somebody say hey, can youdo this, can you take some
pictures of some food for us,and maybe can you make us look
better?
How did it show up?
Carol Spagnuola (09:21):
Well, a couple years ago a business the
National Sports Club opened upand they were good friends of
mine.
So I did their marketing andsocial media and pictures for
the year and I had done itbefore, but that was like a more
of a um addition to myphotography business and I loved
(09:42):
it.
And I don't necessarily loveposting for someone else's
social media, but doing the, the, the pictures for it, I
absolutely loved.
So this past year it's been onmy list to start creating and
then we all know this fall weall kind of had stuff pushed to
the side and we're busy, youknow, helping our community out.
(10:02):
So this is the year that I'mgoing to really market this and
rebrand it and I'm in theprocess of redoing my website
for it.
Bill Gilliland (10:11):
Yeah, I mean you can always hire somebody to
post the things once thecreative stuff is done.
I mean that's an assistant or avirtual assistant job.
So I mean that's leaning intothe stuff you love to do and
letting somebody else do all thestuff you don't love to do,
right?
So you've been in a couple ofbusinesses.
(10:34):
I'm sure you've had somelessons in there.
Give us a couple of lessons.
Give us a couple of lessons.
Carol Spagnuola (10:41):
Yes, there's always a lot of them.
One of the biggest lessons Ithink that most businesses learn
a lot from, especially myself,is if it takes you double or
triple the amount of time to dosomething, then you should
probably find the professionalto do it.
I used to do my own accounting.
(11:02):
I've messed things up.
I have to pay sales tax.
I was always late and I'll justbe very transparent.
I always paid it, but I hadfees to pay and finally I was
like why am I doing that?
Just pay the professional totake care of that and take that
one thing off of your plate sothat you can focus more on the
things that you specialize in.
And that was one of the biggestlessons I'll still recommend to
(11:27):
people, no matter what it is.
If it's taking you a long timeto do it, your time is valuable.
So remove that, give it to aprofessional, put it in with the
budget and move on.
Bill Gilliland (11:40):
Well, I mean, and the truth said, in most
professions and most businessowners can make more money doing
the thing that they're good at,that they're actually a genius
Doing the thing that they'regood at that they're actually a
genius rather than doing dataentry or bookkeeping or
something that now a bookkeepercan make more money doing that
because that's what they do.
Yeah, so, because they can doit, yeah, it's crazy.
(12:05):
I remember I hired, I had this,I made this long list one time
of and I needed, as a wholebunch of admin stuff I needed
done and I was like this isgoing to take three, four or
five weeks to do it.
And I hired a um, actually acollege intern, to do it and she
did it in, uh, two days, likeeverything the whole.
Four or five weeks it wouldhave taken me and she did it in
(12:27):
two days.
So it's, yeah, it's, that's agood, that's, that's a good
lesson.
Let's do a quick round.
Epic is an acronym and so let's, let's do a quick round.
Let me get your thoughts on theacronym.
So, um, the B part, it's B EPIC.
So the B part of it's bring theenergy.
What, what, what's your, yourenergetic, what's the?
(12:49):
What's your thoughts aboutenergy and bringing energy to
the work.
Carol Spagnuola (12:53):
That's mindset.
So, we could sit here and belike, oh, I'm so tired.
Or we could sit here and say,no, I'm good, I've got this, and
you know.
Side note on this metaphor partis I run a lot and I heard
recently when you feel pain andlike maybe your calf is tight,
and you say I love my body, Ilove my calf, I love my calf,
(13:17):
then it kind of goes away.
And so I've started to do thatand literally for the next
couple of minutes I forget thatmy calf hurts.
And so point is, if you want tobring the energy, just believe
in yourself, have confidence inyourself and tell yourself that
you can do it.
No negativity.
Negativity will not bringenergy.
Bill Gilliland (13:39):
We're going to call you the energetic
photographer or the positivephotographer or something like
that.
I don't know.
It's awesome, I love it.
No, look, I'm a hundred percent.
I'm with you, mindset.
It's all about deciding Make adecision and go with it.
All right, the E stands foreducation.
So what important?
What do you think theimportance of education is in
(14:01):
business?
Carol Spagnuola (14:06):
the importance of education is in business.
Well, for my field ofphotography, it's ever-changing
and there's a lot of newprograms out there, a lot of
different ways to do things, andstudying is only going to
elevate your business.
Getting to know, like what'scurrent, what's trending, and
also something like, forinstance, if I'm doing product
photography, doing a course onthat, learning about that, find
(14:30):
a mentor that can educate youand improve your skills.
Bill Gilliland (14:35):
Yeah, I think you learn whatever the best way
it is for you to learn.
I like audio, I like podcastsand Audible and books on tape
and all that stuff.
So it's all good you got tofind what works for you.
I love that.
Okay next.
So the E in EPIC is education,the P in EPIC is planning.
(14:56):
What's your thoughts aboutplanning?
Carol Spagnuola (15:00):
I think planning creates a successful
day.
Bill Gilliland (15:03):
Oh, I love that.
Carol Spagnuola (15:05):
I am still working on that.
I even bought these daily plans.
That has time.
So I wake up and I write ineach time spot what I'm supposed
to be doing.
And it really helps, especiallyus multitaskers, that sometimes
(15:27):
you feel overwhelmed with thelarge list.
So if you reallycompartmentalize it to a
specific time, it has reallyhelped me plan the day and be
more successful, especially thattwo o'clock mark when you need
to give yourself 30 minutes.
Bill Gilliland (15:40):
Tough time of the day, I'm telling you.
It is it just so?
Is the?
Yeah, I agree, the mostimportant plan you can make is
the plan for the tomorrow.
Yeah, yeah, I like it.
The I stands for inspiration.
Carol Spagnuola (15:53):
I've also learned that Say that Start
backwards, like when you havesomething, a, something plan,
just kind of go backwardstowards it, which I'm really
trying to master.
I really like that idea.
So, that's the idea there is tochunk it down in smaller steps.
Is that the yes Like?
(16:15):
Let's say we have, I have ameeting at 10.
So I start backwards.
I know I have a meeting at 10o'clock with Bill, and then how
long is it going to take me toset up?
I know it might take me 10minutes to get all of my
computer, blah, blah, blah, andthen how long will it take me to
get ready?
So I know, at 9.50, I have tostart getting my computer ready.
At nine o'clock I have toshower and get all that.
Bill Gilliland (16:35):
So it's kind of like yeah, yeah, yeah, chunk it
down.
Little things make itmanageable.
I mean on big stuff you can dothat.
Carol Spagnuola (16:51):
Sometimes multiple day projects that stuff
the eye is inspiration.
What are your thoughts aboutinspiration?
Well, the inspiration firststarts within you and then also
find, follow people, locals,your friends, anybody that
inspires and uplifts you.
That's somebody that is aninspiration.
It doesn't have to be thislarge, famous person.
It could just be somebody thatyou know, that you know is out
there kicking some serious buttin this world and in life and
(17:14):
they can inspire you.
That's a beautiful thing.
We don't have to recreate thewheel in some ways of just
knowing what feels good and thatcan uplift you and inspire you.
Bill Gilliland (17:26):
Yeah, and I love it, and the C is commitment.
So what's your thought aboutcommitment?
Carol Spagnuola (17:31):
When the tough gets hard, don't bail.
That's your commitment.
Because there are many timeswhere you're like man, I'm
struggling, I don't feelinspired, I don't feel motivated
.
I don't know if I I don't feelmotivated, I don't know if I
want to continue this business.
It's been really hard.
Those are the moments you go no, I am going to push through
(17:52):
this, I'm going to commit towhat I'm doing and get through
it.
And that is I love that,because when you actually get to
the other side and the ballgets rolling again and you're so
glad that you commit it toyourself and to what you're,
about.
Bill Gilliland (18:06):
I love that.
I love that.
So I want to talk about runninga minute.
You said you run a lot.
I've had a few pretty serioustrack athletes that also own
businesses and I've alwaysgotten their thoughts.
How do you think running oreven physical activity, whatever
, however you want to take ithas helped you in business?
Carol Spagnuola (18:27):
Well, I believe working out and running is a
metaphor in life.
Like I love to run up a hill,because to me, running up that
hill it's really tough andyou're running and you're going
to get to the top.
And once you get to the top,you feel so amazing when, if you
set yourself to run I'm goingto run five miles and you push
to get to that five miles.
(18:48):
However, you get there.
Remember, the journey isdefinitely a major part of it,
but getting there and how yougot there is just the most
amazing thing.
And also that you're able totell yourself that you can do
the things that you've toldyourself that were impossible,
but they are completely possible.
Bill Gilliland (19:06):
Yeah, I think running is a great metaphor
because there's always anothergear, there's always another
distance, there's always anotherchallenge.
I do love that.
Carol Spagnuola (19:17):
Yes.
Bill Gilliland (19:18):
Let me wrap this up with one question that I
almost always ask everybody, andthat is what do you wish that
somebody had told you years ago?
What do you wish that you'dknown then, that you know now?
Carol Spagnuola (19:30):
Oh goodness, Do we have time?
No, I'm just joking.
Bill Gilliland (19:36):
You can have multiple.
Yeah, we have some time.
Yeah, go ahead.
Carol Spagnuola (19:39):
Yeah, this might crack you up, but I never
drank coffee for my whole entirelife.
This is so simple, but this iswhat came to my mind and I'm
going to be organic about it.
I drank a latte a few years agoand I came home and did like
that 2 pm.
I will drink a little caffeineand I like totally focused.
So as silly as that might soundand someone might have thought
(20:16):
I was going to come up with thisbeautiful metaphoric response,
there's my organic response,right there.
Bill Gilliland (20:22):
No, I like it, that's real and, like you say,
two o'clock in the afternoon,sometimes I'm headed for some
caffeine, for a tea or something, right?
Carol Spagnuola (20:31):
Yeah.
Bill Gilliland (20:32):
Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm with you.
Carol Spagnuola (20:35):
I'll add.
This is just to remind yourselfof even the bad days are great
days and to give yourself grace.
So I have been.
You know, I've always beenreally hard on myself and push
myself, and push myself and Iwish I had told me myself the 15
years ago to just take eachmoment for each moment, slow it
(20:58):
down and know that you can pushyourself.
But you can also learn when thecalm needs to happen.
Bill Gilliland (21:05):
Yeah yeah, give yourself a little grace.
I love it.
I love it.
Well, this has been awesome.
This has been a lot of fun.
So thanks, thanks, thanks forhanging out and having a
conversation with us today, andyou're an inspiration to all of
us.
So keep up the great work andkeep being an inspiration.
Carol Spagnuola (21:24):
Oh, thank you, Bill.
I'm so grateful that you askedme to be on this.
You're an inspiration to manyas well, and so we appreciate
you in Western North Carolinafor all that you do.
It's awesome, and there's a lotof businesses that have been
doing amazing because of theguidance and your coaching of
you.
So thank you.
Bill Gilliland (21:40):
Well, thanks, and we're having fun.
We get to help people and it'sfun, so it's a good thing.
Yep, hey, until next week, allthe best.
Carol Spagnuola (21:53):
Yes, Thank you everybody.
Have a great 2025.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!