Brand Photographer and Business Mentor, Emily Kim is Helping Creative Entrepreneurs Go Full-Time.
How do you go from side hustle to full-time profitable creative—without waiting for perfection?
Today’s chat with my friend, personal brand photographer and biz mentor, Emily Kim answers that question. We go deep on listening to your intuition, iteration over perfection, and what happens when you stop hiding behind your work and actually let yourself be seen.
I met Emily after she introduced herself in a super authentic way in a post on the Boston Business Women’s Facebook Group page. She shared how she was new to town and wanted to meet for coffee with other creative entrepreneurs. Her post was fun, relatable and had a very direct call to action –> let’s grab coffee. She got 135 responses! Me being one of them.
It was a lesson in putting yourself out there with a clear way to connect. Simple. Straightforward and not driven by a specific “buy my product” type of sales pitch. Instead, it was a uniquely personal way to connect, and I am so delighted that I got to meet Emily in person!
We became instant friends. Ultimately, she became my go to brand photographer. Off of that one post! She has captured many of the images that you see on my website and instagram today!
But beyond that, Emily, despite being at least 10 years younger than me, has a business acumen and talent that inspires me to implement better systems and boldly put myself out there, even when I feel scared.
When she started Business Side Blueprint group, which eventually iterated into the Profitable Creatives Club – I signed up instantly. She offers so much incredible hands on insight, incentivized challenges and tutorials in her group. I look forward to catching up with her weekly (live or in the replays).
She truly lives out her mantra:
Iteration Over Perfection
This is Emily’s take on “Progress Over Perfection.” While I was admittedly a “Done is Better than Perfect” kind of girl, when I heard Emily’s spin on things I was hooked.
What iterating means is that instead of waiting until you have the:
- Perfect offer
- Perfect sales page
- Solid leads
- 10k followers on Instagram
- Sold out waitlist for your course
You start.
You test the messaging.
You test your offer.
You do the reps.
You host the course or webinar with 1-2 participants.
You get the feedback.
You implement the suggestions.
You iterate.
Pivot when needed.
Learn along the way.
You will always be learning.
Your offers will always shift.
Iterating over perfection means taking deliberate forward action and learning from the data.
Not failing, but learning with concrete proof and examples from actual action.
Other key takeaways
In This Episode, We Cover:
- Trusting your gut and following the threads you weave from an early age
- How 12-year-old Emily running a Club Penguin blog foreshadowed her entire career
- Why your childhood interests are often your clearest compass
- The difference between “intuition” and “just overthinking it”
- Standing out in a saturated, competitive space
- The story behind Emily’s purple résumé and why she ignored traditional career advice
- How personal branding got her noticed at the Grace Hopper Conference
- Why the people telling you to “play it safe” often haven’t done what you’re trying to do
- Pivots, prestige, and letting go of other people’s dreams
- Emily’s path from University of Alabama to Apple
- Realizing “dream job” doesn’t always mean “right fit”
- My parallel story of photography school, law school, and choosing a different path
- Money-making vs money-draining tasks
- The sneaky “safe” work creatives do in order to stay save vs. push out of comfort zone to grow
- How Emily distinguishes tasks that actually move the revenue needle
- Why your brain keeps you in busywork and how to interrupt that pattern
- Tech confidence for creatives
- Why Emily hates the “you have to come back to me for every tiny website update” model
- The power of knowing “a little about a lot” as a business owner
- How Profitable Creatives Club gives creatives access to tech, tax, and contract support
- Working with your life and seasons, not against them
- Emily’s winter work rhythm (noon–8pm)
- Letting go of the 9–5 template as a creative business owner
- Finding sustainable ways to work with your energy instead of forcing it
- Reframing visibility as legacy
- Why so many creatives hide behind their work instead of talking about it
- How showing up, telling your story, and selling your offers is part of your legacy
- The “one email / one post” that can become your first iteration, not your final product
Links & Resources Mentioned
- Connect with Emily Kim
- TikTok
- Profitable Creatives Club – Join by 12/23/25 and get access to a VIP day!
Never miss an episode of the Frame of Life Podcast
- Listen + Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube
- Join the Frame of Life Community on Facebook
- Follow along on Instagram
Explore the Community:
Get connected to entrepreneurs and resources to help your business thrive with the Retail Playground powered by UpNext . Use our code FOL15 for 15% off your monthly subscription.
You’ll also love…
+ show Comments
- Hide Comments
add a comment