Today we’d like to introduce you to Krystle Terry.
Krystle, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born in Los Angeles county in California in the mid-80’s but my hometown where I was raised through my adolescence was a small rural town in southern New Jersey. I was fortunate enough to participate and excel in sports and education. I think it was clear early to my family and myself that I would do something related to health and wellness in my life and my academia led me to initially pursue a career in medicine. I was on track to apply to graduate schools with a Physician Assistant program and then sometime during my senior year of my undergraduate program I spoke with another student about her graduate school experience and learned about the field of public health and degree and career options in that field. The core concept around public health resonated with me, it was simple, I wanted to be a part of the group who prevented illness and disease across a population instead of treating an individual patient with that same potential disease. I decided to switch fields soon after and went on to get my master’s in public health and work the next seven years conducting clinical and public health research with some of the best teaching hospitals and universities on the East Coast. A pivotal point was working for and briefly as a student at the University of Pennsylvania. That specific experience showed me that I could have a seat at any table if I worked hard enough.
The first 24 years of my life showed me that hard work and persistence could go a long way. It wasn’t until the second phase of my life when I relocated to Atlanta that I realized I could also build my own table and create those opportunities for myself and others. I had been impacted by two layoffs due to grant funding ending and came to the conclusion that there wasn’t true stability in my career. I always had to rely on the ebb and flow of the availability of research funds to maintain a job or have my fingers crossed hoping to land a promotion. I started to realize I could take my skill set and use it to create economic opportunity for myself, and then in turn flip that economic gain into various philanthropic endeavors.
Once I was settled into my new life in Atlanta, after about a year of living here, I decided to take my lifelong hobby of photography seriously and take on small jobs here and there to supplement my income late 2013. I focused on events and portraits and appreciated the creative outlet of my “side hustle”. I did this type of work for a while and around the time of my second layoff in 2015, I was generating good revenue with my photography and videography. This is also around the time that I really started to develop an acumen for financial literacy. Although I was enrolled as a graduate student at Emory and still pursuing a career in public health, it was starting to become clear then that there was something to what I was doing with my photography business and my growing passion for everything related to finance. By the end of 2017, I had a plan in place to leave my full-time job and take the next step to run Krystle Chanel Photography and KC Property Group full-time.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I think many of the challenges I have experienced specific to business thus far are commonplace to anyone running their own business. How do I create an LLC? How do I create a website? Where do I find clients? Where do I run payroll? All of those questions I have had to figure out how to answer along the way. My situation was a little more compounded as both companies are resource intensive with equipment, labor, and startup costs for acquisitions. I had to really learn through trial and error how to leverage my knowledge and experience to create opportunities for myself.
I think when you go through the beginnings of running a business you truly understand when you hear seasoned entrepreneurs say that entrepreneurship is lonely. In my case specifically, I went from a great public health job working for one of the top research centers in the southeast to driving Lyft to help make ends meet while I grew out KCP/KCPG during its first few years of operating those companies full-time. I found out that you really have to dial-in and be very self-aware of who you are because not many people have been through what you are experiencing. There is a lot of doubt around you, whether from your family and friends or just the statistics of those who make it long-term as a small business.
Krystle Chanel Photography / KC Property Group – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Krystle Chanel Photography was created in 2013 and at that time we primarily focused on portrait and event photography. I eventually realized that I also loved videography as well and soon after pursued photo and video projects for roughly the next 3 years. I had my first real estate gig in 2015 and after that one session I was hooked! I slowly started to implement any listing shoots I could to my schedule. That is eventually where I found my lane and KCP has primarily been focused on real estate visuals the past two to three years, whether it be drone photography, listing images, or property videos. In 2019 we started to expand our team and that year marked the company’s first time generating 6-figures of revenue. We have since incorporated more creative direction and commercial work to our portfolio. We have been fortunate enough to work with well-known local brands in Atlanta like Mellow Mushroom as well as nationally recognized production companies, like Pie Town Productions, who have licensed out our work for an upcoming production of HGTV’s House Hunters. We have plans to expand our team and service offerings to other metro areas in 2021.
My second company, KC Property Group, was established in 2017 and is a small real estate investment firm that manages short-term and residential rental acquisitions in the Detroit and Atlanta metro areas. We eventually hope to syndicate real estate deals in those areas and work to create generational wealth in underserved communities and teach real estate investing as a tool for economic growth.
I correlate the success of KCP and KCPG back to the move I mentioned my parents made from LA back to their home state of New Jersey to ensure that I had the best opportunities in front of me. They chose a quality of life that was better for me than what they would have for themselves if they had stayed in LA. My two companies pay homage to them and their legacy with the lettering of KC. KC has a special meaning to my parents and to me incorporating those initials is my outward acknowledgment of their love and sacrifice. Helping to create a future for them, myself and others is what I am most proud of.
Our value system within the KC brand is to ensure that when we are thought of, whether internally by team members or our clients, that kindness, reliability, quality, and progressiveness come to mind. We know our product will always be good but building out our client/employee experience around those positive values truly helps us build our community and provides a positive company culture.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I don’t know that I would do anything differently, because all of those lessons over the years helped to build character and resilience however I outlined some tips below that might be helpful for anyone about to venture down a similar path:
- Savings – If you plan on leaving your full-time job/main source of income to pursue your side hustle or passion make sure you have funds saved up for that transition. It will likely take you a bit longer than you think and a few more dollars than you initially projected to truly get things off the ground. If feasible, I would encourage you to really sharpen your skills with your side hustle and develop a consistent clientele while still working your full-time job. It will definitely be difficult but there likely needs to be a considerable overlap between the two before you can take the full leap into your new endeavor. This is one thing that I could have done better with my own transition!
- Opinions – Try not to let anyone’s opinions deter you, especially if it’s not someone within your industry or has been in a similar experience. Constructive criticism from peers in your field is one thing but unsolicited opinions from those who are not in your sphere of influence should be taken with caution. I have found that not many people are going to relate to the entrepreneur “lifestyle” and can often deter you from pursuing your dream/purpose. Most people mean well but cannot truly relate.
- Grace – Lastly give yourself plenty of grace as you figure things out! As entrepreneurs we rarely get things right the first time. Failure and making mistakes are honestly just a part of the journey. Be consistent and just try to push forward to get a little better every day. That grace you give yourself has been one of my biggest takeaways as a small business owner.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.KrystleChanelPhotography.com / www.kcpg.org
- Phone: 470-475-8744
- Email: admin@krystlechanelphotography.com / www.kcpg.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krystlechanelphoto/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/krystle_terry/
Image Credit:
Cole’s Concepts / Film You Family / Krystle Chanel Photography
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