Profile Studio

SO… WHAT IS IT THAT YOU ACTUALLY DO?
A practical take on storytelling for entrepreneurs during our November edition of Profile Studio Business Club.

Many entrepreneurs do meaningful, high-quality work and still struggle with one simple thing: explaining what they do in a way that people immediately understand.

This November meeting of the Profile Studio Business Club is about business storytelling, not as a marketing trick, but as a tool for clarity. When your story is clear, conversations feel easier, your message feels calmer, and people can decide faster whether you are the right fit.

This session is designed for entrepreneurs who don’t want to oversell, overshare, or follow loud marketing formulas. Instead, we’ll focus on how to structure your message so it makes sense to your audience and feels natural to you.

We’ll look at how clarity reduces hesitation, why your client should always be at the center of the story, and how your visuals quietly support or undermine the message you’re sending across LinkedIn, your website, and other touchpoints.

WHAT WE'LL COVER:

* Why good work often goes unchosen when the story is unclear

* How to tell what you do without jargon or long explanations

* How to position yourself as a guide, not the hero

* How visuals reinforce your story before a single word is read

* How to repeat your message consistently without feeling boring

This is a focused, thoughtful working session with space for reflection, discussion, and practical refinement.

🎟 Only 8 spots available – Reserve your spot early! Link in bio.

WHAT DOES A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS LOOK LIKE BEFORE IT BECOMES SUCCESSFUL?

We usually see the finished version. A beautiful website, professional photographs, a recognizable brand, someone who seems to have figured it all out.

But I want to know what happened before that.

What did they get wrong? Where did they invest their money? Which decisions changed everything? And what would they never do again?

Therefore, I'm introducing something new to our Profile Studio Business Club! 😊

**INSIDE THE BRAND: A look behind the scenes of a real business.**

For our October meeting, I've invited Vassia Sar | Psychologist, a psychologist and entrepreneur.

But we're putting psychology aside for the evening. I want to meet Vassia the business owner.

We'll look at how her brand evolved over the years, compare her earlier visuals with what we see today, and talk about the thinking behind her decisions. The investments, the doubts, the unexpected turns, and the things that actually worked.

And here's the fun part: **you get to ask the questions you don't normally get to ask someone who has already built an established business.**

No formal presentation. No polished success story. Just eight entrepreneurs around a table, having the kind of business conversation I wish we had more often.

📅 Thursday, October 8 | 18:30–20:30

📍 Profile Studio, The Hague

🎟 Only 8 seats around our table.

Come curious. Bring your questions. And perhaps leave with a completely different perspective on your own business.

Link to BIO under BUSINESS CLUB
See you around the table,

Nataliya
Your visual storyteller 📸

A while ago I made a video about wearing too many hats in business. Turns out I was foreshadowing something.

If you saw my Amélie-style video, you may remember the opening shot: several hats stacked on my head.

It was a joke about running a photography business and doing different styles of photography but also about somehow become marketer, salesperson, planner, accountant, customer support and IT department, sometimes all before lunch.

So this feels quite fitting: I’ve become a **17hats Ambassador**.

I’ve used 17hats - CRM Small Business Platform for years to run much of the behind-the-scenes part of my business: inquiries, contracts, invoices, scheduling, workflows, all the glamorous stuff nobody books a photographer for.

I really like the system. But one of the reasons I said yes to becoming an ambassador is actually the people behind it.

Their customer support is unusually human. You can start with a mildly annoyed “something is not working” and, by the time it’s sorted, feel as if your favorite cousin has just fixed it for you :-)

That kind of thing sticks.

So from time to time I’ll share how I use 17hats in my own business, what has genuinely helped me, and probably a few things I learned later than I should have.

One more hat, apparently :-)

Summer is still not yet over but I'm already thinking about the next meeting of Profile Studio Business Club and cannot wait to discuss this question:

ARE YOU BUILDING A PERSONAL BRAND… OR A BUSINESS?

For years, entrepreneurs have been told to build a personal brand.
Show your face. Be authentic. Post consistently. Share your story.

But as AI-generated content floods our feeds and every platform competes for our attention, many business owners are starting to ask a different question:

Can my business grow without depending on ME being online ALL the time?

If you're a solo entrepreneur or run a small business, chances are you ARE the face of your business. Your clients want to know who they're buying from. They trust people before they trust companies.

But where is the line?

How much of you does your business actually need?
Can you build trust without turning your private life into content?
And how do you create a business that people remember, not just a profile that gets noticed?

September's Business Club is an open discussion about one of the biggest shifts happening in marketing today. Together we'll explore how to move beyond the pressure of "building a personal brand" and towards building a business that is trusted, memorable and sustainable.

What We'll Discuss:

✅ Why visibility still matters but visibility ALONE is not a business strategy
✅ The journey from Visibility → Trust → Reputation → Demand → Business
✅ Why people buy from people, but when you are NOT = product
✅ The difference between being the face of your business and becoming the business itself
✅ How to build recognition without oversharing your private life
✅ What AI makes easier and what it can never replace
✅ How visual storytelling helps people remember your business long after they've forgotten another LinkedIn post

🗓 Date and Time: Sept. 10th, 6.30PM

📍 Location: Profile Studio, Frederikstraat 481, the Hague, the Netherlands

🎟 Only 8 spots available – we keep the table intentionally small to allow for real discussion, reflection, and personal feedback.

Link to get your ticket is in bio

Monday thought:

You don't need to become a different person to be more visible.

You don't need a louder voice.
A bigger title.
A more impressive website.

Most of the time, you simply need to show up.

It's amazing how many talented professionals hide behind old photos, cropped holiday snapshots, or no photo at all.

Meanwhile, opportunities are scrolling past.

A good portrait isn't about looking perfect.

It's about looking like someone people trust.

Someone they'd like to work with.
Someone they'd remember after a networking event.
Someone they'd confidently click "Connect" on.

Visibility isn't vanity.

It's communication.

Happy Monday. Make sure people can see the person behind your expertise.
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I'm ‌Nataliya Volosovych, PROFILE STUDIO - headshots, Portrait and Event Photographer with Magical Powers | Making Sure You Will Get Noticed | Telling Your Visual Story to Ensure You Attract YOUR Dream Clients or Land YOUR Dream Job

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Some branding photoshoots need moodboards, strategy calls, outfit planning, coffee, more coffee, and possibly a small committee.

And some begin quietly.

With a person you know.
A feeling.
A vision that arrives almost immediately.

That is how my recent branding photoshoot with felt.

Masha is a Ukrainian creator who teaches people to film life beautifully and meaningfully. I was once one of those people. I took her courses, received feedback from her team, and thanks to that journey, I am a videographer today.

Photographing her now felt like a beautiful full-circle moment.

Only this time, I was not watching her lessons with a notebook.

I was holding the camera.

The session itself was organic. Nothing forced. No theatrical transformation. No “mysterious CEO staring into the bright future.”

I had a vision quickly because I have known Masha for some time.

But of course, it is not always like that.

When a client comes to me for a branding session, my first job is not to press the shutter.

My first job is to understand.

Who is the person behind the logo?
What are they building?
What do people trust them for?
What should the photos make others feel before they read a single word?

Without that understanding, branding photography becomes decoration.

Pretty, yes.

Useful? Not always.

And I do not want my clients to pay for pretty-but-empty. That is expensive wallpaper.

What I loved about Masha is her rare talent to stay the same in life and in front of the camera.

She did not try to “be beautiful.”

No striking poses.
No worrying about her face, body position, best side, or safest angle.

She was present. Curious. Playful. Completely herself.

And still, she told me during and after the shoot that she felt natural and at ease with me. That it felt like photo therapy. That she could be playful, a little crazy, and not feel judged.

This matters.

Because even a person who is always in front of the camera can freeze when there is no connection with the photographer.

Being photographed is vulnerable.

For creators.
For CEOs.
For artists.
.. keep reading below