Interview with Nicki Hufford

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What do you get when you cross a dash of small town charm, a pinch of big city flair, and a truck-load of mad photography skills? Meet Nicki Hufford, the “Queen of Teen” portrait photographer. 

Based out of Warren, Ohio, Hufford is the oldest of eight. “Being the oldest of eight has always influenced me and who I am. I think when you’re the oldest out of a group that big, you have to grow up a bit sooner,” she shared. And as we’ll see, that’s exactly what she did.  

In the latest installment of our live interview series, we sat down for a personal interview with Nicki Hufford via Instagram Live to find out what makes her tick and what it takes to routinely make it onto lists such as the “25 most influential teen photographers” and “SI Rockstars 50 to watch.” The advice and perspectives she shared are invaluable for any photographer, either newbie or veteran alike, looking to grow and expand their business. 

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Growing up Fast

Hufford has always been on a bit of fast-track in life. As a young talented athlete, she grew up quickly and traversed the country through high school and into college as a part of the hard-hitting, fast-paced world of amateur softball. Much of Hufford’s family also shared her passion for sports, and when she picked up her first camera it was with the intention of simply taking photos of her younger siblings at their games. Photography seemed to come naturally for Hufford and it wasn’t long before requests began pouring in from others, and a new career was born! 

But it wasn’t always easy. In fact, early on, in reaction to her choice of careers, her father once said, “You’ll never make it in such a hard industry.” The comment, brutal in its honesty, may have been meant to spare Hufford the pain of failure, but to the young artist, it was taken as a challenge to be accepted and overcome. “Within three years I was making more than him. He eats his words every day,” she laughs. 

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What’s Your Superpower?

It’s a question most of us pondered as kids. If you could choose any super power to have, what would it be? Super-strength, super-speed and invisibility usually top the list. But for Hufford, the choice might just be “perseverance.” From her first days snapping pics of family, to her bulging calendar of shoots today, the common thread has always been, simply, a lot of hard work.

“It’s a lot of work. I always say anybody who wants to get into photography and actually make it, and do what I do, number one, it didn’t happen overnight”, she confided. “It took a lot of failures to get to this point. Sometimes I had some really great ideas that I didn’t execute well or maybe I just wasn’t ready to do it at that time.”  

But even perseverance and the desire to succeed aren’t enough if you’re on your own, she shared. “I always say it takes a village. I couldn’t do it by myself. My husband is such a huge important part of it. I could not have a 50-person model team if he was not involved in it.”

Together from the age of 14, Hufford and her husband know what it takes to make it work. “We were married early on and we just kind of knew right away. He helps me run my business to this day. I always say I couldn’t do what I do without him,” she said. 

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The two are clearly doing something right. Last month was their largest month to date. “Let’s just say last month we made six figures,” she smiles. “We worked our butts off. We really worked our butts off. We didn’t sleep. We’re looking at adding some people next year. Every single year it’s growing. Every single year I’m getting more and more teams!”

The influx of business is one of the primary reasons Hufford made the switch to Instaproofs this year. “It gets really insane,” she said. “We needed a service that was going to keep up with us and be simple to use.”

Hufford needs to take and fulfill orders from people of all ages. A user-friendly platform and simplicity were key to her choice of Instaproofs. Since the switch, she has seen her workflow streamlined. “My service has to offer a lot of products and the products have to be organized. I think that’s probably my favorite thing about Instaproofs is when I go into their online gallery, I can make all these little folders of products. Not everybody’s good at computers so I needed something that even a grandma could go online and use.”

And with business booming (earlier this year she shot over 800 kids in 30 days!), Hufford didn’t want commission payments to eat into her profits. “That was huge because during my biggest month of the year, 15 percent is a lot of money!” she laughed. “The way others deliver digitally wasn’t as user-friendly either. With Instaproofs, clients can go on and grab an image from their phone and that was really important to me as well.”

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Paying it Forward

Talking with Hufford, it’s impossible to ignore the hard work and perseverance that resulted in this past month’s six figure income. But beyond the roles of photographer, entrepreneur and marketer, there is a big-hearted woman who wants to share what she has learned and mentor others interested in following a similar path.

Like other photographers, Hufford’s website serves as a gallery to showcase her work. But her site goes further by offering a range of information and opportunities designed just for other professionals. For example, her For Photographers page displays upcoming learning events for other photographers to share in the basket of tips and tricks that has helped Hufford excel in her field.

You can also learn from Hufford year-round at a variety of conferences and meet-ups around the country, including The Push Conference, the SSG Midwest Event and The Focus Workshop. Each event gives attendees the chance to hear from, and speak with, Hufford directly, and to learn from her successes and failures.

In addition to her work with teens and young athletes, Hufford shoots amazing wedding, family and other group photography, all of which can be enjoyed on her site. But the bulk of her business comes through her work with teens, including her Senior Investment Program.

When it comes to her model team, Hufford works with freshmen through seniors and has numerous repeat models that have been with her for multiple years. But, she refuses to jeopardize personal attention for volume. “They deserve all of me for the time that they’re there,” she said. “I do a lot of meeting with them prior to shooting them so I have a lot of knowledge of who they are, which really changes the game”, she shares. “We do everything from high editorial with them to crazy theme scene shoots. They love it and I love them. They’re awesome. I highly recommend it. I think it’s definitely the way to build your business and you definitely get brand loyalty.”

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Pro-Tips!

Before signing off, Hufford left us with a few pro-tips.

Her favorite camera? Her new Sony. “I recently went from Canon to Sony. I was a 15-year Canon girl and went to Sony. I love it and wouldn’t go back. I was always really struggling with focus issues. With Sony everything is dead-on every single time. I never miss a shot because of focus. It was worth every penny. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

Her favorite communication and booking tool? Iris Works. “I use and love Iris Works for all my behind-the-doors emailing and senior booking. I love it better than any other service I’ve ever tried. You have to be really really organized when you’re talking about the numbers we’re talking about.”

Her favorite workshops? Three Nails Photography, and Ben Shirk. “Three Nails Photography is a fashion wedding photographer who does some crazy concept stuff, and knew I really wanted to up my game on my concepts with my seniors. I really recommend his workshop. And I did Ben Shirk’s workshop last year so that I could up my green-screen game a little bit. If you want to learn that stuff, he is the go-to. He is awesome.”

Her favorite editing service? The Photo Editive. “I use Katie, from The Photo Editive. I highly highly recommend her. After I do my crops and my basic edits, I send my jpegs over to her and she does the final edits. What you see in my IG photos is my own editing, and the green-screen work is all me as well, but by allowing Katie to do the more standard portraits it allows me to step back and do my really creative stuff.”

Be sure to check out Hufford’s website. You’ll be amazed by her photography, and from her site you’ll find additional information on her upcoming workshops and other learning opportunities. To learn even more, you can follow Hufford on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.