Branding Vendors I Love and Recommend
You know how they say, “it takes a village to raise a child?” Well, it also takes a village of highly trained and talented professionals to create a successful brand. Over the years I have had the pleasure of working with some amazing vendors who knock it out of the park every time. If you’re looking to level up your business in 2023, keep reading, because I’m sharing my list of branding vendors I love and recommend.
Hair & Makeup
Photo: Marcela Diaz
Tada Style
Who they are: Tara Vaccaro Gudmundsen is a professional beauty stylist with nearly two decades of experience helping women feel confident and beautiful.
What they offer: Tara specializes in clean beauty makeup services for weddings, photo shoots as well as group and one-on-one classes to educate women on the best products and makeup application techniques for their skin. While she does offer on-location services, she also has a studio down the hall from the Jessie Wyman Photography Studio.
Why I love them: Besides being right down the hall from my studio, making it an ideal situation for clients wanting hair and makeup prior to their shoots, Tara is a true creative at heart. She makes her clients feel so comfortable in the chair and will make magic happen before your very eyes. In addition to her strong understanding of makeup techniques and hair styling, she also understands branding - so much so that she regularly works with brands in a creative capacity under her sister company Blender Creativelive.
Boston Beauty Network
Who they are: Mia Allen and Katie McGowan are professional hair and makeup artists who specialize in making women feel like the best version of themselves.
What they offer: Boston Beauty Network offers on-location hair and makeup services for weddings and photoshoots.
Why I love them: If you want your hair and makeup session to feel like a day out with the girls, this team is for you. Katie and Mia are such a fantastic team and will make you look picture-perfect for the big day. Since they each specialize (Katie for makeup and Mia for hair styling) it makes sense to hire them if you have multiple people on your team (as they can swap working on multiple people at a time). I’ve worked with since my early days of transitioning to brand photography!
Photo: Kayla Teves of Monarch Collaborative
Mandamonium
Who they are: Manda Carco of Mandamonium is a makeup and hair styling artist who discovered her craft during her studies at modeling school.
What they offer: Manda specializes in hair and makeup styling for weddings and photoshoots, as well as men’s grooming and special FX makeup. While she does offer on-location services, she also has a studio located in Wakefield, MA.
Why I love them: Manda works like a true member of the team and takes her work to heart. While she’s so extremely talented, I love that she offers to stay on site through the session to help with touch-ups and slight changes. I’ve worked with her a few times and have loved the results my clients acheive!
Personal Styling
Photo: Tammy Davidson Photography
Total Image Consultants
Who they are: Ginger Burr is a fashion stylist and image consultant with over 30 years of experience helping women to feel empowered through their sartorial choices and in discovering their personal style.
What they offer: Ginger offers a variety of services such as photoshoot styling, closet cleanouts, personal color analysis, makeovers and guided group shopping. She also offers classes to help women create their own personal style and find their perfect fashion fit.
Why I love them: I’m going to be transparent and say that I haven’t yet gotten to partner with Ginger yet - but I cannot wait until I can. That being said, when I first met her over a zoom coffee date, I immediately vibed with her. She has such a comforting spirit, backed up with loads of experience and credentials. She also has a number of ways to work together - including courses or virtual 1:1 work! For anyone considering a personal brand session and wants a bit of extra help with wardrobe styling, I highly recommend you reach out to Ginger!
Brand Strategy
Big Picture Branding
Who they are: Courtney Fanning is a former ballerina turned brand strategist and copywriter with over a decade of experience helping brands to refine their messaging and attract their ideal client.
What they offer: Courtney offers services in brand discovery and messaging, website copywriting, strategy, website design and VIP copy days. She also has a ton of paid and free resources on her website for those who may be just starting out or looking to further their education in branding.
Why I love them: Courtney has become a good friend over the years. We’ve both experienced each others services and I can personally say how talented she is as a brand strategist and copywriter. Her way with words is unmatched and she has a way of connecting with people that result in long-lasting relationships and in many cases, friendships. She has boatloads of resources (free and paid) on her website and if you haven’t yet opted into her newsletter, you need to now. It’s not only packed with good information, but her wit and humor make my day.
Brand & Web Design
Photo by Shikha Shakti
Vero Branding
Who they are: Verô Souza is a brand identity designer and creative director who has over 10 years of experience in designing brand identities for small business owners, coaches, wellness practitioners and female entrepreneurs.
What they offer: As part of her services, Verô develops visual brand strategies, designs logos, and creates brand style guides. She offers website design and graphic design materials for marketing. You can also take her mini course, “Get Your Brand Together” where you can actually build and create your brand identity at your own pace!
Why I love them: Verô is a sweet soul with amazing talent. She is extremely intentional about her work, and makes every attempt to ensure her designs reflect your brand properly. She has a strong understanding of color psychology and typology which really helps tie marketing back to designing your brand visuals. As a past client of Verô’s I can certainly vouch for her skills and talent!
Striped Dog Creative
Who they are: Isabel Kateman is a Business Growth Strategist and Website Conversion Consultant with a decade of agency experience in digital marketing, social media strategy, public relations, event planning and project management.
What they offer: Isabel pairs conversion psychology and marketing strategy to design websites as well as help her clients develop a website and business strategy. She also provides copywriting services. For those not ready to invest, she offers a free training on how to DIY a website that will bring in more clients.
Why I love them: If you ever need to feel inspired, check out Isabel and her work. I met Isabel first as a client of mine, where I quickly connected with her and her easy going, but go-getter attitude. She brings this attitude to her own client work, creating strategic websites that allow her clients to also become ‘go-getters’. She is always great to connect with and has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to website design/strategy so I encourage you to check out what she has to say - plus she is a fellow dog momma (hence her company’s name) which is something I also love about her!
Now that you know more about the team I’ve assembled to help me work with my branding photography clients, let’s get you on the books for some updated images. You can also check out my blog post about 2023 branding trends.
And then make sure you reach out to some of these amazingly talented individuals. PS: tell them I sent you!