Late in 2014, I decided to make an investment in myself and obtain a truly professional headshot for my LinkedIn profile, my blog, and other uses. Keep in mind that this was a big decision because quality isn’t cheap and I don’t currently have a job.

A few things you should know about me: I hate having my picture taken and there are very few pictures in existence that I actually like. I’ve had headshot photos taken before and been incredibly disappointed, so it was very difficult to convince me that this experience would be any different. In my mind and experience, getting a headshot is the adult equivalent of elementary school pictures.

My past experience with getting a headshot involved a photographer using one background – generally white – for everyone, positioning me in two or three poses with two or three shots of each pose, and sending me what he thought was the best picture. The entire process would take about 4 minutes. No stopping to adjust the lighting, no editing the picture. Nothing. To be fair, these were done for free at networking events. Proof that you get what you pay for.

My friend Sima Dahl, owner of Sway Factory and marketing and branding guru, holds Headshot Days throughout the year. On these days, she brings in photographer Paul Audia and make-up artist Karen Koenig to offer professional make-up application and photography.

Let’s talk about make-up. I feel pretty confident in my daily make-up application and the colors I choose to wear. As a Mary Kay Consultant, I’ve gone through extensive training on choosing colors for women and teaching them to apply it based on their face shape, eye shape, etc.

But here’s the thing: Every day make-up is not photography make-up. Karen taught me a couple of tricks I didn’t know, including recommending a foundation that would help neutralize my Rosecea. I took her advice and am astounded by the results. Not knowing what colors I normally wear or how I normally do my make-up, I was thrilled when Karen chose color families I regularly wear. I knew I was doing something right.

My favorite new make-up technique was the fake eye-lashes. I’ve never worn them before and couldn’t believe the difference they made. It’s no understatement to tell you that the lashes make my eyes, which are my favorite part of my body, pop out of the photos. They’re subtle enough that they bring the focus to my eyes without focusing on the lashes. I did not ever want to take them off.

Once my make-up was done, I moved over to Audia’s chair. Before he began taking photos, he spent quite a bit of time adjusting my position, the lighting, and backgrounds to get it just right. Then the camera began clicking. He took close to 100 shots with both light and dark backgrounds, different levels of lights, with and without my glasses, and in different poses. I was in his chair for at least 30 minutes.

About a week later, I received a link to off of my proofs. I was then tasked with picking my favorite for him to touch-up. I had a difficult time choosing just one picture because there were so many pictures that I truly loved. Out of about 100 photos, I would have been happy choosing any of more than a dozen. For a woman who doesn’t like having her picture taken, those are phenomenal results. The others weren’t bad; in fact, they were quite good. These 12 just really jumped out at me.

When I received my final photo from Audia, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Without a doubt, it’s my favorite photo of me ever. I’m so glad that made the investment in me and took this step. Today, more than ever, first impressions count and we can’t just use any photo for our LinkedIn profile picture. My previous photo was fine, but my new photo takes me to the next level. I’ve also noticed that my profile views on LinkedIn have gone up significantly since I changed out my photo.

I would absolutely participate in Headshot Days again to keep my photo updated. I also highly recommend this experience to everyone. I walked out that day feeling more confident about myself and when I went out that night, I felt sexy.

To get on Sima’s email list for Headshot Days, connect with her on LinkedIn.

NOTE: I adore Sima, Sway Factory, Audia, and Karen Koenig and the phenomenal work they did on my headshot, but I did not receive any compensation for this blog post. If you sign up for Headshot Days, I will not receive any compensation. This post is 100% my opinion.
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