Bellini Portraits : Fresh, Unique, Contemporary Portraits : Boston, Cape Cod & Beyond!

Mamapreneur : Week 2

(getting an early start on tomorrow's to-do's!)

Introducing my 2nd Mamapreneur : Kerri Romano! 

 

Business Name:  The Stylists

Website?  www.thestylists.biz  and www.krmotivescosmetics.com

Email: kerriromano@verizon.net

How long have you been in business? I’ve been doing hair & make up for 15 years now and had my start on Newbury Street.  About 8 years ago my friend and I decided to branch off to freelance for weddings and special occasions.  I am still cutting & coloring though—it completes the whole look!

Please explain a little bit about your products/business and how you developed the concept behind it:  Bascially the concept was to become more accessible as a freelance stylist.  I decided to make the process easy for brides/clients and started traveling to them for hair & make-up—the freelance work supplemented my already very steady in-salon clientele.

What makes your services so unique?  With a special make-up line I work with I am able to custom blend mineral powders and eye shadow palettes for your skin tone.  We have a variety of lip glosses and lip plumpers as well.  Additionally, I offer “Beautini” Parties for a fun girls nights in.  We have martinis and I give demos on daytime and nighttime looks, customizing each face to new trend looks.

What is the hardest part or have been some of your struggles starting your own business?  I think the hardest struggle of any business is this economy.  Most times mothers getting services done for themselves is secondary to everything else.  So sometimes I have clients waiting longer in between cuts & colors but weddings are always happening!

How many children do you have and what are their ages? I have 1 son, Charlie, who turned 1 in July.

What are some of the creative ways you have found to juggle being a woman, a mother, a business owner, and a wife?  One of the things I’ve learned is not getting stuck on the dot—in other words living day to day.  I know that we women all know that these days that as a woman, a mother, a business owner and wife we can DO IT ALL!  The best advice is to stay organized.

Who is your biggest inspiration? My mother 

Now for some fun questions….

Favorite meal?  Salmon cooked perfectly over spinach with pine nuts and a lite lemon vinaigrette dressing.

Favorite Dessert?  Warm chocolate chip cake cooked in a flat pan, cut in squares.  My mom makes it the best!

Favorite restaurant (can be anywhere)?  Mistral in the So. End.  My favorite dish is the tenderloin pizza topped with mashed potatoes and drizzled with truffle oil, with a nice glass of white wine.

Favorite piece of clothing or accessory?  Not really one piece, per se, but all of my shoes, boots and scarves.  And of course my diamonds ;-)

Favorite vacation spot?  Italy.  I went once and would love to go many more times.

Favorite childhood memory? The Family Cannalonga Christmas parties—they were at my Auntie’s house.  I loved seeing all of my cousins and we always had a great time.

On any given day, what makes you smile?  My son.  On any given day and every moment he makes me smile and laugh.

When you have free time (ha!) what would your ideal day entail? Ha!  Free time?  That’s funny!!  As you moms know there is NO free time having children, but I would have to say to go away for a weekend with my girlfriend Stephanie to a spa that has chefs and yoga and mud baths.  (Thanks Kerri!!)

Enjoying time off...

In sunny, but COOL, Florida.  My husband, son and I are away on vacation.  Just wanted to let all you blog followers know that I haven't entirely fallen off the face of the earth.  Can't wait to update you with new images from upcoming shoots.  But until then, here's a shot of my husband and son on the beach--just taken with my Canon point and shoot camera, nothin' fancy.

Doll Babies

That's all I can think of when I see these little girls faces.  Like little dolls.  Truly!  I had this shoot over the weekend.  It was actually scheduled back in January (!) but was postponed until after the littlest was born and 10 months later we finally had the chance to meet.  Normally, and I by that I mean 99.9% of the time I am able to make any child smile.  I seem to have a way with children and maybe that's why I'm a good at what I do.  But for some reason, the eldest daughter just wouldn't crack for me.  It didn't matter, because as far as I'm concerned, her face is priceless either way.  The first shot here was actually the 1st shot I took and it's my favorite, by far, of the day.  As George Costanza would say, "And I'm out!"....We also did some family shots and shots with my clients two younger brothers. Sorry guys, just had to make you all do the infamous JUMP shot!

Mamapreneur : Week 1

I am so excited to kick off my mamapreneur feature today and would like to introduce our first mamaprenuer, Lindsey Foley of Marblehead, MA.  There are many more and I may be doing this weekly so please keep checking back!

Business Name:  Lindsey Foley : Personal Stylist

Website? www.lindseyfoley.com

How long have you been in business? 2.5 years

Please explain a little bit about your business and how you developed the concept behind it: People constantly asked where I got what I was wearing and if I would help them shop, thus came my business!

What makes your services so unique? I work with clients and weed out the clothes they do not wear.  We then give them to charity.  I also use my discounts at various stores for them (i.e. Bloomies, Crossing Main, Banana).

What is the hardest part or have been some of your struggles starting your own business?  Getting a steady client flow.

How many children do you have and what are their ages? I have 1 son, Wyatt, who is 2 ½ years old. 

What are some of the creative ways you have found to juggle being a woman, a mother, a business owner, and a wife?  Just balancing it all.  Time for work, Wyatt-time, me-time!....Good help and a great family!!

Who is your biggest inspiration?  Rachel Zoe

Now for some fun questions….

Favorite meal?  Stone Crab Claws

Favorite Dessert?  Tiramisu

Favorite restaurant (can be anywhere)?  It’s a tie; Joe’s Stone Crabs in Miami and The Ivy At The Shore in Santa Monica

Favorite piece of clothing or accessory?  Bottega Veneta Bag

Favorite vacation spot?  Positano, Italy

Favorite childhood memory? Winters in Florida with my family and cousins at our home there.

On any given day, what makes you smile?  Wyatt’s beautiful face!

When you have free time (ha!) what would your ideal day entail? Working out, Spa day (massage, mani & pedi, facial), shopping, followed by dinner & a movie!  

On the road again...

It was a trip up to the north shore today to one of my favorite seaside towns, Marblehead.  I don't know why but I feel so connected to places like this.  The narrow brick or cobblestone streets, the OLD houses inches from each other.  They are just so charming and there is so much history behind all of those beautiful doors.  Anyway, I was here in January to photograph this family after the birth of their 2nd son.  It is such a cool thing to be able to come back and see the kids have grown, especially the baby.  From an itty bitty newborn to a sitting, smiling little boy!  Their home, built in the 1700's, was a bit dark today considering the overcast sky so we took a short drive over to a beach instead.  Here's a sneak peak!

Election Day!

As I sit here trying to get out to the gym, to get out and vote and bring my dress in to be hemmed for my friends wedding in 3 weeks, I sit and work on images.  It's an addiction, I swear. My son has unwrapped a whole bag of Dum Dum lollypops, taste tested each one and I'm ok with that....is that wrong? :-)

Here are a couple of sweet images of my very good friends son, Charlie.  

Oh the eyes!

A family of 5 with stunning eyes.  That's the truth!  I finished up this years outdoor shoots with a beautiful family this afternoon.  I mean, get a load of their eyes.  AMAZING!  Anyway, we had a blast.  Having kids older than three is sometimes a piece of cake.  You say "JUMP" and up they go.  You say "RUN" and they speed up and back as many times as you request--all of this with smiles and giggles. I love, love, love it.  They get a big sneak preview tonight because 1) more kids = more photos and 2) I had so much fun going through I couldn't just limit it to few.  And as promised, before 9pm.  Dang, I'm good. :-)

Boy Joy

I met this little cutie today.  I wasn't sure I was actually going to make it to the shoot.  I've been feeling under the weather for a couple of days now and today was no exception.  I called my clients to let them know just in case they didn't want a sick photographer breathing all over their child! :-)  They figured it wouldn't be a problem, and so I was on my way--happily so.  I just LOVE my baby shoots.  Such little cherubs and OH the little polkies {as my mom would say} on this one!  He was a complete joy and his parents were exceptionally warm and inviting.  We bounced around his room for a bit and then headed outside for a few family shots.  We had (another) beautiful day but, boy, am I dreading the cold.  But I digress--here are some shots from today.