Helping People Through Life's Biggest Move
Every assignment starts with the same question:
What problem are we trying to solve?
WellRive recently opened an office in Richmond. They help older adults with downsizing, moving, organizing and settling into new homes. They needed authentic branding photography for their website and marketing, so we started with a discovery call.
One thing I run into fairly often is that there isn't a local marketing director or creative lead. The people hiring me are the people doing the work every day. They know their business inside and out, but they aren't expected to know what kinds of images will tell that story.
That's where I come in. It's one of my favorite parts of the process. Thankfully, Katelyn, Julia and their team had a clear vision of the kind of results they needed.
We planned out a full day where I shadowed their team between offices and on-site as they moved a client into their new home in the west end of town. We utilized their actual staff and clients for everything. I love that approach for authenticity. It was a day full of problem solving and pivots when inspiration hit in the moment.
At one point we were in a former client's apartment in a very nice retirement facility. The WellRive team had helped her downsize and move in recently and wanted to check in to see how she was doing. I stayed in the background while they talked, being unobtrusive as I chose my shots. However, as she told a little about herself, I was transported back to when we moved my parents out of their home and into an assisted living facility. This was the home I grew up in, so it came with a reef of emotions and anxiety; change, major life milestones and loss of some independence. Mostly, I think it was the unspoken spectre of mortality. We all drift along thinking we have forever, and then something comes along that reminds us the clock ticks on.
This woman sat on her balcony and reminisced about her life before, her husband and grown children. There was no melancholy in her demeanor. Quite the opposite. She genuinely loved her new community and the life she'd built there, with WellRive’s assistance. I was struck by how much stress was alleviated in her process.
Those are the moments I was looking for all day. Not posed smiles, but genuine interactions. Quiet conversations. A reassuring hand on a shoulder. The details that communicate trust better than any staged photo ever could.
Every project teaches me something. This one reminded me that behind every branding assignment is a human story worth paying attention to. My job is to notice those moments—and preserve them honestly.
