Today we’d like to introduce you to Carol Zatt.
Hi Carol, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My journey in entrepreneurship started back in 2014, when I was still working in Customer Service earning a very low income and unhappy with my job. I just couldn’t accept the fact that I was stuck in an office 9 to 5 doing something I didn’t enjoy, but at the same time it was hard to find a better job opportunity as a young immigrant woman with little experience.
Almost 10 years ago, entrepreneurship wasn’t as trendy and spoken about as it is today, but somehow I found some good mentors and references that inspired me to try out a couple of different things I enjoyed doing as a profession, and one of them was taking photos.
Since I was 5 years old, I’ve always loved the camera. I was that friend who had a camera at all the events and took pictures of everyone, even though I had never seen myself as a Photographer.
My first organized photoshoot was with a friend of mine who wanted some pregnancy photos for her own memoir. During the process of photographing professionally, I realized how much I enjoyed it and how much I already knew about photography. We had a lot of fun doing the shoot and she absolutely loved the results, which motivated me to continue.
To my surprise, after she posted the photos on social media, I started getting many inquiries and bookings without even owning a fully professional camera yet. For some reason there was something that people loved about my photos and as my clients shared my photos as I was getting more and more exposure.
I believe that what gave me an advantage was that I made people feel comfortable and natural in front of the camera. They also said I had a great eye to shoot at the right moment. I wasn’t just trying to get a good photo, I wanted to make people feel relaxed, look good and love their pictures. In addition to that, I had a big interest in post-production and editing because I had studied Advertising, so my photos looked unique and really stood out.
Everything changed when a Marketing Manager from Google approached me and I started working as their exclusive photographer for all their media content, launches and events. I got to be inside one of the most innovative and influential companies in the world and not only doing what I loved but also learning from them about the industry and meeting lots of interesting people.
While working with Google, I also had the pleasure to work with other big brands such as Youtube, Lego, Sonos, many Music Festivals, Award Ceremonies and Fashion Shows. My photos got published in big media outlets in various countries. It was like all my efforts had finally paid off.
With my success, a lot of other women were asking me how I did it and wanted my advice. In order to attend to the demand, I started a social project called Women’s Business Lab where we would meet weekly so they could learn about entrepreneurship and work on their personal projects under my mentorship.
I used all my previous experiences with big brands, my studies in digital marketing and my knowledge as an entrepreneur to help other small businesses and fellow entrepreneurs to create catchy, engaging, and strategic content to launch their businesses and smash on social media.
The project kept growing and evolving through the years, adapting to their needs and demands. With the pandemic, for example, a lot of businesses had to go digital and many entrepreneurs were not prepared. So I created specific training courses to help women navigate the digital world and feel more confident in front and behind the camera, something that a lot of them struggled with. It was very rewarding to see all these amazing entrepreneurial women succeeding in their businesses and growing on social media through this project.
Nowadays I have an online community with over 20k people and I have provided consultations, courses and services around social media strategy, content creation and personal branding for over 3k people around the world and we are still growing.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I started very small and had no capital, it was just me and my camera. As the business grew, I had to make investments, which left me 20k in debt. It was very scary to ask for money not knowing if it was going to work out or not, but this was one of those moments in life when you have to bet on yourself and trust the process, so I did and luckily it paid off.
Having to do everything by myself was a big challenge too, I was good at my craft, but I had to really upskill myself in other areas that were not my strength and most things I’ve learned were by trial and error.
It is very hard to stay confident, strong and focused when things are not going so well or when people question and doubt your capacity. There are always people asking “When are you going to have a real job?”, “What do you actually do?”. It’s like they don’t take you seriously until you can prove yourself and have tangible results, so you have to be your own cheerleader and keep going.
Being a woman, a mother and an immigrant did not help my situation either. In some jobs, I didn’t really feel seen, represented or comfortable. I had to make space for myself and learn quickly how to demand respect, ask for what I deserved and to brush it off and keep going.
As a mother, I always feel guilty if I work too much or if I feel I haven’t done enough work. It’s like you can’t win. I’m not sure if that is just an inner pressure or if it’s something that society has imposed on us mothers, but it feels like you have to be great at both and it’s not always easy or possible to do things perfectly. Even though it’s hard, I am very grateful that my work allows me to stay at home with my kids and spend time with them before they grow up.
I believe the more mistakes, obstacles and challenges we have, the more we grow. For me, every obstacle helped me build a different skill set and an inner strength that took me to the next level. I still feel like I’m only starting and I have so much more to do and to contribute.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Currently, I am working on various projects with people in Australia, Brazil and now America. Since the pandemic my main focus has been working on social media and personal branding strategy to help brands build epic content, especially using short videos for Instagram Reels and Tiktok, but I also hope to go back to traveling and shooting more content for brands next year, when I have more time.
I am very proud of my personal projects to encourage and support women to take leadership positions, find their voice, speak up and feel comfortable with their own image, in public speaking, as the face of their businesses or in front of a camera. I’ve received a lot of positive feedback from working with these professionals, who were stuck in their careers or businesses because they were not comfortable in their own skin or in taking their power to be in charge and that inspires me to keep going in this direction.
What sets me apart from others is my ability to understand what people want and help them to achieve it. I think it’s because I had to face and overcome many obstacles and fears in my own journey to become who I am today. Therefore I am not afraid to be vulnerable and speak about my mistakes and the things that made me stronger and more confident, this puts me in a position where other women can relate to me and be inspired by my story.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up I was very shy and introverted. I’ve always loved talking to people but never liked getting too much attention. I loved dancing but I was always the one on the back during the big presentations. Most of the time I had a camera in my hands and enjoyed taking pictures of everything and was always doing photoshoots with my girlfriends and cousins but I would never show anyone the pictures. I was a paradox. The creative-social-communicator was always there but she was buried in fear, shame and insecurities. It was a big process for me to get out of my shell, so being able to help other women to do that is very gratifying.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.carolzatt.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolzattt/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carolzattt
Image Credits
Carol Zatt
