Spotlight: Dawn Krpan
Dawn talks about her 'why', how she started her CrossFit gym, her fears about being photographed professionally and the challenges in finding stock photos that portray real people in the fitness industry.
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Video Transcript
Hi, my name is Dawn and I'm the owner of Bedrock Crossfit.
Bedrock came about through a little transition in my own life. My background is as a paramedic here in Alberta, so I have my medical training. I also have formal training as a chef, and I have a degree in Human Science. So, I wanted to combine all those talents and had been in the fitness industry for several years as well. So, when I opened, part of my goals were to be able to provide services hopefully that are going to be able to change people’s lives
'part of my goals were to be able to provide services hopefully that are going to be able to change people’s lives'
So, we have nutritionists on staff and we try to go above and beyond to help people who otherwise might not think that fitness is for them, all the way up to people who want to maybe be a little more competitive in realm of the world of fitness.
Our average everyday client here at Bedrock can range anything from teenagers to seniors and everything in between. Most of our clients are average everyday people with families and lives outside the gym.
When looking through databases of stock photos and things like that, I don’t see a representation of my average everyday client in those people.
When looking through databases of stock photos and things like that, I don’t see a representation of my average everyday client in those people.
Often it’s fitness models that have been potentially starving themselves and getting six-packs and things like that, in ways that potentially are not really relatable to the average everyday person.
So, having Laurie come in to do photos of myself, who is an average, everyday person, that runs a business, that doesn’t work out 6 times a day, and doesn’t have a six-pack necessarily. So, having her take photos of myself, and trying to portray that image that yes, fitness can be in a whole bunch of different shapes and sizes and I happen to be one of those shapes and sizes. So,
I’m hoping that these photos will be able to relate and hopefully the average everyday person that maybe looks at those photos can then connect to that photo because I hopefully will look like them!
'I’m hoping that these photos will be able to relate and hopefully the average everyday person that maybe looks at those photos can then connect to that photo because I hopefully will look like them! '
They will be able to relate to that.
When we were trying to create media for Bedrock, trying to find the right photos took up a lot of our time. So, having professional photos done in house was initially a time investment but in the end, it's been saving us a lot of time.
'in the end it's been saving us a lot of time.'
Prior to the photoshoot we were finding images on stock photos or through basic iPhone or other portable like mobile devices and stuff like that where we were taking photos around our facility and during classes and things in less than ideal lighting conditions and possibly situations and stuff.
'Sometimes the process of using non-professional photos, it can be very challenging in terms of quality of photos'
Sometimes the process of using non-professional photos, it can be very challenging in terms of quality of photos
when we want to go to use the photos in media or print media and things like that so it was very frustrating at times.
I found out about Laurie through our own community here. She has been a member at our facility here now for about two years and through following her back on social media
I had the opportunity to see some of the amazing photos that she was doing
through some of her various projects and things, and her style of photography was what appealed to me and the way she was presenting people in her photos.
'I had the opportunity to see some of the amazing photos that she was doing'
The reason why I'd never had any professional photos done before is because
I have a bit of an anxiety or fear around being in front of the camera.
'I have a bit of an anxiety or fear around being in front of the camera. '
Being in the fitness industry there's a lot of pressure to look a certain way and to have a certain image and I don't necessarily portray that certain image so that really kept me away from being on this side of the camera. After talking to Laurie and discussing some of those fears, she was the one who convinced me that I don't need to have those fears.
The experience of working with Laurie was amazing.
'The experience of working with Laurie was amazing. '
From the set up in the initial consultation, she took the time to get to know what my fears were, what product I wanted to kind of end up with, and then on the day of she came to my facility and walked me through what we were going to do. We had lots of time for creative input and retakes.
Laurie took the time to explain everything she was doing so that it could be the least amount of stress for this situation for myself knowing that I have a hard time being in front of the camera.
After seeing the images that Laurie gave me from our photoshoot, it showed me that I can be in front of the camera and look good and feel good afterwards.
It was definitely a self confidence boost.
'It was definitely a self confidence boost.'
The images that we ended up choosing from our session has helped us in many ways with our media department, so we've gone from everything from print to social media to using them for other campaigns that we're about to use and things like that.
Personal branding in the world of business today is such an important component in having people understand and relate to the owner and potentially the image that the business is portraying is a vital component.
'Personal branding in the world of business today is such an important component in having people understand and relate to the owner'
Having images done by a professional photographer and assisting with that kind of direction of where we want to go with the branding is something that Laurie helped me with lots.
She was able to, prior to the session, get an idea of who I was and what my branding wants, or which direction it wanted to go in so that she had a better idea of how to construct the photos and what direction to go in.
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