We just got back from Italy and it was a joy – art, food, culture. We hit it all.

One day we took a tour of a Parmesan factory and I hope it doesn't sound cheesy (sorry) but I found some everyday business parallels to our corporate headshot business.

We visited a smaller farm but it was no small operation. They had modern and age-old equipment. Their cheese was certified by the region and are a resource for both the region and as exporters.

Every day they took the milk of over 200 cows who had been feasting on only grass from the region and turned it into 8 (or so) wheels of parmesan cheese.

I gleaned some important takeaways and similarities to how we run and are tied to our business.

Takeaway 1 – 365 days a year.

They have over 200 cows on the farm and those cows produce milk every day. The cows don't know that it is Christmas or the weekend. They make the milk so the milk has to be made into cheese.

We don't work 365 days per year, but you better believe that we are open for business, no matter when the client needs us. If a client needs headshots, or conference photography on one of our birthdays or a Saturday or a holiday, we do it or find a way to support it with our team. There is no way around the fact that we are on someone elses schedule almost entirely, when it comes to taking business headshots.

Takeaway #2 – It can take as few as 2 people to make the cheese.

For those who know us, our headshot photography business is a partnership. It's the Laura and Ian show. Now we are supremely lucky to have photographers and assistants and designers and bookkeepers and accountants and everything else you need to run a business. They are all integral to making the dream of shooting headshot photography for thousands of people per year a reality. But Ian and I are the center of this operation and it is up to us to make the cheese.

Takeaway #3 – This cheese has provenance.

Parmesan cheese is not just parmesan cheese. It is certified DOP from a specific factory with markings made from a mold licensed specifically to that factory. Each wheel of parmesan is marked as such with dates and authorities and can be traced back to where and when it was made.

This one really resonates. We are very much tied to quality and style in our business portraits and all aspects of our photography. The quality has to be consistent. We curate our team making sure they come to us with a base level of skill/talent and we train them all the same way. While each shooter brings a perspective, there is a quality we aim for with our product that meets high production values. We care very much that people get an excellent headshot photo and we stake our name, our provenance, on that.

Takeaway #4 – There is value to this cheese.

A wheel of Parmesan aged for 40 months can fetch anywhere from $400 - $1000. Some producers wll store a few wheels at a bank as collateral for business financing. The bank has that much trust in the quality and certification that they can take make an actual loan based on the value of the cheese.

This shows that there are some intangible qualities that can support that this cheese is a good bet. It is worth the money.

For us, in photography, these intangible qualities are what help us form a strong bond wth our clients. Yes, you can say, that we are using high quality equipment. But anyone can buy a good camera. We know how to use it, we know how to make people look good in a photo. We work with staff that have skills and then continually train them to improve. We are reliable and make clients feel comfortable that we will do the job consisitently and with great client service. These are the intangibles that get us our 'certification'. That make people trust The Booth, like they trust the word 'Parmesan'.

Bon apetite and, of course, say 'Cheese!'