Business headshots for speaker Michelle

Michelle commissioned a set of business headshots ahead of a conference presentation in a few weeks. Together, we created some pictures that capture how friendly, personable and professional she is, for use on the conference marketing material.

Michelle is originally from South Carolina but has been in the UK for the past three years. She specialises in mental health and leadership, speaking to audiences of up to thousands about taking better care of themselves.

Her top tips include taking time for yourself, having defined priorities and setting clear boundaries. These last two help you protect your precious time, so you don’t end up drained and exhausted from being pulled around by everyone else’s priorities.

Michelle acknowledges that sometimes mental healthcare professionals fail to take their own advice, but she prefers to lead by example. For instance, Michelle carves out time for herself and opts for reading (Option B and Becoming are two recent favourites), listening to music (R ’n’ B and gospel) and exploring the world.

Indeed, Michelle is happiest when out solo travelling or enjoying Christmas and Thanksgiving with her family. She’s done a lot of travelling and her favourite place so far is Athens.

She also loves food, especially the Portuguese pastel de nata, and enjoys baking. She’s best-known for her cupcakes and has a top secret recipe – she’s not sharing it with anyone!

Michelle travelled over to my Bicester photography studio so I could create some headshots and business portraits of her for an upcoming engagement at an engineering conference. Despite being an experienced public speaker, she still gets nervous just before going on-stage, but then quickly relaxes into her talk as soon as she gets started.

As an ex-teacher, she particularly loves classroom-sized groups of around 30, which are small enough to walk around the room and ask questions of the audience.

Michelle has a son, Javel, who is currently studying at university. His name means ‘great one’ and he’s certainly lived up to the moniker. Despite his young age he’s already had a placement with NASA and scholarships for his studies. Like his mum, he’s got good looks as well as brains: he has worked as a model and would like to work in the industry or even pursue acting. Working as an engineer for NASA is a very respectable back-up plan, however!

There’s lots that Michelle loves about England, from the picture-perfect village she currently lives in to the friends that she’s made here. However, her time in the UK ends this summer, and she’s looking forward to going home to South Carolina, especially as she’ll see more of her family and get to enjoy that Deep South sunshine!

After our shoot, Michelle said:

“Sarah is amazing and so is her work! This was my first photo shoot and she made me feel absolutely comfortable! She had great communication and was extremely accommodating to help me meet a deadline. Sarah created a variety of lovely, high quality photos for me to choose from. I am very satisfied with her services and appreciated her warm personality!”

Michelle, corporate headshots client from Adderbury, Oxfordshire

If you’re looking for professional headshots, and you’re based in the Oxfordshire or Buckinghamshire area, please get in contact.

I am a full-time professional portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire, and the Master Photographers Association Newborn Photographer of the Year 2019 for the Central Region (covering Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire).