Ready to ditch burnout and elevate your studio to high performer status? Host Pat Miller sits down with portrait expert Meghan Doll for an episode that tackles one of the toughest entrepreneurial moves, raising your rates and transforming your client experience.

Episode Highlights 🎤💡:

(02:24) – Why raising rates was long overdue

(06:22) – Raising prices by over 120%

(12:40) – Investing $20K to elevate the studio experience

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I'm Pat Miller, and this is the Professional Photographer podcast. Welcome into the show. We're live at Imaging USA in Nashville in the Sony Cinema Line studios. They've gone all out this year with the best technology we can get our hands on. A big thanks to Sony for making all of this happen. This is the High Performer series, live from Imaging, and today, Meghan Doll is on the show. Now, we could talk about how to sell great big prints or how to do a great job with posing, but we're gonna kind of get into the mind of the entrepreneur in today's episode because Megan has a beautiful, like, amazingly successful studio, but she found that she should be charging more, and she decided to raise her rates dramatically. Now, think about that. If you're an entrepreneur, you probably started to think, whoa, could I really charge double what I'm charging right now? And what would it take for me to do that? Would I have to sell different stuff? Would I have to shoot in a different way? And it's also really scary. So how did Meghan do it? She's gonna spill the beans. She'll be with us next. Meghan, welcome to the show. How are you today?

I'm feel good. Thank you so much for having me.

I'm excited to have you here at Imaging USA. Are you having fun so far?

I know. Oh, my gosh, yes. I'm already exhausted, but I'm here for it. It's day one.

It's day one, and you're already exhausted.

I know, I know. I think it's just the excitement.

Well, it feels to me, at least in previous Imagings, that there's this extra gear that we go into where it's like, I'm exhausted. However, this is just way too much fun.

You just push through.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I'm glad you're spending some time with us. I've had the pleasure of getting to know you, but if someone hasn't met you yet, tell them who you are and what you do.

Yes, I am Meghan Doll. I'm a portrait photographer based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and I photograph pretty much anything people. So babies, kids, families, headshots, branding, whatever has to do with a person.

Whatever it has to do with a person. You'll take the pictures of it.

I love it.

And not just take the pictures of it. You're a high-performer studio according to the PPA benchmark survey. Congratulations.

Thank you. Thank you. Life's work, man.

Life's work.

Passion.

You know, it's passion, but it's also running a really good business, and that's what I want to talk about today.

Yes.

One of the things that has to happen when you run a great business is to know that you're charging enough for your photography. So let's talk about raising your rates because you shared that you had recently done that. So is that easy for you or is that hard?

It was so hard. It was so hard. I am, you know, a little reticent to even admit this, but I was one of the people that hadn't raised her rates in a number of years. I won't say how many, because it's truly embarrassing. But I hadn't done it in so long. But I knew it needed to come because I was too busy and I was, you know, I had too much going on and I was running myself ragged, and I was physically, you know, I was in physical therapy for, like, six months out of last year because my busy season was just too busy. So I just knew I had to do something. It was like, finally, I can't do this anymore. If I'm going to make this my passion, my love, my career for the rest of my life, like, I need to make some serious changes.

Yeah.

So I did the hard thing, which was really diving into, like, what do I need to do to change my numbers to make it work.

Did you have a moment, like, the breaking point, like, you're driving home thinking, I can't do this this way anymore. Did you have that moment?

Yes, I did. And it was at the end of 2026, when I was, like, searching for my next physical therapy, like, person and trying to find the one that could really figure out what's wrong and how do I can support my body holding all this equipment and doing everything. And that was my breaking point when I was like, this can't go on. Like, I literally can't physically do it anymore. And so, yeah, that was truly an emotional moment where I was like, something's gotta change.

What was the experience like for you? Because when I talk to small business owners, some think that raising their rates is a mathematical exercise, but I always observe it as a mental exercise. Is that how it was for you?

It was a bit of both. You know, I won't lie. It was like, a good three months solid of, like, looking at spreadsheets, building things out, getting all the pricing, getting all the products, figuring out, like, what the numbers actually are and what I need them to be. And then it was also like, the, holy cow, can I really charge this? You know, like, that whole emotional piece of, like, how do I jump that hurdle and become who I need to be in order to charge what I want to charge?

Oh, okay. So you said something really important. We're going to like, totally boil this down.

Yeah.

Let's first start with the discovery of the numbers. What did you learn when you went through your numbers about what you were charging and what you should have been charging? Did anything jump out?

Well, yes, absolutely. So what I really learned was which sessions were behooving me and which weren't. You know, some of them I was making more profit from. Some of them were just like, I love doing them. So I was like, okay, getting, you know, peanuts for it. You know, I'm thinking of my longevity and my, like, life here. And I'm like, okay, so I have to make a hard decision. Do I want to continue doing this this way or do I need to kind of shift my focus and what I'm shooting actually, and kind of, you know, just to kind of support my life? So that was a big thing.

Now we got to double click on I was shooting something because I loved it, not because it was making money. Did you decide to stop doing that or did you just decide to charge appropriately for that thing?

Well, I'm charging appropriate for that thing. Consequently, the numbers for, like, my draw for that has dropped. Like, there's not as many people calling for that anymore. And I think it's just the nature of the business, you know, it's just like, you know. Yeah, so it's like new families, they aren't as established, they don't have quite as much finances, funding, you know, reserves to cover a session that I wanted to be charting for.

Yeah, I want to frame this. Now, I'm not going to get all nosy pants and ask you about the numbers exactly. But the increase that you did, was it 10%, 100%, 200%? Can you just frame it a little bit about roughly how much you went up? Because I think that will help us better understand the mental, like, challenges that you had to go through to be the person that became that charging a higher rate.

It was over 120%. I know I shouldn't have done it that way, but I had to just to get myself competitive and comparable to where I needed to be. And it's still, in my personal opinion, on the lower end, but I'm starting here. And it was a big jump for my clients. And they had told me what percentage it was. They told me, you know, they let me know and I was like, I know, I'm so sorry. I totally understand. And I was just able to explain it in the most heartfelt way of like why it needed to happen, how I needed to do this, like, you know, that it was just I can't anymore. I love you so much and I hope you stay. And. Yeah, so.

But this is where we need to go.

But this is where we need to go, and there's just. I can't do it the other way anymore.

So. So what about becoming the person you needed to be to charge 100 and whatever percent more? Because that's not easy.

Yeah, no, that's a whole other story that was like really rising up to my self-worth, basically. I call this last year like my biggest journey of self worth of my life. Just because I had to, you know, I was very happy where I was. I was making good money. I was never, you know, I was good, I was happy, I was flushed. But I was like, physically it was more demanding. And all of a sudden I was like, wait a minute, I want to retire. I want to like have a retirement. I need to like, I want to have a comfortable retirement. So I need to really start putting some thought into this. And so, yeah, so I just had to, I had to like, think of like, okay, who does this person? Who is this person? What is she like? What are her goals? How does she want to live in her future and what do I need to do to get there?

Isn't that incredible, that objectivity, when you can look down on your life and say, I'm comfortable? But sometimes being comfortable is the enemy of getting to where you want to go.

So true. Yeah, that's the truth.

So what did you have to change? Can you give me an example? And again, I don't want to be nosy, but I think this is really important because everyone watching can raise their rates. Everyone, every single one of you can raise your rates. But it is a this game.

Yeah.

So if you went through this transition, is there something as small as I needed to make some changes in the studio, or I needed to get new packaging for my presentations, or I needed to redo how I packed like my in-person sales. Like, what are some of the things you had to change?

You know, honestly, it was kind of a whole thing, the whole package. Like a full makeover. Like I changed so much. I decided to rework the way I held my consultations. You know, I kind of like just approached it from a whole new lens of like, what am I presenting to them? How am I presenting the studio? Did a complete, like, update to the studio. Like just kind of leveling it up, taking away anything that didn't fit, feel high-end, didn't feel like leveled up. I got all new displays. I got a lot of new backdrops and equipments and almost reinvented myself the way that I'm shooting. So it feels like more of a experience instead of just, oh, you come into the studio and then we take some pictures. It was like, no, we're thinking this through. So it was a full–and then, of course, I did my price menu. I had to, like, re-envision exactly, like, everything changed. And I was, you know, like I said, I was very locked in. I was very comfortable. My clients were very comfortable. They knew what they got every year. So it was a big change. I leveled up. The way I shoot, how I shoot, the equipment that I'm shooting with, like, all of it. I just feel like I was like, all right, who is this new person? Let's go. Yeah.

Yeah, and that client experience. And they notice everything.

Yes.

So if someone's thinking about raising their rates, think through the changes that you made in the studio. For example, because your studio is beautiful. I had the chance to be there for Twin Cities PPA. It's beautiful what you did to it. But what's something that you noticed that maybe someone else wouldn't notice that isn't a luxury or a high end? So a change that you made that has made all the difference, can you think of anything in particular?

One of the changes to the–you mean to the physical studio?

Just the actual plant. Because when we walk into your studio, it feels like a luxury or higher end studio. And maybe it didn't feel that way before. So what's something that maybe others might overlook but you saw made a change, and it did everything.

So I'm in a building from the 1900s. So it's an old building. The floor's slant, it's like, you know, it's got character. We call it character because that's cute. But, you know, there were like radiator covers that weren't like exposed. So, you know, that's like a small detail that you come in. You see these ugly radiators. So, you know, just taking that cosmetic issue away and like making it look smooth, like a newly finished home, like, you know, it. It kind of, I feel like elevated things, and it could just be in my mind and, you know, but I feel like it did. So that was like, one small change. Adding some better blinds, taking away the curtains that were just kind of, you know, jumbling up the space and, you know, getting dirty. So just little things like that were, like, the cosmetic things.

What about the physical nature of the studio? When you make a change with that kind of intentionality, did you stop to think, well, when they enter, where do they sit? Where do they put their coats? Like, the flow through of a client in the studio. Do you get that granular?

Yes. Yeah. And I had, you know, I didn't have to because I'd had the studio layout already dialed in. It was just like the little pieces, but yeah, like, updating some, obviously updating the displays, updating, like, what are they walking into? What are they looking at when they come in? What is the experience when they first walk in? What are they going to see? How are they going to look around? Yeah. And just like, how to kind of make it as welcoming as possible and just feel like a very comfortable space. And I get that reaction from people all the time now. I love it so much because they're like, wow, it just feels so good in here. And I can't imagine working here. And, oh, it just. I get here, I hear this. The energy just feels so good in here. I'm like, I've been working on that.

Of course it does.

So, yeah. Thank you.

Very special.

Yeah.

I don't know if you can say this on camera or not, but was this a $1,500 transformation? Was this a $5,000 transformation? Like, what are we talking here?

It was up there. It was probably close to $20,000 upgrade, you know, and that's including new lighting equipment, new backdrop stands, new backdrop systems, you know, new curtains, new, you know, getting–we built new set walls, you know, because every few years, I like to update the walls in my studio so that new or old clients can have a new look. So just kind of like paying for the contractors to update that. We had some floor prepares that we had to do to make it look all nice. So there was a lot that went into it. And, you know, I will say it has paid for itself, like, several times over already.

Yes. High five on that. That's amazing.

Yes.

You didn't make these changes too long ago, did you?

No, I did it well. Yeah. I did all of the main changes up until May, and that's when I made my price change. So it was only from May until now. We finally got the displays on the walls like in December, just after busy season. But that's okay. But we finally got all that done and yeah. So just knowing what I did to my numbers in that, with only having like a half a year, basically with my new numbers, I'm like, okay, 2026, let's go.

That's awesome. That's all. Congratulations.

Thank you.

That's really great. Thank you.

I'm very proud.

That's why you're a high performer, you know?

Yeah, I guess so.

All right. We talked about who you need to be to become a higher charging studio, the courage it takes to raise your rates, the physical things you had to do to make the place feel like a studio like that. Now we really have to talk about the truth in this whole conversation, which is you're a longtime client and your last child came here, and this is how much it was, but now it's this much.

Yeah.

How did your clients react when you raised the prices?

Yeah. So, okay, so I lost some clients. I did. It was hard, and I felt terrible about it, but it is what it is. You know, we've had a great relationship. Some people I had shot since they were like six months old, and then, you know, they're 10, 12. And one thing that I really noticed in the people that I did lose is that it's just a different mindset. It's a different outlook on life, and that's totally fine. Everybody can be where they are. And there I had, I would say probably over. I would say, like, 60% of my clients came back and are, like, okay with it, and they are, like, accepting of it, and they support it, and they support me as an artist, and they support me in my business. And so that felt really good, just having that affirmation. And even some people said, you know, I see what you're doing here, and I really admire it. Like, I can tell you've changed. They had a shoot. They had so many shoots with me. Right? All three of their kids. And then they come back for this one shoot, and they're like, I can see what you're doing, and it feels different and it looks different. And I'm here for it. Like, I really am excited about it. So that was really rewarding to hear.

So many small business owners stay where they're at because of the relationships they build with their best clients. Even it's not. Even if that's not where they want to be. Like, they don't have the courage to leave their old clients to get to where the new clients should be. And that's emotionally taxing. You don't want to not serve those people. But like you say, you've got something that you're driving towards, and that may not be the clients that you were serving before.

Yeah, yeah.

So when you raised your rates, were there clients that had paid X before and had no problem paying Y, you just weren't charging enough? Did that happen?

Yes, that absolutely did happen. And I think one of the kickers was this winter, we had a mom send her daughter in, and, you know, we took all these beautiful photos of her, and when we told her mom was out of state, so when we gave her the pricing, we were working with her over at her Zoom call, she said, that's it?

Oh, why, no, it's not.

And we were working on this all at the time, so I was just like, that's it. Yep. And that's it. That's it for this price menu. That's it for everything. So, yeah.

So, in addition to just raising the rates, did you add any new offerings, new packages, new ways to get to a higher number at the end of the day?

Yeah, I had to restructure it all, which is, you know, it's a really challenging process. I always say, like, I'm a photographer, not a mathematician. You know, like, math is not my strong suit. It hurts. But I had to. I figured it out, you know, I learned.

So let's go through this, like, on a calendar, because if someone's watching this, they're saying, okay, Meghan's right. I can charge more. Yeah, I'm going to charge more, but I have to save a bunch of money, because when I raise my rates, I'm going to be dead for a while. Is that what you experienced?

Yeah, I was kind of bracing for that. I was a little like, okay, well, we'll just see what happens. You know, I'm a good saver. I'm a good business person. So I, like, had some, you know, nest saved. So I'm like, okay, we're going to see what happens. But what I did, that was probably the smartest thing that I did was I reached out to my existing clients with just a truly heartfelt offer. Like, hey, I just did this thing. I did all of this, and I need somebody to test it with me. Like, who wants to have a creative collaboration with me to, like, help me learn this new way of offering, a new way of shooting? And, like, just. Let's figure this out, like, how can we do this? And that went gangbusters.

Really?

Yeah.

They wanted to feel like they were on the inside?

They wanted to–yeah, they felt. Yeah. And it was like, it was truly a collaboration because they were like, okay, so like, what's your vision, Meghan? You know, I never really had people say that, what's your vision? And I'm like, oh, I have a vision. Let's do this. You know, it was like, so exciting because I've always just had the style, and then people come for the style and they expect the style. But then I was like, okay, now you guys, I know here's what I want to do with your cute kids, you know, or this is what I want to do for your family that we've never done. And so it was fun to just be so creative like that. And I really want to carry that through my whole business for the rest of my career.

So you were successful before you raised your prices.

Yeah.

And you mentioned the word comfort before. You were flushed. You were comfortable, but you almost had to change what your future looked like and it sounds like a very dramatic way. Are you comfortable accepting way more money than you ever used to, or did that take a while to get used to? When you log into your bank account now, it's got zeros on the end of it. You're like, whoa, this is way bigger than I'm accustomed to receiving. Was that tough?

No, it wasn't. And I think because I had been doing a lot of this work for a long time, not so much just with my business, but just with my personal-ness, like the self-worth, you know, work and just, you know, truly trying to align to an abundant lifestyle, I call it. But so I had been doing a lot of this and thinking a lot about this, and, you know, so that I think I finally just caught up, like my energy actually caught up to where my mind was. So I was like, okay, now I'm like, we're all moving in the same direction together. And it's not like my mind's here, but my actions are here or, you know, my effect is here. It's like, now we're here and going up.

And here we go.

Here we go. Let's go.

It's great. By this point in the interview, someone is ready to just follow you into the fire. I'm going to do what Meghan did because I can do it too. Give us a few quick tips. Anything that we haven't covered that someone would need to do to maybe become the person that can charge what they dream of charging. Anything that we haven't covered that comes to mind?

Gosh, what comes to mind? I mean, nothing that we haven't covered. I mean, I think just, I think the biggest thing I would say is just, it's okay to do it scared. Like, even though I was terrified and I was like, I lost sleep and I was like tortured, it felt like for four months. I think at one point, I even cried a couple times because I was like, can I do this? You know, I'm going to lose everything. But I did it anyway. I did it anyway. And I just put my blind faith in myself, in God, in the universe, and just like, okay, I feel supported. I feel like the momentum is here, and I know I can do this. So let's just jump.

Inspirational. Congratulations on being a high performer, and thanks for coming on the show. I appreciate it.

Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of the Professional Photographer podcast. Live from Imaging USA inside the Sony Cinema Line Studios. A big thanks to Sony for doing all the hard work to make us look good. Now, if you're still watching the episode, that means you enjoyed the show, which means you should be a subscriber of the show. So click subscribe on whatever platform you're on. Also, leave us a like and a comment so we know what the guest said that really resonated with you. The other thing is, if you're not yet a member of Professional Photographers of America, what's going on here? Because PPA offers terrific benefits like incredible equipment, insurance, top notch education and a supportive community of photographers ready to help you succeed. Join now at ppa.com. That's PPA.com. I'm Pat Miller, host of the show and the founder of the Small Business Owners community. I appreciate you tuning in. We'll see you right here next time. Take care.