Monday, March 10, 2014

Meet Somer, our marketing, social media guru and personality behind The Studio Hampton Roads

Good Morning Hampton Roads!!

A little bit about me...  For the most part, I tend to be a private person. However, there’s a pin going around on Pinterest that states “I’m Shy at first, but I do the stupidest random stuff when I get comfortable with someone.” That sums me in a sentence. I’m observant, take my time to get to know someone and don’t like putting everything that happens in my life out to the world. I open up, as I get comfortable. I love making others laugh; heck I love making myself laugh. Sometimes I get to laughing so hard at myself it becomes much funnier (probably because I start putting a silly story behind it in my head). I’m sarcastic, fun loving and loyal. I’m a work at home mom (WAHM). I take care of my two beautiful little girls; prep for little man who should be making is arrival any day now (or at least I hope) and run The Studio Hampton Roads. My mind is always going. I love being a part of something bigger than myself.


In 2001, I decided to join the Marine Corps and ended up with a flight contract and got selected to fly the “fat girl”, as we affectionately call the UH-1N Huey.  Three tours to Iraq and 9 years later, I decided to get out as Kevin and I were expecting our second child.


I have so much love for my family, and much like Katy, I work better under pressure.  After picking up a camera to capture the everyday moments of life, I knew I wanted to do more with photography, so I began learning as much as I could about photography and started a small photography business.

After moving to Virginia from San Diego, I knew I wanted to submerse myself in the local photography community. After about a year and a half, I decided to start looking for a place that could be used as an alternative to hotels for photographing women. It didn’t have to be a big space, but it had to be clean, affordable and tasteful. I was shown a place right behind Behind The Veil and while it was rough around the edges (to say the least) let’s say it had the potential to be perfect. ☺
After some paint & new flooring, I couldn’t have been happier with the place. But truth told I didn’t know if anyone would be interested in using the space, and never did I imagine that the photography community as a whole would welcome The Studio with opens arms. From Day 1, I have had nothing but support from the Hampton Roads area as a whole and I am completely overwhelmed with gratitude.  Want to learn a little more about how The Studio HR came to be? Check out 'Fufilling a Community Need'.


If Katy is the “man behind the curtain”, I guess I am the Wizard in front of it. ☺ I run most of our social media platforms for The Studio to include:

 Twitter 
 Google+ 
 Instagram 
(Standby for this one, it should be fun!) 

I love interacting with people and genuinely want to connect and share! 

If you'd like to keep up with me personally, you can find me here on social media:


Monday, March 3, 2014

The Method Behind the Madness: A Little More About our Resident OCD Biz Manager, Katy Blevins!

Hey there, Hampton Roads! 

I joined Somer at The Studio HR on January 1st of this year and I could not be more thrilled to serve our local photographers, artists and small business owners. Providing a creative and professional environment in which others can excel and ultimately provide their clients with the very best is very important to me, and these past few months with The Studio have been a whirlwind of activity. We are so excited and so grateful for the very generous community support of our little adventure and have so many awesome plans in the works for future ways to serve you better.

For those of you who don’t know me from the Hampton Roads Creative, where I met Somer and work alongside her and a team of others to moderate a community forum for local artists and small business owners, I’ll give you a bit more of the inside scoop of my crazy life.

I’m a full-time working Mom of toddler twin boys and a teenage daughter. I’m married to the love of my life and we have the world’s most annoying bull dog. And a handful of fish. My Monday-Fridays are spent at a locally-owned software company working in administrative support to the sales department and my weekends are generally spent nurturing my own photography business, which specializes in weddings, engagements and boudoir.  I also teach basic photography skills to new camera owners and my most recent adventure is a new mommy blog called Chaos& Kiddos: Mommy’s Survival Guide. Suffice to say, time is a hot commodity these days and I’m almost always wearing multiple hats simultaneously. Thankfully, multi-tasking is in my blood and I work best under pressure, so life is good. I am blessed beyond measure, have the sense of humor of a small child (I love puns!!!!) and thrive on laughter, music and art.

Photo Courtesy of: Somer Anne Photography

What’s my role at The Studio Hampton Roads?

I am the man behind the curtain, so to speak. I manage all bookings via thestudiohr@gmail.com, so when you email The Studio to inquire about renting the space, I’m the gal talking back at ya! I follow the bookings from start to finish, manage the calendar (in all its glory and quirkiness), and manage most of the accounting, invoicing and record keeping. I live to have all of my little ducks in a perfect little row, so manning the organizational and operational side of the business is the best fit for me. 

I look forward to continuing to grow The Studio, serving you better, fostering positive community environments in which small business owners and artists can create and work, and meeting new people in our area and beyond! 

If you'd like to keep up with all things Katy, here's the rundown of where to find me on social media:

Facebook - KB Photo
Facebook - Chaos & Kiddos