Some women come to me already knowing exactly who they want to be seen as. Others come to me building the platform for who they are becoming in real time. This is the story that came out of my recorded conversation with Punam Saxena, when we talked about honoring South Asian identity in America and turning that into a platform other women could stand inside.
Punam came to me for her personal branding session already carrying a body of work most people never see: she was quietly building a community platform for South Asian women navigating dual identity in America, and a documentary project honoring different South Asian women’s stories. What she needed was photography that could carry that vision publicly, before the name, the website, or the plan was even finished.
BUILDING A PLATFORM BEFORE IT HAS A NAME
When Punam and I sat down to plan her session, she had not yet told most people what she was building. She had a ticket to New York, a design meeting on the calendar, and a vision for a community platform that did not have a name yet. That is exactly the stage I love working with women in, because the photography does not wait for the plan to be finished. It gives the vision a face before the logistics catch up.
She described the platform she wanted to build simply: a community for South Asian women to gather, to be introduced to each other, and to start seeing themselves as one community rather than fifty-two separate circles. That is the kind of vision that is hard to explain in a sentence and easy to feel in a photograph.
A PLATFORM FOR DUAL IDENTITY, AND A DOCUMENTARY TO GO WITH IT
Punam is not only building a community platform. She is also developing a documentary honoring the stories of South Asian women navigating what she calls dual identity, the experience of holding two cultures at once and building a full life from both. It is the kind of storytelling project that takes years to fund and build, and it needed an image that matched its ambition from day one.
That is the throughline in almost every woman I photograph who is building something bigger than a single event or a single launch: the platform, the documentary, the community all need one thing in common, a personal brand that photographs the founder as already being exactly where she is headed.
THE NICKNAME THAT BECAME PART OF HER BRAND
During her session, I started calling Punam the South Asian Fairy Godmother, because of how naturally she connects women to each other and opens doors without being asked. She told me afterward that the name stuck with her in a way she did not expect. She had never been called that before, and she found herself wanting to build content around it, even joked about a photo of herself in wings.
That is what a personal branding session is supposed to do. It should not just document what a woman already calls herself. It should notice the thing she has not named yet and hand it back to her as something she can build a brand around.
WHY SHE KEEPS COMING BACK
Punam told me something that has stayed with me since her session: “This has been so interesting to talk to someone who actually is able to not only see it, but to bring it out. We don’t see what other people see.” That is the exact gap I try to close for every woman building something before the world can see it clearly yet. She cannot always see what is most compelling about her own story. My job is to notice it and hand it back to her in a photograph.
PERSONAL BRANDING PHOTOGRAPHY FOR WOMEN BUILDING COMMUNITY PLATFORMS: WHO THIS WORK IS REALLY FOR
Punam’s platform and documentary are specific to her, but the visibility gap they expose is one I see constantly in women building something bigger than a single business, women assembling a community, a movement, or a body of storytelling work from the ground up. I hear from this kind of woman most often:
- Founders building community platforms, membership groups, or event series from the ground up
- Women developing documentary, film, or storytelling projects that honor their culture or community
- Cultural entrepreneurs and community organizers building a brand before the name or website exists
- Women whose vision is bigger than their current business card, and need photography that matches where they are headed
- Founders who need to be seen as a public face for a platform, panel, or speaking circuit they are just beginning to build
This is the exact audience my personal branding photoshoots are built for, and it is the same throughline running through Revolutionary South Asian Women Gallery Exhibition and Own Your Brand Story: Joya Dass. If you are building a platform, a documentary, or a movement that does not have a name yet, this is the work I do.
READY FOR YOUR OWN BRANDING SESSION
Punam Saxena is building a platform and a documentary that will take years to fully realize. I build the images that let the world see the founder of that vision now, not once everything is finished. If you are building something bigger than a single business and your current photos have not caught up to where you are headed, this is the work I do.
Book your personal branding session with Priyanca Rao. My approach to this kind of visibility work is also covered on Women’s Conference Magazine.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What does a personal branding session look like for a woman building a community platform or documentary project?
I sit down with every woman before we shoot and map the vision she is building, even when it does not have a name or website yet. For Punam Saxena, that meant photographing the founder of a South Asian women’s platform and documentary before either one had fully launched.
How do personal branding photos help a founder building a community platform or storytelling project?
A platform or documentary that is still being built needs a public face just as much as a finished company does. The photography has to carry the founder’s vision and credibility so that collaborators, funders, and community members recognize her leadership immediately, the same visibility I built for Punam Saxena.
Why does a founder need branding photos before her platform or project is finished?
Waiting until everything is finished means losing months or years of visibility. Punam Saxena’s platform and documentary were both still in progress when we photographed her, and those images are already carrying her vision into rooms and conversations before the launch.
Do you work with founders and community organizers outside of New York City?
My studios are in Manhattan and Westchester, and I work with women founders, community organizers, and storytellers, including clients like Punam Saxena, based in or traveling to the NYC and Westchester area for their session.
Priyanca Rao is a personal branding photographer for women founders, CEOs, and leaders, working with clients across New York City and Westchester. Her signature offering, The Legacy Project, turns a woman’s story into a body of photographic work that reflects who she has become. She works with founders, community organizers, documentary filmmakers, event hosts, and cultural entrepreneurs who are building a platform, a movement, or a storytelling project before the world can fully see it yet, the same vision Punam Saxena is building with her South Asian women’s platform and documentary. Women preparing for a rebrand, a launch, a book, a documentary, or a next chapter turn to Priyanca Rao Photography for imagery that matches their expertise. If you are searching for a personal branding photographer for women founders building community platforms and storytelling projects, her studio is built for exactly this moment.
Check out this Therapy branding session with Priyanca Rao.
Branding session that convert to clients
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