This post is drawn from a recorded conversation with Deepali Vyas on my podcast, Her Brand Story — where I sit down with women leaders to talk about the visibility behind their success.
Deepali Vyas spent decades as one of the most respected names in executive search before she ever posted a video online. When she finally did, almost by accident, after noticing her son scrolling past bad career advice on TikTok, she found an entirely new platform: millions of views, a devoted following, and a voice she’d spent years afraid to use publicly. By the time she sat for her branding session with me, she wasn’t just a recruiting executive. She was a content creator with a personal brand bigger than her firm.
Who I built this shoot for
This kind of branding session is built for:
- LinkedIn and TikTok creators who’ve built an audience around their expertise
- Career coaches and consultants growing a platform alongside their client work
- Thought leaders stepping out from behind a corporate title to speak in their own voice
- Women whose personal brand has started to outgrow the imagery they currently have
Be bold, or no one will know your brand
When I asked Deepali what she’d tell women about building a strong personal brand, her answer was immediate: be bold. Not muted, not safe. She talked about her signature color, once purple, now a jewel-toned red, as something so anchored in her identity that people recognize it instantly. That’s the same principle I build every shoot around. A personal brand nobody notices isn’t really a brand yet.
The moment she stopped editing herself
Deepali told me she was terrified to bring her real voice to LinkedIn. She kept her TikTok and Instagram content, spicy, funny, direct, off the more “professional” platform, convinced her audience there needed something buttoned-up. It was her own team who finally pushed back: you speak like this to CEOs, why aren’t you putting it on LinkedIn? That was the moment, she said, she realized she hadn’t been fully authentic to herself.
That’s the exact tension I photograph through. So many high-achieving women have a polished, camera-ready version of themselves and a more real, more magnetic version they’ve kept private. The best branding images don’t choose between them, they merge them.
What we built together
Deepali’s session was built around energy and speed, the same qualities that make her content resonate. She described the day as full of quick outfit changes and a “nice lightness” to the process, a shoot designed to capture the in-between moments her audience doesn’t usually see: her love of design, her home, her sense of style. Not just the polished expert on their phone screen, but the fuller person behind the content.
In her words
“For me to trust somebody… your team came in and they were amazing… it takes a lot for someone like me to trust someone. I’m glad I let go.”
That’s the real work of a personal brand shoot for someone who’ve built an audience on authenticity: creating a space safe enough that the camera catches the same unfiltered person her following already knows and trusts.
This is the exact audience my personal branding photoshoots are built for, and it is the same throughline running through Branding Photography for Executive Search Leaders and Own Your Brand Story: Joya Dass. If you are building a personal brand around your own voice and content, this is the work I do.
Book your personal branding session with Priyanca Rao. I shared more on why now is the moment for women to build their platform through powerful photography in this interview with Think 7 Figures.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is branding photography for content creators and personal brand builders best suited for?
It’s built for creators, coaches, and thought leaders who’ve built an audience around their voice and need imagery that reflects who they actually are, not a stiff, corporate alternative to their real personal brand.
How do I figure out what my “signature” visual identity should be?
We talk through it during your design consult, looking at your existing content, your personality, and what already resonates with your audience, then anchor your shoot around a color, tone, or theme that’s unmistakably yours.
I’m camera-shy in real life even though my content does well. Can this still work?
Yes. Many clients who are confident on camera in short-form content still feel nervous in a studio setting. The shoot is built to bring out the same energy and personality your audience already knows, at a slower, more guided pace.
Will these images work across platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok?
Yes. Sessions are planned with your full platform mix in mind, so you leave with a cohesive set of images built for wherever your audience actually finds you.
I am Priyanca Rao, a personal branding photographer for women founders, CEOs, and leaders, working with clients across New York City and Westchester. My signature offering, The Legacy Project, turns a woman’s story into a body of photographic work that reflects who she has become. Women preparing for a rebrand, a launch, a book, or a next chapter turn to Priyanca Rao Photography for imagery that matches their expertise. If you are searching for branding photography that reflects a real, authentic personal brand, my studio is built for exactly this moment.
