We are welcoming one of our team members onto the show today – the lovely and incredible KT Howie. KT was on the show before on Episode 173 where we chatted with her about her internship with Lindsey and The Heart. So if you haven’t got an introduction into who this girl is, listen to that episode and then come back here because today we are chatting with KT all about her journey with doing a particular niche of photography that is NOT common at all – photographing the elderly. 

Today we talked about KT’s journey in pioneering a new niche in the photography industry and some of her milestones along the way. KT shared her heart behind preserving the legacies and stories of the older generation and how that’s fueled her business model and given her the strength to fight through establishing a whole new niche of photography. 

She talked with us about some of the biggest obstacles in her journey and her encouragement to other entrepreneurs feeling a tug to leave the beaten path and do their own thing. 

This episode is so rich and full of encouragement, inspiration, and purpose for those interested in pioneering a new idea or concept, as well as some deep and meaningful reminders of the value of others, their stories, and preserving the history and lessons of those who have gone before us. 

 

Who is KT Howie? 

KT Howie is a Golden Years Portrait Photographer based on Oahu, Hawaii. She specializes in elderly photography and helps families capture their grandparent’s stories through documentary-style interviews.

For The Heart, KT is a jack of all trades and does everything under the sun for creative content. Copy, graphic design, social media, editing courses, etc. 

 

Why Photography in the first place

KT’s dream was never to be a photographer, when she first started working for Lindsey, she knew she wanted to start a business but didn’t know what. She says she ended up coping out and did couples and weddings. Not saying that is a bad thing because it has taught her so much about business. With the Photo Major, it gave her a blueprint of what to do with couples and weddings, so it was a lot easier to know how to run a business. Later on, KT realized that it did not set her soul on fire at all. 

Recognizing at a very young age Kt loved storytelling and when someone started a story with “When I was your age…” that was her bread and butter. During her senior year of college, she told God that she wanted a way to honor the elderly, but didn’t know how that would look. God gave her this vision of a map of the states with all these red dots and this feeling that she was going to document people’s stories. 

Loving stories, loving the elder population, and wanting to bring stories and people together is the driving force for KT. 

 

Golden Years portraits 

Preserving legacies is what Golden Years portraits are. Growing up and being so close to her grandparents, and knowing where her family has come from and the stories. Has given her such a sense of identity and how God has been faithful in it. 

A common theme for people is after people pass you hear all these incredible stories and you wish you could have heard them from their mouths instead. Or even the wisdom from it. 

KT knows what it is like from both sides, not having those stories fully fleshed out from her mom’s mom, and wishes she could have held onto those forever. Being able to do it for her grandparents that are still alive, brings tears to her eyes today even with them still alive. 

Preserving people’s legacies is more important than we think. Not only making the elderly feel loved and special, but heard because so often they are forgotten. 

 

Biggest challenges in pursuing this niche

Since it is not common people don’t even realize it is a thing they can do for their grandparents. It’s been a lot of brand awareness and showing people the problem she can solve. Which are the fear of losing their grandparents, their stories, and the identity of their family. 

It’s kind of been like pulling teeth. But KT thinks the hard things in life if they are hard are worth it. Once the word gets out there people are super interested, but first, have to build that awareness and idea that people need it. 

 

How to Show People they need it 

There is an aspect of death, but we also don’t know when people’s days are numbered so it’s both and. It gets people to pull the trigger but if their grandparents are in good health why do we need to do it right away?

Receiving 40 or 50 inquiries KT is trying to figure out how to get them to pull the trigger. It’s the balance of not being morbid but also saying that time is not on our side with this. 

 

Biggest encouragement to continue to pursue Golden Years amidst the roadblocks and challenges

Switching no more than six months ago from couples and weddings to Golden Years portraits, that’s small potatoes compared to how long some entrepreneurs have been working on getting their business off the ground. For some people it takes years, and KT says she can keep going. 

Knowing that God has been in it has been super encouraging. KT truly believes that He is with her and not just her dream. He has orchestrated all of this throughout her life. The encouragement on social media and hearing people’s stories also fuels KT’s fire.

KT doesn’t consider herself a photographer, it’s just the medium she tells stories. If she didn’t touch her camera for a year, she wouldn’t care. She cares more about the people and their stories. And seeing God bring beauty from ashes. 

KT is a firm believer that everybody has a film-worthy story. 

 

Advice to Not Follow the Crowd

Endurance, keep going. If you really believe in it and know that it is a gap that needs to be filled. Keep moving and doing it. 

Sometimes dreams don’t work out, but if you know God is so clear in them? That has helped KT keep going. Going into something that’s never been done before really trusting God with your dreams and obeying what He says. 

 

 

 

Show notes 

Zencastr: https://zen.ai/heartandhustle

 

The Heart Shop: www.theheartuniversity.com/shop

 

Follow along with KT: 

www.instagram.com/kattkattykatt

www.kthowie.com

 

If you want to connect with us and other listeners in the Heart and Hustle community join our Facebook group here.

 

Follow along:

www.instagram.com/mrslindseyroman

www.instagram.com/evierupp

www.instagram.com/theheartuniversity