A NEW WAY TO RUN A PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS, WITHOUT STUDIOS, TRAVEL DAYS, OR GEOGRAPHIC LIMITS.

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GOLDENBRAND PHOTOGRAPHY©

Creative Director · Photographer · Strategist · Writer · Community Builder · Editorial Curator

LISA HAUKOM

A portfolio career built across consulting, advisory, education, digital products, and community programming. Working with founder-led brands and organizations in lifestyle, beauty, wellness, editorial, and nonprofit.

The Goldenbrand is where creative women and brands come to clarify their vision and bring their work into the world.

The Goldenbrand is a creative studio and community built around creative direction, strategic advice, and photography for women building meaningful work.

Because today the work doesn’t just live in studios, notebooks, or kitchens. It lives online.

On Websites, Substack posts,Launches, Press features, and Social platforms. All of them ask for images and story.More often than not, they ask for you. The Goldenbrand is where women learn how to meet that moment with ease.

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WHEN WOMEN SHOW THEIR WORK CLEARLY, OPPORTUNITY AND MONEY FOLLOW.

STEP INTO
GOLDENBRAND WORLD

Photo Club
The Membership.

How to Photograph Yourself
DIY. You don't need a photographer on staff to be seen well. You need the skill. This is where you get it.

Inquire About a Photoshoot
Editorial & Brand. For Artists and Creatives.

Private Advisory
Booked out until January 2027. Photo Club is currently the only way to work directly with me. Members have exclusive access to single strategy sessions.

Learn Remote Photography
DIY.

Single Session
Exclusively available to Photo Club Members

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7 simple ideas you can try at home using your iPhone.

SEND THEM TO ME!

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IWNGTFY is where I bring all the best people, places, stories, and ideas to one place, just for you. And we are rising on Substack.

For me, that’s always minimal portrait, black-and-white. Underrated in a world obsessed more…there’s something beautifully real and raw that always comes through, when we strip it all back.

It makes a photo feel less like content and more like you.

I made a whole video breaking down what this style actually is and why we shoot it black-and-white (scroll back, it’s in the feed).

And because who am I to gatekeep how it’s done from you? Read it now on my Substack. 👆

And if you’re ready to actually learn how to take photos like this angles, light, styling, all of it, that’s exactly what’s inside the course. Link in bio.

For me, that’s always minimal portrait, black-and-white. Underrated in a world obsessed more…there’s something beautifully real and raw that always comes through, when we strip it all back.

It makes a photo feel less like content and more like you.

I made a whole video breaking down what this style actually is and why we shoot it black-and-white (scroll back, it’s in the feed).

And because who am I to gatekeep how it’s done from you? Read it now on my Substack. 👆

And if you’re ready to actually learn how to take photos like this angles, light, styling, all of it, that’s exactly what’s inside the course. Link in bio.

Front-facing. Back against the wall. Chin down, chest out, “I’m professional.” We’ve all done it. It’s fine.
🔪 It’s also the only sentence most people know how to say with a camera.

But you’re not one adjective. You’re stylish. You’re creative. You’re completely, unmistakably you. And your photos should be saying that too.

So here’s your homework: step away from the wall. Walk into the middle of the room. Turn your body. Find your angles. I know it feels weird. I know it feels crazy. The middle of the room won’t bite, I promise.

And the best part? You don’t need a studio for any of this. Your kitchen, your hallway, your backyard…literally any space you already have is enough.
🔪 The location is additive, not exclusive.

If “how do I actually do this” is the question in your head right now, that’s the whole course. Link in bio. 👆

Front-facing. Back against the wall. Chin down, chest out, “I’m professional.” We’ve all done it. It’s fine.
🔪 It’s also the only sentence most people know how to say with a camera.

But you’re not one adjective. You’re stylish. You’re creative. You’re completely, unmistakably you. And your photos should be saying that too.

So here’s your homework: step away from the wall. Walk into the middle of the room. Turn your body. Find your angles. I know it feels weird. I know it feels crazy. The middle of the room won’t bite, I promise.

And the best part? You don’t need a studio for any of this. Your kitchen, your hallway, your backyard…literally any space you already have is enough.
🔪 The location is additive, not exclusive.

If “how do I actually do this” is the question in your head right now, that’s the whole course. Link in bio. 👆

Rediscovering this for myself. That’s my wish for you. xx

Rediscovering this for myself. That’s my wish for you. xx

Please Ignore that unread book tower in the corner of the room. 😍

Please Ignore that unread book tower in the corner of the room. 😍

Ala Cinema Paradiso ♥️

Ala Cinema Paradiso ♥️

You can tell a lot about a woman by what she carries in her bag, it’s an intimate thing. It’s also so satisfying to see what other women value enough to schlep around. I always learn something new about them. Like, you’re a snacker (same), you collect matchbooks as mementos, or desperately need to cull your keychain (again, same). Plus I’m Nancy Drew nosy, so there’s that. But instead of wrong-doing I’m probably clocking your current lip color or checking for empties I can toss out. Tidying is a compulsion, do not let me near your bag. Seriously.

xx Lisa💋

Read the full post @ IWNGTFY

You can tell a lot about a woman by what she carries in her bag, it’s an intimate thing. It’s also so satisfying to see what other women value enough to schlep around. I always learn something new about them. Like, you’re a snacker (same), you collect matchbooks as mementos, or desperately need to cull your keychain (again, same). Plus I’m Nancy Drew nosy, so there’s that. But instead of wrong-doing I’m probably clocking your current lip color or checking for empties I can toss out. Tidying is a compulsion, do not let me near your bag. Seriously.

xx Lisa💋

Read the full post @ IWNGTFY

There, all better.

There, all better.

AI, the biggest technology advancement in history, has just made your iPhone pictures the most valuable thing on the internet.

When perfection is cheap and automated, trust becomes the scarce resource. We are tired of pics that look flawless and fake. We crave a real person, real texture, real life. Believability is now a creative requirement and AI cannot fake it.

Am I not-so-secretly smug about this? Yes, yes I am. Because the women I have been teaching to photograph themselves on their iPhones for the past six years? They are very good at this. And they know how to make more of what the market is now desperate for, themselves.

Now the game is flipped in your favor, and all you need is your face and your phone’s camera. Self-shot photos of you sharing your beautifully true to life moments? That’s gold baby.

📍start here: how to photograph yourself course 🔗 in bio

AI, the biggest technology advancement in history, has just made your iPhone pictures the most valuable thing on the internet.

When perfection is cheap and automated, trust becomes the scarce resource. We are tired of pics that look flawless and fake. We crave a real person, real texture, real life. Believability is now a creative requirement and AI cannot fake it.

Am I not-so-secretly smug about this? Yes, yes I am. Because the women I have been teaching to photograph themselves on their iPhones for the past six years? They are very good at this. And they know how to make more of what the market is now desperate for, themselves.

Now the game is flipped in your favor, and all you need is your face and your phone’s camera. Self-shot photos of you sharing your beautifully true to life moments? That’s gold baby.

📍start here: how to photograph yourself course 🔗 in bio

The color you need in every single one of your pictures.
Unexpected red theory in 20 ways to use it in your photos. Full blog post available on IWNGTFY.

* All photos here are self portrait shot on iPhone by members of Photo Club

The color you need in every single one of your pictures.
Unexpected red theory in 20 ways to use it in your photos. Full blog post available on IWNGTFY.

* All photos here are self portrait shot on iPhone by members of Photo Club

Nobody told me I could just read what I like!
I spent years feeling like I should be reading literary fiction and not finishing it and feeling quite bad about that.

Turns out gatekeeping your own reading taste is exhausting and completely pointless.

So here is my actual starter guide. The books that got me here. The ones I would hand to someone who feels the same way.

YA. Horror. Gothic horror. Dark academia. The strange and the atmospheric and the kind of thing that keeps you up past midnight not because it is scary exactly but because you cannot put it down.

What did I miss? What would you recommend I read next?

Nobody told me I could just read what I like!
I spent years feeling like I should be reading literary fiction and not finishing it and feeling quite bad about that.

Turns out gatekeeping your own reading taste is exhausting and completely pointless.

So here is my actual starter guide. The books that got me here. The ones I would hand to someone who feels the same way.

YA. Horror. Gothic horror. Dark academia. The strange and the atmospheric and the kind of thing that keeps you up past midnight not because it is scary exactly but because you cannot put it down.

What did I miss? What would you recommend I read next?

Here is how I learned to share mine.

For me point of view and visuals are the same thing. My daily anchors, my camera roll, my self portrait practice, they are all expressions of the same point of view. What I believe shows up in what I photograph. What I photograph shows up in what I write. It is all one thing.

I also think building in public is the proof mechanism not the goal. I build in public because it is the only way to actually develop a point of view and keep evolving it. The growth is a side effect. A welcome one but not entirely the point.

This is what we are working on right now inside Photo Club.

Here is how I learned to share mine.

For me point of view and visuals are the same thing. My daily anchors, my camera roll, my self portrait practice, they are all expressions of the same point of view. What I believe shows up in what I photograph. What I photograph shows up in what I write. It is all one thing.

I also think building in public is the proof mechanism not the goal. I build in public because it is the only way to actually develop a point of view and keep evolving it. The growth is a side effect. A welcome one but not entirely the point.

This is what we are working on right now inside Photo Club.

I mean it’s not, not true. also, I need more Geminis in my life. Where are you my magical people?

I mean it’s not, not true. also, I need more Geminis in my life. Where are you my magical people?

I’d stop fighting the glare.
I’d do more of it, on purpose.

Because that glare, that reflection, that is what brands are spending actual money trying to recreate right now. To show proof that a real person was really there under real light with real glasses on their real face.

The reason every ad campaign right now looks like it was shot on a disposable camera right now? Because polish stopped converting. You already have that currency. You just didn’t have to fake it.

Full how to post on IWNGTFY.

I’d stop fighting the glare.
I’d do more of it, on purpose.

Because that glare, that reflection, that is what brands are spending actual money trying to recreate right now. To show proof that a real person was really there under real light with real glasses on their real face.

The reason every ad campaign right now looks like it was shot on a disposable camera right now? Because polish stopped converting. You already have that currency. You just didn’t have to fake it.

Full how to post on IWNGTFY.

Each one of us is carrying her own backpack of inherited fears/stories: cultural, familial, and historical, alongside our own mix of courage and kindness. We’re all just trying to make sense of who we are, and how to be freely ourselves while sharing that odd assortment of contents. Cole gave words to feelings I hadn’t been able to name myself. I know a lot of you will feel the same.

I’d love for you to meet Cole Zlata.
Mother. Artist. Writer. Nature-lover. PhD sociologist by training. Seeker of weird beauty and someone trying to pay even better attention. Point Reyes Station, California. Age: 44. Knows her astrology but it’s so on point she’s hesitant to reveal it publicly.

Full post on IWNGTFY.

Each one of us is carrying her own backpack of inherited fears/stories: cultural, familial, and historical, alongside our own mix of courage and kindness. We’re all just trying to make sense of who we are, and how to be freely ourselves while sharing that odd assortment of contents. Cole gave words to feelings I hadn’t been able to name myself. I know a lot of you will feel the same.

I’d love for you to meet Cole Zlata.
Mother. Artist. Writer. Nature-lover. PhD sociologist by training. Seeker of weird beauty and someone trying to pay even better attention. Point Reyes Station, California. Age: 44. Knows her astrology but it’s so on point she’s hesitant to reveal it publicly.

Full post on IWNGTFY.

Look, I know how lucky I am to have cooler temps while the rest of the country is blazing hot.

And I still feel like I’m staring down the barrel of slippery descent into my next personal season of the shining, aka winter in the pnw.

And would be so grateful for a few rays of sunshine if you care to send them my way, I’d be so grateful.

Meanwhile, you can find me over on Substack helping you find your point of view in a sea of sameness by tapping into the magic of your teenage bedroom while nurturing your horror-obsessed heart, and snapping bomb flash pics of your weekend.

xx Lisa

Look, I know how lucky I am to have cooler temps while the rest of the country is blazing hot.

And I still feel like I’m staring down the barrel of slippery descent into my next personal season of the shining, aka winter in the pnw.

And would be so grateful for a few rays of sunshine if you care to send them my way, I’d be so grateful.

Meanwhile, you can find me over on Substack helping you find your point of view in a sea of sameness by tapping into the magic of your teenage bedroom while nurturing your horror-obsessed heart, and snapping bomb flash pics of your weekend.

xx Lisa

That felt amazing, I was so tired of holding all of it in.
10/10 highly recommend.

That felt amazing, I was so tired of holding all of it in.
10/10 highly recommend.

You’re one slider away from your photos looking 10 times better. Save this post for the next time you feel boggled by those little buttons.

How to Photograph Yourself course is a goldmine of resources like these. xx 💋

You’re one slider away from your photos looking 10 times better. Save this post for the next time you feel boggled by those little buttons.

How to Photograph Yourself course is a goldmine of resources like these. xx 💋

I am genuinely curious who is finding their way into this community and what brought you here.

So tell me about you sun sign, rising, moon, human design, birth order, whatever you lead with.

This is mine
Capricorn sun. Gemini rising. Cancer moon. 3/5 generator in Human Design. Eldest daughter. That last one might explain everything.

I am genuinely curious who is finding their way into this community and what brought you here.

So tell me about you sun sign, rising, moon, human design, birth order, whatever you lead with.

This is mine
Capricorn sun. Gemini rising. Cancer moon. 3/5 generator in Human Design. Eldest daughter. That last one might explain everything.

Continuing my love affair with Substack creators, dreamers, transparent queens, and essayists.

Comment “link💋” and I’ll send you this week’s faves.

Continuing my love affair with Substack creators, dreamers, transparent queens, and essayists.

Comment “link💋” and I’ll send you this week’s faves.

You can set up a reader account! This is how I recommend people get started. Simply open an account reads subscribe to Substack and make friends. Find out if you like the platform before you set up camp there. Everything you need from there it is inside photo club. ♥️

You can set up a reader account! This is how I recommend people get started. Simply open an account reads subscribe to Substack and make friends. Find out if you like the platform before you set up camp there. Everything you need from there it is inside photo club. ♥️

Flash newb’s, I have a post on IWNGTFY to help you make friends with your iPhone flash. It’s super easy no special app required. xx

Flash newb’s, I have a post on IWNGTFY to help you make friends with your iPhone flash. It’s super easy no special app required. xx

I know a woman who
I Would Never Gatekeep From You.
xx Lisa 💋

I know a woman who
I Would Never Gatekeep From You.
xx Lisa 💋

Poses for shy women who don’t like being photographed?

No thank you.

You can learn how to photograph yourself and actually love yourself through the process. Without making it a whole production.

For women who want to enjoy the process as much as the outcome.

Link for course in bio. xx

Poses for shy women who don’t like being photographed?

No thank you.

You can learn how to photograph yourself and actually love yourself through the process. Without making it a whole production.

For women who want to enjoy the process as much as the outcome.

Link for course in bio. xx

You have tools available to you that other people do not. You have a whole different perspective. You offer something that breaks the mold. You’re the mother effing magician baby.

You have tools available to you that other people do not. You have a whole different perspective. You offer something that breaks the mold. You’re the mother effing magician baby.

Your success and your abundance comes when you say, you know what.

I am different.
I am going to do things in a way that is in alignment with my uniqueness, my creativity, my weird specific point of view.

And then the world opens up.

You realize you have tools available to you that other people do not. You have a whole different perspective. You offer something that breaks the mold. You’re the mother effing magician baby.

You’ve got courage and control without being a normie. And it’s truly visionary.

You are the trailblazers.

Your dreams come true when you take the road less traveled. People are going to tell you go this way. They are going to tell you go that way. And you are going to say, nope.

I’m going to make my own path.

And you know what? That is your road to success.

Your success and your abundance comes when you say, you know what.

I am different.
I am going to do things in a way that is in alignment with my uniqueness, my creativity, my weird specific point of view.

And then the world opens up.

You realize you have tools available to you that other people do not. You have a whole different perspective. You offer something that breaks the mold. You’re the mother effing magician baby.

You’ve got courage and control without being a normie. And it’s truly visionary.

You are the trailblazers.

Your dreams come true when you take the road less traveled. People are going to tell you go this way. They are going to tell you go that way. And you are going to say, nope.

I’m going to make my own path.

And you know what? That is your road to success.

Substack rolled out an AI detection tool this week and the internet has had thoughts. I broke down exactly what it means, what your options are, and what the bigger questions are in the carousel.

Here is my honest take. I do not think this is the end of the world. But I do think the questions it raises around consent, authorship, and disclosure are worth having, especially for women who have worked diligently to share and monetize their work on the platform.

That conversation is happening live inside Photo Club on Monday August 3rd at 8:30am PT and I would love for you to be part of it.

Also, Brandi Roe's Book Club got rescheduled thanks to Mercury doing its thing. New dates coming very soon and club members will be the first to know.

Substack rolled out an AI detection tool this week and the internet has had thoughts. I broke down exactly what it means, what your options are, and what the bigger questions are in the carousel.

Here is my honest take. I do not think this is the end of the world. But I do think the questions it raises around consent, authorship, and disclosure are worth having, especially for women who have worked diligently to share and monetize their work on the platform.

That conversation is happening live inside Photo Club on Monday August 3rd at 8:30am PT and I would love for you to be part of it.

Also, Brandi Roe's Book Club got rescheduled thanks to Mercury doing its thing. New dates coming very soon and club members will be the first to know.

poof. Be gone🪄

poof. Be gone🪄

10 things I loved this week.
xx Lisa

10 things I loved this week.
xx Lisa

If you’re new here, welcome. Let me tell you how these women know each other.

They found each other inside Photo Club, a community I run for women learning to photograph themselves. What started as a skill became something else entirely, a group of women who show up for each other, tell the truth, and take up more space than they used to.

Every month I feature one of them here. She shares her self-portraits and her stories about beauty, aging, worthiness, and what happens when you finally stop managing how you’re perceived and just let yourself be seen.

This is Diana. She’s 58, an integrative practitioner, and she comes from a family of tea drinking women who believe tea can cure just about anything. At 51 she eliminated her own job rather than cut anyone from her team.

In her own words: I’ve come home to myself.

Full feature link in bio. And if something in her story sounds like you too, come find us in Photo Club.

If you’re new here, welcome. Let me tell you how these women know each other.

They found each other inside Photo Club, a community I run for women learning to photograph themselves. What started as a skill became something else entirely, a group of women who show up for each other, tell the truth, and take up more space than they used to.

Every month I feature one of them here. She shares her self-portraits and her stories about beauty, aging, worthiness, and what happens when you finally stop managing how you’re perceived and just let yourself be seen.

This is Diana. She’s 58, an integrative practitioner, and she comes from a family of tea drinking women who believe tea can cure just about anything. At 51 she eliminated her own job rather than cut anyone from her team.

In her own words: I’ve come home to myself.

Full feature link in bio. And if something in her story sounds like you too, come find us in Photo Club.

No hard feelings. There is a place for everyone.

But if you made it to the end of that list and none of it landed, Substack is probably for you.

Here is what the platform actually requires so you know what you are getting into.

The writing format is flexible, but you should enjoy words, both writing, and sharing, regularly, in your own voice, about something you actually care about. Notes can be short. Posts can be casual. But at its core this is a writing platform and if you are not willing to put words down consistently this will feel like an uphill battle.

You have to be in conversation. Comment on other people’s work. Restack things you love. Reply to your readers. Substack rewards writers who show up like real humans and participate in the platform. Lurking is not a growth strategy here.

You have to be patient. The people winning on Substack right now started two or three years ago and kept going anyway. It compounds slowly and then all at once. If you need overnight results this is not your platform.

And you have to be willing to be seen. Substack is a trust platform. People subscribe to people. The writing is the product but you are the reason they stay.

If all of that sounds like something you can do, come find me over there. I would never gatekeep this from you (IWNGTFY).

No hard feelings. There is a place for everyone.

But if you made it to the end of that list and none of it landed, Substack is probably for you.

Here is what the platform actually requires so you know what you are getting into.

The writing format is flexible, but you should enjoy words, both writing, and sharing, regularly, in your own voice, about something you actually care about. Notes can be short. Posts can be casual. But at its core this is a writing platform and if you are not willing to put words down consistently this will feel like an uphill battle.

You have to be in conversation. Comment on other people’s work. Restack things you love. Reply to your readers. Substack rewards writers who show up like real humans and participate in the platform. Lurking is not a growth strategy here.

You have to be patient. The people winning on Substack right now started two or three years ago and kept going anyway. It compounds slowly and then all at once. If you need overnight results this is not your platform.

And you have to be willing to be seen. Substack is a trust platform. People subscribe to people. The writing is the product but you are the reason they stay.

If all of that sounds like something you can do, come find me over there. I would never gatekeep this from you (IWNGTFY).

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