Recorded: Welcome to The Rework with Allison Tyler Jones, a podcast dedicated to inspiring portrait photographers to uniquely brand, profitably price, and confidently sell their best work. Allison has been doing just that for the last 15 years, and she’s proven that it’s possible to create unforgettable art and run a portrait business that supports your family and your dreams. All it takes is a little Rework. Episodes will include interviews with experts from in and outside of the photo industry, many workshops, and behind the scenes secrets that Allison uses in her portrait studio every single day. She will challenge your thinking and inspire your confidence to create a profitable, sustainable portrait business you love, through continually refining and reworking your business. Let’s do the Rework.
Allison Tyler Jones: Hi friends, and welcome back to The Rework. Today’s episode is our third and final part of our dad series, our What Real Men Think of Family Portraits, and we’re wrapping it up with Mr. Bob Cunningham. He’s the CEO of a commercial truck dealership that served much of the Western United States. He’s also first and foremost a family man; and interestingly, he is the driving force behind whenever his family portraits get updated. I’ve heard reports from his daughters and his wife that he will walk into her room and say, “Okay, that’s it. We’re updating the family portrait this year. I don’t care who’s pregnant, I don’t care who thinks they’re fat. We are doing it, because I need an updated family portrait on the wall of my office,” which is also another interesting twist, and we’re going to talk about that.
Allison Tyler Jones: So I can’t wait for you to hear this high-powered CEO, loving amazing family man, talk about why family portraits are important to him. Let’s do it.
Allison Tyler Jones: Today’s guest on The Rework podcast is Mr. Bob Cunningham, also known as Mr. C, also known as lots of other things: one of my very, very favorite clients, and a father of many. Welcome.
Bob Cunningham: Thank you. Appreciate that, Alison.
Allison Tyler Jones: I’m glad that you’re here. So-
Bob Cunningham: I’m glad to be here.
Allison Tyler Jones: … You are an outlier, in that you are the main driver of family portraits in your house, because you have people that give you resistance on that.
Bob Cunningham: You know, the daughter-in-laws in particular, aren’t always excited about having to get all the grandkids dressed in grandma’s appropriate colors.
Allison Tyler Jones: Right, and they just need to get on board.
Bob Cunningham: They need to get on board. I love our pictures, and the only thing I don’t love about them is with five kids, they go out of date really fast.
Allison Tyler Jones: I know, it’s so true. And so since the last time we’ve photographed your family, how many more grandkids have come?
Bob Cunningham: Three. We now have a total of 21, and our current photograph is like 15 months old, 14 months old.
Allison Tyler Jones: I know. They’re procreating at a rapid rate.
Bob Cunningham: Yeah, it’s coming to a close, I believe. But yes, that’s true.
Allison Tyler Jones: I love it. Well, and they’re beautiful and hilarious and such a great personality. So the reason that I wanted to interview you: you’re part of a series that we’re doing. Because one of the most commonly asked questions that we get is: how do you get the dads on board? So many people, mainly women photographers, will say, “Gosh, the wife is into it, but the dad is just putting the brakes on, or making it hard, or whatever.” So why you? Why portraits?
Bob Cunningham: So of paramount importance to me are I have these pictures in my office. To be honest with you, I think they’re more important in my office than they are in our home.
Allison Tyler Jones: I love that.
Bob Cunningham: And we portray ourself as a family company, and with good family values, and we’re trying to attract like-minded people. And when they come in the office and see 21 grandkids and five children and spouses, surrounded by grandma and grandpa, it sends a message.
Allison Tyler Jones: That’s true.
Bob Cunningham: And they know right from the get-go that our company values of integrity and teamwork and people development, these pictures reflect that. So I find it helpful. It’s a reminder of why I’m here every day for 10 hours.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah.
Bob Cunningham: All I have to do is look on the wall and say, “Okay, that’s why I’m here.”
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah, for sure. And tell us about your business, Bob. What is it that you do?
Bob Cunningham: So we’re a commercial truck business. Think of an automobile dealership, only for commercial trucks: everything bigger than a one-ton pickup, all the way up to the big class-eight diesel trucks. We operate in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and Arizona.
Allison Tyler Jones: And you do have that reputation, you have a stellar reputation. I have other clients that have worked with you, and your reputation is bar-none.
Bob Cunningham: Well, I’m blessed with good folks, so I have really, really good people. So we’ve been very fortunate.
Allison Tyler Jones: I love that. So tell me about… We have photographed your family now three separate times, over the last probably seven years. What was it about ATJ Photo that drew you in the first place, and what was that experience like for your family?
Bob Cunningham: Well, it’s a day of chaos, and we’ve got kids living in three different states, and it was four different states. And so bringing everybody together is a logistic problem anyway, typically centered around a holiday. I mean, most of the time I think we’ve used you, it’s been the days either post- or pre-Thanksgiving, because we’ve got everyone in town. So from a logistics standpoint, and when you have that many kids and grandkids out of town, you have that logistic situation you have to take care of.
Bob Cunningham: But there’s something about having everybody together, and all the fun that comes with that, to start with. And then, they’re not photoshopped: we’re all together in the same office, and that’s been critical for us. You’ve been willing to manage this big group, as opposed to, I know we’ve had some opportunities before or heard of opportunities where they take families and then kind of meld them all together. We didn’t want that. And-
Allison Tyler Jones: Well, you have such big personality-
Bob Cunningham: We have big-
Allison Tyler Jones: … And they play off of each other.
Bob Cunningham: Well, and some of the portraits we’ve chosen are fun, and we’ve got one of the grandkids leaping off of one of your stools. And then we’ve got other ones where grandkids got upset, and we’re tears, and we’ve got a real cute one in the house where my Penelope has about, had enough. But it’s a darling and it expresses her personality, and so all of those things happen as a result of that get together.
Allison Tyler Jones: I love that. Well, so we did a small gallery in your office and a large piece of the family, in your sitting area in your office. And then at your home, you had just done a remodel, so we did a very large image of the whole family and then a gallery back around your hallway. And the thing that I think that’s interesting about how you and Shelly have chosen to do this, is what you want me to photograph. One of the things that sets you apart that not everybody does, is you want to make sure that you get each couple. So each child and their spouse is separate from their family. We have called it the couple wall.
Bob Cunningham: We have a couple wall, then we have a family wall where it’s just the kids wall, that’s also separated by families. And then girl cousins and boy cousins. On my wall in my office, I’ve got the men: we’re sitting with our arms folded and we’re being taught very sophisticated-
Allison Tyler Jones: Mafia.
Bob Cunningham: Mafia, okay, yeah.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah.
Bob Cunningham: And then we’ve got one with just Shelly and I and all the grandkids, without our kids as… And then we’ve got a son-in-law picture, and a daughter-in-law picture. And so those are fun. And one of the things that’s good for you, unfortunately, and I say unfortunately tongue in cheek, is there might be some noise about getting everybody together, but when a new baby comes and his face isn’t on the wall, it’s kind of like, “Hey, what happened? Where’s Redford?”
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah, exactly.
Bob Cunningham: Hey, where’s Jules? We got to do this again.
Allison Tyler Jones: We’re missing a kid, yeah. Well, and you guys are exceptionally close too. You love to spend time together, and that comes through in the images. And then I’ve heard about the brow-beating from the dad, from you: that Paige, I think, has been the sacrificial lamb the last two times, because she’s either just given birth, or was pregnant, or whatever. And so they’re not very happy with you about making them do these images sometimes.
Bob Cunningham: Well, they’re certainly… You’ve done a good job, though, making them look good in spite of being, in some cases… I think Amanda on this last one was eight plus months.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yes.
Bob Cunningham: In fact, this was the last weekend she could travel, before her doctor would let her leave Seattle. But yeah, it’s all good. And like I said, the end result: everybody loves the pictures and wants to know when are we’re going to include the next grandbaby that’s been missing.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah, I love that. Well, it’s been a pleasure and an honor to photograph your family. And it’s just fun, because your house is so… You have this great modern style… or contemporary, I wouldn’t say necessarily modern… that’s on the side of this mountain, is beautiful. And you have beautiful art throughout, and a really talented interior designer that you’ve worked with. And then the main thing, just like you say with your office: you walk in your home, and it’s very obvious what the Cunningham’s priorities are. And you have that feel of family, but it’s an elevated version.
Bob Cunningham: Well, that’s because of superior photographic work, and so, you can take a bow for that.
Allison Tyler Jones: I don’t know. I think it’s a combination of our two, the things that we love the most. So I love to photograph crazy families, and you have one. So-
Bob Cunningham: We do.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah, yeah.
Bob Cunningham: We do.
Allison Tyler Jones: Well, I love that about the building, that that’s part of your brand. That’s something that you’ve never said to me before, and I think that’s amazing. And I don’t know that many men or CEOs think of it in that regard. And so, have you had any comments from people that come in and see that?
Bob Cunningham: Well, people love it. And then I’ll have customers and vendors who will want to know if it’s been updated, and talk about it and make note of it. But I would tell you it’s very positive.
Allison Tyler Jones: Okay.
Bob Cunningham: I mean, I got plenty of other walls for trucks-
Allison Tyler Jones: Yes.
Bob Cunningham: … Up and down the hallways for trucks and bus: we sell school buses as well. But my office for the most part’s family.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah, you love to see your family. And after we finished your last install, Shelly came around the corner, and it was just like made my heart so happy. She said, “Here are all my people. All my people are here.” And-
Bob Cunningham: Yeah.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah, so-
Bob Cunningham: Those are all the peeps.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yep, I love that. Well, I appreciate you taking the time. I know that you’re so busy, and thank you, thank you, thank you so much, for fitting this into your schedule. It’s-
Bob Cunningham: Glad to do it, Alison. Continued success to you.
Allison Tyler Jones: Same to you. Appreciate you so much.
Bob Cunningham: All right. You take care.
Allison Tyler Jones: Thank you. Bye-bye.
Bob Cunningham: Thank you. Bye now.
Allison Tyler Jones: You know, the entire reason I started this podcast is because I am convinced I have the best job in the world. Being a portrait photographer fulfills so many needs, it’s just meaningful. I get to be with amazing clients and their darling kids, and it’s just so rewarding in so many ways. And I know that there are so many talented, amazing photographers out there that could be making a living a better living for their family if they just tweaked a few things in their business.
Allison Tyler Jones: So if you know somebody who’s struggling, or that you know this podcast could help, please share it with them. Wherever you listen to your podcast, hit that little share link, and send it to them. Because we want everybody to do better. And if you have a minute, and you can give us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening to your podcast, it makes a huge difference in getting us exposure so that more and more photographers can learn how to have better businesses. So, share and review if you have a minute. I so appreciate it. Thank you so much for being here.
Recorded: You can find more great resources from Allison@dotherework.com and on Instagram at do.the.rework.
