When the Person Is the Brand: Cherri McKinney
Some people don’t need a brand makeover.
They just need space to be seen.
Cherri McKinney came into our session during a moment of real momentum. She’s working in public service, representing Colorado’s skills-based hiring initiative, and getting increasing media attention for both her work and her story. With that visibility comes a practical challenge - when the press calls, you don’t always get control over how you show up visually. A staff photographer might catch you between meetings, in whatever you happened to wear that day, in a setting you didn’t choose.
What Cherri wanted was simple and smart: her own library of images. Photos she could return to again and again. Images that felt aligned with who she is and how she wanted to be seen in this particular moment of her carreer.
She told me she isn’t really a “photos person.” She’s minimal, low maintenance, and like many other professionals, isn’t wild about being in front of the camera. But she’s also realistic about the fact that she’s being seen more and that having agency over that visual narrative matters. Especially when you’re representing something bigger than yourself.
Our session didn’t come together easily. We had to reschedule after she had an injury, and when we finally shot, it was cold and windy. A planned location was closed, we pivoted to backups, and we spent a lot of time moving, adjusting, and making decisions on the fly. Cherri was still nursing a sore shoulder, which meant we worked around certain poses and stayed flexible the entire time.
That flexibility ended up shaping the session in the best way.
What I loved most was how collaborative it felt. There was a shared “we’ll make it work” energy from the start. She trusted my ideas - even the slightly weird ones - and leaned in fully. That kind of openness always leads to better work.
And the range we captured says everything about who she is.
There are frames where she looks powerful and almost intimidating - steady, grounded, all authority. And then there are moments where she’s moving, laughing, dancing a little between shots. The photos hold both sides easily. Leadership without ego. Confidence without stiffness. A presence that’s inviting rather than performative.
Some people are aware of their charisma in a way that feels calculated. With Cherri, it doesn’t read that way at all. There’s a genuine warmth there, paired with clarity and intelligence. You feel like you’re in good hands. Which makes sense, given that her work is literally about helping people navigate complicated systems during moments of change.
This session wasn’t about creating a brand persona.
It was about visibility - letting what already exists come through clearly.
When the person really is the brand, the job isn’t to reinvent anything. It’s to pay attention, make room, and let the camera reflect what people already experience when they meet them.
This sense of warmth doesn’t switch off when the camera does.
After our session, Cherri showed up in my life in the most ordinary way - accepting an invitation to an open house at my home and spending a couple of hours talking with my friends and family. Every person who met her came away saying the same thing:she’s amazing! I really felt like we are going to be friends after this, but I bet everyone she meets feels that way!
That’s what makes photographing someone like Cherri such a good reminder of why personal branding works best when it starts with the person, not the performance. When the brand is already there - in how someone shows up, listens, leads, and connects - photography isn’t about creating something new.
It’s about visibility.
