Building a luxury photography brand in a market that has never seen one before takes a specific kind of nerve. It means deciding you’re done playing it safe, putting your real aesthetic out into the world, and trusting that the right people will find it. Lindsay Gronos of Oak and Ember Collective has done exactly that — in North Dakota, on her own terms, over more than a decade of building, burning out, and coming back stronger.
In Episode 32 of She’s Built Like a CEO, Brooke and Lindsay sit down in person to talk about what it actually takes to build a creative business that looks and feels like you. They cover ideal client clarity for photographers, the real cost of creative burnout, how to think about investing in your craft as a business decision, and why collaborating instead of gatekeeping is the move that changes everything.
Listen to Episode 32
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About Lindsay Gronos
Lindsay Gronos is the owner and creative artist behind Oak and Ember Collective, a North Dakota-based photography brand known for cinematic, editorial-inspired work that blends emotion, storytelling, and intentional artistry. With over ten years of experience — including work alongside Walt Disney’s Yellow Shoes Creative Team and a jewelry campaign for Riddle’s — she has built a luxury photography brand in a smaller market entirely on her own terms.
Her work is for the woman who wants to feel like she’s on a magazine cover. And she delivers exactly that.
What We Cover in This Episode
- How Lindsay went from safe and predictable to cinematic and editorial — and why she’s not going back
- What it was like to intern with Walt Disney’s Yellow Shoes Creative Team and shoot a jewelry campaign for Riddle’s
- Why building a luxury photography brand in a smaller market is actually an advantage
- The creative burnout that almost ended her photography career — and what pulled her back
- How she thinks about investing in equipment and education as a business decision, not a cost
- What brand photography actually does for a founder’s confidence and messaging
- Why collaboration beats gatekeeping every single time
- What Lindsay is building next for Oak and Ember Collective
Key Takeaways From This Episode
Being specific about your aesthetic attracts the right clients — not fewer of them.
Lindsay spent years doing everything safe. Weddings, family sessions, work that was beautiful but didn’t fully represent what she was capable of. When she started putting her real aesthetic out — cinematic, editorial, intentional — the inquiries shifted. Specifically, people started reaching out who already understood her vision and were ready to invest in it. Getting specific didn’t shrink her client base. It filtered for the ones who actually wanted what she does best.
A smaller market is a competitive advantage if you use it right.
The instinct is to think that luxury editorial photography belongs in New York or LA. Lindsay flipped that. In a smaller market, she has room to experiment, space to collaborate, and clients who feel the impact of a distinctly different creative experience more acutely because they’ve never seen it before. Furthermore, she isn’t competing with a hundred other photographers doing the same thing. She’s creating a category. That’s a position no amount of fighting in a larger market can buy.
Creative burnout is what happens when obligation replaces passion.
Lindsay shot fifteen weddings in a single summer and nearly walked away from photography entirely. The work that started as a passion had become a production line — and when she stopped creating for herself, everything dried up. However, the moment she started collaborating with other creatives again, something reignited. The lesson isn’t to stop booking clients. It’s to keep creating outside of client work, because that’s what keeps the passion alive and the work original.
Investing in your craft is a business decision, not a personal indulgence.
Lindsay missed out on a technique at WPPI because her camera couldn’t execute it. She’d traveled all the way to Las Vegas and couldn’t participate in a core part of the education because she’d delayed upgrading her equipment. That moment reframed how she thinks about investment. Additionally, Brooke makes the same distinction with her clients — the ones who invest in their business and rise to meet that investment are the ones who grow. The ones who treat it as pressure crumble under it. Investing intentionally, in the right thing at the right time, changes your mindset as much as your capability.
Brand photography is an identity decision, not a marketing one.
A lot of founders think brand photos are about having something pretty to post on Instagram. Lindsay reframes it as something deeper. Consequently, when the visuals match the message, the whole brand coheres. Brooke describes the shift in her own business after working with Lindsay — the confidence to speak more elevated, the clarity that comes from seeing yourself reflected back at the level you’re actually operating. Brand photography doesn’t just change how others see you. It changes how you see yourself.
Collaboration is the thing that keeps a creative business alive.
Lindsay doesn’t gatekeep. She answers questions, shares techniques, connects other creatives, and is actively building a space — both online and eventually physical — where people can create together. Her reason is simple: everyone is learning, nobody knows everything, and a room full of people who want to build something is more powerful than any individual trying to do it alone. Moreover, she’s seen firsthand that the businesses willing to collaborate are the ones with longevity. The ones that close themselves off eventually run out of fuel.
Find Lindsay Gronos and Oak and Ember Collective
Lindsay is based in North Dakota and available for brand photography, weddings, and creative sessions. If her work resonates with you, reach out — she’s warm, communicative, and exactly the kind of photographer who will show up prepared and make you feel incredible in front of the lens.
- Instagram: Follow Lindsay →
- Website: oakandembercollectivend.com →
- Online Creative Collective (Facebook Group): Join the group →
If you’re a creative entrepreneur in the area — photographer, makeup artist, videographer, podcaster, or anyone who makes things — Lindsay’s Facebook group is worth joining. She’s building something worth being part of.
On Building a Luxury Photography Brand — and a Business — on Your Own Terms
What Lindsay has built with Oak and Ember Collective is a luxury photography brand that exists because she decided to stop playing it safe. She stopped doing the work that was expected and started doing the work that was hers. That shift didn’t happen overnight — it took ten years, a Disney internship, a near-burnout, a trip to Las Vegas, and a whole lot of collaboration with other creatives who believed in what they were building together.
That’s the thing about building a business on your own terms. It doesn’t happen all at once. However, it does happen — when you stop waiting until you’re ready and start moving in the direction of what you actually want.
The backend keeps it running. The brand makes it real. You need both.
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