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Beth Skogen – Beth Skogen Photography
On the Having the Eye for Beauty: “I think everybody’s beautiful. Everybody.”
There is no such thing as an entrepreneur with just one idea. Beth Skogen is a living embodiment of that fact. Beth has a compelling journey that began with an internship at the prestigious VII Photo Agency in New York. Since starting her own photography business in 2009, she’s captured authentic moments for businesses, families, and individuals, emphasizing original imagery over stock photos.
Beth’s entrepreneurial spirit extends beyond the lens. This is where it gets very interesting. She’s also the founder of the Vegan Sausage Fest, an event that offers plant-based food creations as a delicious alternative to traditional meat-heavy festivals. Held on Memorial Day weekend, the festival has grown from a shared dream with her friend Lauren to a community event attracting over 1500 participants.
Beth’s dedication to a vegan lifestyle even led her to start a vegan cycling team for RAGBRAI, a seven-day annual bike ride across Iowa. Her team, Powered by Plants Cycling, ensures that vegan participants have access to nutritious meals while on the road.
Listen as Beth details how she built her photography business and rolled with a few changes, as well as how she started other ventures targeting a healthy lifestyle.
Enjoy!
Visit Beth at:
Podcast Overview:
04:43 Learning photography licensing; met photographers, inspired.
09:10 Internships helped transition to documentary photography business.
12:14 Friend documented birth; inspired me to photograph.
16:02 On-call birth duties caused scheduling conflicts.
18:37 Guiding options for hand placements during photos.
20:01 Helping people feel beautiful and comfortable photographed.
23:53 Ensure hair, bangs, and necklace placement correct.
28:00 Love capturing portraits and family life moments.
32:02 Volunteers chop salads, feed and muck stalls.
34:24 Volunteer or donate for Pasture Pals updates.
37:17 Laura Montalbano accepted my culinary request.
40:32 Planning campsites and unloading supplies for RAGBRAI.
41:54 Many food options, scarce healthy vegetable options.
45:23 Unique bao bun: Asian slaw, Sriracha aioli.
50:42 Loved the unique bean patty at bar.
Podcast Transcription:
Beth Skogen [00:00:00]:
This isn’t the best side of my face. And my response to that is, well, let’s do both, and you’ll get to choose later because you never know.
James Kademan [00:00:11]:
You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Download downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link found at draw On customers dot com. We are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie, and today we’re welcoming slash preparing to learn from Beth Skogen of Beth Skogen Photography. So Beth, how is it going today?
Beth Skogen [00:00:36]:
I’m good. It’s Thursday.
James Kademan [00:00:38]:
It is Thursday. I’m excited. I’m excited because I’ve known you, I think, since a long time when there were not so many digits in the 2000. And people said 10 years ago, and you thought you’re talking about the nineties. So let’s start with Beth Skogen Photography.
Beth Skogen [00:00:54]:
Mhmm.
James Kademan [00:00:54]:
What do you take pictures of?
Beth Skogen [00:00:58]:
I photograph people. Okay. Let’s see. I photograph for businesses. I take branding photos, lifestyle photos. I also photograph families and interiors, and a little bit of video.
James Kademan [00:01:10]:
Alright. What is the you said branding photos? What are those?
Beth Skogen [00:01:13]:
Yeah. Branding photos. So, a business, in order to share what they do and tell their story, they need imagery. So, I come in and document basically anything that they do.
James Kademan [00:01:26]:
Alright. So they’re fixing typewriters?
Beth Skogen [00:01:28]:
Sure.
James Kademan [00:01:29]:
You talking to them fixing typewriters? Or
Beth Skogen [00:01:31]:
That has not happened. But Or
James Kademan [00:01:32]:
if they, I don’t know, squeeze orange juice or something like that. You’re taking action shots of them squeezing orange juice. Yep. Okay. Yeah. So instead of them using clip art or stock photos
Beth Skogen [00:01:43]:
or something? Yeah. A lot people, so easy to go online and save an image, which you should never do, because you could get into some serious trouble. You should hire a professional photography. And then if if the licensing is all accurate, you can use those images as you wish for your own marketing.
James Kademan [00:02:03]:
And it’s actually your or those are actually yours. So it’s your company, your
Beth Skogen [00:02:06]:
people? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. It’s your people. So when you look at, let’s just say a financial firm, and there’s a group of people in a row, who knows if those are the actual people?
James Kademan [00:02:17]:
Alright.
Beth Skogen [00:02:17]:
Yeah. You wanna look at a business’ website, social media, and know those are the people that you’re actually gonna be
James Kademan [00:02:23]:
working with. Alright. Well, that’s cool. Yeah. So what let’s go way back. Wait. What year did you start?
Beth Skogen [00:02:28]:
2009.
James Kademan [00:02:29]:
Okay. So 2,009, let’s look at 2,008. Oh. What were you doing in 2,008? Way back when?
Beth Skogen [00:02:37]:
When? I was graduating from college in 2008.
James Kademan [00:02:40]:
Alright.
Beth Skogen [00:02:40]:
I went to the University of Iowa. Nice. And I majored in journalism and art. So I focused heavily on photojournalism and Call in love with photographing people and just documenting
James Kademan [00:02:50]:
life. So let me think. 2008, were there still dark rooms in 2008?
Beth Skogen [00:02:54]:
There were. I learned, how to take photos on film and develop film.
James Kademan [00:03:00]:
Nice. Yes. I remember taking photo classes in college and going to the dark room and playing with developing pictures and thinking, I’m gonna have a dark room in my house. Mhmm. And are they a thing anymore?
Beth Skogen [00:03:13]:
Some people still do it. I feel like there’s, some photographers that specialize it
James Kademan [00:03:15]:
specialize in doing that,
Beth Skogen [00:03:16]:
and and a little bit yes. Okay. But not many. They still do calligraphy and churn their own butter, so we’re not. Mhmm. Okay.
James Kademan [00:03:24]:
Yeah. Got it. Makes it, like, even more special that they do it because not many people
Beth Skogen [00:03:27]:
do it.
James Kademan [00:03:31]:
Yeah. I remember you could have fun with it developing certain areas of the photo more and different and I guess kind of the fun was you didn’t know what you’re what you actually took a picture of Mhmm. Mhmm. Until you put it in a little chemical and you’re like, oh, yeah. That’s my thumb.
Beth Skogen [00:03:45]:
Yeah. So Yeah. You can’t just click away and try to get all sorts of shots. You have to be very, intentional with your, 24 film.
James Kademan [00:03:55]:
That’s right. Alright. Yeah. So how did you go from graduating college to starting your own photography business?
Beth Skogen [00:04:01]:
Yeah. I feel like well, after college, I, I did 2 internships. So I, took a internship at 7 Photo Agency, which is out in New York.
James Kademan [00:04:12]:
That’s the name of it. Uh-huh. Okay. Not 7.
Beth Skogen [00:04:13]:
Roman numeral 7. Oh. Photo agency. Okay. They’re a group of photojournalists, in this collective basically, and they’re all over the the world doing different assignments. And so, I wanted to work at this agency kinda behind the scenes. So it was more of the business aspects of the photography world, licensing images, magazines would, let’s see. Like, New York Times Magazine would ask for images relating to a story.
Beth Skogen [00:04:43]:
And so we’d go through the archive of all of our photography’ images and pull certain ones that would make sense for that story. And then weeks later, we would get that New York Times Magazine and see those images that we sent them to use to license and, scan in the tear sheet, which was really cool to see that whole process. Yeah. So I wanted to learn the the behind the scenes of the licensing, the images, and how that all works. So that was really cool. And I got to meet a few other photographers at the time. There were maybe, like, 11 or 12 photographers, at the time. And it was so cool because in college, we in photojournalism class and working for the newspaper, we looked at the 7 website and looked at those photography’ work to see what was considered good good work.
Beth Skogen [00:05:31]:
And, like, yeah, it was great. So it was like a dream come true. It was really, really cool.
James Kademan [00:05:36]:
So then you got to be the person that was taking the photos that other students got to look at and see.
Beth Skogen [00:05:40]:
I didn’t I didn’t photograph for them. I was just in the office. Yeah. I was doing a lot of metadata, file naming. So a lot of the behind the scenes that I do in my business now, I learned from the agency. Okay. Yeah.
James Kademan [00:05:56]:
So tell me about the metadata part.
Beth Skogen [00:05:57]:
Yeah. So, when I, take photos, I bring them I they’re on the memory card. I bring them On the computer, upload them onto my computer, onto multiple hard drives, and then I go through and I tag certain images, delete certain images that aren’t good. And then, I go through, I rename them based on, the date, the subject. And then from there, the metadata, I use a program called PhotoMechanic.
James Kademan [00:06:25]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:06:26]:
And I go in and I add keywords that are specific to that photo shoot and a little, blurb, I guess, like a cut line from my photojournalism days, and then a subject line. And then it always includes, like, my name and my website
James Kademan [00:06:43]:
Alright.
Beth Skogen [00:06:44]:
In case someone like when I if I were to take photos of you, I would add all of your business information and your keywords. And then if you upload that image to your website, all that metadata will be in there, and hopefully it’ll help with your SEO. Yeah. Because Google will pull out those keywords and so On turn it’s helping businesses and helping on my back end if I need to find images
James Kademan [00:07:08]:
Alright.
Beth Skogen [00:07:08]:
10 years down the road.
James Kademan [00:07:09]:
Dang.
Beth Skogen [00:07:09]:
So if I go into my archive, I can type in your name and it would pull up the images I took of you back On, like, 2012.
James Kademan [00:07:15]:
Yeah. You took you took headshots to me twice. Mhmm. Mhmm. Was it 2012? I don’t know.
Beth Skogen [00:07:20]:
I’m just guessing.
James Kademan [00:07:21]:
Okay. It’s been a long time. It’s been a long time. I was trying to figure out what business or where was I at with business. Mhmm. Businesses, whatever, when you took headshots. I don’t even remember.
Beth Skogen [00:07:32]:
Yeah. I don’t know.
James Kademan [00:07:33]:
It’s been a while.
Beth Skogen [00:07:33]:
It’s been a while.
James Kademan [00:07:34]:
Yeah. I had more hair then, so it was I’ll just keep those up. I just saw a video just side tangent here. I just saw a video my uncle had of me when I was, I wanna say 14. Mhmm. His sweet mullet. Oh. Oh my gosh.
James Kademan [00:07:52]:
Sweet mullet. Days. And I thought, oh, man. I miss those days. So you so let me look at this, the hard drive stuff. Mhmm. I take all these pictures of people since 2009. Do you still have all those? Mhmm.
James Kademan [00:08:06]:
Yes. That is a lot.
Beth Skogen [00:08:08]:
That’s a lot.
James Kademan [00:08:09]:
Holy cow. I
Beth Skogen [00:08:09]:
mean, I’ve deleted, like, the untagged ones. Like, I go back after 2 years and maybe delete the untagged. Okay. But I still have the tagged versions, and I I don’t know if I can ever let them go.
James Kademan [00:08:21]:
Call, you don’t have to.
Beth Skogen [00:08:22]:
I don’t have to, and I know a lot of photographers Call, after a few years, like, delete. Yeah. But I’ve had people, like this one family, the husband sadly passed away, and they came back, and they wanted wanted those images again. Granted they have them, but they couldn’t find them. And maybe at that time, I was, like, giving out CDs Sure. Of images Oh, yeah. Yeah. Because it was
James Kademan [00:08:41]:
so long ago. But I
Beth Skogen [00:08:42]:
would feel so bad if I didn’t have those images to give them.
James Kademan [00:08:50]:
Got it.
Beth Skogen [00:08:50]:
Alright. So, yeah, I am holding on to a lot of memories.
James Kademan [00:08:53]:
Alright. That’s cool. I mean, it’s It’s cool. That’s the game. Yeah. That’s the game of photography. So when you start your first gig, what was the plan? Was the plan b, I’m super awesome, Beth.
Beth Skogen [00:09:02]:
Mhmm.
James Kademan [00:09:03]:
I’m gonna do photos for journalism, or what was the plan for what you’re gonna take pictures of when you first started?
Beth Skogen [00:09:10]:
I guess well, with the internships, like, I went from New York, and then I went from l I went from New York to LA to intern with On of the photographers that was a photographer with 7 at the time, Lauren Greenfield. And I wanted to see what her life was like and how she did her business. So I wanted to just acquire more information, more Calls, because in college, we learned how to take good photos, we learned how to interact with people, but we didn’t learn any of the business side of it. Uh-huh. So with the internships, that was my goal. And then, so internship in the fall, internship in the spring, and then I ultimately decided to leave LA and move back to Madison and start my own business. Doing documentary style photography, which I loved, for families and businesses. So I didn’t necessarily wanna be in the, journalism world, media world.
Beth Skogen [00:10:03]:
I just wanted to document life for individuals.
James Kademan [00:10:06]:
What it help me with what it is, documentary style.
Beth Skogen [00:10:11]:
It’s letting life just kind of unfold and happen without my control.
James Kademan [00:10:17]:
I’m just in my mind, I’m picturing a family just arguing. Yeah. Throwing pizza or something at each other. You know,
Beth Skogen [00:10:22]:
like interesting.
James Kademan [00:10:22]:
I got it.
Beth Skogen [00:10:23]:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I just had a family actually, play a a game that’s, like, really meaningful to them, and I love that. Like, we did some photos outside their house, which is really special. And then they really wanted me to document them playing this card game that they play all the time.
James Kademan [00:10:40]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:10:41]:
And it was absolutely hilarious. Yep.
James Kademan [00:10:43]:
That’s funny. Yeah. With the facial expressions and Yeah.
Beth Skogen [00:10:47]:
They were throwing cards in the air, and I don’t know.
James Kademan [00:10:51]:
Alright. So with something like that, you gotta end up with 100, if not thousands of photos. Right?
Beth Skogen [00:10:56]:
Yeah. 100 in an hour.
James Kademan [00:10:58]:
How do you sort through?
Beth Skogen [00:11:00]:
I’m really quick. I guess click through, click, pick out the good ones. Yeah. And then I narrow it down and send them families, in particular, a link of 50 to 75 photos.
James Kademan [00:11:11]:
Alright. That’s still a lot. Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:11:12]:
That’s still a lot. Yeah.
James Kademan [00:11:13]:
So eyes closed, evil Call, get rid of those. Okay. Yeah. Interesting.
Beth Skogen [00:11:18]:
Yeah. So that’s just the family side of it. And then the businesses, I feel like it all worked out a little bit unplanned. Like, I loved the photojournalism aspect and the candidness of the work I was doing. But back in 2009, social media wasn’t really a thing. And, I was taking these lifestyle photos, and it just it people can use them on their website and their social media, and they need all that content. So it’s really worked out to be
James Kademan [00:11:48]:
great. Alright.
Beth Skogen [00:11:49]:
Yeah.
James Kademan [00:11:50]:
That is cool. So you did you did, I wanna say baby photography. Newborns
Beth Skogen [00:11:56]:
or something like that?
James Kademan [00:11:56]:
Tell us about that. Childbirth.
Beth Skogen [00:11:58]:
Yeah. Because I
James Kademan [00:12:00]:
remember meeting you, and I was trying to figure out how in my head you are essentially on call.
Beth Skogen [00:12:06]:
Yeah.
James Kademan [00:12:06]:
And somebody would call you Mhmm. And say, hey. We’re having a kid. Yep. Come on down to the hospital and take shots. Mhmm. Tell us how that worked.
Beth Skogen [00:12:14]:
Yeah. So in my one of my photojournalism classes, my good friend ended up documenting a family over a whole semester. And the last piece of it in May, the mom was due with their 4th or 5th child, and and she ended up photographing her birth in black and white film. And, the series of portraits that she or the series of images that she had throughout the semester on the wall was really Call, and then the childbirth just brought it all together. It’s really, really special. And then that friend of mine ended up getting pregnant. And I because she had done that project, I was like, do you want me to come document your birth? Like, I feel like that would be, really special to have. And I remember and I did.
Beth Skogen [00:12:57]:
I went to Iowa City and photographed her Beth. And I remember googling it, and nobody there was On woman, I feel like, down in Texas that was doing birth photography. So I was like, I wanna make this I wanna do this because it’s different. I’m always, like, trying to push and do some some things that aren’t typical for photographers. So I jumped into birth photography. I was doing maybe, like, maybe, like, 5 or 6 a year. Like, it wasn’t so crazy.
James Kademan [00:13:24]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:13:25]:
But the goal was to do, like, 3 or 4 a month, which would have been a lot. I think
James Kademan [00:13:31]:
Sounds like a lot.
Beth Skogen [00:13:32]:
Over 14 ish years. I did over 60 births. Wow. Yeah. It was great. It the moments were lovely, intense, beautiful. Like, yeah, Words can’t describe, some of the moments that I’ve captured, and it’s not for everybody. Like, sometimes I would share, like, when I came to networking groups that we were a part of, I’d be like, I do childbirth photography, and people would be like, what? I wouldn’t want that.
Beth Skogen [00:14:09]:
So it was definitely a challenge to, like, find those people that were interested in it and not maybe turned off by it or disgusted by it.
James Kademan [00:14:18]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:14:19]:
But the the births that I did, I did some video at some births. I’ve done some home births. I’ve done photos at births. Wow. And it is so incredibly special. I I mean, yeah.
James Kademan [00:14:31]:
So when people are having their kid in a hospital, you have to get permission from the hospital? How would that work?
Beth Skogen [00:14:39]:
I didn’t.
James Kademan [00:14:41]:
You just kick open the door and say,
Beth Skogen [00:14:42]:
oh, I just walked right in.
James Kademan [00:14:43]:
That’s your press pass.
Beth Skogen [00:14:46]:
I didn’t. I I would just be hired by the family and go in because you could have visitors. This was before COVID. Oh, okay.
James Kademan [00:14:55]:
I’m picturing the birth. So this is
Beth Skogen [00:14:58]:
the birth.
James Kademan [00:14:58]:
The birth.
Beth Skogen [00:14:59]:
Yeah.
James Kademan [00:14:59]:
So mom’s there, stay ups and all that?
Beth Skogen [00:15:01]:
Yeah. Or before before the I mean, ideally, I would get there, like, 2 to 3 hours before the baby is born. But I think the the family would, like, alert the nurses, alert the doctor that they have a birth photographer so everybody’s on the same page. And then before I would start photographing, if a nurse was in it or the doctor, I would always be like, are you okay with photos take being taken?
James Kademan [00:15:22]:
Gotcha. Were they Call, or was there ever a time they’re just like
Beth Skogen [00:15:25]:
I feel like everybody was cool Okay. From my memory. Alright. There might have been maybe at some point, like, depending on how the birth went, I wasn’t able to take photos. But
James Kademan [00:15:38]:
Okay. Mhmm. Fair? I suppose if there’s a problem or something like that, priorities shift?
Beth Skogen [00:15:42]:
Yeah. Okay. Yep.
James Kademan [00:15:44]:
And do you still do that? Mm-mm. No. You evolved away from it.
Beth Skogen [00:15:47]:
I did.
James Kademan [00:15:48]:
Or pivoted if we
Beth Skogen [00:15:49]:
used to. Love that. Yeah. Because, COVID happened, and then only On person was allowed in the room, and they weren’t gonna choose me
James Kademan [00:15:57]:
over their partner. Sorry, husband.
Beth Skogen [00:15:59]:
Yeah. Sorry.
James Kademan [00:15:59]:
Yeah. Yeah. Sorry.
Beth Skogen [00:16:02]:
Yeah. And it was, you know, there were a few times with being on call for the birth that I’d have to cancel on a client who planned a full day of headshots or, like, clean their whole house and had it ready to go, and I couldn’t be there for that. So that was really hard. And then also being on call. A lot of the births, I’d get the call at, like, 2 in the morning, 3 in the morning to go. So yeah. So Are
James Kademan [00:16:27]:
you sure? Can you hold it?
Beth Skogen [00:16:28]:
Yes. Have you talked to a nurse? So, yeah, it was a good run. I enjoyed it. But it’s night. It’s, yeah, I pivoted. Alright. New direction.
James Kademan [00:16:38]:
It’s the perfect COVID word. Yeah. So you pivoted into more business stuff? Yeah. Or business and family once the family’s already born?
Beth Skogen [00:16:49]:
I feel like everything kinda just stayed the same. I just eliminated birth photography.
James Kademan [00:16:54]:
Got it. Yeah. Okay. Tell me a story about headshots. Because I remember oh, man. I was in 40 under 40 in in Business Magazine. I remember the photographer there is, like, standing there with your arms crossed. And I’m like, I feel like that’s the lamest pose ever.
James Kademan [00:17:13]:
Mhmm. But I feel like that’s the standard headshot business pose is stand there with your arms crossed. Like Yeah. You don’t care or something like that. So just walk me through how you figure out how to take headshots and how you get people to move in their positions and all that.
Beth Skogen [00:17:29]:
Yeah. Trying to think. I just did a portrait session last night. I don’t have a studio, so I shoot on location. And it was outside with the fall leaves, with some houses in the background. And we talk to, you know, to make us comfortable. I’ve never met her before. We’ve always we’ve just emailed.
Beth Skogen [00:17:51]:
So we Call for a little bit, and then I’m paying attention to where I wanna put her, based on light, what’s in the background, what makes sense. So let’s see. Positioning, I kinda just, I tell them they don’t have to stand there and just stare at the camera. I feel like that gets really uncomfortable.
James Kademan [00:18:13]:
Very.
Beth Skogen [00:18:14]:
Yeah. Very. Nobody just wants to stare and smile. Your smile goes flat. So I tell them that they’re that you can move around every few seconds even if it’s like moving the weight on your feet or just, like, turning a little bit. And even hearing that, people get uncomfortable because they don’t know what to do with all that information. You want. Yeah.
Beth Skogen [00:18:37]:
Yeah. Yeah. Hands, like, what Call the options? And I always tell people, I will guide you and help you along in the process as well if I wanna want you to do something different. So we’ll do all sorts of things. Hands in the pockets, hands on the hips, one hand on the hip, one hand down, arms crossed. Not everybody loves the arms crossed. It depends on the look you’re going for. Yeah.
Beth Skogen [00:18:58]:
I’m fine with it. But there’s, like, all these little details when it comes to, photographing people. And portraits On particular, like, with pockets and hands. A lot of people will just shove their whole hand in in the pocket, and I just I don’t like that.
James Kademan [00:19:14]:
Alright. You want the thumb out?
Beth Skogen [00:19:16]:
I like the thumb out. Alright. I don’t like just the thumb in with just with the fingers out. There’s, like, all these little I’m a little particular. Alright. Same with the arms crossed. Like, if someone’s gonna cross their arms, I also don’t like to lose the hands. And it depends what they’re wearing too.
Beth Skogen [00:19:31]:
I like to see a little bit of fingers. Maybe not totally this, but it kinda just depends with every person. You also want it to be natural and how they would stand.
James Kademan [00:19:42]:
I suppose, especially, if they have a patterned shirt and their hands are kinda tucked.
Beth Skogen [00:19:45]:
Yeah. Where are your where are your hands? And you
James Kademan [00:19:46]:
know where my arms are?
Beth Skogen [00:19:47]:
Yeah. Okay.
James Kademan [00:19:49]:
Interesting. Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:19:50]:
Yeah. I’m not at like, I think the first pose that everybody goes to is, like, putting their hands down in front of them, which I’m not
James Kademan [00:19:59]:
Yeah. Like you’re in front of a judge.
Beth Skogen [00:20:01]:
Thrilled about because it, like, rounds you forward, but it’s the most comfortable pose that everybody does. Some people will put their hands in the back of them, which pushes your shoulders back. So there’s all these little things that people don’t really think about that I’m there to help guide them and make them feel as beautiful as they can be. And I honestly, like, whenever I photograph people, everyone is self conscious. Like, I feel like 90% of the people that I photograph absolutely hate being photographed. So, I’m there to have fun with them and, make them feel like the best version of themselves. And I just I think everybody’s beautiful. Everybody.
Beth Skogen [00:20:43]:
I do. Like, I know. You’re beautiful, James.
James Kademan [00:20:46]:
Well, I appreciate you saying that. Likewise, I I think you’re you’re definitely above me, so you’re cool that way. You just see, we On take that shots to James. We got a filter on this. So when you you’re taking headshots and you try to get them comfortable, Beth, like, in my head, it’s all like, oh my gosh. We’re gonna do this once every 8 years, so it’s better be good. Mhmm. Mhmm.
James Kademan [00:21:08]:
So I can see that there’s pressure that way.
Beth Skogen [00:21:10]:
Yeah. There’s pressure.
James Kademan [00:21:11]:
It’s gonna be this is slapping on your website. This is going on Yeah. I don’t know, all the brochures or things, whatever people are using headshots for.
Beth Skogen [00:21:19]:
Yeah. And you’re so vulnerable in front of the camera. And it’s Yeah. You have to put a lot of trust in the photographer.
James Kademan [00:21:27]:
Yeah. You know, it’s funny because I was thinking of, like, presidential elections coming up. Right? And all these people are running around saying stuff and getting pictures taken. And I’m thinking I was just walking through this antique store, and I thought, what if I was running for president? And I wanna walk through an antique store. And they’re like, look at James. He’s picking up whatever. Robert duck. Right? Oh my gosh.
James Kademan [00:21:52]:
He likes rubber ducks. We’re not voting for him or something like that. And I’m like, you could take any photo or when you’re when there’s so much film Mhmm. And there’s really no you’re not limited to 24. Yeah. They could take almost anything and spin it. Yep. Oh my gosh.
James Kademan [00:22:07]:
So then when you’re in front of someone for headshots, I’m like, oh my gosh. Mhmm. There could be some picture of me, whatever. Yeah. Not even knowing that I look obnoxious. Yeah. I’m like, I didn’t mean to. I suppose there’s when you have a video and then you pause it, and that person looks like they’re mid puke or something like that.
James Kademan [00:22:24]:
Yeah.
Beth Skogen [00:22:24]:
Yeah. Yeah. I would never do that to you.
James Kademan [00:22:25]:
Okay. Well, I appreciate that. That’s why we hire
Beth Skogen [00:22:30]:
you. Yeah. There’s a lot of stress. You know? Like, some people when I’m doing portraits, they’ll be like, well, this isn’t the best side of my face. And my response to that is, well, let’s do Beth, and you’ll get to choose later because you never know. Maybe you’ll be like, oh, actually, that is the inside of my face.
James Kademan [00:22:48]:
How do they know?
Beth Skogen [00:22:49]:
Yeah. They don’t well, they’ve who knows?
James Kademan [00:22:51]:
Or they always look in the mirror, and maybe they’re like, oh, wait. I always look and think it’s the right side. It’s actually the left.
Beth Skogen [00:22:59]:
Right. Very confused. Yeah. And I and through through the process of photographing somebody, I also show them a few images to make sure they’re happy. Okay.
James Kademan [00:23:10]:
Yeah. Do you play music?
Beth Skogen [00:23:12]:
That I don’t, but that’s a great idea. I don’t
James Kademan [00:23:15]:
I’m just picturing Austin Powers. Like, show me tigers.
Beth Skogen [00:23:20]:
Yeah. There’s so many little things that I and I people appreciate. I’ll be like, I’m so picky because if On one or a few strands move, I will go and adjust them.
James Kademan [00:23:30]:
Alright.
Beth Skogen [00:23:31]:
And they’re like, thank you so much for taking the time and paying attention to that because nobody wants to look at the photo and be like, oh, that one hair. I don’t know. Like, I’ve hair is so important Mhmm. In the photo. If you’re wearing a collared shirt and there’s hair literally just, like, stuck in your shirt, oh my, no. Oh, yeah. You gotta pull that out. Yeah.
Beth Skogen [00:23:53]:
So, I usually start if if you have hair, I will, you know, go like this. Yeah. Yeah. If, and then, I’ll make sure, like, do they want it on one side or the other side or if they have bangs? I’ve had bangs and bangs are they’re a whole thing that you just wanna make sure either they’re sideswiped or they’re even. Is the necklace straight? Is the clasp in the back?
James Kademan [00:24:18]:
Holy cow.
Beth Skogen [00:24:18]:
I know there’s a lot to think about. And to have the conversation and to make sure the light’s good and your settings are good on the camera because I shoot all manual. And, you know, to make sure they’re laughing.
James Kademan [00:24:28]:
What does that mean? Manual? So you’re focusing? It’s not autofocus?
Beth Skogen [00:24:31]:
I do autofocus. Focus. The aperture shutter.
James Kademan [00:24:35]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:24:36]:
Those are all manual.
James Kademan [00:24:37]:
Alright. Mhmm. Dang. That’s a lot going on. Yeah. How do you choose what equipment you’re gonna use?
Beth Skogen [00:24:43]:
Usually for portraits, I’ll use a 50 millimeter lens, or if I want a really shallow depth of field, I’ll use my 70 to 200 and be far away. But I really like like, this is a good distance. I like being
James Kademan [00:24:56]:
So you would have a camera and I’d be sitting here?
Beth Skogen [00:24:58]:
Yeah. I might have to back up just a little bit with my 50 So I do. To make sure I get a little
James Kademan [00:25:04]:
bit of
Beth Skogen [00:25:04]:
the torso. Okay. Yeah. I’d probably have you button your jacket. Oh. So it’s not, you know, so the line is,
James Kademan [00:25:09]:
like, straight down.
Beth Skogen [00:25:10]:
All flailing above here. I wouldn’t photograph you sitting. I was
James Kademan [00:25:12]:
just gonna ask
Beth Skogen [00:25:13]:
that. Yeah.
James Kademan [00:25:13]:
Like when you’re sitting?
Beth Skogen [00:25:14]:
We would stand.
James Kademan [00:25:15]:
Okay. I don’t know.
Beth Skogen [00:25:17]:
Yeah. I photographers do. Like they’ll have them sit on a stool. I just feel like standing, like your posture, you can be, you know, you can stand up a little bit straighter. Your jacket wouldn’t be wrinkling and slouch, you know.
James Kademan [00:25:29]:
I’m almost self conscious. Screw this. Right? No. You’re fine. It’s funny that you say that because the last I actually went to a headshot guy. One of these guys that was having a headshot. I don’t know when you call it. You just pay whatever, and he just pushes people On, shoves them out.
James Kademan [00:25:50]:
He sit on On stool. He takes some shots. He move on with your life. And I got him, and I was like, not not a fan. It just didn’t I didn’t feel like the personality was captured. It was just nothing that I would put on anything professional. Mhmm. Mhmm.
James Kademan [00:26:06]:
So I was like, oh, man. Yeah. I wasted that time. Yeah. Is dirt cheap? So I only wasted a little bit of money. Mhmm.
Beth Skogen [00:26:13]:
Perfect. Yeah. When even if I’m doing, like, a half day of portraits for a business, I will spend minimum of 5 minutes with each person. Like, there’s no way I’m just taking one photo. Yeah. We’re gonna do we’re gonna get a few different looks.
James Kademan [00:26:26]:
Sit there, smile, and move along.
Beth Skogen [00:26:28]:
Yeah. Next. I don’t do that.
James Kademan [00:26:29]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:26:30]:
Yeah. Because I Call to him for a little Beth, we’ll joke around, and then take some photos, different angles. Yeah.
James Kademan [00:26:37]:
Alright. Mhmm. So that means so you seem fairly quiet, but that means that you used to be somewhat extroverted to get people Mhmm. Out of their shell a little bit. How do you do that?
Beth Skogen [00:26:47]:
I ask them questions. We get to know each other. And then I start taking photos, and I feel like I don’t continue the conversation as I’m taking the photos. I’ve done that a few times. Oh. And then they’ll start talking, which obviously you don’t wanna be talking in the photos. And On, when I’m having a conversation with the person, I’ll drop my camera or not. I won’t drop it.
Beth Skogen [00:27:10]:
I’ll take it down from my face and have the conversation because I I I don’t know.
James Kademan [00:27:18]:
No. I get it.
Beth Skogen [00:27:19]:
I like to be face to face talking, and then we’ll take a few more pictures, and then we’ll laugh together. And
James Kademan [00:27:26]:
So that’s the signal. You can keep talking. Yeah. Shut up. We’re taking pictures.
Beth Skogen [00:27:30]:
Okay. Yeah. No.
James Kademan [00:27:31]:
I get it. It’s like you’re having a conversation with your dentist when they’re trying to clean your teeth.
Beth Skogen [00:27:34]:
Yeah. Exactly.
James Kademan [00:27:34]:
Like, there’s a point when it’s cool, but eventually, their hands are in your mouth, and Mhmm. It’s difficult to talk. Yeah. So I get it. I get it. Mhmm. What’s the favorite of all the things that you do? You got family, you got documentary style family, or documentary style business? It’s both. Right?
Beth Skogen [00:27:51]:
Yeah. It’s all kind of documentary style. Okay. But, yeah, businesses, families, portraits are in there.
James Kademan [00:27:58]:
Alright. What’s my
Beth Skogen [00:28:00]:
most favorite? I mean, ultimately, I love people. And when I’m in the moment of doing portraits, I absolutely love portraits. I love photographing a person, a human, and, making them feel like they have a good photo of themselves. I’ve I also just love documenting family life, like, especially On somebody’s home. Kids running around or playing with their favorite toys or making cookies together. I just photographed a family making pancakes. Like, they were jumping on the trampoline, and then they came in and they started making pancakes together. And there’s just all these little special moments, whether it’s the little girl coming over and giving her mom a hug or, you know, all their traditions that people have
James Kademan [00:28:52]:
Alright. That’s cool.
Beth Skogen [00:28:54]:
On their day to day lives.
James Kademan [00:28:55]:
Nice. Yeah. How do you market something like that? Because I have to imagine that that’s a rare thing, what you do. Mhmm. There’s photographers who take pictures of families, but not necessarily documentary style. Mhmm. So that means that to market, people have to know or understand what you’re offering as well as knowing that you exist.
Beth Skogen [00:29:13]:
Yeah.
James Kademan [00:29:14]:
So how do you get people to know that you exist? Besides sweet podcasts.
Beth Skogen [00:29:19]:
Sweet podcasts. I feel like I mean, my my Instagram, Beth Skogen, right now, over the last few years, it’s been very business focused, on the branding photos. So if someone if someone were to look at my Instagram, they would have no idea that I photograph families. Oh. So not my Instagram. Okay. Alright. I should probably start putting families on there.
Beth Skogen [00:29:42]:
My website, the SEO is really good. If you Google Madison family photography, referrals.
James Kademan [00:29:55]:
Alright.
Beth Skogen [00:29:55]:
People, families. I just photographed a family. The oldest is 11 years old, the On. And I photographed him when he was a newborn. So Wow. That family now they have 4 kids. That family, has come back year after year. So a lot of repeat clients.
Beth Skogen [00:30:13]:
Okay. Friends of those clients. Yeah.
James Kademan [00:30:18]:
Alright. That’s super sweet.
Beth Skogen [00:30:20]:
Yeah. I don’t do any, paid marketing.
James Kademan [00:30:23]:
Oh, that’s that’s super cool. Yeah. That’s high fives there, man. Yeah. Thank you. Boom. No paid mark. Let’s shift gears a little bit because we have a lot of other stuff going on.
Beth Skogen [00:30:34]:
Okay.
James Kademan [00:30:35]:
Are you cool talking about the other stuff?
Beth Skogen [00:30:36]:
Yeah. Love it.
James Kademan [00:30:37]:
Alright. Let’s work chronologically Okay. Because that’ll help me understand all that you have going on.
Beth Skogen [00:30:42]:
Okay.
James Kademan [00:30:43]:
So 2,009, you start, you get rolling, you’re taking pictures of babies and newborns. Mhmm. You pivot Mhmm. Into families, documentary, business shots, headshots, all that jazz. Mhmm. And you got some other stuff that deviates away from photography. Mhmm. So when did that first start?
Beth Skogen [00:31:00]:
Yeah. That probably started in 20 19, I think. I became vegan.
James Kademan [00:31:10]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:31:10]:
I was on and off vegan for a few years, and then became vegan for the animals.
James Kademan [00:31:18]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:31:19]:
Yeah.
James Kademan [00:31:19]:
So it was a conscious Yeah. For their well-being? Yeah.
Beth Skogen [00:31:22]:
Yeah. And then out of that, I’ve always wanted to volunteer, at Heartland Farm Sanctuary. I had followed them for a few years, and, I finally was like, okay. This is gonna be the year. So in, January 2020, I believe, I started volunteering at Heartland Farm Sanctuary once a
James Kademan [00:31:44]:
Okay. What is that place? I
Beth Skogen [00:31:45]:
don’t know. They’re a sanctuary, that rescue rescues farm animals. Oh, okay. They have about 88 residents. And, from When you say
James Kademan [00:31:54]:
residents, you mean animals?
Beth Skogen [00:31:56]:
Yes. Okay. That’s beautiful. Consider yes. Uh-huh. We like to consider them residents. Okay. They all have names.
Beth Skogen [00:32:02]:
They all have personalities. They eat salads. We make that like, they get their grains. They get their, hay that they need to eat, but we are chopping up salads for them to have, which is like I just I think it’s so great. We give them a really good life. Alright. So as a volunteer, I chop salads. I, feed water different residents and then muck.
Beth Skogen [00:32:28]:
Scoop poop.
James Kademan [00:32:29]:
Okay. Alright.
Beth Skogen [00:32:32]:
On other words, scoop poop. I, didn’t know what mucking was before then.
James Kademan [00:32:36]:
But Alright. Alright. So where are they rescued from?
Beth Skogen [00:32:41]:
They all have different stories.
James Kademan [00:32:43]:
So were they because I imagine a farmer that originally had them was planning on using them for nonvegan people. Uh-huh. Yep. So it was did that farmer say, hey. We’ll give you over here. Or
Beth Skogen [00:32:56]:
Yeah. They all have different stories. Beth White, for instance, is a big pig.
James Kademan [00:33:02]:
Alright.
Beth Skogen [00:33:02]:
A big Yorkshire pig. She, I feel I feel like she’s 1 now. She’s huge. A few £100. A few 100? A few 100.
James Kademan [00:33:11]:
Oh, wow.
Beth Skogen [00:33:12]:
She, fell off a transport truck as a piglet Okay. In Minnesota and was rescued and ultimately given to Heartland because she was getting too big where she was. Yeah. So that’s that’s one story, Betty White. I’m trying to think, I would direct people to the Heartland Fire Sanctuary website because each of them have their different stories and their names and, little facts about them. Mister is a goose. He is 30 years old. Woah.
Beth Skogen [00:33:49]:
I know.
James Kademan [00:33:49]:
I don’t know how long geese normally live, but I imagine thirties getting up there.
Beth Skogen [00:33:53]:
30. We have some beautiful turkeys. Miss Everdeen, her rescue and birthday anniversary is coming up. She’ll be 10.
James Kademan [00:34:03]:
Where was she rescued from? Is this one of those White House things?
Beth Skogen [00:34:07]:
You know
James Kademan [00:34:07]:
Get part in there.
Beth Skogen [00:34:09]:
I, again, would refer you. I sadly don’t know all of their stories. I know a few of their stories, but the website has all the information.
James Kademan [00:34:18]:
Alright. Fair. Fair.
Beth Skogen [00:34:20]:
I need to do more research.
James Kademan [00:34:22]:
Is this nonprofit? Uh-huh. Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:34:24]:
Yep. Yep. So they, you can volunteer for them, you can donate to them, you can, they have this thing going on right now called Pasture Pals. So a few of the residents, for I think $50, you can, choose if you wanna do the breakfast crew, which are 3 goats. I think the cows are on there. Maybe some of the pigs are on there, but you’ll get photos, via email, updates weekly Okay. On the Pastor Pals that you signed up for.
James Kademan [00:34:56]:
Gotcha.
Beth Skogen [00:34:56]:
Super cute. Pastor Pastor Pals.
James Kademan [00:34:58]:
Not past your.
Beth Skogen [00:34:59]:
Oh, no. Pastor Pals.
James Kademan [00:35:01]:
Alright.
Beth Skogen [00:35:01]:
But it’s a great organization. I love, being part of it.
James Kademan [00:35:06]:
Yeah. That’s cool. Yeah. How did you find out about them?
Beth Skogen [00:35:10]:
I think I followed some people on Instagram that were volunteering there and, being earn up, going to Iowa and, doing RAGBRAI, which I’ll get to next, the bike across Iowa. I knew about Iowa Farm Sanctuary, and that’s another sanctuary, but in Iowa. A lot of rescued, farm animals.
James Kademan [00:35:32]:
Alright.
Beth Skogen [00:35:34]:
Another one to follow. But, so I knew about them, but I wanted to, obviously, being in Madison closer to home, I can actually do something with them.
James Kademan [00:35:43]:
Yeah. So this place is Madison ish?
Beth Skogen [00:35:45]:
Yeah. They’re just outside Stoughton.
James Kademan [00:35:47]:
Okay. Yep. And how often do you volunteer there?
Beth Skogen [00:35:49]:
Once a week.
James Kademan [00:35:50]:
Oh, wow. So it’s quite a bit.
Beth Skogen [00:35:51]:
9 to 12, Friday morning.
James Kademan [00:35:53]:
Alright. Specific. Nice. Very specific. Alright. So tell us about the is it rag rye?
Beth Skogen [00:36:00]:
Yeah. Rag rye. So Rag Rye is a bike across Iowa. The last week of July, around 30,000 people partake on their bikes. 7 days, you camp, and you spend your days biking. Some people party, some people don’t. I don’t partake in the party aspect, but, for about 5 years, I did ragbrae on my own. Well, the first 2 years I did it with a friend, and then continued on on my own.
Beth Skogen [00:36:30]:
And biking across Iowa as a vegan is pretty difficult. Iowa is the largest pork producing state in the US. Oh. And so there are signs for pork on a stick, you name it.
James Kademan [00:36:45]:
Okay. A
Beth Skogen [00:36:47]:
lot of meat, cheese pizza. So I decided that I wanted to start my own thing and try to find a vegan chef and maybe 4 or 5 friends that would do this with me. Yeah. But find a chef who would cook us dinner. And I made it happen. Nice. So 3 years ago, same as this was 2021. I reached out to Lauren Montalbano, who used to be the chef at, Surya Call.
Beth Skogen [00:37:17]:
So I knew her from there and loved her food. Sent her On Instagram wondering if she knew of anybody that would be interested in something like this, because it’s a lot of work, it’s a lot of time. And I didn’t think that she would be into it because I thought she’d be busy or her price would be too much. But I was just she responded and was like, this is totally up my alley. So, that was a dream come true because if I could have any chef, it would be Laura Montalbano. Wow. So she said yes. She does an amazing job.
Beth Skogen [00:37:52]:
So the 1st year, we had 16 people that I didn’t know sign up. So there were 18 people on the team, and it was a great 1st year. And then the 2nd year, it was the 50th anniversary of RAGBRAI, and we had, 44 people on the team. Wow. So it blew up. I guess. People on RAGBRAI, some people are looking for healthy alternatives because you’re biking at 4 55 100 Calls in a week. A lot of people drink beer.
Beth Skogen [00:38:23]:
A lot of people are eating, greasy, not the healthiest of foods. So to have fresh vegetables and a lot of protein in other ways, is amazing.
James Kademan [00:38:36]:
Yeah. I bet.
Beth Skogen [00:38:37]:
And then, so that was the 2nd year. This past year, we had, 32 people, which I think Call be we’ll have around 30 people on the team every year moving forward.
James Kademan [00:38:45]:
So how did the people that you didn’t know learn about it?
Beth Skogen [00:38:49]:
I think I did some posts on the Rag Bri Facebook group. And then also if you Google Skogen Rag Bri, vegan cycling, we’re we’re up there.
James Kademan [00:38:58]:
You’re there? Mhmm.
Beth Skogen [00:38:59]:
Yeah. It’s called Powered by Plant Cycling.
James Kademan [00:39:03]:
That’s cool. So that’s what that is?
Beth Skogen [00:39:04]:
This is my mug. Yeah. Alright. It’s a whole new brand. I now sell apparel and run a cycling team. And then this year was our first time having a second ride in Door County.
James Kademan [00:39:15]:
Oh, okay. Yeah. So Powered by Plants is the whole thing? Yep. Same chef?
Beth Skogen [00:39:19]:
Yep. They came up and made an outdoor dinner at our group campsite. Yeah. And it’s to bring community together that have similar, beliefs. It’s really
James Kademan [00:39:33]:
Vegan type beliefs
Beth Skogen [00:39:35]:
or cycle Yep.
James Kademan [00:39:36]:
Long term biking Uh-huh. Beliefs?
Beth Skogen [00:39:38]:
Both. Yeah. It’s not everybody is vegan that joins us.
James Kademan [00:39:42]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:39:42]:
Yep. Maybe they just wanna eat healthier or they know somebody on the team that’s, interested in being part of it or just wants to experience it. Alright. Yeah.
James Kademan [00:39:52]:
So those people, do they still party?
Beth Skogen [00:39:55]:
You know, I feel like our team isn’t a huge party team. Like, we’ll have some drinks at the end of the day. Some people, some people don’t. But you have to get up and bike the next day at, like, 6 in the morning. And, like, last year, the temperatures were, like, a 110 degrees. So it was a bit bit extreme.
James Kademan [00:40:13]:
Alright. So 4 in the morning, you’re like, let’s roll before the sun
Beth Skogen [00:40:16]:
We did. Yeah. We were up at 4 last year.
James Kademan [00:40:18]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:40:18]:
So I just can’t imagine drinking much and then doing that. But Dang. Some people do it.
James Kademan [00:40:23]:
Alright.
Beth Skogen [00:40:25]:
And survive. Yeah.
James Kademan [00:40:26]:
So the chef would, I imagine, take a van or bus or something like that ahead of you guys?
Beth Skogen [00:40:32]:
They do. Yeah. So, before RAGBRAI, we plan out where our campsites are in the host towns. And they go ahead the first or the first two years, I guess, she had our little catering van and would set up like an outdoor kitchen. And then we had a U Haul. We had a 20 foot U Haul with more kitchen supplies and all the bags. So there’s all the team members get 2 bags and then so we’re unloading those or I’m not. I’m riding.
Beth Skogen [00:40:59]:
I’m not. The, the support and Lauren and her, assistant, sous chef, are doing the cooking. But, yeah, there’s a lot of moving parts. So they set up the outdoor kitchen. They start cooking. Dinner’s at 6. Except this year, her husband, Kyle, bought a food truck. So they had the food truck there to cook out of.
Beth Skogen [00:41:22]:
Nice. Yeah. And it it went wonderfully.
James Kademan [00:41:27]:
What do people normally eat on these things?
Beth Skogen [00:41:28]:
Uh-huh. A lot of a lot of meat.
James Kademan [00:41:31]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:41:31]:
I feel like if you’re a vegan, or even a vegetarian, you’re going to the grocery store and getting things. Like, you could go to the Hy Vee and do, like, a salad bar. I remember I would go to, oh my gosh. What’s the pizza place? Franchisee? Yeah. Pizza Hut? No. Not Pizza Hut. Domino’s, Bobby John’s.
James Kademan [00:41:52]:
I don’t know.
Beth Skogen [00:41:53]:
They have a salad buffet.
James Kademan [00:41:54]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:41:54]:
And that was a great option, except in each town, they’re big and small. You never know what kind of, restaurant you’re gonna run into, and they’re flooded with people. Because a lot of people go there, because it’s like pizza, salad buffet, great option. And there’s a lot of vendors in the town. So there are a lot of food options. There’s just not healthy vegetable forward options. There’s a noodle like, an Asian stir fry noodle with a bunch of vegetables, which was very satisfying before I was vegan, but the noodles are all egg noodles. Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:42:29]:
A few nights, they’ll have, like, an acai Call. But an acai bowl isn’t gonna feel you for the next day of 80 miles of biking for dinner. That’s a nice snack. Nice. But this pizza buffet restaurant that I’m blanking on, there’s one in Verona.
James Kademan [00:42:48]:
Pizza Ranch?
Beth Skogen [00:42:49]:
Yes. I had pizza ranch. So sometimes, like, having a salad, there would be a lot of buffet options. But in this one very tiny town, we’re like, let’s go to pizza ranch. I remember having literally an iceberg lettuce. I was starving. Yeah. Eighty miles.
Beth Skogen [00:43:06]:
Yeah. Starving. All I want is food. Iceberg lettuce, salad, maybe with some peas and tomatoes. And dressing.
James Kademan [00:43:14]:
Oh, no. That’s how you pass out.
Beth Skogen [00:43:16]:
Yeah. That’s how you pass out. So I was like, how cool would it be to have a chef making us amazing, delicious, nutritious, full of protein Calls. And people, when they walk by or they smell it, they’re just like, what is this? How can we eat with you? Yeah.
James Kademan [00:43:32]:
And I feel like if you’re biking that far, you don’t wanna bike and then, like, let’s go shopping for dinner. Yeah. You get to bike and then show up to this tent and
Beth Skogen [00:43:40]:
Right. Because you have to put up your tent still. I mean, there’s some groups, charters, that will literally will set up your tent if you pay more. You gotta get your bag, you gotta get your schlep your stuff to your spot on the campground. You gotta set up your tent. Yeah. You gotta shower. Alright.
Beth Skogen [00:43:57]:
I mean, that alone, you gotta sometimes wait in line, shower. It’s hot. You’re tired.
James Kademan [00:44:02]:
So I imagine people get cranky.
Beth Skogen [00:44:04]:
A little cranky. Yeah.
James Kademan [00:44:05]:
Mhmm. Alright. A little emotional. I mean, a lot of them.
Beth Skogen [00:44:07]:
Yeah. I get a little emotional. Like, it’s a it’s a week of ups and downs. Alright. Yeah. Physically and emotionally.
James Kademan [00:44:14]:
Got it. I know we don’t have a ton of time left, so I’m gonna shift into the other thing you have going on. Not Bratfest.
Beth Skogen [00:44:21]:
Yes. VeganSausageFest.
James Kademan [00:44:23]:
Vegan Sausage Fest. Tell us a story. What is that? And tell us why.
Beth Skogen [00:44:28]:
Vegan Sausage Fest. Well, like you mentioned, there’s the other festival and,
James Kademan [00:44:35]:
Call, we don’t mention this.
Beth Skogen [00:44:36]:
We don’t mention the other festival. I just wanted to have an alternative, because they sell a lot of brats. Yeah. And in my mind, that’s a lot of lives. Animals. Fair. Okay. So, Skogen Sausage Fest is an opportunity for people in the community together and have an alternative festival with different sausage like options
James Kademan [00:45:02]:
Okay. That are vegan. What are sausage like options?
Beth Skogen [00:45:05]:
Well, I’m trying to think so we have different food vendors, and, they can it’s a restaurant owner in town or, a chef vendor that wants to set up a stand, they come up with their own sausage inspired item to sell.
James Kademan [00:45:22]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:45:23]:
So, like, Lauren’s, item last year was, Asian inspired brought in a bao bun with, like, Asian slaw and Sriracha aioli. And it’s just a whole different take on what a brat is. Right. And it’s all Skogen, and it’s, whole food plant based. And, yeah, you’re not gonna get that many places.
James Kademan [00:45:47]:
No. No. No. I bet not. Do you still put ketchup and mustard on it?
Beth Skogen [00:45:52]:
Not that one. No. The Sriracha aioli
James Kademan [00:45:55]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:45:55]:
Is the the sauce.
James Kademan [00:45:56]:
Got it. Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:45:58]:
Some vendors would do, like, your traditional sauerkraut, ketchup, mustard, but we really want it to be we really push for chefs to bring, like, a unique take on it. Alright. Because I think that’s more of the the vibe we’re going for.
James Kademan [00:46:11]:
Gotcha. So it’s not a bunch of vegetables trying to make it taste and look like a brat. It’s a bunch of vegetables to Yeah. A bunch of vegetables.
Beth Skogen [00:46:20]:
We we want I should have looked up the menu. Our menu’s on our website from this past year of what different chefs did. Alright. Yeah. VeganSausageFest. Say it again? Vegansausagefest.com.
James Kademan [00:46:37]:
Alright. And that’s same weekend?
Beth Skogen [00:46:40]:
It sure is. It’s the same Saturday.
James Kademan [00:46:42]:
Okay. Mhmm.
Beth Skogen [00:46:43]:
I don’t have details yet for this coming year, but I know it’s the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.
James Kademan [00:46:49]:
Gotcha.
Beth Skogen [00:46:50]:
And it will continue.
James Kademan [00:46:51]:
So are there vague details, like, do you have bands or anything like that, like this
Beth Skogen [00:46:55]:
other other We have some music. Yeah. Not not as big. We don’t have a big stage. We have some just, like, acoustic guitar Okay. Band.
James Kademan [00:47:01]:
So Winger is not playing, but
Beth Skogen [00:47:03]:
Yeah. No.
James Kademan [00:47:04]:
Some somebody Call be playing an instrument.
Beth Skogen [00:47:07]:
It’s definitely smaller. I the first year, year, I estimated that we had about 1500 people come.
James Kademan [00:47:13]:
Call seems like a lot.
Beth Skogen [00:47:14]:
Yeah. Yeah. Seriously? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was I was blown away.
James Kademan [00:47:19]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:47:19]:
Because for the 1st year last year, I was behind the scenes doing social media and doing videos with Lauren trying to promote it. We had no idea what to expect.
James Kademan [00:47:28]:
Alright.
Beth Skogen [00:47:29]:
It was at Vilas Park. I know we had 1500 people. It was amazing. We had, like, 6 vendors. So it was pretty small. Yeah. Some music, some kids’ stuff. And then last year, we had a few more vendors.
Beth Skogen [00:47:41]:
We had it in Monona. And we’re we don’t have location details for this coming year, but Okay. Hoping to be a little bit bigger, have some, like, merch vendors. Again, Yeah. Alright. It’s exciting. It’s this whole other thing that’s taken off because of my passion for being vegan.
James Kademan [00:48:02]:
So that was your idea? Mhmm. Okay. Yeah. And instead of just being like, that’d be Call. You’re like, that’d be Call, and then you did it.
Beth Skogen [00:48:11]:
Yeah. I brought it up to Lauren during, a host of Skogen Friendsgiving, and I brought it up.
James Kademan [00:48:17]:
You say Friendsgiving? Yeah.
Beth Skogen [00:48:18]:
A Vegan Friendsgiving. Brought it up to Lauren 2 years ago, and, I was like, it’s a dream of mine. Like with the rag rything, it was a dream. And she’s like, let’s do it. I’ll help you. And so her and I are such a good team, and we get it done.
James Kademan [00:48:33]:
Nice. I guess you do.
Beth Skogen [00:48:34]:
We do.
James Kademan [00:48:36]:
That is impressive. Thanks. So what else is going on?
Beth Skogen [00:48:40]:
I feel like that’s it.
James Kademan [00:48:42]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:48:44]:
I feel maybe I’m missing something.
James Kademan [00:48:46]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:48:47]:
But it’s great. I mean, photography 15 years of photography, the a huge benefit to what I do is the flexibility to incorporate other things in my into my life that I’m passionate about.
James Kademan [00:48:59]:
Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:49:00]:
Because I think I think it would be really hard if I had, like, a 9 to 5 consistent job. So it’s great that I can kinda put things into my schedule.
James Kademan [00:49:10]:
Yeah. You have that freedom Mhmm. And the drive of an On, so you can do make stuff happen. Yeah. That is cool. Have you gotten any pushback?
Beth Skogen [00:49:20]:
That’s a great question. I mean, yeah. Well, the Facebook, post that the news outlets did, lots of comments. Oh, really? Yeah.
James Kademan [00:49:29]:
Mhmm. Okay.
Beth Skogen [00:49:30]:
Lots of
James Kademan [00:49:31]:
Saying like, we gotta kill pigs or something. I don’t know.
Beth Skogen [00:49:33]:
Yeah. I don’t there there’s a lot of nasty comments out there.
James Kademan [00:49:37]:
Alright. Yeah. Against Against stuff?
Beth Skogen [00:49:40]:
Mhmm. Yeah. Against the Skogen sausage Beth, which is fine. I mean, they’ll there Call always be people that are, not happy with whatever you’re doing.
James Kademan [00:49:50]:
Haters On hate it.
Beth Skogen [00:49:50]:
Haters gonna hate it. But there’s enough good and compassion from the community out there that we’ll continue doing it. Alright. Yeah.
James Kademan [00:50:02]:
Fair. I would think if your 1st year, you’re knocking out 1500 people. Mhmm. And, man, it’s a lot of people to feed. Mhmm.
Beth Skogen [00:50:10]:
Yeah. I would think that’s Call out. People sold out for sure.
James Kademan [00:50:13]:
And I imagine you’re not alone. Mhmm. I mean, certainly in Madison, there’s other vegan or vegetarian people that would be interested in
Beth Skogen [00:50:22]:
There’s a huge there’s a great community. Huge community. Yeah. Madison Vegan Fest just happened in September. A really great turnout. Okay. People were coming from Green Bay, from Illinois.
James Kademan [00:50:32]:
Wow. Mhmm. Like, I’m not even a vegan, but I’d be I like food.
Beth Skogen [00:50:36]:
Yeah. And it’s delicious, innovative, great food.
James Kademan [00:50:42]:
You know, I remember going to this bar, and they had a bean patty. Mhmm. And I would always get that instead of the burger because, like, I’m not vegan, but that bean patty was awesome. Yeah. It was so good. And I remember the bartender, like, I think you’re the only guy that orders that. I’m like, you know, I’m cool with that because then you won’t run out. Yeah.
James Kademan [00:51:04]:
And I don’t know if they go old. Yeah. It was it was interesting, but they’re like, oh, it’s not eating meat. I’m like, well, your burgers are good. It’s just a burger. Mhmm. Right?
Beth Skogen [00:51:13]:
You can
James Kademan [00:51:13]:
have a burger anywhere.
Beth Skogen [00:51:14]:
Yep. So true.
James Kademan [00:51:15]:
But whatever you got in that concoction is pretty tasty
Beth Skogen [00:51:18]:
Yeah.
James Kademan [00:51:18]:
And rare.
Beth Skogen [00:51:19]:
So Mhmm.
James Kademan [00:51:20]:
Yeah. That’s cool. Beth, thank thank you so much for being on the show.
Beth Skogen [00:51:23]:
Yeah. Thanks for having me.
James Kademan [00:51:24]:
Where can we find you? You probably got a handful of websites here. Right?
Beth Skogen [00:51:28]:
I have so many websites, so many Instagrams. Bethscogin.com, VeganSausageFest, powerbyplantcycling.com, and all of those things are on Instagram, as well. Nice. Yeah.
James Kademan [00:51:43]:
So what’s next?
Beth Skogen [00:51:45]:
I gotta start planning vegan sausage fest.
James Kademan [00:51:48]:
Oh, I suppose that’s
Beth Skogen [00:51:49]:
Yeah. It’s only, like, 6 months away.
James Kademan [00:51:51]:
For something like that, though, I imagine that’s that’s not a lot of time.
Beth Skogen [00:51:55]:
It’s not a lot of time. No.
James Kademan [00:51:56]:
Because you gotta get location and
Beth Skogen [00:51:57]:
Yep. Call
James Kademan [00:51:58]:
up wing or do whatever.
Beth Skogen [00:51:59]:
Yeah. Totally.
James Kademan [00:52:01]:
Grow the vegetables. I don’t know.
Beth Skogen [00:52:03]:
Grow vegetables.
James Kademan [00:52:04]:
Do the no. I always have great admiration for people that put on something On event. Mhmm. And people actually show up. Mhmm. Because I’ve tried events a couple times, and they’re train wrecks. Mhmm. They’re very expensive train wrecks.
James Kademan [00:52:17]:
Mhmm. So I’m like, if you get people, rock and Call. Good for you. Thank you. That’s cool. Well, sweet. Nothing to it. Right?
Beth Skogen [00:52:25]:
Yeah. Easy peasy.
James Kademan [00:52:26]:
This has been Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumph and successes. Business owners across the land, we’re locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie. Calls On Call, offering call answering and receptionist services for service businesses across the country. On the web at callsoncall.com. And, of course, the Bold Business Book, a book of the entrepreneur in all of us, available wherever fine books are sold. If you’re listening or watching this on the web, if you could do us a huge favor, give us a big old thumbs up, subscribe, and of course, share it with your entrepreneurial friends, especially those that like to take some candid photos, need some business shots. What else we got there? Bike a lot and do the vegan thing.
Beth Skogen [00:53:08]:
Yeah. Or
James Kademan [00:53:08]:
just like food. Right? Make plans. Yeah. We’d like to thank you, our wonderful listeners, as well as our guest, Beth Skogen of Beth Skogen Photography. Beth, can you tell us some websites again?
Beth Skogen [00:53:17]:
Bethskogen.com, vegansausagefest.com, poweredbyplantscycling.com.
James Kademan [00:53:25]:
Nice. Yeah. We got them all.
Beth Skogen [00:53:27]:
I got them all.
James Kademan [00:53:28]:
Sweet. Past episodes can be found in the morning, noon, and night at the podcast link. Found at drawincustomers.com. Thank you for watching. We will see you next week. I want you to stay awesome. And if you do nothing else, enjoy your business.
