Day 2 DAY Books

Marloes Van Lent is CEO of full-service accounting services for small businesses Day2Day Books. She reached out to Story Power Media to do a business portrait shoot. She then drove 8 hours from Golden, a small town where she lives, to the Vancouver area to do the photo session. I loved getting to know Marloes and asked her questions about her business and the photo shoot experience.

Anya: Tell me about yourself. 

Marloes: My name is Marloes van Lent, I am 39, and I am CEO of Day2Day Books, a Professional Bookkeeper company.

Anya: When did you establish your business, and what inspired you to do it?

Marloes: I started Day2Day Books in 2014 because I saw a need for professional financial services in my small mountain town. Cloud Accounting was fairly new at that time, and I saw an opportunity to help people transition to it. 

Anya: Who is your business for?

Marloes: It's for small business owners who don't have the time or skills to do their own bookkeeping. For business owners who know the importance of keeping their books in order. And for business owners who like to move to cloud-based systems and don't know where to start. I think professional bookkeeping should be available for all business owners, big or small. 

Anya: What were your first attempts at growing your client base, and what mistakes did you make? What were the first successes?

Marloes: First, I would apply for all local bookkeeping jobs I saw posted and would show up and convince them that hiring an independent contractor will work for them versus an in-house employee. These were often part-time jobs, so I combined a bunch of these and went from there. I made quite a few mistakes, as most business owners, and probably the most common ones too. Like growing too fast, saying yes to all clients, and hiring the wrong people. The first success, I think, was that I hit my 3-year revenue goal in year 1! That was pretty cool :-). Plus, we have grown consistently 30+% per year, which is quite impressive. 

Anya: What would be your advice to new companies who are trying to grow?

Marloes: Slow is actually fast. Set goals, know your key metrics, and keep an eye on them. Outsource or hire for the jobs/tasks you're not good at. Even though it's scary, and you might think you can't afford it, you can, and it will free up other resources to make more money. 

Last but not least, know the flow of your business. For example, my business has a monthly, quarterly, yearly, and 4-5 year cycle. Every 4-5 years, I have a "down" year, on purpose to breathe and reflect on everything achieved and learned so that we can march forward again for the next couple of years, a bit smarter 🙂

Anya: How do you market yourself now?

Marloes: I didn't invest in Marketing much for the first five years - everything happened via word of mouth, and my website had a great impact. It was done really well right from the start, and that helped. Another thing that helped me was doing lots of networking. I am working with a marketing company, making my marketing more consistent. I trust them fully, and they are doing a great job! I am also creating new products to meet my clients' needs better. It's pretty exciting! 

Anya: What made you turn to Anya Chibis for your business photography needs?

Marloes: Her sales line: "I don't do headshots." Everyone knows it's weird to have your picture taken, but when you're in business, you need to show your face. Most photographers offer a 15 min headshot where Anya takes the time to get to know you and understand what you want from the pictures. She really takes the time, which you can see in the end results. 

Anya: What was your photo/video shoot experience like? 

Marloes: As I mentioned, Anya takes the time to get to know you. We met twice online before we met in person. Once for an introduction and the second time to discuss the clothes I wanted to wear. It all felt very well organized and easy. Anya knows what she's doing and makes you feel comfortable and confident. And it shows in the photos. With my hair and makeup done the way we discussed and the clothes, I felt good in, having the photos done was a piece of cake! Seriously, I had a lot of fun doing it. I truly felt like a model for a day!  

Anya: How will you use visual assets produced by Anya Chibis in your business marketing? 

Marloes: I will use them in many ways. For my website, profile pictures, social media posts, etc. My marketing team was so excited when I showed them. And I am planning to work more with Anya, as it was such a pleasant experience! 

Anya: How do you balance work and life? What do you do to recharge and rest?

Marloes: Oh, I do so many things. I have two dogs that I walk a lot every day. That is my daily break away from screens. My husband and I like to bike, ski, hike, camp, and travel as much as possible. We are so fortunate to have all this at our fingertips living in Golden, BC, but we also love traveling overseas. We have family in the Netherlands and Australia, so we frequently visit these places but also try to sneak in some new places now and then.  

Anya: What drives you to keep going and growing? 

Marloes: I love growing and learning new things. I am a very curious person, and I love getting to know new people and helping them. Bookkeepers are usually quite introverted, but I'm a bit of an oddball as I like meeting people and learning the story behind the numbers. That is really the fun part!  

My approach to portraits

By Anya Chibis

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One of the most high-profile Canadians I photographed in my editorial career was Madam Sophie Gregoire Trudeau for Chatelaine Magazine in 2016. 

(c) Anya Chibis

The shoot was taking place in Montreal in mid-February, and I arrived just before another big snowstorm. The magazine opted to rent a small but cozy co-working space downtown instead of a photo studio. It was large enough to set up a simple paper backdrop and a few lights. The makeup station was in an adjacent room. Madam Trudeau arrived early with only one discreet-looking companion (the bodyguard). She was beautiful, cheerful, full of life and incredibly approachable. Her only request for the shoot was to wear exclusively Canadian designers, to which the magazine style editors happily obliged. 

When her natural and minimalist makeup and beach waves were finished an hour and a half later (yes, it takes that long to do great minimalist makeup for any professional photo shoot) and she stepped in front of the camera, it became clear that she would have no problem remaining her exuberant self— thanks to the years of working as a journalist and a TV reporter. Working with her was a joy, with non of the usual fuss associated with shooting a celebrity. I had about an hour and a half to do 3-4 setups. In the end, she asked if I would take a few shots "just for her." Intrigued, I said, "yes." Then, while wearing heels and silky coveralls, with an ease of a gymnast, she got a hold of her heel, lifted her leg and twisted her body in a crazy yoga pose. I was stunned but kept shooting while she held the pose for another minute. Those last pictures turned out to be too "bold" to end up on the pages of Chatelaine, but it was a fantastic and unexpected moment that every photographer hoped would happen during the photo shoot. 

(c) Anya Chibis

Curious fact: Sophie's portraits looked so fresh and youthful that when the magazine came out, there was an initial online backlash, with some claiming that she must have been photoshopped to look so good! The magazine editors had to turn to me for the raw, unedited images to rebuke the claims. But only minimal post-production was done on the portraits. I did not tell them that the secret was a professional makeup artist and perfect lighting by an experienced photographer ;-)

(c) Anya Chibis

Shooting a celebrity for a magazine is a lot of work, but I approach all my portrait sessions with equal dedication. I always meet my clients via Zoom to understand their needs and goals and provide advice on wardrobe choices. I only work with the best makeup artists skilled in studio shoots who can create natural makeup that works with my lighting technique. Post-production of each image is meticulous and time-consuming, ensuring the client looks their best without any sign of being "photoshopped." 

Sophie Trudeau was also pleased with the results and still uses my images on her social media accounts seven years later. She hasn't changed much, and that's great for her. But I recommend that my clients update their business portraits every three to five years to keep things fresh, so their colleagues and clients immediately recognize them and do not notice that they look different in person than on their social media profiles. 

(c) Anya Chibis

If you’re ready for your business or brand photo shoot, click here to request a price list