How to Look Credible on Camera (Even If You Feel Awkward) — With Visual Branding Strategist Ana Gil

Junaid Ahmed (0:00)

Thank you for tuning in to Hacks and Hobbies with your host, Junaid. We're visited by our amazing guests coming from all walks of life, want to learn their story, their struggles and their journey on how they got to where they are today. So stick around.

Most people don't struggle with the camera. They struggle with the version of themselves they think they're supposed to be on camera. By the end of this conversation, you'll learn how to show up confidently on video without sounding scripted, stiff or fake. And you'll walk away with practical steps you can use today.

Today I'm joined by Ana Gil, a visual branding strategist, photographer and video producer helping entrepreneurs, corporate teams and creatives reclaimed their voice. I should have read this before I even brought you on stage, right? But Ana, I'm so excited to bring you on. I'm so excited to speak with you. And because you've done some amazing things, you're the founder of Ana Gil Studios, an MWBE certified visual branding agency specializing in professional head shots, video production and branded content. Not only are you the producer and creative director behind Unmuted and Officially Unofficial, and a trusted educator in the eCamp community, you're also a creator that builds sustainable content workflows. Welcome to the show.

Ana Gil (1:43)

Thank you. So glad to be here, Junaid.

Junaid Ahmed (1:46)

You know, we've known each other for what? Four, five years since the pandemic.

And I've just loved seeing your growth. And I'm so excited to, you know, you share all of these photos. I'm like, Oh my God, I wish I had a photographer like Ana in my back pocket. I'm like, Hey, I need some photos because I'm, even though I'm a good photographer behind camera, but who's going to take my photos? And you do that really well. So I love it. You know, glad that you're here.

Ana Gil (2:15)

Thank you. Thank you for having me. Yeah. Something that I love. And you know, a lot of people have asked me, can I have an Ana in my pocket? And I might just decide to have, you know.

Junaid Ahmed (2:26)

Oh my God. Let's go.

Ana Gil (2:28)

Let's go.

Junaid Ahmed (2:29)

That's going to be so cool.

So Ana, you work with people who are brilliant off camera, but they're tense on camera. And we were talking about earlier about how I had this photo on of me on my website. And I feel like if there's a lot of tension in that photo, talk to me, what's the real reason people freeze?

Ana Gil (2:52)

Yeah. So I want to say judgment.

Typically, that's what it is. They are afraid to be judged. And the it takes a little bit to warm up. And confidence doesn't come from, okay, I'm confident. It comes from preparation and from trust. And either you're a photographer or you're a coach or yourself and your content.

So for you, on that photo that you had, it was a conversation between you and your photographer. And if you had a brand specialist, then it comes a third person. So them making sure that your content is clear, that your content is going to reach the audience that you are meant to reach, then that will make you feel confident as well. It takes a little bit, right, to get comfortable in front of the camera. But if you have the trust, if you already have your team and you trust you, you trust yourself and you like what you're wearing, and everything should be good.

Junaid Ahmed (4:03)

Yeah, you're absolutely right, because that experience that I had with my friend, he's a Peter Hurley certified photographer himself. So that was the test setup that he had done. He's like, hey, I'll do these photos for free for you. I'm just testing something out. But then the next year I hired him and had him do these headshots. And those headshots have got me to places where I could not have gone if I didn't have them. So, you know, you're absolutely right. That conversation that you're having with the photographer, the conversation that you're having is going to help you calm down and feel so relaxed. I have a funny story as well about a photographer that I worked with. So I was working at this company, and my colleague, we're both designers, he is a professional photographer. I'm like, all right, cool. And he's like, you know, let's do, we're going to do a photo shoot, we're going to bring every single of our colleagues and we'll take photos of them. I'm like, all right, perfect. So we went to session, we went, you know, through five, six people, we had all the gear.