Exploring Life & Business with Daniela Rodriguez of The Social Cat Photography

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniela Rodriguez.

Hi Daniela, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Daniela Espinoza Rodriguez is founder of The Social Cat, empowering small community business to tell their story through modern day social media photography. Small business empowers the community by strengthening the local economy, creating more jobs and a greater future for our children.

Before starting The Social Cat, Daniela worked in Nonprofit Healthcare for 11 years from direct patient care in skid row, Human Resources Department and Marketing Business Development. Daniela understood the need for connecting the community through modern day social media not only for the youth but for working mothers.

As a toddler mom and with almost 10 years of experience I will capture the profound significance of a moment.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Becoming a photographer is not a direct path. The pursuit of art is constantly evolving and my personal experience involves lots of imposter syndrome. I have to remind myself I’m an artist and my camera is my tool. I have built my career over the years to help small businesses bring quality photos of their service or products to show customers they care of service and value. Now as a mother of a brilliant special needs child I have geared my attention to capturing smaller details in life such as legacy photos of grandparents with multi generations. I recently volunteered my service to provide family portraits to a back-to-school backpack giveaway in South LA. Families were delighted to have their first ever family professional portrait and through my personal motherhood experiences I captured the first photo ever of a child that never wanted to be photographed.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The Social Cat photography is created to bring moments you can never recreate into a single photo. I see the beauty in motherhood and how a mothers smile is different when she sees her children joy. I have had the humble honor of capturing milestones of 1st birthdays to grandmothers celebrating 80th birthday surrounding by so many loved ones. I’m honored to be welcomed into family milestones as to corporate events with strong women in tech and finance empowering all in the audience. I love my job and I can be an example to my daughter to chase after her dreams to keep dreaming bigger despite the imposter syndrome. Life is challenging but its beautiful! One Sunday I’m photographing a baby shower and same week I’m at the LA Live Screening of Insidious photographing Lin Shaye, but it is all for the common goal of creating art. Art that one day my daughter can proud of and can say you can google my mom. Of course much of my success is in part to my direct support of my husband. He has seen the photographer in me that is not happy when lightroom needs to update mid editing and continues to support the dream telling our daughter how great mommy’s job is. I want to give a special thanks to my family my oldest sister Carol and my nephews and nieces that were the first to see me as their role models and now have incredible lives and futures because they believed they could when they saw me.

What are your plans for the future?
I would like to maybe one day partner with corporations or non-profit organizations to provide more professional portraits to family’s in low-income areas, special needs families, and provide headshots for the youth out of high school just starting their career journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://book.usesession.com/i/3zCuKTB34d
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_social_cat_/

Image Credits
Photographer Darlene Sanchez