The Person Behind the Numbers

I’ve been testing an idea lately: what if we stopped presenting professionals as just professionals? Most business content is built around the question “What’s in it for me?” Expertise, results, experience. All of that matters, sure. But it’s rarely the whole reason we choose someone. Half the time, it’s something less rational than that. We like how a person thinks, or talks, or lives. We see something familiar in them. And that can matter just as much as the services listed on their website.

Take a mortgage broker, for instance. If property is part of how you build wealth, this might be someone you’re in touch with for years: first purchase, second purchase, refinancing, switching banks, all the questions that pop up in between. So when Mark and I planned his shoot, we didn’t just photograph the professional version of him. We shot him at home too, where he actually does a lot of his work, sometimes squeezed between everything else, sometimes late into the evening. Because maybe the person helping you buy property shouldn’t look like someone who only exists behind a desk. In a small but real way, they become your partner in the process.