Every week, someone finds you before you find them.
They Google your name, click your LinkedIn profile, pull up your website. And before they've read a single word you've written — before they've heard your story or seen what you do — they've already formed an impression. Not from your credentials. Not from your bio. From your photo.
If that photo is five years old, or ten, it isn't a minor detail to get around to fixing. It's the first thing people see when they look you up. And it may be quietly closing doors you don't even know were open.
What "outdated" actually looks like
I've had clients come to me with headshots taken a decade ago. The person in that photo and the person I photographed were not the same person. Different hair, different face, different energy, different chapter of their life entirely.
An outdated headshot isn't only about the year it was taken. It's about whether you actually look like yourself. If your hairstyle has changed significantly, if your weight has shifted, if you've aged in ways that are visible, if your overall presence has evolved, then that photo no longer represents who you are. And a photo that doesn't represent you can't do the job you need it to do.
When a prospective client, a journalist, or a conference organizer looks you up and then eventually meets you in person, there's a moment of recognition, or there isn't. That recognition matters. It's one of the first small signals that tells someone: this is who you said you were. I can trust this person.
When the photo doesn't match the person, that signal disappears.
The work a headshot does before you say a word
There's a framework a lot of people in sales and business use: people buy from and work with people they know, like, and trust. It's simple, and it's true. Your headshot is part of that equation, whether you think of it that way or not.
A current photo — one where someone could walk into a room and recognize you on sight — signals something that words can't quite carry. It says: I'm who I say I am. I show up present. What you see is what you get.
I've watched clients use photos from our sessions at speaking engagements all over the world. That photo travels with them. It appears on conference websites, in event programs, on press pages. It's meeting the audience before they ever step on stage. When that image is current and real, it does invisible work: building recognition, building familiarity, building trust before a single word is spoken.
When it's not current, it plants a small seed of doubt instead. And people don't usually tell you about small seeds of doubt. They just don't call back.
The residency that changed everything
One of my clients came to me because she was applying for her medicine residency. She'd already had a photo taken . Her father-in-law had done it, with his camera, but the lighting was poor and she knew it wasn't right. She could have used it anyway. It was a photo. It technically did the job.
But she didn't.
She made time to come in for a session, even with everything else she was juggling at one of the most demanding moments of her career. Because she understood something that took real clarity to see: "Our society is heavily influenced by our looks, and this headshot could potentially open doors for me after years of dedication and hard work."
She got the residency.
She wrote afterward that I have "a unique ability to capture your soul in a picture." That line has stayed with me, because it names something I genuinely try to do, not just make someone look good on a screen, but show who they actually are. She also said she'd always come back for her "life-changing pictures." And that's exactly what a headshot can be, at the right moment. Not because a photo has magic in it. But because the decision to show up accurately, to present yourself as the person you've worked hard to become... that decision has weight.
That's what a professional headshot session actually is, underneath everything else. It's a decision to stop leaving that first impression to chance.
Miami and the missed opportunities you never hear about
Miami has an active, visible professional landscape. There are so many networking events, speaking opportunities, press features, and referrals. The professional world here moves quickly and it's watched closely. And opportunities here often travel through channels where your photo matters before anything else does.
A journalist researching sources sees your photo before they decide to reach out. A conference organizer building a speaker roster looks at your headshot alongside your bio. A potential client doing their due diligence lands on your website and forms an opinion in seconds. If that photo reflects a different version of you, or simply doesn't communicate the professional you are today, some of those doors close quietly. You never hear the click.
This isn't about vanity. It's about alignment. Professionals who keep their image current aren't being narcissistic. They're being intentional about the thing that introduces them to the world before they get the chance to do it themselves.
What a headshot session is actually like
I approach headshot sessions the same way I approach all of my portrait work: as a branding session. Not a corporate checkbox. Not a formality to power through. A real conversation, done at a pace that lets you breathe.
My goal is always that the session feels relaxed and unrushed, because that's when the best photos happen. When there's space and ease in the room, the images show the actual person. Not a performance of professionalism. Not a pose you held while waiting for it to be over. The real you, present-day, doing what you do — connecting, thinking, at ease in your own skin.
The shift I ask clients to make is a small one, but it changes everything about how the session goes. Instead of approaching it as "I have to get headshots" — like an errand to check off the list — try approaching it as "I get to update my photos." You get to show up as who you are right now and have that documented. There's something genuinely worth looking forward to in that.
When it's time to update
If you can't remember when your last headshot was taken, it's probably time.
If your appearance has shifted significantly, whether in your hair, your weight, or how you carry yourself, it's time.
If you've had a major professional shift: a new business, a new title, a new direction, it's time.
If you're heading into a speaking engagement, a media opportunity, or a major client pitch, where people will meet your photo before they meet you, it's time.
And sometimes the answer isn't "update." It's "start." Last week I photographed a 22-year-old who is already building his personal brand, deliberately and from the beginning. It was truly inspiring. He isn't waiting until he has a title or a business card or a certain number of years behind him. He understands something early that most people figure out much later: your visual presence isn't something you create once and come back to. It's something you build, and there's no better time to start than when you're clear about who you're becoming.
Your photo is the first handshake. The people looking you up deserve to meet the person who's actually going to show up. And that person deserves to be seen accurately.
If you're ready to update yours, or to start, I'd love to hear from you.
Odette is a portrait and heirloom photographer based in Miami, Florida. Her work focuses on professional headshots and personal branding for entrepreneurs, executives, and professionals across South Florida.
