SARAY TAYLOR-ROMAN
CREATIVE
PRODUCER
LATINAPRENEUR
BIO
Meet Saray – she's like your favorite jet-setting friend mixed with a dash of business savvy. A proud Latina and fashion lover, Saray is known for her bold and vibrant style. Her closest friends describe her as fierce, passionate, and, above all, generous. Saray has build a life of joy and abundance and she wants more people to experience what that feels like. Her newest venture Monetize Your Expertise is all about this! Whether working with clients one-on-one or in an online group setting, Saray helps her clients leverage their own life journey and unique life skills to start making money while they sleep. And the feeling she gets knowing she’s helping people break through financial generational curses is simply unbeatable! She's also got this amazing talent for creating portraits that make you feel all the feels and she loves nothing more than sharing her business and creative secrets with aspiring photographers as she helps them turn their passion into profit and live life on their own terms. As a mom and wife she is paving the way for a life of financial prosperity and abundance for her daughter and future generations. When she's not at her studio or helping others chase their dreams, you can find her bike riding around Knoxville or jet-setting to new destinations with her cat in tow. Ready to chase your dreams? Let Saray show you how to live life to the fullest!
JOURNEY
Today, Saray is an international multi-award winning portrait photographer, a sought-after speaker, a thriving producer and director, and a loving mom and wife. But her story began over 40 years ago in a dusty oil town in Southern Mexico. As a first-generation immigrant and entrepreneur, Saray's story is a celebration of resilience, grit, and authenticity.
Over ten years ago, Saray embarked on a journey to unfamiliar waters: that of being a business owner in a creative industry after teaching high school Spanish for seven years.
Her journey from humble beginnings to thriving business owner is a testament to her unwavering determination and entrepreneurial spirit. Within just three years of opening her brick-and-mortar portrait studio, Saray 10x'd her former teacher salary, catapulting herself into the realm of wealth generation and financial freedom.
HER INFLUENCE IS DIVERSE + MULTIFACETED
The first decade in her photography business brought along multiple awards and accolades. Just four years after opening her photography studio, Saray became the first Latina to earn the prestigious title of 'Fellow' with The Portrait Masters. She still holds the distinction of being the only individual to achieve Fellow status with an unprecedented 50 silver merits.
Notably, Saray earned Fellow status in true Latina fashion in 2019. Not only did she take the 1st place in the Teen & Senior Portrait Category among tens of thousands of entries worldwide. She also took home a total of 8 places in the top 10 of that category. Like they say in Spanish, arrazó! Saray also became the first Latina mentor under the tutelage of her mentor and friend Sue Bryce in The Portrait System.
Saray has sold out talks and has commanded standing ovations at the top three Photography Industry conventions since 2022. She has been a keynote speaker for Junior Achievement of East Tennessee multiple times since 2021. And she debuted as a TED X Talk speaker in December of 2022.
In addition to her thriving photography business, Saray is deeply committed to her local community. She was appointed by Mayor Rogero to serve on the Knoxville’s Mayor's Makers Council in 2019, and reappointed by Mayor Kincannon in 2021. Around that same time, her Alma Mater asked her to be a part of the Maryville College Alumni Board. In 2022 she was recognized as a Knoxville News Sentinel 40 Under 40 honoree as a testament to her leadership and commitment to civic engagement.
Saray, her husband, and daughter also love to put their multilingual skills to work helping as interpreters for medical brigades and missions around the world as part of the Global Infusion organization.
INFLUENCE AND TRAJECTORY
Beyond photography, Saray is a director and producer at Monetize Your Expertise where she seeks to empower entrepreneurs, small business owners, and talented people all over to dream bigger and to make money in their sleep while leveraging their unique story and skillset.
Saray earned her first quarter of a million dollars in her third year after opening her photography studio by developing step-by-step systems and processes unique to her boutique business style of photography. This opened the door for her to coach and mentor aspiring photographers and 1st generation creative entrepreneurs to turn their passion into profitable businesses.
Little did Saray know that the more she shared what she had learned in her business journey, the more fulfillment and the more financial independence she would find. Because the amount of revenue that had taken her three years to generate in her brick-and-mortar business only took 3 months once she produced her first online course!
Saray walks the talk. This is why people gravitate to her. There is no drama in her life, she repels it. There is no competition. Instead she attracts people at the top of their game in their unique industry so that she can provide the best services to her photography and coaching clients.
One of Saray’s favorite verses is that it’s “for Freedom’s sake that we have been set free” and she wants everyone she meets to experience the time and financial freedom that comes when we step into our true identity and we share generously with others the gifts and talents we have been given.
An avid cat lover and travel enthusiast, Saray finds joy in both the simple and the boujee pleasures of life. From exploring the streets of Paris to biking through her picturesque city of Knoxville, Saray is always up for an adventure.
With a heart as big as her ambitions and a spirit as bold as her dreams, Saray continues to inspire and empower others to embrace life's adventures, chase their passions, and celebrate the beauty of diversity in all its forms.
FUN FACTS
54 Silver Merits with The Portrait Masters
40+ Birthday Parties (no more candles!)
19yo Moved to the U.S.
9 Schools from 1st to 12th grade
6-Figure Business Owner
1-Cat Parent
100% Jarocha
PRESS
Paving the Way for Latino Business Owners
Fernando Garcia-Franceschini of WBIR-TV Channel 10 in Knoxville interviewed Saray about her entrepreneurship journey as a Latina in East Tennessee. Her story was shared in 10News Today hosted by Heather Waliga and Abby Ham. Saray shares about time management, being a Latina, and going for what you love in spite of fear or lack of support from family members.
Get Personal with Portrait Master Saray Taylor-Roman
“Saray has brought together her background in teaching, her years of experience running a successful business, and her personal journey of faith to help new photographers thrive while pursuing their dreams with her online course for portrait photographers.
Moreover, as Saray embraces her identity as a creator, she wants to lead more people to financial freedom in 2024. She is currently developing a beta program for people to start monetizing their years of experience in their particular field or their unique set of skills as they create online courses to share their expertise.”
— Hushh Magazine, read the article here.
Constraints Bring Freedom
Saray shares about how she designed a business that supports her lifestyle. She talks about the importance of setting boundaries not just to avoid burnout but also to serve her clients at her very best. Saray was interviewed by PPA’s (Professional Photographers of America) writer Stephanie Boozer as her introduction as a new speaker for PPA 2023 in Nashville.
Restructuring Your Portrait Business for Self-Care
Abbey Pleviak of Rangefinder Magazine shares about how Saray started to scale her business by prioritizing self care and training new photographers under her Taylor-Roman Portrait brand. Saray shares how the lockdown caused by the 2020 pandemic helped her realize what her priorities were and how she used those to pivot her business plan while increasing her business revenue.
High School Spanish Teacher turns photographer and breaks down barriers
Tearsa Smith of WATE TV 6 On Your Side interviewed Saray Taylor-Roman for Hispanic Heritage month in 2022 and shared her story of grit, and resilience as she went from high school Spanish teacher to world-renowned and multi-award winning photographer in East Tennessee. Focusing on how Saray sees her journey as a journey into breaking generational courses for herself and her family.
SPEAKING
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2023 | Phoenix
The Portrait Masters Conference Host & Speaker
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2023 | Phoenix
Live demo workshop: Movement in Portraits
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2023 | Las Vegas
WPPI Speaker: Business of Photography Seminar
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2023 | Las Vegas
The Portrait System Monthly Broadcast live from WPPI
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2023 | Nashville
Sold-Out Workshop on Business of Headshot Photography
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2023 | Knoxville
Junior Achievement of East TN Speaker and Table Leader
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2022 | Maryville
Saray’s TEDx Talk at Maryville College about embracing your uniqueness
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2022 | Phoenix
Sue Bryce introduces Saray on stage: Price & Pitch at Full Power