What Organic Headshots does

Organic Headshots is a privately held, woman-owned professional photography studio founded in Chicago in 2005 by Michelle Kaffko. The firm specializes in natural-looking executive headshots, personal branding portraits, and corporate team photography, with a stated positioning around reducing client anxiety through photographer coaching, in-session live photo viewing on a monitor, and a reshoot guarantee. Service lines span individual headshot sessions ($315 plus $200/image) and extended portrait sessions ($625 plus $200/image), corporate on-site team and executive portrait programs sized for 5 to 500+ employees, event photography, corporate lifestyle photography, and add-on retouching and makeup/hair services. Core operations run from a wheelchair-accessible 3,000 square foot studio at 1821 West Hubbard Street in Chicago's West Loop, supplemented by on-site shoots at client offices and event venues across the Midwest.

The business operates on a project-based, direct-to-consumer go-to-market: individual clients book through an Acuity Scheduling calendar on the Squarespace-hosted website, while corporate and mid-market buyers use dedicated booking links, a free-consultation workflow, phone, and email — no third-party resellers or marketplaces. Revenue is generated per session, per image downloaded, and via add-ons (background/clothing changes, makeup and hair, photo retouching at $150–$200 per gallery and $75 per photo for hand retouching, on-location conversion, additional hours), with custom corporate quotes per team scope.

The firm maintains SBA WOSB, WBENC, and Illinois BEP certifications that grant access to government and corporate diversity procurement channels, and it operates an exclusive videography partnership with a Chicago production company to deliver video without internal capability. The team comprises roughly 14 listed members — four lead photographers, two event photographers, one additional photographer, an operations manager, nine makeup artists, and a studio dog — and the firm claims 20,000+ cumulative smiles captured since inception, 5.0-star averages across Google, Yelp, and Facebook from 230+ reviews, and a marquee enterprise logo book that includes Capital One, NBA, Big Ten Conference, Adobe, Facebook, PepsiCo, Whole Foods, Deloitte, Northern Trust, Bank of New York Mellon, CBRE, Hyatt, Salesforce, DocuSign, Charles Schwab, Abbott, and the BBC. There is no external investment, parent company, or acquisition history disclosed.

Name

Organic Headshots

Legal name

Organic Headshots

Website

https://organicheadshots.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Organic Headshots is a woman-owned Chicago photography studio founded in 2005 that produces natural-looking individual, executive, and corporate team headshots and portraits, serving both direct-to-consumer clients and enterprise customers across the Midwest from its West Loop studio and on-site corporate engagements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Photography Services

NAICS

Photography Studios, Portrait (541921), Commercial Photography (541922), Photographic Services (54192)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Makeup for Photography/Headshots (HSALAHAO)

Keywords

• Professional headshot photography
• Corporate portrait services
• Executive headshots Chicago
• Event photography coverage
• Lifestyle corporate photography

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Photography Sessions: One-time session fees for headshot and portrait photography. Additional per-image fees apply for photo downloads. Add-ons include makeup artists, extra hours, on-location sessions, and retouching. This is the primary revenue stream for individual consumers.
2. Corporate/Team Photography: On-site team headshot sessions, executive portrait sessions, group photos, and onboarding headshots for corporate clients. Pricing varies by team size and scope. Offered to teams of 5 to 500+ employees.
3. Event Photography: Coverage of conferences, conventions, meetings, and corporate events. Candid and action shots of speakers, panels, and attendees.
4. Lifestyle Photography: Candid-style corporate lifestyle photography for marketing materials, websites, and annual reports, shot in the client's office environment.
5. Videography: Videography services provided through an exclusive partnership with a Chicago production company.
6. Retouching Services: Gallery retouching applied to all photos ($150, increases to $200 after gallery delivery) and per-photo advanced retouching ($75 per photo) for individual requests.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Organic Headshots is a Chicago-based professional photography studio that produces natural-looking individual headshots, executive portraits, corporate team headshots, event photography, and corporate lifestyle imagery, with on-site corporate service delivery and digital retouching. Individual clients book fixed-fee studio sessions; corporate clients receive custom on-site team-headshot programs, executive portraits, and event coverage. Digital files are delivered through online galleries, with optional makeup/hair styling and hand retouching as paid add-ons.

Product overview

Organic Headshots is a Chicago-based professional photography studio providing headshots and corporate photography services. The core offering includes individual headshot sessions and portrait photography for personal branding, alongside corporate headshot photography brought on-location to client offices. The studio offers event photography, lifestyle photography, and videography as complementary services. Add-on services include photo retouching (gallery retouching and advanced per-photo retouching), professional makeup and hair services, conference headshot booths, and Headshot Happy Hour studio space rentals. The studio also provides corporate onboarding headshots and executive portrait sessions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Individual Headshot Sessions Studio headshot sessions for individuals — including personal-branding, LinkedIn, actor, realtor, and ERAS/VSAS residency-application photos. Priced at $315 session fee plus $200 per image download, including up to 1 hour, 1 outfit, multiple pose coaching, approximately 50-100 photos taken, and a reshoot guarantee.
• Portrait Sessions Extended in-studio portrait sessions of up to 2 hours with unlimited wardrobe and background changes, producing approximately 200-300 photos. Priced at $625 session fee plus $200 per image download, designed for clients who want broader brand imagery beyond a single headshot.
• Corporate Headshot Photography On-location team headshot photography for corporate clients, including staff profiles, executive portraits, onboarding headshots, and group photos for teams of 5 to 500+. Pricing is custom-quoted through a dedicated corporate account scheduling link.
• Event Photography Photography coverage of corporate conferences, conventions, meetings, and events — including candid and action shots of speakers, panels, and attendees — delivered on-site in Chicago and the Midwest.
• Lifestyle / Corporate Commercial Photography Candid-style corporate lifestyle photography capturing team members in action at the client's office, used for marketing materials, websites, and annual reports.
• Videography Services Professional videography including event coverage and promotional content, delivered via an exclusive partnership with a Chicago production company rather than in-house capability.
• Photo Retouching Services Two-tier retouching including (1) gallery retouching on all photos — blemish removal, shine reduction, and undereye softening at $150 before delivery and $200 after — and (2) advanced per-photo hand retouching at $75 per image for custom requests.
• Makeup and Hair Services On-site professional makeup and hair styling as a bookable add-on to headshot and portrait sessions: makeup artist alone ($200), makeup with hair styling ($250), or makeup with blow-out and styling ($275).
• Headshot Happy Hour / Studio Rental Rental of the studio's 3,000 sq ft West Loop facility combined with a professional headshot photography session, marketed as a team-gathering experience.
• Conference Headshot Booth Portable headshot booth setup with backdrop and lighting that the studio brings to conference venues and event sites for on-location attendee headshots.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5.0 average star rating from 230+ reviews across Google, Yelp, and Facebook
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers25 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Chicago Production Company (Videography Partner)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExclusive partnership with a Chicago-based production company to provide professional videography services to Organic Headshots clients. The partnership allows Organic Headshots to offer video services without maintaining in-house videography capability, passing through competitive pricing from the specialist partner.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Snappr: On-demand photography marketplace connecting clients with photographers for headshots, corporate, and event shoots. Operates with similar direct-to-consumer booking model and overlapping customer base, though at national scale and with a marketplace rather than studio-owned model.
• Splento: Corporate and event photography platform offering on-site team headshots, event coverage, and video. Competes head-to-head for the same corporate-program and event-photography segments that Organic Headshots serves.
• Peter Hurley Photography: High-end NYC-based headshot specialist widely considered the most prominent U.S. headshot brand. Competes for the premium individual headshot segment and serves a similar corporate/executive client base, though primarily in the New York market.
• Cherrydeck: Online photography marketplace connecting brands and individuals with photographers for commercial, corporate, and headshot assignments. Operates a similar direct-booking, professional-services model across multiple geographies.

Emerging players

• HeadshotPro: AI-generated professional headshot service delivering photo-realistic results from uploaded selfies. Represents the primary AI-driven threat to traditional headshot studios' entry-tier business.
• Aragon AI: AI headshot generator producing corporate-style portraits from user selfies, with a focus on LinkedIn-style business imagery. Competes for the same individual-professional buyer that Organic Headshots targets through its headshot session offering.
• Try It On AI: AI-powered headshot and portrait studio targeting professionals seeking affordable LinkedIn-grade imagery. Emerging competitor for price-sensitive individual headshot buyers that traditionally would have visited studios like Organic Headshots.

Broad incumbents

• Lifetouch: Large national portrait photography company historically focused on school, yearbook, and church directories, now expanding into corporate and team photography. Significantly larger and broader in scope than Organic Headshots but with overlapping portrait-services DNA.
• Shutterfly: Broad consumer photography, printing, and personalized products platform with a professional-services arm. Operates in adjacent (rather than directly competing) territory but reaches the same end-customer base seeking professional imagery.

Regional players

• Bonusprint: UK-based photo printing and photography services platform with corporate headshot and event offerings. Comparable in service mix (prints, retouching, professional photography) but operates in a different geography than the U.S.-focused Organic Headshots.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/organicheadshots
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/organic-headshots

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Organic Headshots