Lay the Course Podcast · Vela Creative Co.

Creating Content Your Audience Will Love with Ellen Pustejovsky

·38 min·2 clips

Ellen names Tezza, Unfold, and Scroll as her three phone apps for editing, story design, and carousel posts.

1. Lay the Course Podcast talks with Ellen Prostrosky about creating content your audience will love. 2. Kelsey Stein hosts as the owner of Vela Creative Co., and Ellen Prostrosky joins as a content creator and landscape artist who works from the Black Hills. 3. The episode asks how Ellen helps businesses show up online with "an authentic and organic way" of content. 4. Ellen says she started her first official business 13 years ago and began in portraits before video became a bigger part of the market. 5. She describes leaving Boston's commercial and fashion industry after deciding that working for somebody else was "really just not my cup of tea." 6. Ellen says she built a custom car after college, traveled three to five months a year, and used that mobility to create content for brands. 7. A shoe company saw her Instagram work after she first pitched the idea of remote content creation for products shipped to her on the road. 8. Ellen says she came back to Spearfish, South Dakota, because the Black Hills is her home base and she wanted to help local businesses keep up with advertising trends. 9. She says many people in the area still focused on senior portraits, family portraits, and weddings when she began pushing branding work. 10. A "New Year, new me" headshot event flopped with zero attendance, but Ellen treated it as a lesson and later used the acronym "first attempt and learning." 11. She argues that first impressions now happen online and that a brand needs a fresh headshot, office detail, or lifestyle image to stay current. 12. Ellen explains her discovery-call process for solopreneurs by asking what they offer, who they speak to, and what personality the brand should communicate. 13. She says the final planning session happens one to two weeks before the shoot and covers wardrobe, location, color theme, textures, props, and shot types. 14. Ellen tries to deliver enough detail shots, headshots, lifestyle photos, full-body frames, and motion content that a client does not need another photographer for six to eight months. 15. She recommends natural light and window light, a tripod, and simple setups with fewer textures and colors. 16. She also suggests Pinterest, Instagram Reels, saved folders, and rehearsal content for people who feel awkward on camera. 17. The interview style is conversational, with Kelsey asking follow-up questions about pricing, process, apps, and business growth. 18. Ellen's tone is practical and direct, and she repeats that "practice makes perfect" and that people should "just post it." 19. Business owners building a personal brand and social content will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting abstract theory instead of hands-on content tips may skip it.

As heard by us

Practical content advice on using simple visuals, natural light, and saved inspiration to make a business look more polished online.

Lay the Course follows Kelsey Stein in conversation with Ellen Prostrosky about how visuals can make a business feel more polished and ready for the web.

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Why you'd press play

Clean visuals for the moment your brand needs to look intentional, polished, and fast.

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