I am so excited to introduce you to Bianca Kahn in the first of my new series “Christian women in business”. For the longest time I have been feeling prompted to write a blog series about women who are not only amazing people but are faithful servants of Jesus, steadfast wives, supermoms and fierce business owners.
Bianca is the epitome of such a woman. She spends her days juggling her day job and running two businesses in her spare time. Bianca is the founder and owner of Vintage Heart Photography and Lion & Lamb Clothing & Designs. Not only is she a entrepreneur she is also a mother to Riley (3) and wife to Byron (??). The husband and wife team are very active members of their church and serve as worship leaders where Bianca plays piano and sings while Byron plays guitar and sings. She is also the amazing designer and editor behind their beautiful weekly online church videos.And it doesn’t stop there…
This amazing person is a true example of the Proverbs 31 woman. She is always giving, always serving and always seeking Jesus. I hope you will enjoy getting to know her as much as I have!
Who is Bianca Kahn? What is her essence?
I asked Byron what my essence is and he said “vanilla”. Ha-ha
In seriousness though I would have to say that my essence is “all in”. Compassionate. I am an all-in mother, all-in wife, all-in friend. When I get hurt I am all-in. I feel things deeply, especially in friendship. I am choosing to love you, to be your friend even if you don’t feel the same I always give my all. I have to love my family but with friends: I am choosing you. It can be hard but it is who I am. I struggle to find the same in other people. I am compassionate – I feel what they feel, I hurt when they hurt, cry when they cry. I am just… “all-in”.
How did you meet Jesus?
I grew up in a Christian household. I come from a N.G / Sunday school sort of background. When I was around 14 years old I had friends that belonged to other churches and I would visit their youths. It was so different to the rigidity of the N.G Church. Theirs was a more Pentecostal type of church. When I was around 15 years old I told my Mom that I don’t belong in the N.G Church. My body and spirit just did not want to be there. It wasn’t me. When I met Byron we started going to a Pentecostal Church and one weekend we attended a camp called Overcomers through Christ. The camp was in winter and I remember on the drive there Byron and I had the biggest fight we had ever had. Things were said, lines were drawn kind of thing. We were in a dark place as if we were just done with our relationship.
My Mom had come with us to the camp and when we got to the camp we were separated. Men one side and woman on the other, so I didn’t see much of Byron that weekend. I remember that this was where I met Jesus. This was where I had an encounter with Him. We got to spend so much time with Him. There were sessions where they would work through a topic and then you had to go on your own to deal with it. There was time to journal and be with Jesus. On the Saturday they played a clip of Jesus entering Jerusalem and I was overwhelmed by the love I had for Him. I truly met Him that weekend. I found out things about myself that weekend I did not know and things about my past such as my grandfather being a free mason. We broke these things through prayer and dealt with them. I was forever changed. His presence was so tangible. I remember not wanting to leave there. On the Monday as I drove to work everything looked so beautiful and reminded me of Jesus. Colours were brighter. I was different.
What is your favourite scripture and why?
My favourite scripture is 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out all fear.” I used to struggle with fear in an intense way. It was all-consuming, I would have cold sweats at night, I could not go to the bathroom if the lights were off and I would not walk in the dark. I feared change, interviews, people. I was afraid of everything. I remember a few years ago we went on holiday in Port Nolloth and the house we stayed in was the scariest house I have ever been in.
The windows had scratches on them that said “HELP”. I remember that night, I did not sleep at all. I had cold sweats, I kept Byron up the entire night. I felt like there was something in that house. I was paralyzed with fear.
Byron had told me a few years before that if I understood perfect love, I would not have any fear because perfect love leaves no room for fear. I remember thinking: ‘I can not comprehend what you are saying. What does that even mean?’. It just did not make sense to me. A few years later God totally set free from fear. I used to look at this scripture and pray that I would understand more of what it meant. God gave me such a revelation of it and He set me free. I just have this understanding of His perfect love. I have it tattooed on my wrist. It reminds me of what He has done for me.
What was the inspiration behind Vintage Heart Photography and Lion & Lamb Clothing?
Ever since I can remember I have been taking photos. I just loved it so much. I would take millions of photos and stick them up all over my wall. My parents bought me my first camera when I was still in school and when I matriculated, I started taking photos of close friends and family. I would take photos of matric farewells and that sort of thing. I knew then that it was something I would do as I have always been creative. Byron is also a creative, he draws and has such amazing ideas. Our ideas just work so well together. He took to photography so well and we started doing courses together. We decided on a husband and wife team.
Initially, we struggled with a name that represented both of us. In the photography industry you usually find that the photographers use their names as the name for their business but I didn’t feel that I could do that as this was Byron’s work too and it just wasn’t an accurate reflection of us. In 2013 we became serious about photography and it took a lot of work to get to where we are now. It has been a process to find out who we are as photographers and Vintage Heart was birthed from our love of old things. We love to visit antique stores and as a result we have a collection of between 18-20 old vintage cameras that I hope to display one day.
Lion and Lamb Clothing was born out of my desire to dress Riley in clothes that had scripture on it that I felt God had given to me for her. I shopped online for Christian clothing but more specifically for a place where I could submit my own designs. I could not find that anywhere. I wanted to do something I know a lot of Christian parents wanted to do for their kids. It started with baby clothing and blankets.
However, it just grew bigger than that and I felt that I needed to include clothing that represented who I am. I recently created new designs that are amazingly simple and minimalist. That is what I really like, and I feel like that is what catches the eye and makes a statement in a subtle way. It raises questions and opens conversation. Its modern but you are wearing Jesus. I just wanted to reflect Him.
What is your favourite thing about photography and design? What is your least favourite?
Weddings! I love love love weddings! I really love everything about photography but there is just something special about weddings. I love the getting ready, looking at everything all laid out and I love the special moments between families. It reminds me of my own wedding. I just love to capture the intimacy in weddings and the love. Moms, brides, and grooms. I love it.
My least favourite things about photography is editing the reception. I drag my feet and find it takes me a while to do it because I just do not enjoy it. With design: I just love creating new things. There really is not anything I don’t enjoy about it.
Photo Credit: Vintage Heart Photography
Do you think your creativity in business is also your ministry? If yes, why would you say so?
Yes. I think so. A couple of years ago I did your shoot and a couple of others and the feedback that I received across the board is that the images I capture is what God sees in that person. I really believe that is my purpose in photography. You don’t see yourself the way God sees you. He looks at us differently and I believe that is the purpose He has laid on my heart. It is my desire that in my business as a photographer, people would see themselves how God sees them. As I capture them, they would have their value, worth and identity confirmed. A lot of people are self-conscious, but I see beauty that others may not see.
I had a bride that wasn’t particularly striking in terms of her physical appearance by the worlds standards, however, when I picked up the camera and started shooting her it was as if I was looking through God’s eyes. I just saw something in her that I don’t even think she saw in herself. When I sent her, her pictures she couldn’t believe it was her. The feedback I received was: “Wow. I am beautiful. These are beautiful.” For me: that is absolutely amazing. It’s everything. It’s not my editing because I like to keep things simple and natural. For me: it is so important for God to show that person how He sees them and that they are beautiful and precious to Him. That she is worthy, unique and beautiful. I don’t want to rip people off, I am not here just to make money off of people. I just want to create what God puts into my heart and to keep our business going. I truly love seeing how people see within themselves what God sees.
Describe your creative process:
For Vintage Heart it starts when I receive an inquiry from a couple or family. I immediately invite them for coffee. I need to know who they are as a couple and as an individual. I like to know where they come from and what their story is. I use that relationship that we have built in that two hour coffee date for the actual shoot. We become familiar with each other. I have built friendships with clients and I use the intimate knowledge I have of them in order to capture their essence.
My creative process in my editing: I would say that I have to be in the right frame of mind. I do not edit when I am not 100% in it as I work in excellence, that is the standard. I edit everything in the same way for continuity throughout one shoot. I will use the same tones and mood throughout. I don’t like it when photos from the same shoot are all in different tones and moods, for me it just lacks something. I did a wedding shoot once when the day was rainy, cloudy and chilly so I used that as the mood for all the photos and it had darker tones. It was stunning.
How important do you think it is to keep Christ in your business and why?
My creative process in Lion and Lamb Clothing. I have to say: I love to make portraits. When I start working on them, I will ask the client for their colour scheme and a few photos and I will work off that. The last portrait I did was for someone I know. It was a gift from her to her parents on her 21st. Her Mom and her had matching tattoos done on their wrists of Frangipanis, so I incorporated that and other details I knew would be unique and special to them. I use what I can see in the photos. For instance, if a person is always wearing jeans then I will put the person in the portrait into a pair of jeans. My creative process for the clothing side of Lion and Lamb is actually very simple. I see a scripture or get an image in my mind that I will use for the images and designs. It is usually personal to me. I also get a lot of inspiration from worship songs. A lot of the time I am creating items I would love to wear!
I do not know where we would be without the Lord. In Vintage Heart we always said that all Glory would go to Him and every cent we make we would tithe on it. In our description of who we are on our website we say there that we love Jesus. I have realized that, that scares people but we do not compromise here. That statement is bold, its in your face and perhaps why we don’t get chosen a lot of the time. We stick to what we say regardless as that is who we are. That is who you will be working with if you choose us. I had a bride send me an email and she said that she loves our photography but what caught her eye was that we say we love Jesus and they do too. This is the most important thing for me and their wedding was our favourite wedding. It glorified Jesus in all ways. For us it is so important to have Jesus in our business and reflect Him in everything we do. We have been at weddings where the couples weren’t religious at all and that is fine as long as we keep the standard and remain the same in every situation.
Lastly, what advice would you give to other woman who are business owners?
My advice would be to know your worth and to let go of negative clients or clients who don’t share the same vision as you.
You can check out Byron and Bianca’s work over at Vintage Heart Photography or have a look at Bianca’s stunning designs over at Lion & Lamb Clothing & Designs. Follow her on Instagram to see her latest work. Just click here: Vintage Heart and here: Lion & Lamb
Pebblecrowns -A Journey with Jesus 
I am so proud of you and what you have become, your love for The Lord showing in your life and how you share that amazing gift with those who believe in Christ. A Beautiful statement. You are precious and strong and beautiful in every way. Love you my angel.
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such an inspiring post. Thanks for this inspiration Bianca
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