Passion to Profession

Do you have something you’re passionate about but aren’t sure how to transition from your profession that you aren’t passionate about? If you feel that you’d love to fill your time with something more fulfilling but you don’t know what that looks like or how to do it, this blog is for you! It’s my personal journey from passion to a career that I am proud of. Your passion doesn’t have to be photography to be able to relate: whether you are a candle maker, a caretaker, or a florist (just to name a few), there are so many passions that can open a new chapter in your life.

It takes a long time to have a healthy foundation and self confidence to be a successful business owner. ‘Comparison is the thief of joy’ always comes to mind when I think about my new attitude towards myself and my business – I was constantly looking at others and their beautiful images, thinking I was not brave enough to create the kind of work that seemed to be so effortless and bold. Playing it safe kept me comfortable, but I wasn’t feeling fulfilled in my work.

That’s when I realized that taking the next step would require a major shift in my mindset, away from the fear of numbers and projections, and really see myself as a creative individual.

As a child in school or in my early twenties, I didn’t have any real interest in art. One of my best friends went to the Art Institute, and compared to her, I didn’t see myself as the artistic one. Looking back, I laugh about how I thought that to be an artist you had to be able to draw, or paint, or something much harder than click a few buttons on the back of a camera – and how wrong I was!

I take my inspiration from everyday life, and recently I was at my children’s school listening to a talk about math that inspired me to think differently about my photography. There are so many studies that show that almost everybody could be a mathematician, but the only difference between success and failure is the dedication to practice and improve those skills and pathways of the brain that allow us to think like a mathematician. I began to apply this thinking to myself as a creator, practicing creative thinking, trying new things in addition to the old, safe ways, and allowing myself to make ‘mistakes’. Creativity is not always perfect, and that’s what makes the results so interesting. There is so much beauty in imperfection, in uniqueness, and so much learning comes from making mistakes.

This was the next stage for me to grow as a business owner and creator. I grew up thinking that I didn’t have an artistic bone in my body. Comparing myself to others was one of the worst things I could have done as a maturing artist, so instead of feeling down and stuck, my passion for photography and my desire to succeed pushed me to become a better creative thinker!

The first thing that I did was I changed my negative self talk. Any time I had a doubt or negative comments about myself I would say, “No, you can do this! You have this in you!” I had daily conversations with myself about the actions I would take to little by little reach my big goals. Whether it was only 10 minutes a day or a few hours, by working on my goals each day, the next day I felt so good about my progress. It felt like a devotional to myself, growing something inside of me and watching it blossom on the outside. The best part was, by believing in myself first, and reassuring myself that I could grow, I did!

After several months, I started looking at photography, again in a new light. I lost someone very dear to my heart, and that made me look at life very differently than in the past. I didn’t know how much I loved photography until I started doing more of it, being consumed with an everyday job that wasn’t inspiring to me was bringing me down personally as well as professionally. Having my kids, and working for someone else began to make less and less sense, and I began searching for something outside of my work and my kids that fulfilled me. In the beginning this was hard to find since I was so used to the routine of work and kids, work and kids. I had actually started to take pictures 7 years prior to this, on a trip to Napa with my boyfriend who would later become my husband. There is one photo that stands out in my mind, of an old falling down barn in beautiful light, and I was just amazed by the photo and the place that I thought ‘Wow, I love that. I just captured this beautiful thing’. That feeling ignited a fire inside of me, and I thought about it almost every day. I started taking pictures here and there, but I wasn’t happy with what I was seeing. I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing, but despite that, I applied my new self talk skills to my photography, and I picked up that camera every day. Some days I got upset because it was difficult, while other days I jumped for joy that I succeeded! Even though it wasn’t always easy, the good days really made me appreciate my new strength.

Don’t get me wrong, I still struggle, as we all do, both as people and as business owners, but I’m no longer looking at those celebrity photographers wishing I could do what they do. I tell myself that I’ll get where I want to be, and that’s what

I do every day. I’m so excited about where I am today, applying my passion to my profession. January 9th, 2019 will be our official 4th anniversary in business.

Every year we’ve grown, personally and professionally, and I’m so proud of where I’ve come from, the lessons and struggles I’ve experienced so far, and my hopes and dreams for my future. Some of the most negative experiences in business have shaped me into the photographer I am today, and I’m grateful and proud of the changes I’ve made to help me be a better business owner (but that’s a topic for another post!)