I’d like to pretend that I have had a clearly mapped out plan for how my business has evolved, but I haven’t. My photography stemmed purely from a fact that I loved taking pictures. I love interiors and every year I would take a trip to Syon Park in London for Decorex, a trade interiors show. I would wander round all of the stalls with no real purpose other than to surround myself with interiors inspiration and I would photograph the stalls just for the pure joy of having the pictures to look back on. Every September it became a really special trip for me, purely a personal indulgence. One year after being particularly happy with my trip and the resulting pics I decided I wanted to learn more about taking photos and started 121 lessons with an amazing tutor called Jane at Love Your Lens. Again there wasn’t an ambition to turn it into anything at first, just a desire to get better at it.
Over time my confidence grew and I got my first paid work from Tatton Park where I was also a volunteer. I got more work, and more work, from other sources, and again quite unintentionally a lot of that happened to come from women who were starting out in business. Before long it became pretty much all I photographed and I loved doing it. Around the same time I was doing some work on ‘finding purpose’ and became part of a group course focussed on just that, finding & following your true calling. (An AMAZING course created by Emily Johnsson at Time to Shine). I was surrounded by healers, light workers, spiritual coaches, reiki experts and I kept thinking WHY AM I HERE? I’m not a healer. I ‘just’ take pictures of people.
I was very fortunate that on that same course was a beautiful soul I had photographed and on one group call, while saying to the group how much of a fraud I felt to even be there, she muttered the words ‘you made me feel seen’. I heard those words and cried. I came off the call and cried some more. I had found my purpose and it had been staring me in the face all that time. I am here to help women and girls to feel seen. In its most basic sense it’s about helping them be comfortable in front of a camera so they can share more of themselves with the world - to help others to see them.
Since then, and again with NO planning, it has evolved and I now have my first online course. I have fought so hard to do this. All through lockdown I considered it, and I treated it as a means of bringing in income when I was unable to book shoots, and because of that it never happened. Chasing the money was NOT the right approach and no matter how I tried to knuckle down and launch it I couldn’t do it, something felt off. I then realised why. I’d forgotten the true purpose again. When I photograph women, something magical happens, and they come away feeling seen. They feel empowered, excited, inspired (I know because I’ve asked them!) and THAT is how I want the women who do my course to feel. As soon as I realised that, and could adjust everything to that end, I was able to launch the course. I can’t believe it’s actually starting on Monday. I’m a little nervous that’s for sure. I want these women who have put their faith in me to come away with those same feelings of empowerment, excitement and of feeling seen. Then I’ll know I’ve done the right thing. I’ve made a difference. I am truly living my purpose. I have no idea what comes next, I’m just sure there will be more and that I have to trust in that.
With that in mind, this course is focussed on the following:
1 - What is stopping you from being seen and feeling seen, and what can you do to counterbalance that.
2 - What is right for you to share in order to feel seen. Not one size fits all, what is right FOR YOU. This is lots of fun as we work out what that looks like visually!
3 - Practical tips around shooting your own content, self-portraits, video and how to edit all of these things so they feel right & consistent for you.
4 - How to factor in consistency & accountability ongoing so you can remain seen, and crucially how we turn feelings of dread and anxiety, into feelings of empowerment, excitement & inspiration!
If you’re interested, hit this link quick!