“Photographer”

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to blog more, so here I am! This morning I was thinking about how I answer the following question and how the answer has changed over the past year and I thought it would be a great first blog of the year. The question is: “What do you do for a living?”

If you would have asked me last year what I did for a living, I would have most likely said that I do marketing for a food company. That was my canned answer. That’s what I did do… two days a week, in between my photography business. To be fair on myself, I had been working there for five years, and over the years with babies and such, my position shifted from a full-time sales and marketing job over to a part-time mostly creative job – still marketing, but also design, photography, and videography. But when asked the question, I never mentioned my photography business! I was either too scared to admit that I did something creative (which makes me vulnerable because it’s my personal work) or that I just didn’t put that much value into my creative work – but most likely that I was just scared.

I’ve always been my own worst critic when it comes to anything; plus, I might also have a tad bit of constructive-criticism-phobia. I’ve always been that way, but I’ve gotten much much better at listening to others’ opinions (it’s a work in progress and I’m not proud of having to fix this about myself). Therefore, putting my photography out for the world to see was not easy for me. I didn’t even have a business instagram account until less than a year ago for a 3+ year old business.

But now, when faced with the question, my first and proudest response is “Photographer!” I have to say that social media has played a huge roll in helping me put myself out there.

Take instagram stories for example. I often use stories in my day to show clients, potential clients, and everyone else in my circle, what I’m doing that day. It helps show that I’m busy working, being a working mom, and/or working at being a mom. (Not that being a working mom is my whole giddyup, just a part of it that I value).

Lately when I run into clients, friends, or family that I don’t see very often, they all comment on how busy I’ve been. They’ve seen that part of my day, and they notice it. And they mention it. It’s wild! And so wonderful!

I just wanted to get that all out there. Today is a good day to do what you love because “the future is watching.” (there’s a picture going around the internet of a little girl holding up a sign that says that, and it really hit me. I’m sure it’s much more political than I’m using it for, but it fits all aspects of life). Because the future is definitely watching and I hope it sees me working hard to live a life that I love, and doing the work that I love.

Thank you to Amber Enos for the above photos!