On Thursday evening, I was privileged enough to join about twenty other photographers at the ShowIt Freedom Tour stop in Tustin (my hood!) at the lovely Wedding Pantry. The candid and informative Gabriel Ryan spoke about his journey and some of the lessons he’s learned along the way, Stephen Knuth spoke about how to make workflow move faster, Rudy Arpia spoke about web presence and customization for clients (he BLEW MY MIND!), and Jessica Claire closed the evening with myths and facts of successful industry professionals. The tour is all about giving photographers the tools to have more freedom in their careers so they can accomplish all of their goals. There was even a wonderful musician who did a mini-house show for us…Molly Jenson was really very talented and I enjoyed her work immensely!
I had so many take-aways that it was hard to put my finger on the best, but two stood out as major “ah ha” moments. One, Gabriel said to pick one thing and do it. It’s like that old question, how do you eat an elephant…one bite at a time. Not long ago, I made a major decision about the direction I want to take my photography career and while I haven’t made a splashy announcement, yet, I’m both excited and a little petrified. But with Gabriel’s encouragement, I’ve decided to pursue my goals by taking the next step; once that’s completed, I’ll move on the next and so on and so forth!
The second major “ah ha” was from Jessica. She asked everyone to raise their hand if they thought they were a good photographer and NOT A SINGLE PERSON had the confidence to raise their hand. But then she chided us and said that if we at least didn’t think we were a good photographer, that we should get out of business immediately OR tell it to ourselves every morning in the mirror until we believe it. WELL, I listened to Jessica and have already begun my homework!
Thanks to the ShowIt team for offering such a rockin’ opportunity, and especially to Gabriel, Rudy, and Jessica. I ate up so many amazing suggestions that I CAN’T WAIT to implement! I’m mentally exhausted still, but fueled with excitement to move forward!
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