Personally, letting go…

Personally, letting go is hard.

For almost my entire career I’ve worked in tech mostly in very senior roles, but since being retrenched last August, I’ve found myself in no-man’s land and feeling adrift…

Perhaps my enthusiasm for the politics and constant push for corporate growth just tired me out to the point of not really wanting to do it all over again.

I enjoyed the roles and the ever changing fast paced work that is required to keep up with the tech trends, manage teams and deliver high quality work on time, but it takes a toll.

After a couple of months break, I began applying for roles and interviewed for a couple of roles that I didn’t get, but clearly none of these roles were meant for me.

The universe was pointing me in a different direction, and as Judy would say I had to get out of the way and listen.

Personally, letting go for me meant moving my attention fully from my past life in tech to a new and exciting one creating and running my media company.

Although I had operated around the fringes in photography and media for many years, mostly in travel related photography that complimented my travel journalism I hadn’t fully embraced this segment of my life.

Clearly, leaving a career path and doing something creative comes with its own challenges as seemingly everyone is a photographer these days.

With democratization of photography and the ability for anyone to take photos it is sometime difficult to see a path forward.

However, a path forward there definitely is if you have the courage to step into the void and be okay with personally letting go to create something new and great.

The interesting challenge has been to establish a brand that not only captures the imagination of the people looking for a photographer and media services but also building a strong client base.

As Judy will attest there have been days when I missed out on opportunities and wondered if it was all worth it, or if I was making a huge mistake.

Personally, letting go has been an emotional rollercoaster ride.

Why you ask?

For much of my career, even though I didn’t admit it to myself I valued myself by the title of my job.

Being a partner at one of the largest Management Consulting companies in the world will do that to you, your ego is primed to tell yourself that you’re among the smartest there are…

Then back that up by leading the Information Technology teams at two of the largest retailers in North America in consumer electronics and luxury retail.

Yep, I was living on ego.

Exchanging these ego centric roles for a more creative endeavour has been humbling.

I think I’ve adjusted but it hasn’t been as easy as I expected…

The quality of my photography and services is the most important thing there is.  Irrespective of what I tell my clients the proof is always, and I mean always…  in the pudding so to speak.

Each photoshoot is unique in that the setting, the subjects, and client expectations are always different.

Never a dull moment!

Even when working on a photoshoot brief with the client and extracting as much information as required it can sometimes still fall short of what they had in their minds eye.

The lessons that I’ve learned are to stick to what I know best and deliver high quality imagery every time, and to be clear on what the client will receive at the end of the photoshoot after post-editing.

Don’t be afraid to say no to things that are outside your expertise, as this can lead to disaster.

Spending time ensuring the crispness of the shots and turning them around fast is generally the most important aspects.

Although, depending on the client I’m still sometimes surprised but that all is part and parcel of my new career I suppose.

Don’t get me wrong, not all clients have been difficult in fact the vast majority have been great to work with and thankful for the work that I’ve done for them.

I love seeing my work in their social media posts or in print.

One thing I’ve noticed more and more is that whenever I meet someone one of the first things they ask is what do you do…

It’s not that I’m reluctant to tell them I’m a professional photographer, but I’m still adjusting to the change as often when I tell them it feels like they are somewhat dismissive.

Perhaps this is just my ego smarting from the change.

All I know is that my plan is to continue to put my best foot forward each and every day and embrace my new career wholeheartedly.

Personally, letting go has been much more of a change than I expected, and the realization that my ego played way too much of a role in my life until now.

Life is about embracing what is before me and I’m constantly listening to the universe as it guides me in this new and exciting chapter of my life.

Until next week.

Ciao!