What advice do you have for striking a work/life balance?
The biggest shift for me was realising that working harder does not equal working better. Nowadays, I prioritise working smarter and using my energy when I'm in my most inspired, effective and focused state. I try to be really conscious of not filling my to-do list with 'busy' work. So I can focus on things that are essential to run my business and things that keep the needle moving in terms of the bigger picture. Where I can, I prioritise working on what really inspires or motivates me at the time. I pay attention to my menstrual cycle, as our energy changes quite radically each month, and I keep it in mind when I plan out my goals or schedule each month. I generally find I have a lot more energy and ideas for content creation and showing up online more earlier in my cycle. When I'm menstruating, I'm far more likely to want to retreat into my introverted cave and focus on big-picture vision and creative projects. When I listen to my body, I create better work in less time than I would otherwise.
The other big change has been prioritising my energy and creating blank space in my business. This has meant increasing my rates and reducing my workload, so I am not overfilling my schedule with client work. I did that for years, and it left me burnt out and with no life/work balance. When I pour into myself and allow myself rest time, I show up far more energised and inspired for my clients, so they get a much better version of me, too. There's a lot of pressure to look busy in my industry, as that gets equated to success, but it eventually leads to burnout. I've redefined success to include having a life/work balance and focusing on 'less, but better' in every aspect of my work instead.
What anxieties, if any, do you hold about your life/career? And how do you deal with them?
I've always put a lot of pressure on myself to be more productive and achieve more. It largely comes from trying to meet certain family expectations and prove my worth to 'myself and everyone else'. But over the years, I've been working on trying to let those expectations of myself go. I try to shift my focus to living a life that is meaningful and doing work that lights me up, and makes a difference to the people I work with. It's helped to prioritise the things that have a more lasting impact instead of chasing temporary measures of 'success'.
I have definitely experienced a lot of financial lack and instability throughout the years of building my business. So I would say that anxiety around money has been a constant learning process. I've made a point of investing in my money mindset and trying to develop a more positive relationship with money. I would say it's a daily practice of gratitude and faith in my business. I am thankful for what I have and what I spend each day, and I choose to believe that more is always on the way.
How do you deal with procrastination?
Our phones are a huge distraction! So the most effective thing I do is turning silent mode ON, placing my phone face down in a drawer or another room. It works like magic.
Other than that, if I'm not able to focus, then usually, it's a sign that my body needs something else. So I try to take a break, have some rest, some food, and get some fresh air or exercise. Or switch tasks and go to where my mind is drawn to. I find that I am able to do a lot more when I come back to it refreshed than if I try to push past my procrastination.
I believe procrastination is either a result of distractions (phones, noises, other people, trying to multitask, etc.), and so your mind isn't able to focus fully. Or you have some other unmet needs that mean your mental/physical energy is depleted, and you're unable to focus well because of it.
What do you consider your biggest failure? And how did you persevere and grow from the experience?
I think in past moments, I would have named things like not earning enough money, letting people down, and not getting certain opportunities or jobs. I certainly felt the most shame in those moments. But in the grand scheme of things, I think those were temporary setbacks. A lot of them happened when I was pouring endless work and love into things and did my very best; the odds were simply stacked against me. I've always taken stock and learnt something from my mistakes or efforts that didn't pay off. So I don't really see those kinds of failures as a bad thing. I think we're too afraid of failure when it's just a part of life. If you try to do anything in life at all, you'll fail at some point. So you may as well just embrace it. You can't learn anything without failing some.
Now, I would say my biggest failures are the ways I held myself back in life because I didn't believe I had what it took to do or be something. I try now to bet on myself more, and instead of worrying about whether I do or don't have what it takes to do something, I just try at it anyway. Because ultimately, I know I'll be a better version of myself, having tried to do what I want, whether it worked out how I wished or not, than if I held myself back out of fear of what may or may not happen.
When working on a new project, how do you overcome self-doubt and fear?
Break it down into small steps and just tackle it one at a time. I trust myself to do my very best at whatever I dedicate myself to. So whether I'm doubting my abilities or am afraid of messing something up, I remind myself that all I have to do is make my best effort. That's enough. And if anything goes wrong, then I do my best to problem-solve. When you focus on simply doing your best, one step at a time, rather than getting everything perfect, your confidence in yourself grows with each step and each project. It becomes easier to tackle new things over time.
Do you have any rituals that help with your work or mental health?
I create a lot of vision boards, and I always have one for the year, but I also create a monthly vision board that I use as my desktop image. I pull together imagery that reflects how I want to feel, ideas and projects I'm working on, and what I'd love to call in each month. Having an image of how I want my life and work to feel and reminding myself of which goals align with that is a helpful reminder in the day-to-day.
What's the best and worst advice you've ever been given?
Consistency. It's literally both the best and the worst advice I've been given.
Consistency for the sake of consistency leads to burnout. Yet it's something that is often pushed as the answer to every business, especially marketing problems. But if you're consistently doing it, it can be a huge waste of time and resources. And it can do more damage than good in the long run.
Consistency of effort, quality, and alignment will pay off tenfold in the long run. If you consistently keep working in the right direction and prioritise quality work, then even the slowest progress will make a huge impact in the long run.
Let's take Instagram as an example. Consistency is hailed as king by every social media and marketing guru. It's an easy idea to sell! Post consistently, and you'll see success. It sounds so simple! But in reality, you can post daily and see no real results because you're posting the wrong things. It can end up holding you back. Focus on consistently quality content and engagement and staying consistently aligned with your values and who you are. Even if you're showing up sporadically, you'll build up a more aligned brand and community over time, leading to truly meaningful results.
Are there any misconceptions about what you do that you'd like to dispel or clarify?
As a brand photographer, I offer a lot more than just showing up and taking some photos. When you work with a brand photographer like me, you're hiring someone who brings a range of business, marketing, sales, branding, creative direction, styling, logistics and emotional skills alongside being able to create beautiful imagery in the moment. Before we plan the photoshoot, there's a lot of research, brand alignment and vision building that goes into the process so that what we create actually has an impact that goes far beyond just some pretty photos for a website or Instagram. I help my clients build deeply aligned and impactful brands that will support them in taking their businesses and life to the next level. And create a business and life that they truly dream of rather than one that just looks good on paper. So for any business owners out there, I know photographers can seem expensive. Still, when hiring a brand photographer, it's worth keeping in mind that it's an investment that will pay for itself tenfold over time, financially and otherwise.
