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00:00:24.664Welcome back to another episode of the systemized business where, in addition to talking all things business systems, I love talking to other entrepreneurs about this thing called business and learning from them how they are defining and redefining success in their fields.
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00:00:29.128So today I am excited to introduce Sherry.
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00:00:35.212She is an amazing photographer whose work captures more than just images.
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00:00:40.036It really does tell compelling stories about her clients.
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00:00:42.436She is originally from Glasgow.
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00:00:54.637Sherry's academic journey began in psychology and in primary education, but life had a different plan and it led her into the world of photography.
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00:00:59.545You are going to love hearing her story just as much as I did.
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00:01:12.352So to give you a little bit of a heads up and some context here, when I sat down to talk to Sherry, it literally was as if we were old friends catching up after ages.
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00:01:17.052So you're going to hear us get right into the conversation.
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00:01:18.081It is.
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00:01:23.572We seamlessly just get right into it.
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00:01:26.909So I am formally introducing her right now.
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00:01:28.605So enjoy the show.
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00:01:39.677Photography is kind of interesting to me because I love that it.
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00:01:50.504You know it's one of those creative businesses, but it's very also technical and just with business too, you need to balance that.
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00:01:58.835I love this creative thing with the practicality of making a business work so.
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00:02:15.006I'm really kind of curious on how you wait first, how you got started and then how you made it work as a creative, because I find it really challenging to not just spread the creativity, spread the love, but also make money at the same time.
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00:02:16.953Yeah, tell me about it.
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00:02:19.300Yeah, I think that's, that's such a common thing.
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00:02:26.027So for me, you know, when I was younger, I being like a business owner being a photographer it just wasn't really on my radar.
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00:02:32.687It wasn't something that I had considered as a career path, despite the fact that my dad is actually a photographer and so I was.
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00:02:35.332I was like, oh, that's not.
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00:02:38.407People hear that and think, oh well, that's maybe that must be why you did it.
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00:02:39.389I'm like, no, not really.
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00:02:42.384I mean, my dad has lived in Spain for a long time.
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00:02:46.281I still still see him in things, but that wasn't really part of it For me.
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00:02:52.885I saw the story as I did my undergrad in psychology and I thought I feel like psychology, I really like helping people, working with people.
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00:03:03.728And then I saw the path to like being a clinical psychologist and how long and difficult and potentially impossible that was and I was like, no, that's, that's not for me.
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00:03:05.586And so I then changed.
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00:03:05.887I went.
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00:03:12.604I did a postgraduate degree in primary education because one of my things when I was young if someone had said, what do you want to be when you grow up?
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00:03:13.508I would have said a teacher.
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00:03:15.044That was definitely something.
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00:03:16.128That was like a goal for me.
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00:03:24.010But then I got into teaching and the Scottish education system is just not what it once was and the job was incredibly difficult.
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00:03:35.530I had a terrible time with a bad mentor, and so I ended up kind of leaving the profession really early and that that for me was a really big sort of pivotal moment of like, well, what the hell am I going to do?
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00:03:38.365Because this is, this is the thing I thought was going to be my life.
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00:03:49.894So when I left that job I thought, right, well, I don't really know what I'm going to do, but my husband had bought me a DSLR camera and I had always taken pictures.
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00:03:54.069I was always the person like on a night out that had like a little compact digital camera.
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00:03:57.423Like everywhere we went I was like taking selfies and documenting.
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00:04:03.466And then, you know, when phone, when phones had cameras on them, my god, I would just record and photograph everything I love to document.
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00:04:09.729And so that was already developing in the background and he bought me a DSLR but I wasn't gonna.
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00:04:11.341You know, say oh well, screw it.
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00:04:18.286I'm just gonna go and be a photographer because I'm actually quite risk averse and which is not that common in business owners.
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00:04:22.144Usually people who are entrepreneurs are really good at taking a gamble and I'm not very good at that.
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00:04:31.531So it hadn't occurred to me and I went and I got a job in a nursery and I didn't enjoy the way the nursery was being run.
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00:04:33.533I felt it was very poorly managed.
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00:04:39.040I felt there were some potential safety issues with the kids and I thought this is not my environment.
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00:04:42.305And my husband said he's well, you need to get out of there like quickly.
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00:04:57.980So when I left, my left and the my manager at the time, who had always had an amicable relationship with she, said I want you to be really, really honest in your written exit interview, like it'll be after you've left, and we really want to know how we can improve.
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00:05:00.923And I sort of went okay, and I was.
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00:05:08.175I was really professional, but I laid out in that exit interview some of the issues I felt were going on.
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00:05:17.670Never heard anything from her Applied for another job because at this point, although I was doing a lot more photography and things were building up very slowly in the background.
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00:05:21.156I still wasn't thinking, oh, I'm going to take the leap, I'm going to be a photographer.
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00:05:25.560I then went and got an offer for another job as a classroom assistant.
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00:05:40.961They then had to withdraw that offer because the nursery manager had written me a negative reference that was full of misinformation and basically said I showed no enthusiasm for my work and that I couldn't do x, y and z.
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00:05:45.990So I was just like, pardon, so that I don't know.
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00:05:47.473I'm not an angry person at all.
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00:05:49.086I don't think I've ever been so angry.
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00:06:00.132But what meant that meant was I then couldn't get another job because she was my most recent reference and so I just had to keep taking pictures.
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00:06:04.427And my husband sort of after a couple of months of me really stressing and like where am I going to get work?
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00:06:05.290How am I going to do this?
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00:06:12.709He I had really um supportive and he was like look, clearly the photography is something that you're getting better and better at.
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00:06:16.391People were starting to ask me to cover things and to come and shoot this.
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00:06:32.552I had someone ask me to do their dad's wedding after I'd only had the camera for like six months, which was crazy, and I said yes, which was even crazier, but it was a very small sort of um civil ceremony with a handful of people and a dinner afterwards.
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00:06:34.862It wasn't, it wasn't like a big scale wedding.
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00:06:40.420So I thought, all right, well, if I'm gonna do it, let's do it and and sort of.
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00:06:41.442The rest is history.
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00:06:42.985And I started in weddings.
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00:06:47.029I did weddings for a couple years in the UK, love weddings, um.
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00:06:54.375But when I moved to Dubai, I found weddings quite difficult to to break into a lot of event planners and kind of everything is done through the event planners.
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00:07:05.661So when I joined Female Fusion and I started networking and I was going to all these business events, I was meeting these women who had these like incredible, amazing businesses and I would meet them in person.
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00:07:11.507And then I would go and look at their website or their Instagram and I would be like is this, is this you like?
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00:07:21.024I don't know, because either there's just no pictures of them at all, so you can't tell if that's the person that you met, or they're using photos that are 100 years old or like draining phone photos or whatever.
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00:07:29.117And I was like, oh, like the way you were talking to me about your business and the passion you have and how amazing you are at it doesn't match this that I'm seeing online.
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00:07:38.471So that's what pushed me into to brand photography, and I just love female fusion, so taking my camera to the events was my way of kind of breaking into.
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00:07:45.411Hey, I could take your picture and you might actually like it for once, so maybe we could do some more of that.
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00:07:56.466Yeah, so that's my, that's my story, really oh, my goodness, okay, so you're from Glasgow originally, yes, and of course, like you were mentioning, it's um.
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00:08:03.408There were certain events that you could cover but that you that couldn't translate to Dubai.
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00:08:05.333That's how you ended up in brand photography.
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00:08:10.528So what was the initial reception like?
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00:08:16.764Because, I mean, as a business owner, I'm thinking that, okay, I've got my business idea.
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00:08:19.531Pictures are really the last thing on my mind.
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00:08:22.543Do I really need them?
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00:08:23.966The selfie can work.
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00:08:42.475It's working, it's working, it's you know, but how did you educate business owners on the importance of their brand image and how has it been like just transitioning from weddings and, yeah, those kind of events, to more corporate events?
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00:08:44.139yeah, I do, you know.
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00:08:49.306I would say it's really interesting because I'm more finding that a battle now being back in Glasgow.
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00:08:54.910So when I went to Dubai and moving into brand photography, wasn't that there wasn't a huge amount of resistance?
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00:09:15.187I think business owners in Dubai already are coming with culturally an understanding that you do need good photos and I think there's uh, there's a certain culture or belief or whatever it is in in the city about, well, I want to be at a certain level and I want to appear at a certain level and let's not be around the rush.
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00:09:19.048I, I love Dubai and I think it's got a lot of really good elements.
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00:09:28.873Some of the elements that people criticize it for are sometimes true about the aesthetic of everything and about everything having to look a certain way and and be the best and be the the.
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00:09:32.687You know that's not true of the people that you meet and everything else.
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00:09:40.501But I think that made it easier for me to sort of say well, you need professional shots for your business and for the women I was meeting to go.
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00:09:43.511Oh, yeah, I know, yeah, there wasn't a huge amount of deal.
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00:09:53.322What I would say is coming back to the UK, that is a battle I am having to push for, and the thing that I always say to people is selfies like I have.
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00:09:58.802I love a selfie, so I'm not on my selfie by any matters means and they absolutely can work.
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00:10:04.671And what I would say is they will work to a certain level and in certain purposes.
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00:10:09.065So Instagram and you can use selfies to a point.
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00:10:28.565You can put them into your graphics, you can sort of juice it up a wee bit with Canva and whatever else, but there will come a point where your customer, if they can't find a professional image of you anywhere, they're going to be less willing to pay you the bucks that you want to be charging right like you're.
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00:10:34.008Once you get to a certain level, that's fine for a bit, but once you want to grow and sort of up level, your prices charge your worth.
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00:10:47.732If, if people are going on your instagram's fine linkedin is okay although I would say a linkedin headshot really should be an actual headshot, I think your profile picture on something like that and specifically your website.
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00:11:02.570For me personally, if I go onto someone's website and the only images they have are phone selfies let's say they want to charge me a thousand pounds for their services am I going to pay the person who only has a selfie a thousand pounds?
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00:11:08.067Or am I going to pay the person that's got like 10 high resolution, quality behind the scenes images, headshots?
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00:11:09.806Am I going to pay that person a thousand pounds?
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00:11:15.469If it comes down to, your copy matters, your content matters, the way you build a relationship, everything, all of that matters.
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00:11:20.409But if I've got these two people, I'm choosing the person that's got the professional images because I trust them.
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00:11:33.344There's just an inherent trust with someone who has invested in themselves, on their business, because you're like, oh well, they must be doing well, they've paid for like a brand shoot, they've done this, so they must be doing well, which means they must have a lot of customers, which means I can trust them.
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00:11:42.493If someone's only posting phone photographs, there's a little voice, even if it's subconscious, in the back of people's heads and it goes are they a professional?
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00:11:44.244Have they just set up a camera in their living room?
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00:11:46.950And you know, there's more doubt created.
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00:11:59.245I think if you don't have any and I have one sort of statement sentence that I say to people, business owners in particular, about this when they say, well, it's not a priority right now, or I don't really know if I need them.
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00:12:10.149Imagine your dream publication, right so, whether that's a magazine, a newspaper, maybe a radio station, a podcast, something that you just think, oh my god, that's the dream.
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00:12:11.032I want to go on that.
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00:12:25.028If they phoned you tomorrow and said listen, we've seen you on socials, we, we've been following you for a while, we love what you do, we want to feature you, we want to get you on the front cover, we want to get your center spread, do an interview, and but it needs to be done by the end of this week.
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00:12:26.211We can't arrange a photographer.
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00:12:32.049Have you got about five high resolution, up-to-date images of you kind of doing your thing so that we can do it?
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00:12:41.481If your answer to that is like no, I don't imagine losing that opportunity like that would suck just because you don't have the photos.
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00:12:44.105It could come knocking on your door any day.
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00:12:45.626So that's the thing that I say to people.
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00:12:54.666I totally get that running a business is a difficult, time-consuming thing and photos is quite often the last thing on people's minds.
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00:13:18.893But you would heck yourself if the opportunity arose and you missed it because you hadn't you hadn't done it yeah, yeah, and I've seen some of the photos that you have done and I can imagine and they're beautiful, by the way, I've I can imagine a business owner seeing those photos for the first time and then being surprised that, oh my gosh, this is me.
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00:13:22.604You know this this is me.
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00:13:39.754How, how do you maybe just like interact with your um, your clients, to to for them to bring out that side of themselves and to tell their story?
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00:13:53.080How do you go about the storytelling process within your photos with this person that you've maybe just met, like you don't know them very well, like, how do you draw that out of a person as a photographer?
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00:13:56.692yeah, I wish there was a specific formula.
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00:13:59.039What I would say is that I've always been a people person.
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00:14:00.121I've always been.
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00:14:06.749The reason I went into psychology is to help people, to get them to a place where they feel comfortable, to sort of create a safe space.
00:14:06.749 -->
00:14:13.106Like that was what started me way back when, and so I think I've carried that through and I get I'm so, so lucky.
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00:14:21.028I've got a lot of really, really great clients and the majority of the feedback that I get is like oh, you just made me so comfortable, like I was just because people arrive.
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00:14:34.405Almost everyone I've ever photographed arrives for their shoot nervous, like stressed and anxious, and either they've never done it before or they have, but it was a long time ago, and they have insecurities about their body.
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00:14:36.429They have imposter syndrome.
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00:14:45.548A lot of the times I shoot in a public place as well, so I'll be in cafes and restaurants and there'll be people around and staff and that can be incredibly scary.
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00:14:48.267And I say to people what I say is look, bear with me.
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00:14:57.586If someone is really stressed and they think, oh, my god, I can't do this with all these people here, I'll say give me 20 minutes and if, because they're my shoots at the in Dubai.
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00:14:58.889My shoots are an hour and a half long.
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00:15:08.780They've changed since coming back to the UK but for for these ones are an hour and a half and I say give me 20 minutes and if you still hate this and you're still uncomfortable, we will leave and we'll go somewhere private and we won't have to do this.
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00:15:10.466I've never had anyone leave.
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00:15:14.320Yeah, usually it's just working with me for that little while.
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00:15:17.267I do a lot of showing someone the back of the camera as well.
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00:15:24.210So when I'm posing someone, I'll put them into positions, right, and I'll say, right, put your shoulders back, your chin, put your chin out, tilt your head like this.
00:15:24.210 -->
00:15:26.725And people are like, oh, and I'm like, I know it feels horrendous.
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00:15:28.767Trust me, it really, it looks great.
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00:15:44.472And I'll take those pictures and then I'll show them and I'll say, look, and they go, oh, okay, I honestly see sometimes just showing someone how they can look is it's a game changer, because immediately you see them sort of go.
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00:15:51.192Oh, I now trust that your eye and what you're getting me to do is going to work and I'm going to like it.
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00:15:57.355And then just a lot of chat I mean I'm very like lots of personality and I'm talking constantly.
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00:16:00.250I'm like a monologue and sometimes I'll be like, listen, just shut me up.
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00:16:04.008Like, if this is annoying, just tell me, shut up so you can concentrate on what you're doing.
00:16:04.008 -->
00:16:07.475And they're like no, no, it's great, like it's really helping me relax.
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00:16:08.275I'm really.
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00:16:26.375I love getting my clients to laugh because I think nothing looks more authentic than genuine laughter and and emotion on someone's face and I this is my big gripe with a lot of corporate, very corporate brand photos is that you lose that because they're very like stiff.
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00:16:28.159They're very sorry, this is a podcast.
00:16:28.159 -->
00:16:32.971You can't see that I've folded my arms and smiled weird, but very stiff, and that's.
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00:16:34.796That's the opposite of want to achieve.
00:16:34.796 -->
00:16:47.807What I will add on here is that since coming back to the UK changing my packages a little bit, you're right, some things if you don't know someone really well, it can be hard to to establish something that suits them quite quickly.
00:16:47.807 -->
00:16:50.553So I've now added in two of my packages.
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00:17:09.290We now do a lot of work before the shoot, where we we do calls beforehand and I get to know their ideal client, I get to know their who they want to help and why, and we figure out what's going to grab the attention of that client, specifically on the brand aesthetic.
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00:17:18.076So you know, like you're everyone's got like all the brand colors and their logo, which is great, and I'm like let's build that up into just an overall like vibe.
00:17:18.076 -->
00:17:25.189Let's create a vibe here and make sure that the photos we get match that vibe and speak to your client.
00:17:25.189 -->
00:17:38.416So, and we do all of that work beforehand, we figure out exactly what kind of pictures they need for what purpose, so that when they show up for the shoot they're kind of like oh yeah, I've got it in the bag, like I know, I know what I'm here for, and that makes a huge difference.
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00:17:40.203Having someone feel prepared.
00:17:40.203 -->
00:17:41.948You still get anxious and you still get insecure.
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00:17:56.156I've worked predominantly women and, um, there is so much we all carry so much insecurity and kind of weird stuff about our bodies and how we look on camera and and again, a huge part of that for me is just getting someone comfortable oh, I love that.
00:17:56.217 -->
00:18:04.445I love that pre-work actually, um, because it also gets the client to to know you and to get a little bit more comfortable.
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00:18:13.525And I think if you're just meeting somebody for the first time, when you're supposed to be comfortable enough to, you know, smile and pose and do all the things, it can be very difficult.
00:18:13.525 -->
00:18:24.438And definitely those mental blocks of you know, imposter syndrome or just the mental blocks that we as women have in business.
00:18:24.438 -->
00:18:27.820I think it's great that you are so aware of that.
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00:18:45.942I think I love that background of psychology and knowing that this is how this person might be made to feel comfortable in this situation and be able to kind of really accommodate them and bring the best out of them.
00:18:45.942 -->
00:18:46.561I love it.
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00:18:59.659Okay so and I kind of alluded to this a little bit in the beginning but how do you balance that, the artistic and your love for this craft, with business?
00:18:59.659 -->
00:19:07.596Because you can't take everybody's photo, you can't take any amount that people might offer.
00:19:07.596 -->
00:19:16.775So how do you kind of navigate those challenges really in being creative but still maintaining that discipline of running a business?
00:19:17.416 -->
00:19:22.615Yeah, Listen, you are talking to the queen of like, I just want to do creative stuff.
00:19:22.615 -->
00:19:24.338I don't know discipline, what's that?
00:19:24.338 -->
00:19:27.647So this has been a lifelong journey for me.
00:19:27.647 -->
00:19:32.166I mean, I've been doing this for nearly 10 years now and I I'm still figuring it out.
00:19:32.166 -->
00:19:40.574But I would say, um, I did a uh, an Instagram live the other day with someone and I said you know, did you get any great advice at the start of your business journey?
00:19:40.574 -->
00:19:41.646And I was like, honestly no.
00:19:42.669 -->
00:19:48.694And if I could go back and give myself the advice, it would be to treat it like a business a lot earlier on.
00:19:48.694 -->
00:19:52.126Because, you're right, it is a creative passion, right it's?
00:19:52.126 -->
00:19:55.731You know, I love to create art and I love to do this thing.
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00:20:00.210That's really visual and fun, and I think a lot of entrepreneurs at their core are quite creative people.
00:20:00.210 -->
00:20:13.346So we because it takes a creative person to come up with a business idea and to want to grow it and to the, we could do this campaign and we're very innovative, but sometimes the implementing of that is is the hard bit.
00:20:13.346 -->
00:20:20.733So I know that this is really common, but if I could go back, I would say stop treating this as a hobby that you're now charging for.
00:20:20.733 -->
00:20:21.857Which is what?
00:20:21.959 -->
00:20:24.747I did in a long time, you know I really like to take people's pictures.
00:20:25.087 -->
00:20:32.650People quite like it when I do that, so I'm just gonna maybe charge some money for that, hopefully, and maybe people will pay me for it.
00:20:32.650 -->
00:20:34.979I don't know like and do nothing else.
00:20:34.979 -->
00:20:36.384That made a business right.
00:20:36.384 -->
00:20:46.932It was just wait for people to find my Instagram or ask me and then say, oh yeah, I mean I could, I could do it if you want, and then saying a price and then sending them like my bank details.
00:20:47.614 -->
00:20:56.738I wish I could go back earlier and say you need to learn the structure of actually running a business and get your head in the game in terms of your goals.
00:20:56.738 -->
00:20:59.491How much money do you actually want to be making?
00:20:59.491 -->
00:21:04.952Because, at the end of the day, no matter how much we love helping people and doing the thing that we love, we have to make money.
00:21:04.952 -->
00:21:10.424Otherwise it's not a business, and so I wish I could go back and give myself that advice.
00:21:10.424 -->
00:21:14.862But what I do now um, I say now because I literally just started doing this again.
00:21:14.862 -->
00:21:18.652In the last couple of weeks since the move, I have not done this.
00:21:18.652 -->
00:21:25.372I really had my head sort of all up in the air and, like I was saying before the call like renovating a house, moving, buying in a new country.
00:21:25.372 -->
00:21:37.086We also had an absolute nightmare when we moved and because the place we were supposed to be moving into wasn't livable, when we arrived with seven suitcases and three cats and we're like we can't live here.
00:21:37.086 -->
00:21:38.450So that was an absolute.
00:21:38.450 -->
00:21:45.772So the the things that I'm going to talk about now, I used to do a couple of years ago and it was really really helpful, but I only just started doing them again.
00:21:45.772 -->
00:21:52.489So for me, I really need to have the big goals and I actually have a book that I write in.
00:21:52.489 -->
00:22:02.537So I have the the lifelong goals in one column, split into business, and then in the column next to that I have okay, what are the goals for this year?
00:22:02.537 -->
00:22:04.705Sort of that will get me closer to that life goal.
00:22:04.705 -->
00:22:05.445And then in the column next to that, I've got so what are the goals for this year?
00:22:05.445 -->
00:22:05.884Sort of that will get me closer to that life goal.
00:22:05.884 -->
00:22:08.592And then in the column next to that, I've got so what are my goals for this week.
00:22:08.592 -->
00:22:15.325That will then get me closer to the goals this year, which will then get me closer to, and I write that out every morning.
00:22:15.325 -->
00:22:20.458So, yeah, doing, doing the sort of year goals for life, goals for the year, goals for the week.
00:22:21.226 -->
00:22:23.289For me is the I'm doing it every day.
00:22:23.289 -->
00:22:25.433It really pulls into this.
00:22:25.433 -->
00:22:27.196How am I spending my time?
00:22:27.196 -->
00:22:35.145Um, and I actually do put into those goals the stuff that make me feel good and that make me happy as a creative.
00:22:35.145 -->
00:22:39.096So in my life goals I have got create something new once a month.
00:22:39.096 -->
00:22:44.612So whether that's paint, whether that's doing a photo shoot, that's just for me for fun, that's not charged.
00:22:44.612 -->
00:22:48.740I've got that in there as, like, make sure you take the time to to do that.
00:22:48.740 -->
00:22:51.505But these goals are your monetary goals.
00:22:51.505 -->
00:22:52.667These are your business goals.
00:22:52.667 -->
00:22:56.215How much PR do you want to get this this year?
00:22:56.215 -->
00:22:58.791What's your sort of main focus for the quarter?
00:22:58.791 -->
00:23:00.178You know all that kind of stuff.
00:23:00.178 -->
00:23:02.226It can get overwhelming and it can get too much.
00:23:02.226 -->
00:23:10.147But for me see just writing that out the these two columns stay the same and then the weekly one changes every day depending on what you've managed to check off throughout the week.
00:23:11.010 -->
00:23:19.759That, for me, has been a really big right yeah focus, just really concentrate on what you want your life to look like, because I'm I'm kind of not.
00:23:19.759 -->
00:23:31.705I'm not a revenue chaser, and I actually think a lot of women in particular, when we go into business, we're not really revenue chasing, we're not like we're looking to help people, we're looking to make an impact.
00:23:31.705 -->
00:23:36.394Um, but it's I'm all about like goals.
00:23:36.394 -->
00:23:39.768I'm all about joy, seeking right and my goals in life.
00:23:39.768 -->
00:24:09.855If someone says you know what's the dream and I'm like, well, to be happy, like, like, like to have a life that I'm happy with, I'm content with a life that I am enjoying on a regular basis, and so if working with a certain number of people, making a certain amount of money and doing a certain number of things for myself is how I get there, then writing it down just really makes me go oh, that thing I was going to spend time faffing about on today actually doesn't need to be done that's not going to get me any closer to the life I want.
00:24:09.895 -->
00:24:11.407I'm just sort of burning time.
00:24:11.407 -->
00:24:18.569Um, the the other side of that coin is getting much better at saying no and that that took me a long time.
00:24:18.569 -->
00:24:32.097But I think, as as business owners in the beginning, we all want to just do things for people, we want to be helpful, we want to, and if someone asks and says, oh, can you do this for free, or can we collaborate, or can we?
00:24:32.117 -->
00:24:36.434but in the early days you might be, like oh, that might be quite good, like for export.
00:24:36.434 -->
00:24:45.012And sometimes it is sometimes, when you're starting out, collaborating with the right person for free to get the exposure can and be hugely beneficial.
00:24:45.012 -->
00:25:00.209When I started out in photography, I did a lot of trade for print shoots, um, which essentially just means, like, the model agrees to work with you for free, you agree to photograph the model for free, you do a concept, you sort of figure things out, um, and that worked.
00:25:00.209 -->
00:25:00.951That was really good.
00:25:01.352 -->
00:25:05.873But I would not do that now because I'm I'm much more established and it's taking me a long time.
00:25:05.873 -->
00:25:06.736But getting to that, do that now because I'm I'm much more established and it's taken me a long time.
00:25:06.736 -->
00:25:11.487But getting to that place where you go, I want to be creative and I want to do things and make a difference.
00:25:11.487 -->
00:25:13.491So I'm going to make time to do that.
00:25:13.491 -->
00:25:14.233Either.
00:25:14.233 -->
00:25:27.954Make time, whatever it is, to give back to your community, to other business owners, give yourself time to be creative, give yourself time to do self-care, but schedule it in like you schedule everything else, because that's the only way that you can actually balance it, I think.
00:25:28.154 -->
00:25:34.730Anyway yeah, definitely, and so right now you're pretty much in a transition phase.
00:25:34.730 -->
00:25:38.006You're kind of getting settled and um and things like that.
00:25:38.006 -->
00:25:45.281But when you look at the next three years, what are your dreams for the next three years?
00:25:45.281 -->
00:25:53.271What are your dreams for the next three years in your business, and are there any big dream projects that you'd like to get involved in, people that you'd want to work with?
00:25:54.286 -->
00:25:55.471This is a great question.
00:25:55.471 -->
00:26:01.424So for me, I think dreams don't always have to be grandiose, right?
00:26:01.424 -->
00:26:14.709So if we're talking about the next three years, one of my dreams is definitely to be established enough, um, and have enough visibility that clients are coming to me and I don't have to do a lot of that.
00:26:14.709 -->
00:26:25.936That that thing that feels like begging right when you're doing a lot of really proactive, heavy sales and you're pushing, pushing, pushing that and feel that can sometimes feel a bit uncomfortable, I think, particularly for women.
00:26:25.936 -->
00:26:28.384Actually, it's really common for us not to want to do that.
00:26:28.384 -->
00:26:38.200So, yes, one of my goals is to sort of get settled and established enough and visible enough that people are coming to me on a regular basis and that I'm not having to constantly seek out and convince people.
00:26:38.200 -->
00:26:49.699I would like the culture which is this is a big goal, but I would like to be part of the culture in the UK, particularly in Scotland, where I am to shift for business owners into.
00:26:50.079 -->
00:26:51.865Actually, image is important.
00:26:51.865 -->
00:26:53.971Images are.
00:26:53.971 -->
00:27:00.474They're not everything, but they are a key part of my toolkit as a business owner if I want to be taken seriously.
00:27:00.474 -->
00:27:04.711I would like to facilitate and conversations like this are part of that right.
00:27:04.711 -->
00:27:08.962It's educating and building awareness to crap.
00:27:08.962 -->
00:27:10.105I hadn't really thought about that.
00:27:10.105 -->
00:27:12.681Maybe that's something I should be thinking about more.
00:27:12.681 -->
00:27:17.076So I would like to be quite a big influence on that, and part of that is speaking more.
00:27:17.076 -->
00:27:27.028I would like to do some coaching and myself to do some public speaking, get on some stages, try to start sort of tell my story and and explain to people.
00:27:28.332 -->
00:27:36.584Getting professional pictures taken doesn't make you vain, it doesn't make you, you know, think you're someone that you're not, which is is a big thing for a lot of people.
00:27:36.584 -->
00:27:45.830So that's sort of one, two and the third one for me, I think, would be to grow my, my passive.
00:27:45.830 -->
00:28:01.655I think that's for a lot of us, passive income is a huge thing, and I have a master class that I currently offer, but it's just sort of evergreen that is in the process of being built out into a bigger force, and so once that course is up and running and once I've tested that and done all this, you know what it's like.
00:28:01.655 -->
00:28:07.467All the back end nonsense and the admin and the email automation oh my god.
00:28:07.467 -->
00:28:10.298That's the other thing you don't realize about being a business owner.
00:28:10.298 -->
00:28:11.761When you started out as a creative you're like.
00:28:11.761 -->
00:28:12.544I need to learn to.
00:28:12.544 -->
00:28:13.005I'm sorry.
00:28:13.005 -->
00:28:14.047Do I need to learn to code?
00:28:14.047 -->
00:28:17.118I need to learn to automate an email sequence.
00:28:17.539 -->
00:28:29.765Oh yeah, a lead magnet, I beg your pardon, what is all this stuff I get, like you forget that people go to business school for a reason to learn about a lot of things you have to learn on the fly, when you're by yourself.
00:28:29.765 -->
00:28:41.162So yeah, for me, building that course and getting that launched and seeing it work really well, so that I can then sort of follow that format and build a couple of other courses because I was a teacher, I sometimes forget.
00:28:41.162 -->
00:28:48.124So educating people and allowing them to access new skills and learn things is something that I would like to keep doing.
00:28:48.124 -->
00:28:52.087So that's, that's my sort of three goals overall.
00:28:53.003 -->
00:29:02.461Yeah, that's awesome, and I definitely put the information to your masterclass, all your information, in the show notes too, because I think I'll give you all the links I'm everywhere.
00:29:03.355 -->
00:29:05.163I take visibility very seriously.
00:29:05.163 -->
00:29:07.055I'm like, here you go, here's my link.
00:29:07.214 -->
00:29:10.325Yeah, definitely, definitely.
00:29:10.325 -->
00:29:19.945So if somebody, let's say, I've known you for five years, what is something that would surprise me?
00:29:19.945 -->
00:29:29.755Do you have any hidden talents or hobbies outside of photography that would surprise somebody who thinks that they've known you for a long time?
00:29:29.755 -->
00:29:30.037Who?
00:29:30.057 -->
00:29:31.606thinks that they've known me.
00:29:31.606 -->
00:29:33.621Oh, that's a good one, because I have.
00:29:33.621 -->
00:29:37.166I have other like um not talents, hobbies, things that I like.
00:29:37.166 -->
00:29:39.656The reason I don't make money from them is because I'm not good at them.
00:29:39.656 -->
00:29:48.385Um, I'm trying to think if there's something that people might not know who've known me or so well, actually, a good example of this is my friends in Dubai.
00:29:48.385 -->
00:29:51.640Probably all knew me for about five years, because that's about the time that I was there.
00:29:51.640 -->
00:29:56.317See, I love to sing, I love to dance, but the people that know me would not be shocked.
00:29:56.317 -->
00:30:07.482The number of karaoke nights we've done and like late nights on the dance floor is not yeah and I would say, potentially, this is like so weird.
00:30:08.084 -->
00:30:10.125But, um, do you know what asmr is?
00:30:10.125 -->
00:30:24.065Yes, I'm a big fan of asmr these videos on youtube of people doing like when you try and explain it to someone who doesn't know what it is, it's just like it sounds like the weirdest thing in the world, but people like tapping on things.
00:30:24.125 -->
00:30:31.660Speaking really gently, ending to brush your hair which sounds psychotic when you say it, but for me that's a big relax.
00:30:31.660 -->
00:30:37.910I love if I'm in bed and I'm kind of like thinking business owner brain right, you're just constantly right.
00:30:37.910 -->
00:30:40.902I could do this like your brain's so active all the time.
00:30:40.902 -->
00:30:45.641I love to put my headphones on and just put on like an asmr video of someone going what color is this?
00:30:45.641 -->
00:30:46.585Okay, now what?
00:30:46.605 -->
00:30:50.599color is it and like I'm answering in my head and I'm going yeah, that's me.
00:30:50.599 -->
00:30:56.576Which is so bizarre and so, which is why I don't talk about it an awful lot with the people that don't know me, because they'd be like are you okay?
00:30:56.576 -->
00:30:59.943It's a normal thing to do, but I really.
00:30:59.943 -->
00:31:08.434For me, that is the way that I unwind and the way that I stop my brain from that constant spin and I it helps me sleep, it totally helps me sleep.
00:31:08.434 -->
00:31:10.519So that's yeah, that's all and I'll get that.
00:31:10.519 -->
00:31:14.946Probably I don't tell a lot of people about, because you really have to know what it is to be like.
00:31:14.946 -->
00:31:15.868Oh, yeah, I get it.
00:31:15.868 -->
00:31:22.180If you don't, you're like, um, okay, yeah, I, I'll tell you something.
00:31:22.881 -->
00:31:27.964I am so into the chalk crushing.
00:31:27.964 -->
00:31:34.991Yes, yeah, oh, my goodness, the secret is out, like I don't know what it is.
00:31:34.991 -->
00:31:37.980It just just relaxes me, like you know.
00:31:37.980 -->
00:31:40.625So I completely get it good.
00:31:40.645 -->
00:31:44.400Good, because I thought you were going to be like, I'm going to be honest, that sounds really rude.
00:31:45.864 -->
00:31:53.582Yeah, it's it's one of those things that it's really hard to explain, and when you do say it out loud, you're like what in the world am I saying?
00:31:53.682 -->
00:32:00.859but like now that I'm saying it doesn't sound great at all, but he'll, you know, because he'll.
00:32:00.859 -->
00:32:05.900If he's still in bed with me, I'm like I'm just gonna you're clearly very tired and you're gonna be sleeping two seconds.
00:32:05.900 -->
00:32:12.723I'm not, my brain's still working, so I'm gonna put the ASMR videos on and he'll always be like in my ear.
00:32:12.723 -->
00:32:14.407So make fun of me.
00:32:14.407 -->
00:32:20.558And he's like I can do it and he like whispered in my ear and I'm like it's not the same, it's not the same.
00:32:21.780 -->
00:32:23.463Oh my goodness, oh, I love it.
00:32:23.463 -->
00:32:44.720Um, okay, I want to uh quickly wrap up, but I love wrapping up with kind of like some rapid fire questions, so let's see, okay, so I have just five, it's four or five, let's see how we we get on so what's your favorite book that you've read recently?
00:32:45.682 -->
00:32:47.990oh, I wish I could say I read a book recently.
00:32:47.990 -->
00:32:49.554Um, because I haven't.
00:32:49.554 -->
00:32:58.988But one of my favorite business well, not a business book, but life books that I've read in the last year well is Atomic Habits by James Clear love, love.
00:32:58.988 -->
00:33:02.288That was a few years ago and I listened to it rather than rather than read it.
00:33:02.288 -->
00:33:13.303But I think that's for anyone that wants to kind of build positive habits in their life and routine because I'm big, I'm rubbish with routine I say that that's a really good book yeah, yeah.
00:33:14.304 -->
00:33:17.951So weekend, how do you spend your, your weekends typically?
00:33:18.613 -->
00:33:19.914I wish I knew what a weekend was.
00:33:19.914 -->
00:33:26.665So my husband works shifts so we don't really have set weekends.
00:33:26.665 -->
00:33:28.608Like I'm kind of he's off.
00:33:28.608 -->
00:33:31.500I'll try and carve out time to be off and we'll do something together.
00:33:31.500 -->
00:33:37.335If I had to go on an average weekend, I love like hanging out with my best friend and her husband.
00:33:37.335 -->
00:33:51.502We have like a games night and there's actually five of us and we'll go almost then like not even like big board games, but really short, kind of like party games, and we have a we have a challenge um scoreboard so we're keeping track of that over the year to see who wins at the end of the year.
00:33:51.762 -->
00:33:53.405Sometimes we'll go camping with them as well.
00:33:53.405 -->
00:33:58.522They have a camping bus, so we'll just go up into scotland because you can wild camp in scotland, which is amazing.
00:33:58.522 -->
00:34:14.420Um, if I'm doing it, if I'm not doing work related things and it's just my husband and I, I honestly I love nothing better than like a movie marathon, like build a pillow fort, get the popcorn out, watch a couple of films, like I love that.
00:34:14.420 -->
00:34:26.101Or actually part of our renovation is we're going to build a media room in the house which is going to be like all focused on like um gaming setups, bits and pieces of musical instruments and like built for it's like a home cinema.
00:34:26.101 -->
00:34:32.427So we're gonna have like a big projector and like beanbags and I'm very excited for that room to get done oh nice, what kind of movies do?
00:34:35.880 -->
00:34:45.079you like I'm actually I'm a big um franchise girl which people might be like oh, you don't like film, but I love all the avenger movies.
00:34:45.079 -->
00:34:46.945I love all that you know kind of stuff.
00:34:46.945 -->
00:34:50.260Lord of the rings is probably my favorite um trilogy ever.
00:34:50.260 -->
00:34:52.186I also really love musicals.
00:34:52.186 -->
00:34:56.045I love the old chick flicks as well.
00:34:56.045 -->
00:34:59.565Like a good rom-com for me is just like perfect.
00:34:59.565 -->
00:35:05.427Anything that's sad I will try and avoid unless I'm really in the mood to like cry.
00:35:05.427 -->
00:35:11.983If I need to cry out, then a sad film or a film with a bitter ending but usually I'm a happy endings girl all the way.
00:35:12.195 -->
00:35:19.548Yeah, I can't do sad um, what is your favorite dish to cook or to eat?
00:35:21.539 -->
00:35:23.766I'm much bigger fan of eating than I am of cooking.
00:35:23.766 -->
00:35:24.329I'll tell you that.
00:35:24.329 -->
00:35:28.384Um, that's a really good question.
00:35:28.384 -->
00:35:31.311My go-to used to be a spaghetti carbonara.
00:35:31.311 -->
00:35:35.081Um, for, for cooking, freaking easy, I make it.
00:35:35.081 -->
00:35:41.143Any italian listening to this would want to smack me in my mouth because I did not make it the italian way that you're supposed to make it.
00:35:41.143 -->
00:35:43.820I make it with loads of cream and which you're not supposed to do.
00:35:43.820 -->
00:35:48.375Yeah, we, generally we both my husband and I love a curry.
00:35:48.375 -->
00:35:55.827Um, if we're going out or we're getting a takeaway, we love like a again a British curry, which I'm sure most Indians would be.
00:35:55.827 -->
00:35:57.530Like what in the world is that?
00:35:57.530 -->
00:36:00.483But like, yeah, indian takeaway food all right.
00:36:00.643 -->
00:36:08.202And the last one what is your personal mantra or your philosophy, something that you live by?
00:36:08.202 -->
00:36:10.106For?
00:36:10.788 -->
00:36:12.472well, for life and for business actually.
00:36:12.472 -->
00:36:20.112But my, my business, one which I actually have as my home screen on my phone, is be the woman you would look up to.
00:36:20.112 -->
00:36:22.978Actually, you can't see, yeah, yeah.
00:36:23.639 -->
00:36:24.001I see it.
00:36:24.101 -->
00:36:29.577Yeah, because I think so often we've got all these like oh, I wish I were like her.
00:36:29.577 -->
00:36:31.262Or oh, she's amazing.
00:36:31.262 -->
00:36:40.161And and sometimes when we do that, we're actually putting ourselves down in the process, we're playing the comparison game and we go, oh, wow, like she's doing so much, she's amazing.
00:36:40.161 -->
00:36:43.228Like, oh, I'm nothing like that, I'm nothing like her.
00:36:43.228 -->
00:36:52.543So be the woman you look up to is kind of like, well, make decisions and choices and actions in your life that you think that person would make.
00:36:52.543 -->
00:36:59.757And so be your own person, be the be the person that you from five years ago would look and go, wow, like, look what she's doing.
00:36:59.757 -->
00:37:02.041Yeah, I think that's so powerful.
00:37:02.081 -->
00:37:17.059I got a guided meditation once and um, it's actually, it's even quite emotional talking about it now, but I did a guided meditation once where they they got you to imagine yourself when you were like a little girl, you were a child, and if you were to say something to you, what would you say?
00:37:17.059 -->
00:37:20.146And mine to me was like oh, you're who I want to be when I grow up.
00:37:20.146 -->
00:37:32.367And I was like, oh, and that was a really powerful moment because I was like god, I am like, I've done a lot of the things that six-year-old me would think was amazing.
00:37:32.367 -->
00:37:48.686Like if I had to sit down and tell six seven-year-old me like, oh, like I've dyed my hair and I went to Burning man and I've gone to, I've lived in Dubai and I took all these people's pictures and I went to this place I take pictures now for a living Like seven-year-old me would be like wow, you're amazing.
00:37:55.434 -->
00:37:56.257I love it.
00:37:56.257 -->
00:37:57.362Thank you so much.
00:37:57.382 -->
00:37:57.503Sherry.
00:37:57.503 -->
00:37:58.827I feel like we could go on and on, but I know I'm.
00:37:58.827 -->
00:38:03.358I'm a total backlash of a donkey, as my mom would say like.
00:38:03.378 -->
00:38:05.103thank you so much for joining me.
00:38:05.103 -->
00:38:06.925Um, this has been.
00:38:06.925 -->
00:38:32.123I have loved getting to know you and your business and, oh my goodness, I, I love, and I will definitely put all the information about you and your services and your masterclass in the show notes so all my listeners can check, because I think, around the world, right, like we're a global community.
00:38:32.123 -->
00:38:35.978Around the world, right, like we're a global community.
00:38:35.978 -->
00:38:41.996And one thing I have loved about the community that I met you in is that for the opportunity to do this, because we have never met in person.
00:38:41.996 -->
00:38:54.771But here we are and I think that the just the opportunity to really connect with people from across the world is so amazing.
00:38:54.771 -->
00:39:04.565And I think the female fusion community has just made that possible, right, and I know that there's so many other ways.
00:39:04.565 -->
00:39:09.847One of the ways is this like, we get to connect with listeners from all over the world.
00:39:09.847 -->
00:39:13.101So this just has been so amazing.
00:39:13.101 -->
00:39:13.963Thank you so much.
00:39:13.963 -->
00:39:14.684Thank you so much.
00:39:14.684 -->
00:39:15.286I've loved it.
00:39:15.286 -->
00:39:16.268I'm very appreciative.
00:39:16.268 -->
00:39:19.141How amazing was that?
00:39:19.141 -->
00:39:44.009You know, I was really inspired by just Sherry's ability to weave together that creator aspect and understanding of human emotion, especially with photos, right, the understanding of human emotion, especially with photos right, looking to really understand the people that she serves and getting them to bring out their best so that she can give them her best.
00:39:44.009 -->
00:39:58.420I love that In the show notes I will have all of Sherry's information, her links and her courses, so do have a look at that and connect with her.
00:39:59.402 -->
00:40:02.668I hope you found Sherry's story as captivating as I did.
00:40:02.668 -->
00:40:06.623I hope that it encourages you to explore your own passions.
00:40:06.623 -->
00:40:19.862It might not look like you think it does, look like you think it does and, who knows, maybe you will also see life and the world through different terms.
00:40:19.862 -->
00:40:22.507See what I did there wink, wink.
00:40:22.507 -->
00:40:25.614Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed today's episode.
00:40:25.614 -->
00:40:30.742Do subscribe to the systemized business, leave a review.
00:40:30.742 -->
00:40:41.784Your feedback does help us to make the show better and, of course, to bring you more incredible stories of other entrepreneurs to you.
00:40:41.784 -->
00:40:43.481Thank you for listening.
00:40:43.481 -->
00:40:54.858I look forward to having you join me again next week, where we'll continue to uncover the strategic productivity tips and tools for successful entrepreneurship.
00:40:54.858 -->
00:40:56.905All right, talk to you soon.
![[Ep 67] Say Cheese, Make Money: Balancing Creativity with Business Reality w/Sherrie Higgins](https://cdn-images-3.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-systemized/ep-67-say-cheese-make-money-V-mzPJE0TN1-RKbTpSMg6tl.1400x1400.jpg "[Ep 67] Say Cheese, Make Money: Balancing Creativity with Business Reality w/Sherrie Higgins")
