The Drive: What challenges have you overcome?
One of the biggest challenges is remembering to take time for ME! I can get so caught up in being a wife, a mother of 2, a business owner, that I often make myself an afterthought! I am also my own worst enemy when it comes to my creativity. I can get extremely self-critical, and I try to remind myself daily that I am capable, worthy and confidant. I find that doing creative things that I genuinely love help. To feed my soul and get myself back in a good mindset, I do painting and drawing, hanging out with friends from our photographic community, and venturing into the great outdoors.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
Pros
- Being my own boss
- The short commute to work in my downstairs office at home
- Being able to wander around my beautiful garden when I need a break from the computer
- Having the freedom to pick my children up from school daily
- The ability to set my own hours
Cons
- It can be an extremely isolating job with just 10% of a client’s job spent at the session with them and the other 90% of the time consisting of all the admin and editing work that goes on behind the scenes
- The expense of purchasing new equipment
- Remembering to “switch off” at a reasonable hour
Hopes and dreams: What next?
We have just finished renovating our new photography studio in our Western Sydney home. I’m incredibly excited to start offering studio session in addition to my on-location lifestyle work. It’s lovely to be able to appeal to a much broader clientele now that I can offer a more extensive range of session options.
See the beautiful portfolio and package options of Elysium Photography at their website, and draw inspiration from their online communities on Facebook and Instagram.
