In 2007 I was 16

In 2007 I was 16 and dressed up as a Photographer for Halloween. That was my dream job.

In 2015 I was 24 and booking clients, designing contracts, and hiring second shooters all the time. I was being flown across the country to photograph my clients.

And I had imposter syndrome — BIG TIME.

I did this on the side of my full time job of being a Photo Retoucher. So frequently, but so quietly that some of my friends had no idea I was doing all this, to this day.

100% of my business was through organic referrals.

Today, I see new photographers online practically begging to get the same kind of traction.

I thought it was normal.

I didn’t know how to market how we do today, and frankly that wasn’t really possible in the same way.

But these days I feel like I owe it to myself to show that version of myself that I still believe in her more than ever. I want to keep doing what I love — seeing what others miss and connecting the dots to tell a story.

That’s why I’ve also been building a client portfolio for Digital Strategy services. My clients lately have been telling me things like “You put that in words I was struggling to articulate,” and “I didn’t think this was working but you’ve shown me how it is.”

My brain gets bored when I do only strategy, or only creative work. I need both.

And while working silently behind the scenes to analyze and synthesize data points (human or otherwise) is what I enjoy, I’ve been following the pull to lean in to sharing my work a little more loudly than I’m naturally comfortable with.

So this is me feeling awkward -

If you’re curious about how I can help you in either of these capacities, creative or analytical, let’s have a chat.

- Jessica