The building blocks of life.

So it has now been a little over a month since I moved to Copper Mtn. Colorado and started work for Woodward Copper's facility. In this short amount of time I have gained many skills and sharpened ones that I already have. From customer service, marketing, shooting events, skatepark maintenance to warehouse goods, ordering and processing and more. I feel that the multiple hats I have worn for work have given me a better insight on running my own company. Granted Woodward is on a much bigger scale than my photography company. Yet, still all the parts of the "working machine" are the same no matter what the volume.

Not only have i gained knowledge in many of the behind the scenes fields in running a business, I also have made friends and business partnerships with multiple Colorado based companies and snowboard companies alike. With these relationships I am able to rep products and companies I believe in for an affordable price through pro deals and hook ups. Thus, showing my support for clothing and snowboard brands which I can build potential photography related relationship with in the future.

In this day and age of social media explosion, running a photography company is not as black & white as it used to be (pun intended). There are still certain main core values, however the approach to marketing, and attaining potential clients varies far more than it used to. No longer can you just run an ad in a magazine, create business cards and flyers, and/or maintain just a website. Instead one must hustle their wares on multi social media platforms, plus chat it up with every passer by. Yes,photography is my career and my passion; it is also a 24/7 business. Life doesn't stop the minute I click the shutter or upload the image. It never stops and sometimes I will admit it can get overwhelming and frustrating to the point of feeling burnt out. Add to that equation that I am working on also publishing my first book and it would definitely make most people's heads spin.

But on the flip side I wouldn't change a thing. At the end of the day through all the hustle and bustle, the time management, the ups and downs I feel one step closer to having all the essential skills to keep pushing my small company and my photography to the next level and that is what truly matters to me. Not the fame, nor fortune, outrageous amounts of "likes" on social media by strangers who may not even care about the products I offer or high praise recognition but the acknowledgement from friends, family, clients and companies I believe in saying "great job" and patting me on the back. In the end it all comes down to learning new skills, honing old ones and always putting your best foot forward to produce the highest quality product you can; and have fun along the way doing it.