I have been in two minds about this blog post, and I wasn’t quite sure I should post this or even how to write it, but sometimes you just have to take the plunge.

Back in March, my mentor (Roslyn of Roslyn Clare Photography) put up on an instagram story about 1:1 mentoring sessions that she was going to start providing. I spoke to Tom (my husband) that night and after a lot of uming and arghing, I took the leap and reached out to Ros. I remember saying to Tom back at the start how nervous and scared I was,I had reached out to a fellow photographer that I look up to, and if they said yes, they were going to be analysing my work and talking business with me, that made me so nervous!! But at the same time this was something that I have wanted to get the ball rolling with for so long now, but no real idea on where to start with it. I was literally a big barrel of emotions!!

Over the coming weeks, we had zoom calls about what the week would cover and the handbooks that I would receive. I eagerly awaited the arrival of each handbook, (and I am completely old school) so I’d print them off and sit down in between feeds and playing with Angus (oh did I mention, I started all this with a 4 month old baby.. haha) and I’d scribble notes all over the workbooks of things that I needed to do and ideas I had. I was pumped and enthused that I was finally able to start to get my dream up and running.

Some might say I was silly, or stupid to try to get a business started and off the ground during COVID-19, but I am a bit of an optimist, and I was determined (and I have to admit I love a good challenge). One thing that I said from the start was that if I was really doing it, then it had to be done properly. I am definitely not someone who can half do something and be happy with it. Isolation for me had its perks, it has allowed me to start building the business the way I wanted from the get go and getting all the little things behind the scenes right first. Now when Spring rolls around I am ready to pick up the pace. Sure, don’t get me wrong it has been hard to test out new things that I have learnt when we were in isolation, but you learn to adapt with what you have (hell I even got the horses out of the paddock and they were my subject and then I progressed to Angus). I honestly don’t think I have a negative thought about starting my business during COVID-19.

I know that there are many things that I will learn as I evolve, but I am so excited that I have started this adventure, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me and our family!!

Not in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I would be where I am today and I never would have been able to get to where I am today without the guidance and assistance of someone that I hope to call my friend for a lifetime. For any budding photographers out there, if you are looking for an awesome mentor, I can’t recommend Ros highly enough.
Ros, you are an incredible person and photographer!! Thank you for taking a chance on me and showing me how to get my business off the ground and how to grow 🙂
Fiona
xo