Latest / She Said It Out Loud with Emma Young / Confidence and Reinventing yourself with Anna the Family and Dog Photographer!

Transcript

Confidence and Reinventing yourself with Anna the Family and Dog Photographer! · She Said It Out Loud with Emma Young

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: You're listening to She Said It Out Loud, where real women share real stories without sugarcoating a thing.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: I'm your host, Emma Young, and I'll bring you on filtered conversations with ambitious women who faced challenges, made bold moves, and learned a lot along the way.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: You'll get real takeaways, honest lessons, and stories that you're gonna relate to.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: Righto, let's get started.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: Hey there and welcome to the podcast.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_02: I'm your host, Emma Young, and this of course is She Said It Out Loud.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for joining me today and for downloading the episode.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_02: I appreciate you.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: Today's episode is sponsored by Fourfold, and it's the newest hippest place to be down in Cable Beach.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: If you are planning on a visit to Broome, then you must head on down there because it has been completely renovated.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: It is a whole new cafe.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: They have grab and go options, a little general store there if you've forgotten something and you're staying in the area, and most importantly, they make the most delicious cheesecake.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: Alrighty, on to today's episode.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: My guest is an absolute bundle of joy and she radiates sunshine, trust me.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_02: Her name is Anna Devenedictus.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: Now I hope I've said that right.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_02: I've been practicing her surname and I don't know what it is, but she's not known as Anna Devenedictis to me.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: She is Anna the Lifestyle Photographer.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: Photographer, not photographer.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: She has put that as her name, her business name, and she just loves dogs.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: But not only that, she is a professional photographer who likes taking family portrait sessions, and she is adamant that you bring your most important family member along, your fairy four-legged friend, which happens to be your dog.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_02: She has created some amazing exhibitions, clients that come back to her.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: She has created an incredible business where she really encourages families to just get those family photos taken.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: She wants to create a legacy, not only for her family and herself, but for other people out there that may be hesitant in getting their family portrait done.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: But as soon as you include your pet, your dog, your family member, it's like the whole dynamics change.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_02: And why wouldn't you?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's becoming more and more common to include your pets in your family portrait sessions, and Anna is certainly no exception.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, enough of me waffling.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: Here is our conversation.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the podcast, Anna.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: I am so pumped to have you on today.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: We are here at the QT Hotel in Perth recording this episode, and it's very fancy.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: In case everyone's thinking, how do I know Anna?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: Now, Anna, tell me your name again.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's Anna de Benedictus.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: Anna de Benedictus.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: We went through this before I hit record, and then I'm like, crap, this is her name.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: Anna de Benedictus.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: What a beautiful name.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: Anna, we met on Annalise McCarthy's Euron Mute Tour.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: And this event has really helped me to meet some incredible women.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: I know people have heard me talk about it in season one, but at that Euron Mute Tour, I actually really got to meet some amazing go-getter women, people that are incredibly ambitious.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: But not only that, we spent a bit of time together because we're on the VIP table.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_02: And after being with you all day, I was like, you know what?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: Massive props to you for just being authentically yourself.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I had to get you on the podcast.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_02: So welcome.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness, thank you.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited to be here and to see you.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a few months, right?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Since you missed us.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you for having me.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: For those people that are listening to the episode today and obviously might not know Anna.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: Anna, can you tell me a little bit about yourself and share, you know, how you came to be who you are?
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we have a lot of time for that.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: So, yes, I'm Anna.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: I am a lifestyle photographer.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that is my business.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: I have um two beautiful children.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a mum of two boys.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: I've been in Australia for the last eight years.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel like Australia is pretty much home now.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: So glad to be here.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: Because what's her accent again?
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: Gosh, pick a place.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean it's a real mix.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so I'm Italian, but I was raised in Canada.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: And then I lived in America and New York for like 15 years, and then I lived in England and Ireland, so it's a mishmash of all of it.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, definitely.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: Because sometimes I can definitely hear that New York accent.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: Do you?
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think so, definitely.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, only because I was there a couple of months ago.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, but I also can hear it sounds like you've been in Europe.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: So you do have a pretty cool accent, though.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know where it's from, but it's just makes me who I am.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, let's explain to my listeners what you do.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: You have a business, it's called the lifestyle photographer.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_02: People are gonna think, didn't Emma, what's wrong with Emma?
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: She can't say her words properly.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's not the case.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: Photographer, like literally like dog.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: You take family photos, but you include their dog.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: Am I right?
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: Am I explaining this?
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: I love this.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think I know anybody that has a business that's based around family portraits, but then the fact that you get to include their dog.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Which is a the whole point of my business, the photographer, is you know, dogs are like our whole lives.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: If you have one, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: But yet, we would tend to like, when it comes to photo shoots, be like, oh, they're just they're crazy and they're annoying, so we'll just leave them at home.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: And those family memories, they belong in them because they're not with us long enough.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I, whenever I've photographed families, first question I ask is, Do you have a dog?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: And we must bring them.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: And it might have been a thought in hindsight until we discuss it and then they're like, oh.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: But it's starting to pick up.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: And to say that I don't use the dog as a prop.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like sometimes I see photography where the dog is just there.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like we base the whole shoot around the dog, which really brings out who you are as a person if you're feeling a little uncomfortable in front of a camera.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I love the whole embodiment of dog, family, love, connection.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's just incredible.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, props to you.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: I just think it's a genius idea.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: Oh.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: My sister recently, she had a dog, Piper, and she's a bull terrier.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: And she had her, I'm gonna say I'm sure she was 11, maybe, coming up to 12.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: She's gonna be, well, she was gonna be the same age as my dog, Asher.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: She's been unwell for like this entire year.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: And Alana took it upon herself to go and get a photographer that was obviously very good at taking, you know, family photo shoots with the dog.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_02: At first, when I heard it, I thought, oh my gosh, that sounds my personal opinion.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_02: Was I thought it sounded grievous because I'm I was thinking, oh my gosh, you're gonna look back and be like, be instantly like upset.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's because like that dog before she had a child was literally her child.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like she treated this dog like it was a baby.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_02: And but in a good way, of course, you know.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: Because it's part of your family.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: It is a baby.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so the the fact that this is a thing and it's becoming more, I don't want to say normalized, it should just be normal.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: But do you know what I mean?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's more accepting.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, why wouldn't you have your dog in there?
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: Because they are such a part of your family.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: I just want to say good on you for having this as a business and allowing people to know that this is a thing that you could do.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: And it's this it's a thing that you should do.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and when you said it becomes a you know, when the dog is not with you anymore, it becomes like a sad thing to have these memories.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: But it's also an incredible thing because it takes you back to those moments and having them done beautifully, yes, telling a story and actually finding or capturing the essence of who you are with that beautiful four-legged thingy.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's just yeah, when I lost my first puppy, my first puppy ever, she was a Wymer runner, she was 16 when she passed away.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I was living in Ireland and I didn't I didn't have any photos, proper photos of me and her because I was always the one taking them of her and the kids and everyone.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that's I wish I could have had those special ones.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I know so deeply how these memories really affect you and improve your whole memory of your life together.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it's really important, you know?
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely, you nailed it on the head.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_02: And look, Alana's dog Piper, she passed away only a couple of months ago, but she had the family photo shoot like a couple of weeks before she knew that she was gonna pass.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: And now when I see these photos, I I guess, especially after meeting you and seeing like your whole mission, I look at them and then I look at Alana and I'm like, she just is so happy.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: In those photos, you look at her and you think of all the times that she was with her dog.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, so it takes you back to those beautiful moments, and you never forget them.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: You never forget your first heart dog.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: After your first heart dog comes your second heart dog, you just still forget.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: And even when if you manage to get another one after, it never takes away the place of the one before.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and yeah, I just think it's an incredible thing.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: Well, good on you.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I think more people, I mean, I'm gonna say it straight away now at the start.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: I usually say it at the end, but I will obviously put all your information and details in the show notes.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_02: So if people are listening to this, and especially those people that are based in Perth are thinking, oh my god, I didn't even know that this was a thing, then you can get in contact with yourself.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: Great.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: Would love that.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: Now I'm just interested, what made you want to come to settle in Australia to start with?
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: Because those countries that you mentioned at the start, they are some pretty incredible countries, but why settle on Australia?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I used to live in Australia 13 years ago.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, my second boy, my second son, was born in Australia both times, first time and this time again, it was for my husband or my ex-husband's business.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so I basically followed everywhere he needed to go.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I wasn't opposed to it because I am such a beach girl, although I didn't grow up by the beach.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: Just being by the ocean and having this incredible climate was incredible.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: So that's really what brought me here.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: And so how long has it been all up, do you reckon?
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I've now been here eight years, just turned in this month, actually.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: I remember at the VIP dinner that we went to for Annalise's kind of Annalise asked why we were there and how do we use our voice to speak and you know what kind of made us want to even come to the event to start with.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: But I remember one thing that stuck out for me was you mentioned your age a bit, where you felt like it was the one thing that sometimes you felt awkward about, as in being the oldest woman in the room.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: However, and I am gonna drop your age here, you are only 55.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_02: You're just coming into this real phase in your life where, you know, you're kicking goals, you're doing collaborations with other women and their businesses.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: You know, what would you say to other women that are roughly around your age as if they're thinking about chasing their dreams?
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_02: Well, this is an incredible crush question.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm going to dive a little bit deeper with that.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, my whole life, an adult life, I always hung around younger people.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: For whatever that reason that was, already stood out that I was the older one.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: So, like my best friends when I was living in New York were like five years younger than me.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so I already had like, oh, I'm older than them.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm older than them.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like they still have to catch up to me.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: And then I got married older.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: I was 36 when I got married.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: So it was always this thing.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I feel like I've done so much in my life, but I felt like the age was just kind of an obstacle for me in my own brain.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like I wouldn't publicly go around saying it.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: But I have to say, I never tell my age because I know that I'm always the older one.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: Now, when I got to Perth and I started this business five years ago, I'd never been surrounded with like these business women.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: So it was a massive jump for me.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: And everyone around me was so much younger than me.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's a difficult thing when you're already struggling that internally to like, you know, not compete because there's no competition.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: But I surround myself with those younger people and just because I feel like that's my ambition and that's my confidence to like, okay, I wanna not that I want to be like them, but just having that around me makes it makes me feel like I can do things.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: But there's that block because they're so much younger than me and they can accomplish so much more than I already have.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a thing that I work with all the time.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: And after that dinner with Annalise, I remember everyone listening and all have a different opinion.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: But in my mind, you're all younger than me.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: So it's very easy for people to think, oh, but what you're doing is incredible.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: And mind you, it is incredible to start over at the age that I started over with confidence and believing that you can do that is is a massive inner work.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I had to do a lot of work for that.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: What I want to tell people, get I really do believe that age is not a driving factor.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter if you're young, it doesn't matter if you're old, if you still have that fire in you, forget about the age and just go for it and go for it.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: Otherwise, you just dwell in your, I'm so old, nobody wants me, nobody wants to see me, who wants to listen to me?
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so but people do want to listen to you, especially that you have those years ahead of people.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: You have so much to say.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Annalise put that in my brain because it's so true.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: But you kind of like, I'm just gonna let everyone else talk because they're younger to look at, they're prettier to look at, they're all these things we silly tell ourselves.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for sharing that.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's true though.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like I feel very deeply about that.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: And you mentioned my age, I must say.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: I just had a fifth business birthday event in June.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: Five years that I've been in business, and I was on stage and I was talking to everyone.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: It was the first time I told everyone what my age was publicly out loud.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: But what was funny is because I'm 55 and it was five years, and everything, the whole theme was five.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so I felt like, okay, I can just tell everyone I'm 55.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: And incredible, no one thinks that I am.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: So it's you only how old you feel.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I know I don't feel and look 55 because my brain takes me to my 20-year-old self.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's just mindset.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, definitely.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I get what you're saying about surrounding yourself with younger people.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's really age is just a number.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: I know it's cliche and we hear that a lot.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_02: But it really is because it's who you surround yourself with, it's what you choose to do.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I know that when we're talking on that day at Annalise's event, that you went through a divorce, and a lot of women that have been married for a lot of time or have followed their husbands and been a part of what their husbands are doing, to find themselves divorced and then all of a sudden finding out who you are in this stage of your life, that's completely different just in itself.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: Like as in, who is Anna?
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: I've always been Anna the mum, Anna the wife.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: The fact that you said, you know, you've taken the time to do things that you want to do to then discover yourself and be like, yeah, I'm Anna, and I've got this business that's unique and that people want to be a part of.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: But not only that, I have business coach, I'm surrounding myself with all these cool women, I'm learning things from women that are 15, 20 years younger.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: I think you you know, you might be selling yourself a little bit short here.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_02: Because even just sitting across from you, listening to you and your conversations, chicks are gonna, or women in general, are gonna get some wild advice from you.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: Because, like I said, you've got some experience, you've got some life skills that you just simply don't get until you've lived it.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate that.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: Ever I ever since I can remember, all I wanted to do was be a mom.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I had struggles with being a mom.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then when it happened, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: I had two beautiful boys, they were both miracle babies, one was IVF, one and it happened naturally.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so I was living my dream of having a beautiful husband, a beautiful family, you know, just being the mom that did everything.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: And that was my role, and I really engulfed in it, like it was everything.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so when we moved here, so we're not divorced yet, we're still separated, but when we moved here, our marriage fell apart.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: And that at that point was like, hang on a second, completely off of left field.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: And when you're in your euphoria of your life, of having, you know, being a mom and doing all the mom things, and like I poured everything into my children and raising them because that's all I ever wanted to do.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so when I was forced to like now figure out how I'm gonna do this on my own and not have like the financial backing or any other backing or just being on your own, you have to say, What?
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: Who am I?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: What am I gonna do now?
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like I've been the wife and the mom and traveling everywhere for his sake and being okay with that because it was for the benefit of our family, to now like, oh my gosh, I need to look after me and my boys by myself, and how do I do that?
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: And during this whole time, I was still doing my photography.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: I've been a photographer for like 20 years.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: But it wasn't a business-focused photography.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: It was for a while until I had the boys.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: I was doing wedding photography.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: I worked in studios, I was proactive, but it wasn't my goal to be have a business.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: My goal was to be the best mom to these two boys and raise good humans.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: That was all I wanted.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: But then you're faced with like, hang on, now you're on your own, so you need to figure out how you're gonna not only support yourself and them, but figure out what you're gonna do with yourself because there's nobody holding your hand.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, no one is here to come to save you.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: And it was that realization where it all got got to me to ask myself the question, who are you, Anna, if you're not just a mum, just a mum and just a wife.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I really struggled with that.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: Oh.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: And and I'm sure many women who have been in the same situation, even as as you go into your next phase of life and your next decade, it is gonna be the question that's gonna arise, especially if you've been raising your children.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna grow up as much as I'm putting this the hold on that, like don't grow up.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: But they are, and you need to like come out of your shell and just let yourself and the world know who you actually were before you were a mom.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: And it was with that those moments and those thoughts that if I take away the children, if I take away the husband and the last, you know, at the time would have been 15 years or 10 years, who was I?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I was that girl who went to New York City on her own to become a superstar because that's all I wanted to do.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to sing and dance and be on stage and all the things that I chased, that I had no curtain in front of me, I could just do it because it's just me.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: She had gone whenever I settled with, you know, normal life of being a wife, a girlfriend, a wife, a mom and stuff.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I just wanted that girl back.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: And the only and then monetary-wise, like how am I gonna support myself?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: The only thing I ever knew to do was photography.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: And if I take the girl back to when I was in New York and I studied photography, and the first thing I imagined or dreamed at at the time, if I wasn't gonna be a superstar, was I'm the biggest things I love in la in the world is dogs and children.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna photograph dogs and children the way I want to see them, the way as art and editorial style and make it like insanely beautiful and not just like snaps.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: And those were my dreams.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so when I saw, thought, like, okay, I need to go back to who I was before.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go back to photographing families, children, and dogs, because that's what always lit me up.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm gonna tell you something about that, because this is over 20 years ago.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: In New York City, you can do pretty much anything.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: If you have a dream or you have a thought, you just put it out there, people will r are receptive to it.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: They're like, oh yeah, cool, she's doing that.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: When I left New York to try to continue that dream in England and Ireland, it just wasn't received the same.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: They're just like, Oh, you we're not gonna pay you to photograph the dog.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's just not a thing, which was freaking ah, devastating to me in my book.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: So I just went the other route.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: I did studio photography of families and I did weddings and all that, but I kind of put that dream of the dog being the main major factor of your whole family on hold.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: But then when I came back here and I needed to define who I was again, back to my roots.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's how the lifestyle photographer came about.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: The irony on that is even though my family kind of broke apart or ended, that's what gave me more of the drive to capture people's families because the importance of it.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel like when you asked me the question, how can I help other women, you know, kind of figure out their dreams or passion or whatever, I feel like what happened to me kind of fueled my fire to capture people's lives with their people, with the people they love.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: And while I was in it in my euphoria of being a mom and a wife, it just didn't trigle in my head.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: It didn't think like, oh, let's just get family photos with me in it because you're living it and people don't think about these things until it's no longer there.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so I don't have beautiful photos of our family when we were.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: And this still means a lot to me because it's it's my kids', it's my children's history, it's their legacy.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so, yeah, that's what I'm here to help people understand and actually have.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: So my work is really legacy-building work.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you're so passionate about it.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: I just mean in your voice.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's like I can't even like I wish I could articulate it better.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's just because I've been on both sides.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think you're doing a great job at explaining it because you've obviously lived and breathed it and you can see the importance of obviously doing it at any point in your life.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for sharing that.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, that's I like your story too about I'm gonna go to New York and I wanna be famous and be a superstar.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: I can see you doing that.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_02: But I mean, now look at you, you've found this whole new side to who Anna is.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Is.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: And that's you've got to be proud of yourself for doing that.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_02: I want to know more about the Now Project because that's something that's recently new, and I know that you've been promoting it.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: What even is the Now Project?
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so the Now Project is something I'm more than extremely proud of because it's become my mission.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: Going back to what I just said, eight years ago my marriage ended and it broke me and it broke my family.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: What I longed for most of the time was like the memories that when we were happy together and having those somewhere where I can look back and show my kids, right?
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: So what came about with the Now Project is during all these times where I've been speaking to my clients, and a lot of the objections, or not even objections, but just talk would be I'm just gonna wait.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna wait to do the family photos because and I've been there, I just don't feel good in my body, I'm gonna lose some weight.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna do that.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go to the gym and then I'll take photos.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: Or I'm just gonna wait.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: The dog's mental.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a puppy and it's crazy and it's trashing.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna wait till it settles down a little bit.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: So it was always a waiting for something.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: Meanwhile, life passes, something tragic happens or it doesn't.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: You just miss those moments.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: And what are we waiting for?
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: Why do we need to wait to actually capture your life?
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: The other thing, massive thing, is usually people wait for an occasion, like a milestone, a birthday, an engagement, a baby, or um wedding, which fair enough, those are all valid.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: But why?
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: What about you just hanging out in your on your bed with your kids tickling them and or just who are you today?
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's celebration.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's a celebration, and it doesn't have to be a big deal.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: I decided that was already the stepping stone of this now project.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then I thought, well, you know what?
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna give myself a challenge.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna do this.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna try to tell people about this and do photograph 30 families in 30 days in a month in September.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: Any photographers out there could hear me and be like, what are you crazy?
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: Because that's a lot of work.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, not the actual shoot itself, what is what goes into the shoot beforehand, the editing, all the editing, and then afterwards and having them come back to view their images.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a whole production.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's not easy, but I thought it's a challenge, and I just want to get 30 families to say yes to this.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: So that's how it started.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: And then being Anna, coming back to my roots, it's just like keep going to the next level.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: I thought, hang on, these incredible stories I'm already capturing need to have recognition.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: I need to make something bigger than this because they actually are on the same page as me.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like if they didn't think about it, they are thinking about it now.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I thought, let's celebrate them and let's throw an exhibition.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: So, with those images we've taken, I chose my favorite image and then did it beautifully, turned it into art, and decided we're gonna make an exhibition.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: So that was great, but then I went another step further.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, let's make it even more incredible.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: That exhibition then turned into a fundraiser for the dog refuge because we're all circling back and we're all like, there's a there's a reason that this came to me and that this coming to the world and giving back is raising money for the dog refuge.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: So that's how it started.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so I was really, really proud of it.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: Mind you, that all happened very condensed time.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: That happened within two months.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just little old me.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I put all that together.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_01: It was incredible, it was insane, it was fabulous.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I didn't get my goal of 30 families.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: I ended up getting 15 absolutely incredible, beautiful people.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: But after the event, was this last year you told me?
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: This was last year.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, last September.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: And how we got to the to the next one was uh everybody in that room, when they saw the film, because we made a film of how every family, you know, were in project.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't an entire jerker film, which I'm really so proud of.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: There wasn't a dry eye in the room, and I just knew like, okay, this is meaning things to people.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: I need to tell more people.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so I asked around, actually.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I'm thinking about doing a 2.0.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: Is anyone thinking, you know, so I just like, okay, let's do it.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: So we're doing it again.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_02: This September.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: So by the time this episode drops for sure, people are gonna be, it's gonna be in the midst of it.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: Oh.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm nearly at my goals.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: Super excited.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, the people who have come on board, some I know, some I don't, are just incredible little humans.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: And just the fact that they're understanding the importance of capturing their life just as it is today is absolutely spectacular.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna have our exhibition in October.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: We're raising money for the dog refuge again, and we're just gonna blow it out of the water.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_02: First of all, you are always so incredibly punked.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my god.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: I just love this.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: I all your ideas, the things that you do, and it's like icing on the cake, the fact that you are then having this as a fundraiser for the dog refuge.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, absolutely.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_02: This is another you should be proud of yourself moment.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Well, because a lot of photograph dogs that I've photographed or families that I've photographed have had rescue dogs.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it just made sense to me.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just how beautiful is it to be able to help in a in a way like this.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm so excited.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so, yeah, there's not enough words for it.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_02: Good on you.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_02: You have a business mentor.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_02: Are we are we calling her a business mentor or a business coach?
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: We're calling her everything.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, she is your business like wife, really.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_02: Jess Wingson.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_02: She has really helped you to achieve your goals and dreams.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: Being a part of her program, you've managed to, well, I guess it's her thing to, you know, meet some incredible women by surrounding yourself with other ambitious women.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_02: How has this coaching, do you think, really helped you?
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: I can't even put into words how much this has changed my life.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: And going into it, I never thought that it could because of where my mind was at the time.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: I knew that there were things that I wanted to do, but I also knew I had obstacles that I put on myself.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: I I had the visors on.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: Jess is an incredible uh visionary, and just listening to her brain is insane, actually.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's she's just she has an answer for everything, which is very admirable.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: But it's the way she unlocks what is going on with you internally, which the the stepping stone of your evolvement or your evolution, really.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: The area she's helped me the most would definitely be mindset and just keeping me in check with my inner talk and just guiding me, the opposite of like negativity, really.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, which is really hard to do when things are hard.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yes.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: And then of course you put on top the incredible business strategies, if you will, which I am not a I never thought I was a businesswoman, but damn girl, I am now.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you are.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that's just by being around people in Jess's world who have ambitions, like just surrounding yourself again.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like you said, like it's a whole new ballgame for me.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's basically like I'm starting my life absolutely over from my previous circle that I was surrounding myself with.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a year's program, and um, I've reassigned myself to another year because what I thought is without her help and her guidance and like just without having her in my life, really, what is that gonna cost me?
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what made me decide I need to, I need to keep doing this because otherwise it's just me.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: And you need to be around people who challenge you, also challenge you, who uh give you advice, who can tell you they're wrongs, and you know, you just need to be around that to learn and to evolve.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: So it is the best thing I've ever done for myself personally, for my business, and really for my five family life, because I know that I can support them properly now.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's great that you've gone into so much detail in regards to your coaching with Jess.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I appreciate that.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not saying that it's not just Jess that does this.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: There are obviously lots of women out there that do similar things like business coaching and personal coaching for women.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: But it's great that you've found somebody that you align with so much because it's not always easy to find that person that's gonna tell you, you know, and give you advice on mindset, but then also you be receptive to their feedback.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I I guess it doesn't take, you know, much to look at her page and see all the things that she's achieved to know that obviously she's this incredible person that when she uh sets her mind out to something, she achieves it and gets it done, and you seem to really resonate with her.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's a great thing for you.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_01: I just don't believe I would have been anywhere where I am now had I not had this mentorship in my life.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just because I was never in that environment before.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_01: If you weren't being a photographer, is there something else that you would be doing?
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: My business now has grown me to be more than just a photographer, which for many years I would tell myself, oh, I'm just a photographer.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: And that word just is such a powerful word.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_02: It is it I talk about this a lot, and I'm glad that you're bringing it up.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's so true.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like just a mum.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: What?
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: Mum?
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_01: Just a mum?
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: You created life.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: You're a freaking like superstar.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: Like you're a goddess.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I know that I am more than just a photographer.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I was saying this on my on stage on my um business birthday event that, you know, I have all kinds of people coming to me needing help.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: And not all the time, it's not every day that they come to get happy photos.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of the times something's going wrong in their life, either they have an illness or their dog's gonna pass away.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just very, very intense.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's not always like, oh, let's celebrate, let's get photos.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's when it actually dawned on me.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I do more than just take photographs.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: I capture memories, whether they're good or bad for people, that actually impact their lives with them.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_01: It really becomes part of their legacy.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: And at the end of the day, I know it's very cliche, but what do you have left when you're no longer here that is valuable, that you're passing on?
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's photos of you.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody cares about the things you left, you know, the money that you left or the bed or the freaking table and the jewelry.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody cares.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: They want to see the person that you were.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: And the way I capture these memories is just so valid.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so I don't think if whether I actually, you know, click the shutter and I make people feel the way they need to feel in front of the camera, in front of the lens, so we can capture their essence, whether it's on paper or if it's just being around me so I can uplift people, because I think that is my superpower, really.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think I've had that my whole life.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: I just make people feel seen and I love that.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_02: You nailed that answer.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_02: I love asking this question.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_02: I have asked it in several episodes.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_02: And look, to be honest, most women will say whatever they're currently doing is what they know that they will put on this place to do.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_02: Do you know what I mean?
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_02: But the fact that you explained that so well, and I mean, I can't see you being anything else because your passion is so extremely in the forefront that I can't really imagine you doing anything else.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_02: But how special and how lucky to be in this position where you not only enjoy it, but you know that you're giving back.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_02: You know that you're giving families this opportunity to then look back on themselves.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_02: Do you know what I mean?
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_02: Anybody that knows me knows I love photo shoots.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_02: And not always family photo shoots.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_02: I have had a couple, but I've definitely had a lot of branding photo shoots.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_02: And when I got separated from my ex-husband, I I've always loved the 1950s.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_02: Not necessarily the ways that women had to stay at home and vacuum and have pills, not necessarily that part of the 50s, but I loved the music, the fashion, the clothes.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I do like the simpler time, it just really did seem like a simpler time.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I wanted to do a photo shoot, and so I went and did this 1950s photo shoot.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_02: Everything about it, like Sherbert Birdie is her name, she's the photographer, that's her business.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_02: It was like she had tights that women in the 1950s would wear, like the shimmery tights, and she would do poses, like you had to do a 45-minute like posing thing before it, and the makeup and the hair, and everything about it, the little sham I mean, I don't drink champagne, but the little glasses that you would drink out of were like from the 50s.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: It was brilliant.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_02: Now that was 2015.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, so that's 11 years ago, and I still look back on those photos where just even my what my youngest daughter in particular was like, wow, like there's an image where I look like a showgirl.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I still look back on it and go, wow, look, I had no wrinkles, there was no grey hair, my boobs weren't sagging as much, and I didn't have such a mum gut.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_02: But then now when you look at all these, like the evolution of Emma with all my different personal branding sheets, it's a perfect snapshot of those different phases where I've grown in confidence, I've changed, I've I've become this different person.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_02: And it's on top of that word that you said, just, because I have a major issue with it.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it's like, oh, you're just a teacher, or you're just a celebrant.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_02: That's happened for the past eight years.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you're just a celebrant.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not, I'm practically nearly a wedding planner because there's all these things that you do in between.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_02: And then on top of that, it's it's the my I guess my fine line with the word just though is it does soften things a little bit.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_02: So depending on the context, if you're like, um, can I speak to you or can I just speak to you?
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_02: It seems so much less harsh and so like less aggressive.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_02: But then when you put it in the context where you're like, well, I'm just a photographer, that really downplays it.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: It totally does.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I maybe it might be um a subconscious thing because I can publicly say for many years while I was just photographing and it wasn't a business, I was told by certain people, but you just take photographs.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's like it's no, it's like you're changing the world.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's always stayed with me.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: But I'm gonna tell you now, I actually am changing, I am changing people's lives, and I know that now, and I'm so proud that I can actually like I'm proud of myself that I can actually take that in because I am making impact on people's lives.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I'm taking photographs, but gosh, I'm giving you more than photographs.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm giving you feeling, I'm giving you purpose, I'm giving you legacy, I'm giving you all these things that it's not just about you know the click of a shutter.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_01: My goodness, it really isn't.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_01: So for any photographers out there, you just keep doing what you're doing with your whole heart and you'll be okay.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I love that.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_02: You're like a spokesperson if you're just positively and rainbow skills.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_02: I had to work on that.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, I I get that.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_02: Listen, for your rapid fire questions right now, I want to know what is the best piece of advice that you've received in the last five years?
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm picking five because I feel like that keeps it fairly current.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: And also for me, five years has been my biggest sort of evolution.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_01: So that's really good.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, my biggest piece of advice is there's a lot of them.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'll give you two actually, because when I was younger and I had these big, big dreams of doing things, somebody told me um, a very popular person told me, um, in life, if you want something, you just have to act like you know.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like don't put any questions, don't look like you're confused, you just walk into a place like you know, and people will leave you alone.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that has actually stayed with me.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: And in the context of that, is really relevant why they told me that.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: But basically, I was trying to get into places, but being a shy girl and like I don't belong here, um, you kind of have this reservation, like, I don't think I'm allowed to do that.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_01: And that already shows so people will come up to you be like, hey, you're not allowed to be here.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_01: But what I was told is like you just walk in the room, just go to a location, like as if you belong there, and you will be in there.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: And that is what I did.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_01: And it's true.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_01: So for any aspect in your life, if you're unsure of things, just walk with confidence, but like you belong there.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: You probably don't, you probably don't know what you're doing, but act like you do and you will get places.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_01: So that I think that's a really important thing to to have in the back of your mind when you're trying to go for big things that you're not sure how you're gonna get to.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, definitely.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, that would have been a big one.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_01: I like that one.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I don't know, I kind of what else?
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's that's that's great.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's so great.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um right now this one's a this one I have asked a couple of people, and it's it's funny the answers.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna ask you this one.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: What's an absolute favorite place where you feel most yourself?
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, where I feel most myself is I don't get this enough anymore because my babies are big, um, they're 13 and 16, but just lying on the couch with them snuggling and watching movies and eating popcorn and ice cream.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um I love that.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_01: I can still get that them to do that, but it's with a little bit of a fight.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_01: My boys are so beautiful, they're just gorgeous humans.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_01: And if I did anything right in my whole life is raise them the way they are, right the way they are, and I'm so proud of them.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's so sweet.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, lastly, so I I mean, I guess I know the answer to this one, but something that you're truly grateful for.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the first thing, first and foremost, without even a thought, is my children.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_01: They're everything I've ever wanted and they're incredible.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm grateful for my puppy who has taken me, gotten me through a lot through this growth.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm grateful that I have a second chance in life in this positivity mode because for a long time it was very dim and groom, dim and gloom.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I'm really grateful that I picked myself up and be the person that I used to be.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_01: I think I'm really grateful for that.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's good.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm grateful for being here with you.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you're so sweet.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_02: Listen, lastly, I do this to everyone, and you I know that you listen to the podcast, so you know what I'm about to ask you.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_02: And that's a shout out.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_02: So to somebody who is inspirational, somebody that you just really look up to and admire, um, or just simply want to give a shout-out to.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_02: This is your chance.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_01: There's quite a few of them.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, do I pick just one?
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, you can pick a handful.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_01: Lots of people pick a handful.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_01: These would be all the women that have uh really influenced my life in the last five years.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, of course, my beautiful mentor Jess, I adore her.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, there's not enough gratitude for her.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_01: Annalise, I have to say, because she impacted me so deeply in that particular um event that we were at, and ever since, uh, she's just got so much power in the little brain, in the little body that she's that she has.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_01: And well, she's she's super tall.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_02: But I think also for her age.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, you know, she's a good thing.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_01: To have so much wisdom and so much confidence that I know she worked really hard at.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, she's impacted me so, so much to use my voice.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_01: And that has been probably my biggest obstacle because all my life growing up, I was kind of told to stifle myself because I had too many dreams and goals, and it was never gonna happen.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_01: So her guidance and her positivity, and and just yeah, she's been hugely up there that I want to shout out.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_01: So, Annalise, I love you.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and just my friends, you know, I've got Belle.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: Belle is a beautiful human, she's also a photographer.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, she's helped me.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_01: Belle V, yes.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_01: She's great.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_01: She's so fun.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_01: But I she's, you know, she's helped me in the beginning stages of my career as well.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, with my positivity and with my confidence.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I adore her.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, I can I have a lot.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_01: So we could be here all day.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_02: Those three in particular, good on you.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they're all obviously very worthy of a significant shout out.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_02: And they're definitely gonna put them into the show notes to in case people are like, who are these incredible women that Anna is just shouting out to?
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I can say for Belle, if you need branding photos, although I do do branding myself, but if you need branding photos, that's who you go to for kick-ass stuff.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_01: You go to Jess if you need some mentorship, you can blow up your business, she'll help you that way.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_01: And you go to Annalise if you're feeling like you need you have something to say and you're not confident enough to do it, go see Annalise.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, you're literally like the spokeswoman for all women in womankind.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_02: Listen, thanks so much for joining me on the podcast today.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_02: I've had so much fun sitting across from you and just listening to you speak, and I'm so appreciative that you came and are here with me today on the podcast.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, thank you.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for listening to She Said It Out Loud.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_02: If you took something away from today's episode, I would love to hear from you.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_02: Go find me on Instagram at officially Emma Young.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_02: And hit follows so new episodes land straight in your feed.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_02: See you next time for more real and honest stories from legendary women.