Eating My Business the Way I Eat My Oreos

There are two types of business people: 1. People who will only do what they love; and 2. People who will do whatever, as long as it yields enough profit…or pays the bills. I happen to fall into the first category. Thankfully. But this makes me feel guilty. Or blessed. Perhaps a mixture of both. Like an Oreo cookie—two dark sides of chocolately guilt smushing my sugary blessings.

As I approach the New Year, my often myopic eyes are able to look back and see how delicious this past year has been. Sugary blessings. The people I’ve met and the weddings I’ve photographed have made such an impact on my life…so much so that they’ve allowed me to wake up in the morning and love what I do. I love LOVE. So being able to capture special moments on a wedding day has been the highlight of this year.

Today I met with a group of photographers to talk about our businesses—what makes our different and/or how approach our business models (essentially what category of businesspeople we fell into). A consultant stopped by and gave a presentation about how to refine what we do, but at the end of the presentation, I don’t think I walked away with what I was supposed to. Instead of the desire for financial gain and an increased business prowess, I am more assured that if I want to remain in love with what I do, I need to focus on people, and not numbers. Don’t get me wrong, I have a business degree, so I fully understand how important running a profitable and responsible business is, but at the end of the day if I’m more focused on the bottom dollar, I’ll lose sight of what has become my passion over the past year: People. If I become so business driven, I’ll easily become the businessperson who will do anything to yield enough profit…and this is the last thing I want! I could’ve stayed in law school if that was the type of life I wanted. I need to stay enamored with what I do or else it will become a job. And I don’t want a job; I want a passion.

The best part of today’s business presentation is that it can easily be viewed much like how I enjoyed my Oreos as a kid: I unscrew the top and eat only the white center, leaving the chocolate cookies in the tray for my father to later eat. And I think that’s how I’m going to approach my business into the next year…enjoying the sugary blessings. I’m drafting my 2007 business plan and I intend on keeping people in my mission statement and in the forefront of my mind because people have become my passion.


JD took this picture of me just before I left this morning. I have a hard time posing for pictures, so I often find myself doing something ridiculous instead just a good 'ole fashioned smile. Sometimes I'll do the Kid-N-Play dance (I call it my Soul Train pose), other times I'll look off in the distance and pretend I'm picking my nose (I call it my paparazzi pose). Well, today I flashed a new pose. It's in honor of Ryan Seacrest. At the end of American Idol, he always says, "Seacrest Oouuut", so I'll call this pose, StarOoouut :)