La mia avventura nel mondo della fotografia di matrimoni è una storia di trasformazione e determinazione che spero serva come fonte di ispirazione per chiunque voglia trasformare la propria passione in professione, qualunque essa sia.

Tutto è iniziato con una ragazza di provincia insoddisfatta della sua quotidianità. Non mi sentivo appagata della mia vita fino a quando non ho deciso di uscire dalla mia comfort zone. Era il momento di dar vita ai miei sogni.

Sottolineo che il primo passo verso la realizzazione dei sogni è spesso il più difficile, ma anche il più cruciale.

"La lezione numero uno è cogliere sempre l'occasione per fare qualcosa che ami. Quando fai qualcosa che ami, ci metti tutto te stesso e quando ci saranno momenti difficili, ci crederai talmente tanto che sarà impossibile mollare. E più vai avanti step by step, anno dopo anno, più si apriranno opportunità e porte che prima non esistevano."

Come ogni percorso di crescita, anche il mio è stato costellato da sfide e momenti di dubbio. Tuttavia, l'investimento in me stessa e la determinazione hanno reso possibile il superamento di questi ostacoli.

L'importanza dell'investimento personale è un altro tema centrale nel mio racconto. Non solo economicamente, ma anche in termini di tempo ed energia dedicati all'apprendimento e al perfezionamento delle competenze.

"Iniziai a investire la maggior parte dei soldi che guadagnavo in corsi che mi insegnarono a trasformare un business con delle entrate sufficienti in un vero business affermato e acclamato in tutto il mondo. Se capisci questo, sei a metà strada verso il successo."

Il terzo punto riguarda l'essenza di gestire un business nel settore creativo.

"Non avere paura di investire in te stesso. Impara dalle persone che ammiri, non aver paura di chiedere, apprendere e di cambiare in base alle cose che impari. Cerca di circondarti di persone che ti stimolano."

Oggi, con una carriera consolidata e una reputazione ben meritata, sono una testimonianza vivente di come la determinazione, l'apprendimento continuo e una passione inarrestabile possano trasformare i sogni in realtà.

Condivido queste preziose lezioni attraverso il mio podcast, sperando di illuminare il percorso per altre persone creative e imprenditoriali.

"Questo mondo è una giungla, viviamo in un paese in cui la burocrazia, le persone disoneste e tutto intorno sembra dirci di 'non inseguire i propri sogni perché è troppo complicato'. È vero che è difficile e bisogna essere forti per non essere sbranati dai leoni. Ma quando, con la tua tenacia, forza e determinazione, riesci a conquistare poco a poco il tuo successo, niente e nessuno ti potrà distruggere."

Le mie parole servono come promemoria che, nonostante gli ostacoli apparentemente insormontabili, con la giusta mentalità e un cuore coraggioso, le possibilità nella vita sono illimitate.

Our Biggest Asset

What’s our biggest asset that we have? What’s always going to be there for us when times are good and when times are tough? The answer is….ourselves :)

We have such a unique ability to adapt and learn. All of our experiences that we go through transform us in one way or another. So why don’t we take charge and transform ourselves in a way that we want? It’s because sometimes we don’t see ourselves as a worthwhile investment or we don’t realize that we can improve ourselves.

I really like to keep myself as an example of investing in yourself. Check out my first podcast episode if you didn’t get a chance to listen to it. It’s where I started to tell the story of myself, living surrounded by an open minded mentality and how I was able to change myself too.

Today, I am here to tell you how hard it is to convince your mind to invest money especially in something that isn't tangible and requires a lot of work: ourselves

I know what you are going to say...“Sure, everybody says that” or “Yeah, easy for you to because you have money…”

Our relationship with Money

What’s your idea of “a lot of money” or something “that costs too much”?

What does your definition of a “rich” life mean to you?

Most people think about happiness and buying things like handbags, clothes, vacations, etc. But being rich isn’t always about the money. Having a “rich” life can mean whatever you want it to mean. For me, “rich” means having the freedom and time to spend with people I love and do whatever I want.

But being “rich” seems like a dream that only other people can have. I think that’s a lie we tell ourselves when we fail and are too scared to move forward. Instead of learning from our mistakes, we give up. That’s when failure happens, when we stop trying. Failure also happens when we haven’t planned and prepared and learned the necessary skills to move forward. We often try to imitate or copy something else we’ve seen without realizing how it actually works or understanding the reasons behind it.

It’s a reality that some people are born more privileged than others and their journeys to success are shorter or easier to get to than ours. We don’t get to determine our starting positions in life, there really isn’t anything that we can do about that. And it’s certainly not your fault where you are starting out at. The point isn’t to focus on what someone else may have and get stuck in the comparison game. But it’s our choice to whether we remain where we are or choose to move forward with our life and goals. That decision is entirely up to us. Yes, we will have our difficulties and struggles, that is always guaranteed in life. It may take lots of study, work, hustle, and being more tough than we ever thought. But our human spirit, our grit and determination can overcome a lot more than we think.

You have to ask yourself, what are you trying to do? What do you want in your life? And then set up your big goals.

It’s hard to get outside of your comfort zone, your safe area of stability to follow a dream where not only is it insecure but you also have to invest money for something that is only up to you to get.

You can do and be anything you want in this life. It’s never easy and no one realizes what struggles we will face along the way. But having the right mindset and determination is going to keep us moving forward. I know it seems like an unreachable goal because it’s hard, but believe me, I would never think I was able to become a photographer for work and live a good life with the money I’ve made.

I wasn’t born with a camera in my hands. And as far as I know, no one else was either.

I wasn’t born knowing exactly what I wanted in this life. Everything I have is because I had to go through my experiences to arrive at where I am. I failed and made a lot of mistakes...

Take Responsibility for Your Life

Have you ever said to someone “it’s not my fault”? Have you used those four little words to get out of pursuing your dreams, to get out of situations that make you uncomfortable? Have you ever tried to pass the responsibility to others or blamed your circumstances on the situation surrounding you?

It’s easier to say “it's not my fault” than it is to take responsibility for yourself and your situation. But once you take that responsibility on and you start to look for the solutions rather than the problems in a situation, the magic happens. Once you lead with a problem solving mindset, a little help and support from others and an attitude that is ready to kick fear to the curb- you can achieve almost anything.

The Journey Doesn’t have to be done alone

I had many people help me along the journey of becoming who I am today.

“When you are supported by a person who believes in you, believe me everything, and I say EVERYTHING, it becomes easier. You just need a single person. One. Your first fan.”

My sister who encouraged me to jump on a plane, despite my intense fears. This single event catapulted my future, even though we never would have realized it at the time. It was at my destination that I met my future husband, Vic and found the independence that I so badly craved.

My future husband, at one of our first meetings, asked me what I would like to do for a living. This question stirred a desire in me to pursue my passion into a career that I am in love with. It was the catalyst moment in my life that made me realize I CAN do what I am passionate about for a living and do it with pride.

When I was discouraged and ready to give up, it was Vic who once again supported me by encouraging me to give it one more try and if it didn’t work out, he would support me in whatever career that I wanted to pursue. His perseverance and knowing that he had my back no matter what, gave me the encouragement that I needed to step into life as a wedding photographer.

The photographer in Doha who took me on as an assistant and taught me everything she knew. Where I came from, you had to fend for yourself and learn everything the hard way. I was lucky to have found a job as assistant to an incredible photographer who was patient and was an open book.

“Nothing comes for free, nothing comes with "If only I could ... Maybe I should ... I wish ...". Only you can choose for your life and as far as we know we only have one to live.”

You see, accepting the help and support of those around me, was exactly what I needed to step away from making excuses for myself into that of a mindset of “ I can do anything”. It was those little nudges along the way that gave me the courage to step forward into the life that I deserved.

It’s ok to Fail But You need to At Least Try

“I want you to believe it when I tell you it's not easy ... but not impossible either.”

It took many lessons, many failures and a whole lot of doubt but stumble after stumble, I felt even more compelled to pursue a career as a wedding photographer. I’ve managed to make a fruitful and amazing career for myself that allows me to travel the world and photograph beautiful people in love. So when I started to feel the nudges to start this podcast, all those initial doubts started to show themselves again and all the “what If’s and challenges that came along with it.

It would have been easy for me to ignore the nudges to start this podcast but during quarantine, I let my pen hit the paper and just started to write. As I was reading everything I wrote, I realized that it would be far too easy to just give up on my dream, just like it would've been to pursue another career rather than following my...