Amber Leach – falling in and out of love with photography and finding ways to re-discover the love of your art form

Nature photography, music photography, wedding photography, marketing, coaching, this episode's guest was not afraid to try new things and see where they would take her.
Doing too much, however, can leave you feeling rudderless, and in Amber Leach's case almost. led to her giving up her creative enterprise all together.

This is where a volunteering opportunity came up and changed everything, invigorating Amber's creativity and helping her get back on track with her work/life balance. 

Find out how Amber went from a photographer about to sell her business to a photographer with a team and processes that allowed her to love her photography again.

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Researched, edited and produced by Claire Waite Brown
Music: Day Trips by Ketsa Undercover / Ketsa Creative Commons License Free Music Archive - Ketsa - Day Trips
Artworks: Emily Portnoi emilyportnoi.co.uk
Photo: Ella Pallet

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Transcript

Claire Waite Brown: 0:58

For this episode, I'm speaking with Amber Leach, who, as a youngster always had her camera with her. She lost her creative Mojo somewhat when she realised work was taking over, and she needed to spend more time with her family and for herself. Let's find out how she invigorated herself and got back to loving her creative career. Hi, Amber. Hi. Hi. We are going to talk today about how you fell in love with out of love with and back in love again with your art form. Tell me what it is you do.

Unknown: 2:27

I'm a photographer.

Claire Waite Brown: 2:28

Fabulous. What were your artistic experiences like as a child?

Unknown: 2:34

Well, I never really enjoyed art as a child and I just found that I'm you know now thinking back I don't think I really enjoyed Creative Writing art lessons at school I just found the kind of free expression of art just it just wasn't me. My mom was an artist and she was probably one end of the spectrum you know, there was her are everywhere. And whole house was like an art studio. So I think for me, I just didn't ever call myself an artist but my mum and dad were also photographers. So that really inspires me my mum would turn the one of the bathrooms into a darkroom overnight. One morning there was a photo of me sleeping by my bed and I just thought was so magical. I must have been about eight or nine. Yeah, I just woke up with this picture and I just just fell in love with photography. I just thought it was magical.

Claire Waite Brown: 3:25

That's brilliant. Did you How was your experience at school? Was the arts encouraged? Was it something Yeah, so

Unknown: 3:34

I think it was a steal of textile. So I actually studied textiles and art and I love textiles but I think obviously for GCSE subjects you have to do a load of and it was the same when I studied photography at college you have to do all of this research, contextual studies and I just found it so boring and I was never really passionate about kind of artists in particular still now I'm not you know I don't read every photography book in the world. It's just not something that I get inspiration from I find that I get inspiration from kind of the world rather than the art or the photography So yeah, I just found it really boring and my teachers were fun but they were just a typical kind of artists teacher and i don't know i think is my mum was such an extreme artist. I think I just thought well that's not me. So I'm not an artist. So yeah, so I don't know really it was it was a very strange experience. But they didn't do photography there. So I could only do that at college. And I did a Saturday art club, and then a photography club at the art college which I kind of paid for myself because there was just no auction at my school. And then I kind of fell in love with it that way but it was very basic. It was more kind of projector with some feathers to capture some kind of shadow pictures. So it was kind of experimental but I think I just used to take my camera everywhere when I was at school and I used to get in trouble all the time. I've got portraits of my friends and their science lessons. I've got pictures of when I went to festivals with my friends. I just took my camera ever so it was more of a kind of fun thing really.

Claire Waite Brown: 5:10

What subjects did you do at school of photography was kind of your sideline

Unknown: 5:15

so I was quite academic and I got really good GCSE. So I stayed on to do French maths and business studies they were advised because they were my best grades so I did those. I found them so boring. Again, just so much kind of research and things like that. Which is funny, I love it now, but I just thought I wanted to possibly go to art college. So I went and had an interview in the January, because I was thinking of quitting the sixth form. And they said, Oh, you've obviously really passionate about photography, you've got a great kind of portfolio, you've been to an art course here, you can actually start straightaway. So I quit my a levels, and then went straight into the photography in the January. So I missed a term, but they kind of let me let me on. So that's when I kind of started studying photography. When I was 16. Yeah.

Claire Waite Brown: 6:04

Oh, that's very resourceful. Have you had a very specific idea of what you wanted your career to look like? How did that work out?

Unknown: 6:15

Yeah. So I went on a gap year after my photography course finished, it was quite amazing scheme. Actually, it was a millennium funded in the year 2000. It was a rally international expedition. And I wanted to go travelling, and my mum said, Hey, why don't you go on this. There's a big group going, there's loads of helpers. And there's medic teams and things because I think I just was very naive thinking I just go and travel the world had a job and saved up money and things. So I went on this organised trip, and it was absolutely incredible. There are loads from the art college people from all over Devon and Cornwall, and I fell in love with nature. So we, you know, lived in a rain forest, which I just loved being surrounded by nature, you know, there was no technology, no phones, no electric, no toilets, it was just like, immersed in nature to the full extent. And I was 18 years old, and just just, it just changed my life really. And obviously, we had a photographer there, we had a PR person. And part of the project was that when you came back, so we did a mountain project, a town project, and we canoed on a lake. And then we also lived in a rain forest. So and then we did beach work as well. So it was a real kind of immersive experience. And one of the projects when we got back because we had to do something in our local in our local area to kind of give back to the community. And I absolutely loved it. We did this volunteer project in a local school creating this gardens. And I also fell in love with PR, so I got some work experience doing PR and I thought, right, this is going to be my job, I'm going to go and travel the world, I'm going to take photos of it, and I'm going to write about it and work for National Geographic. So I signed up to a PR course, I loved it. But I just again, further bit boring. And I wanted to I think I'm a very practical person I learned by doing and I think just churning out press releases and studies just wasn't really my thing. So I then applied for a conservation biology degree in Bristol, I also wanted to move away as well, I think I was a bit bored of living in my home city. So I again, and this was part of I thought this could be part of my plan. I could then study the new species that I find in National Geographic and take photos and write about it. So yeah, that was kind of my plan. And and yeah, so I was quite settled there is this shame that haven't really followed it through. But it was a great goal to have, because I think it really opened my eyes to kind of the the options of what you can do with photography. And yeah,

Claire Waite Brown: 8:40

very good. What did you enjoy your studies? And what did they kind of lead on to for you?

Unknown: 8:46

Yeah, it was absolutely amazing. So Bristol is just such an incredible city. It's a creative hub of people from around the world. And just anything goes you can learn so much. It's just like a creative melting pot, really, I just loved it. And it's not necessarily about how good a grade you get, it's actually about the experience you have alongside your degrees. So because I'd already you know how to you're out and done some work experience and had a job, I was really keen to kind of get as much experience as possible because I kind of knew how hard it is in the real world. So I signed up to any volunteering opportunity possible I volunteered for the local Wildlife Trust in an education centre, I volunteered at the union newspaper, and also that incorporated photography. So I did writing photography. It was really random how it worked. But I ended up getting asked to do music photography for the university, Student Union events that led on to doing music photography paid for some club owners, and promoters and then that led on to me actually working for a record label while I was still at university, so that was absolutely crazy. But as well as that with my voluntary experience in the Avon Wildlife Trust, because I had my camera with me all the time. I was taking pictures of every environmental project we went on. And one of the main things that was happening at the time was I don't know if you remember the seven barrage was quite a big environmental campaign that was happening you know, they really wanted to make renewable water energy with the barrage, but obviously it was going to ruin a lot of the local environment, including the mud flats and you know, it's a very unique ecosystem in the sabet River seven. So the Overwatch I've just been doing a big campaign about it, but while I was there, I'd actually taken hundreds of pictures of the seven and it's quite of environment and so they just said oh can we use a couple of your pictures? Anyway it turns out all my pictures were used for the main campaign so they had a magazine about it a brochure all the photos in the press were my pictures of like the seven bridge in the estuary and it was quite a big campaign so literally they were everywhere obviously in the environmental world but that's what I was in at the time. And I wasn't paid but for me it was like wow you know, I didn't even have that great camera it was just a very basic canon at the time all I could afford but I remember posting the magazine to my mum I've still got it now but yeah, I was so proud because I just thought wow, you know, my pictures are good enough to be published and it just really encouraged me and then around the same time coincidentally, I started getting a lot of my music photos published, it was kind of before social media so my pictures were published in music magazines, the local press, I started getting paid to take photos to be published so I was like wow, my words getting published and getting paid for this is amazing. So yeah, that was a real taste and I think it kind of really encouraged me and inspired me that even though I hadn't studied photography my work was at a certain level that people paid for it and also it got published so it's crazy how I just kind of fell into it just by having my camera wherever I went, which is what I did at school just saying to people you know I can take pictures if you want sometimes it was to get free entry to a club night that I wanted and but then that kind of led on so I think it was Yeah, just a real real kind of learning curve for me at the time.

Claire Waite Brown: 12:06

It sounds fabulous. Also you were holding down a day job while doing these photography bits on the side as well and

Unknown: 12:13

studying suppose my studies did suffer that year actually. So I wouldn't recommend it. But I just didn't want to turn it back down. And yeah, it wasn't the best year for my studies. I still passed and got a two one but Yeah, I did. It wasn't the best. wasn't the best opportunity to take during my final year.

Claire Waite Brown: 12:32

Yeah. But you did go straight into work after you graduated, didn't you?

Unknown: 12:38

Yeah, so because I've done so much of voluntary work. The volunteer Centre at my university had a job which was it was called the community volunteer programme and it was volunteer coordinator. So that was just a part time job for three days a week so they actually extended the job. So I was volunteer manager I organised events and volunteer projects like big beach cleans, but then I also took photos wrote about them and did the PR so for me to get all this kind of press for them in big you know volunteer magazines and stuff. They were just like, wow, you're amazing. So for me, I was just like, wow, I'm just writing stuff and sending it to these magazines and it was getting published. But I think I think we were having such a big impact on the local community. And I was there photographing, I think because I was a member of staff and I just happened to be there managing the volunteers I captured everything and I knew them really well. But I suppose to actually book a photographer to come along to all of these things people don't have the budget for that. So I think it was a real kind of unique experience and and yeah, it was it was a really amazing time actually capturing that and getting all that press it was really really fun.

Claire Waite Brown: 13:45

Yeah, good for you. How did you get into wedding photography?

Unknown: 13:51

Well, I worked for the music agency and the record label owners wife was an event planner and also a wedding planner so I knew her and I did a few photo shoots with her because she was a model she rang me one day on a Friday and said Oh, you're free tomorrow Can you come and photograph this event and a wedding and I was like no way and she said look you'll get paid and things like that. I was like No, I don't even know what wedding is basically and I've been to one like just not interested and it's not my thing at all. And she said Look, they're really desperate and she said to be honest just treat it like a music event just capture everything. And I think at the time I just always thought in my head that weddings were just for mo and boring and like stuffy and you know shiny and just you know not my thing at all. And obviously had no experience and she said look there'll be happy with anything the photographer's let them down. And I'll tell you what to do. I'll kind of tell you where to go and stuff to where to stand. I was like, okay, so I thought I just helped my friend out. Anyway, I got paid really well. It's like 350 pounds, I was like this is amazing. And they were so happy. And then going on a few years, I had a baby ended up moving back down to Devon to be near my family. And then I got a job at the university. So again, you know, wasn't really doing photography at all just kind of one job after another from university to university working in marketing and PR now. And so I worked there for five years. And then they went through kind of a big restructure. And my job was actually put up for redundancy, kind of our whole department and it was just really horrible time. And my friends just having a main with over a coffee and saying like, Oh my gosh, what am I gonna do? And she said, Well, you're really good photographer. When you Just do that. And I thought that would be stupid. That's just so ridiculous. Why would I do that. But she said, you know, you've got loads of great photos, you've got loads of experience, I think I've done a few kind of baby photos, you know, with my baby of my friend's baby. So it's not as if I just put my camera down or left it. But in Devon, there's no music events, no festivals, no nightclubs. So my music career ended abruptly when I moved there. And I didn't really want to travel to London stuff. So I kind of had not really done any photography properly, or paid or anything. And then so I thought, Oh, you know, I'll do I'll just set up a Facebook page and put some photos on it and just kind of see. And my daughter was called Liberty pal. So I thought, Oh, that's a pretty name. I'll just call it Liberty pal. And anyway, I started getting all of these inquiries. And within a couple of months, I had 12 wedding bookings. And I was like, Oh my gosh, and because the you knew were going through redundancy, they had free people, you could talk to like careers, people. So I just thought, oh, I'll go and speak to a lady that I knew she had a marketing agency, she actually gave me a session on like pricing and just helped me a little bit with that, which was great. So you only pay for that. And then I ended up paying her to write the copy for my website, because I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. And then six months later, I actually decided to quit my job, which hadn't been made redundant in the end, which was crazy. So I think we found out about redundancy in the February, I'd set up my Facebook page. I think I did my website in June. And then in September, I remember I got my first ever booking from a stranger. They found me on Google. And it was a complete stranger. And I rang my mom, I was like, Oh, my gosh, I've had my first real customer. And then yeah, and then in the November that was it, I quit my job and was a self employed person didn't know what I was doing. Never had a business before didn't have any clue what I was doing. So yeah, it was a bit of a bit of a shock bit of a kind of crazy. Risk, I suppose. But again, I was so naive, I was just like, Yeah, great. I'll just run a business.

Claire Waite Brown: 17:23

Amazing. We like a bit of, yeah, I don't know what I'm doing. But I'll do it anyway, here at creativity found we hear that a lot. I've got to come back to the business side of things in a minute. But from a photography side, you've said you had your first booking from someone that wasn't so what you already do? Did you have a style, photography wise? Or was that something that you built as you were practising within the business? I mean,

Unknown: 17:53

I think because I just kind of went for I obviously had worked in corporate marketing for 10 years and PR, I kind of had that backup. But again, because I knew those skills, I didn't really research. How do I apply this to a business so I hadn't really, you know, when you set up a new business, you brand you find out you know what your USP is you find out what your style is, find out your story and all of that. But I think because I was so naive, and didn't really know what I was doing, I was just like, I set up a Facebook page, put some pictures on it, put a website, write a bit of stuff about my process. And that's it. It wasn't really like I had a style, or that I knew I had a style. I think I was naturally drawn to nature flowers, obviously a study conservation biology. So I think I naturally attracted couples who loved Governor Cuomo love the beaches, because that's what I kind of talked about all the time. So I think I did have a story, I did have a style. And I did have kind of a personal brand. But I didn't really realise that until I had some coaching. And I was like, Oh my gosh, what's my style? What's this? What's that? And then I think in retrospect, when I went back over it, the penny dropped. And I was like, Oh, yeah, that's my style. But I really didn't know that I had one. Because I was just getting on with it. Now I work in Marketing, and I work I coach people, and it's really easy to describe what other people's styles are. But I think when you're trying to do it for yourself and describe your own work, I just find it a really personal thing. So it was a really long process for me, and I did all these different tasks like asking people to describe my work, asking people to describe my personality was very clear that there was a style there was kind of a pattern, very nature inspired, very relaxed and natural, just nature and it's kind of or in magic. But I think it's quite hard thing to describe that. And I think it's quite a personal thing to kind of put that out there as well. I don't know that's what I found anyway.

Claire Waite Brown: 19:43

Yeah, now I completely understand it can be quite scary to look at yourself or look at your work and say, This is MIT, I'm looking deeply at this, this is what I do, or this is what I am I completely understand that

Unknown: 19:56

and also kind of niching as well. I didn't realise at the time but I was actually quite scared to narrow down my audience which lots of people do but I think once I did that, and I was really clear and confident on describing my ideal bride made me get so many more bookings and people who were just like, we love your work we're going a bit key because we've read your website you we totally get you you're going to totally get me it's a hard thing to do but once you do it and have the confidence to go with it. It just makes your marketing and like your work so much easier because you know what you're planning you know what you're shooting you Know what you're going to put on social media, you know what you talk about with couples? So yeah, I think once you do that it just is a real game changer.

Claire Waite Brown: 21:10

Yeah, I know it can be scary. People often have like massive, massive menus in restaurants and things don't know because they think they want to please everybody. But you're far better off pleasing, fewer people in a really solid way. You've been talking about the social media and the website, you've been talking about your, you know, your USP, and all that the business side of things. And I'm wondering whether making something you love photography, making that into a business has that had an effect on your love and your enthusiasm for the art form?

Unknown: 21:45

Absolutely. It's really funny. I was listening to a podcast today, and they were talking about this exact things. And the host of the podcast said, Well, actually, there's a study where people, they were given a game to play, and they love playing this game. But when they start getting paid for it, they actually lose the passion and drive and just end up. It puts too much pressure on them. And I was like, Wow, that's a study. That's not just me that thought that. And but yeah, so I obviously love photography forever. And I was a single mom at the time and I started my business, quit my job. And I had six weeks salary in the bank, and I had to make it work. The first year was great, had loads of ideas, tried everything, realised I was probably doing too much. When I started out as a photographer, I did everything like absolutely everything you can imagine festivals, photobooth, charity events, and baby photoshoot studio stuff, which I absolutely hate. I did Christmas mini sessions at baby groups, donkey days of like everything. And then I was like, right, this is way too much or working all the time. So then I really focused down on weddings, and you know, the odd family outdoor session. But I think it's really hard to say no to stuff as well. It started getting really, really busy. And I started doing workshops and things as well coaching and mentoring. And I was just like, Oh my gosh, I then moved house met, my husband got married and inherited a stepson, and we moved house again. So that will happen in the space of I think about 18 months. By that time, I was just like, Oh my gosh, I had lived on my own for years running my business. And when I got married me and my husband moved in together, and he was like, Oh my gosh, you work all the time. And I said, well, because I was a single mom, I couldn't go out in the evenings because I had a baby at home. And so I've never really noticed that actually, when she goes to bed it clean up the house, whatever and just pop on the computer for two or three hours, which doesn't really seem like that much. But obviously when you've got husband who was like what you're doing every night, so there was kind of pressure from him to say, like, stop working as much, which was totally fair enough, because it's probably you know, wasn't healthy and sustainable. So yeah, I think I just got to this point where I was like, I loved it, but I hated it because there was so much to do constant editing and constant marketing constant everything I wanted weekends to spend with my husband and my stepson and my daughter was missing me and I yeah, I didn't know what to do. So just kind of stressed out. I thought, right, I'm just gonna sell my business, it's earning, you know, six figures, I'll make some money, I'll just kind of get out of it. And most people who think that their business actually isn't ready to sell because it's you or you haven't got the processes in place. I didn't have a team at the time either. So I did put up for sale. I've got loads of advice on what to do to make it sellable and things like that. But yeah, it was just a really rubbish time, I think. I don't know I remember one day I was talking to my friend and she answered me and I was like, What did you say? And she just kept talking to me, but it just wasn't going in. I think I just had so much going on. She was talking to me and I was like I actually it's just it's not going into my brain. I don't know it was so weird. It was such a weird experience. And yeah, it was just I think that's the first time I ever really experienced overwhelm people I think people burn that around quite easily like overwhelmed, overwhelmed, but that was the first day that I was like, you know, just like pressure and like, I hate what I'm doing I hate photography I don't want I don't want this I just don't like my camera. I don't like anything. But I loved the weddings and the people and I loved giving them the photos afterwards because I loved the sense of purpose that gives me and the sense of joy it brings them and the honour is to capture documents someone's life stage that special moment in their life. It's me capturing it, you know, that never went away. But it's just all the other stuff.

Claire Waite Brown: 25:26

Yeah, completely, completely understand. I love sharing my guests stories with you. But podcasting isn't cheap. There are hosting fees and software costs to buy and time to invest in planning and editing. To make sure the guests sound great, and listeners hear the best content. If you would like to financially support creativity found, please visit kayo hyphen f fi.com slash creativity found podcast now I I know that you do still have a photography business, so you didn't sell it. And I also know that you did find your way back to really loving your photography. Could you tell me how that all came about?

Unknown: 26:14

So my daughter, she was spending a week with her granny and dad up in the Midlands. And so I had a week, I suppose to go on a residential course I'd booked in it was amazing. It was like this retreat where we were going to find ourselves and find our creativity. And I was like, Yeah, great. And then it got cancelled. So I had this week free, and I was like, What am I going to do? And my husband was like, well, that's great. You're really busy. So you can just catch up. And I was like, No, actually, Chris Simon, a Christian, I go to church, and I take photos at my church. But I also have volunteered for a Christian festival a couple times. And my friend contacted me and just said, Oh, we've had a problem with one of our leader. She's leader of the media team. And her visa has been revoked. She's from South Africa. So she's had to go back really abruptly in the festivals in a week. Do you know anyone that can help? And I said, Look, I can help if you want, I've randomly got this week free. My husband said, Are you mad, you've got so much to do. And I said, Look, I really need to kind of escape, not from my life, but just from, you know, my situation, my business, and it was ridiculous. It was August, mid wedding season, but because I was going on this retreat, I had this time off. And it was absolutely life changing. And I think I'd always done a lot of voluntary work. And I also started out my photography, career doing volunteering for a local and children's charity and things like that. But because I'd got so busy, I'd stopped all of that as well. So I was just working for money, you know, doing photography for money. Even when I when I hold I didn't take my camera. So this was a real different experience. It was a voluntary experience. But it was really great for me because I could just do what I wanted. I had kind of had the creative licence, we obviously had to capture certain things. But there were amazing things like pottery workshops, they were amazing inspirational speakers, so I got to enjoy all of this kind of learning at the same time as photographing it. So I really immersed myself in just all sorts of things going on a lot of outside sources walking a lot as well. And also there's a lot of music events in the main arena. So I went back to my roots of music, photography, all these amazing lights and the energy of people. So even though it's a Christian festival, it's actually amazing. There's DJs, and bands and rappers and the most eclectic mix of worldwide genres of music, so it was just amazing. So I love the music side of it, I could be really creative every day, they would put up kind of highlights of the day. So it was great kind of seeing my work up there. And it was just the best thing I've ever done that I could just have that creative freedom and just enjoy photography again, I completely fell in love with it. I didn't love the editing. But again, it was just made me really quick at editing because they were like, right, we need this now got a tenant run by the end of the day. So rather than being really indecisive, like, oh, which pictures best which I spend ages doing so yeah, it was an it was an absolute incredible experience. I highly recommend it to anyone. And you still go now, don't you? Yeah, so I've been every year I think for five years now and my family come as well now, so we all kind of come together. And yeah, it's just amazing. I found that I was kind of always, always on kind of, uh, moving on to the next thing because of the, you know, quick timeline at a wedding. Whereas this has really helped me Take time to step back and choose the image rather than just snapping away. So it's kind of really changed my photography as well.

Claire Waite Brown: 29:25

And how has that changed your approach to running the business?

Unknown: 29:30

So yeah, that year was a real turning point. For me. I got some coaching, which I hadn't done for a while. And so I found someone who had actually set up an Associates model. So it meant that they grew their business, but they did a limited amount of weddings, but they had a team in to kind of pick up the extra ones. So I got some coaching from her, which was like the best thing I've ever done. She taught me how to do everything from recruitment to, you know, legal side of things to training them, though. Yeah, it was really good. And I recruited a team of five girls that now I've actually my business has called the Liberty Pelphrey to film collective we're a team of six I've also got a team of editors I've got an admin person and I've got an accountant as well which I didn't have before it's just think why didn't I have these things that it's just makes me you know, I can do more work I love it more I get more time for my family and I've also got a really good CRM system as well which manages everything automatically which is great. And you know you just think why don't you stop doing the things you hate doing and do more of the things you love so yeah, it was a real real turning point for my business and it's just got better and better you know work life balances it's up and down obviously at the moment is quite busy I just spent 260 now at 1416 hour days at weddings so didn't see my family very much but you know now I've got the rest of the week to enjoy time with them. And so yeah, it's not perfect but I don't think work life balance ever is. I think it's a real shame that you know, I see lots of people in the wedding industry you almost need to get to breaking point or you know other industries, businesses. Before you think, Oh, I need to do something about it. I don't know why.

Claire Waite Brown: 31:05

It's, as you say it is something, again that I hear a lot from my guests is getting to burnout or almost a burnout before realising I need to make a change here. So I'm really happy for you. Do you think you are more open to creative opportunities now?

Unknown: 31:24

Yeah, I do. I think I try and do as much as I can. So my daughter really wanted to do a sewing project. So and I think when we were moving house, I found this blanket that I made with my mum, when summer is really sweet. It was like, like scraps of material that you put on a piece of fabric and sew it. So it's kind of really bumpy. I don't know what that's called. kind of made this really cool blanket. And I was remember, and I've still got it is absolutely awful. Like there's really 80s horrible fabric and stuff. But I loved that summer with my mum, like making this blanket. And my daughter said, Oh, can we make a blanket? And I was like, Yeah, sure. And so anyway, she designed this blanket is absolutely amazing. And I've got loads of old Liberty fabrics that I've kind of collected over time. So I'm obsessed with it. So we made this blanket out of liberty fabrics, and we made it for the baby. So it's just beautiful. And we spent quite a lot of time doing that over lockdown. And that was really, really special. And I think, yeah, I'm a bit more open to that now. Whereas before, it would have been like, empty, busy. And so I'm on a learning curve with it. And I've started going wild swimming as well, which I would never have done before. And I almost find out I'm getting my creative ideas when I'm not doing creative stuff. So if I'm swimming or running or having a coffee of a friend talking about like babies, I'm like, oh, I've just had this random idea. So I don't know if that's the same as everyone else. But I do enjoy it. But it's something I need to I'm trying to put myself out there a bit more. Yeah, definitely.

Claire Waite Brown: 32:48

Brilliant. What plans have you got for the future near or far?

Unknown: 32:53

Well, my wedding photography business, I've just had a rebrand of logo and kind of this my style and things like that. So I'm currently doing my website, which has taken ages. And again, that's really kind of niching I've really honed my style over these last eight years, which is really exciting. So and then over locked down. Yeah, I didn't really know how long that was gonna last. So I started and I get bored quite easily. And, and loads of our brides postponed completely, maybe till 22 or 23. So I thought, well, what can I do? So I was obviously doing a lot of coaching. And then I started offering my coaching clients marketing services. And again, I love it. It's really creative, creating kind of graphic sourcing imagery, and just helping businesses kind of get their own story out there, which I think is, you know, very different for each business. So yeah, that's something that I'm focusing on. So yeah, so that's kind of come out of nowhere since January, which is really random. But I found that it's another creative kind of output for me. Even though marketing doesn't seem creative. For me, I find that I'm just such an ideas person, but I don't have anything to do with them. So I can't put them all in my own photography business. So I need to put them somewhere. So for me, this is kind of a great channel for my creative idea. So yeah.

Claire Waite Brown: 34:06

Fabulous. There are many, many podcasts out there. It's difficult to know where to start. So I like to ask my guests for their recommendations. You're welcome.

Unknown: 34:22

So yeah, the podcast I've been listening to you lately, I do kind of flick between quite a few different podcasts depending on what I've got on at the moment. And obviously because I'm really focusing on marketing at the moment I've been listening to is called The Diary of a CEO with Stephen Bartlett. And he I don't know if anyone's heard of him, but he's the youngest Dragon's Den ever, and I'm obsessed with Dragon's Den, I absolutely love it. But he actually ran a Social Media Marketing Agency. So for me, I was quite interested in his story. He's also from Plymouth randomly. So I listened to that and it's fascinating. It's hardly anything about business. And it's actually about their life story where they get their inspiration from what their upbringing was like, and how that's actually affected their life decisions and their drive and their passion and their creativity it's absolutely fascinating I'm totally addicted to it there's a bit too much swearing for my liking because he's quite a young guy so he you know he says the F word quite a bit too much but the the content he had my reporters on there the other day and I was like wow, like you really get to see inside the CEOs heads and, you know, I thought I'd learned loads of business tips, but actually I'm quite learning quite a lot of life lessons. And a lot of it is about how they refund their creativity or their passion. When actually when they're running, you know, a multimillion pound business or they're serial entrepreneurs. They that you know, that all goes out the window. So yeah, I think you'll find it quite interesting, Claire.

Claire Waite Brown: 35:43

Yeah, definitely. I haven't heard of that. What sounds like a nice little companion podcast. Thank you. How about how can people connect with you?

Unknown: 35:53

I'm on all the social medias. If you want to check out my pretty wedding photos and it's a Liberty pile photo, film on Instagram or Liberty pile photography on Facebook. I'm on LinkedIn as well which is bleach and then if you want to check out my workshops, all kind of business tips I've got a Facebook and Instagram and it's audacious lives coaching and mentoring. So yeah send me a message if you've got any questions about anything I've spoke about today. You know, even if you're listening to this, you know, a year down the line, I'd love to help or answer any questions. Because it might have been something you related to or it might be that you know, you're struggling to find your creativity so yeah, happy to have a chat with you about anything because yeah, I had so many amazing people around me You know, when I was going through it, and I you know, I really believe in like community. So yeah, thanks for having me, Claire. It's been really fun today.

Claire Waite Brown: 36:43

You're welcome. That's so generous of you. Thank you, and I'll see you soon. Yeah, thanks for creativity found is an open stage arts production. If you're listening on Apple podcasts, please subscribe, rate and review. If you would like to contribute to future episodes, visit kayo hyphen f phi.com. Slash creativity found podcast. If you contact any of the artists featured, sign up to their workshops, or buy their products don't forget to mention creativity found podcast on Instagram or Facebook. Follow at creativity found podcast where you'll find photos of our contributors, artwork, and be kept abreast of everything. We're up

Unknown: 37:30

to