Welcome, Yvonne, it’s a pleasure to have you here. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Absolutely. Well, I am a different kind of photographer, I’ve chosen to be a boutique photographer. I specialize in portraits of the things, the places and the people that you love the most.
Anything that brings you joy, that’s what I photograph. From that I create large wall art for you to have in your room to set the tone for your entire day.
We design how and where that’s going to look on your walls, what you want the color scheme to be. And then we bring it together when we do our shoot.
Can I ask you, what’s one achievement you’re very proud of?
Probably the biggest achievement that I’m proud of is learning to say yes to myself, because I came from a completely different career. I found photography very late in life, creating wall art.
This May 13, I’m actually going to have my photography and my wall art displayed in an art show here in Brockville. That was a big, BIG hurdle for me: to mentally get over letting go of my art, having it seen by others, and actually participating in the art show. Learning to say yes to myself has been pivotal.
What is one piece of advice that you would offer to other people who would like to follow in your path?
Because I’ve had this late-life career change, it is to learn to listen to your own instincts.
We often realize that we’re not in the best place, we’re not happy. We haven’t identified what really makes us passionate. So we settle for the convenience and the comfort of the lifestyle that we’ve created.
Trust your instincts and spend and invest that time in figuring out what it is that’s going to make you happy. And then get in touch with people who are doing what you want to be doing, and learn from them. Often we’re so afraid we’re paralyzed by fear of taking that leap. But really, when we start to investigate what’s involved in the path, it’s often exactly what we’re looking for.
Have there been any barriers? Could you tell me a bit about some of the memories that you’ve had on your entrepreneurial journey?
What are two little barriers? Honestly, I – like a lot of people – was really stuck in my head. And I was stuck with expectations of society, and what I deemed my family needed out of me. And so it kept me in that place where I couldn’t put myself first.
I couldn’t have been bothered to think about what would make me happy because I was too busy in survival mode. Learning to step back a little bit from that was a big hurdle.
Most of the head trash doesn’t actually belong to us, it comes from other places, like what your parents told you, what your family taught you. And then once you start to clear that out of the way, you can really start to figure out what is actually important to you.
That was a big hurdle. I also had some cultural stuff that came along with me as a black woman, even as a Canadian black woman. I didn’t think we had issues, which I think is hysterical. But what I’ve learned is: Yeah, I was carrying a whole set of baggage that involves just being a black woman.
How did you start your business?
I am one of those people that just choses to blow up my entire world. I closed down my practice as an advisor, and switched gears completely, because I needed to make that very clean break.
And so was I a bit of a starving artist as I started out? Yeah. But I also have built multiple income streams from my photography so that I’m not reliant on just doing portraits.
It’s been five months since I sort of made the official full time leap, and it’s been fantastic. It was the scariest five months of my life, but it’s also been the most fun, the happiest I’ve been. And the most excited – I jump out of bed every day because I’m looking forward to what I get to do.
So what, what exactly made you decide to pursue this new business?
We were in the middle of a Zoom meeting, and I was meeting with a couple. And it was in the middle of one of the many horrible storms that we get in the winter time. It had been gray day, and dull for just weeks on end. As we started the meeting – and I had photos behind me – they instantly started talking about how happy the photos made them.
Seeing those colors, seeing the vibrancy that I had on the wall behind me really excited them. And then they started asking me why I chose what I chose, and what it meant to me, what emotions it brought about. I realized I’d never articulated any of that to anybody. I just put up what I wanted to see on my walls.
We all do this. We think, Oh, the walls, they should be decorated. And we’ll buy everybody else’s stuff. We don’t think about what actually has meaning to us, as we put it up on the wall, and what emotions they evoke for us. So as I was articulating it, I was just like, holy snap. This is a game changer. I need to do this.
By the time we finished that conversation they had also asked me to redo their bedroom for them with artwork that had meaning to them. So that was the day I started down this path and never looked back.
What’s some advice you got that really helped you out?
I was lucky, I got given some really good advice that I’ve chosen to hold on to really tightly in these last couple of years, and is: we lift as we climb. If we’re lifting as we climb, then I’m gonna bring you along with me… why not? We should all benefit from it, right?
That concept was missing for me most of my life, it was just about survival, do what you got to. But we don’t have to have a scarcity mindset, we have to have an abundance mindset. When you do, everything just gets so much lighter, it’s so much easier to live and be in this world today.
Also, surround yourself with people that hold your values. They’re doing what you’re doing, they’re dreaming, they’re trying to build a business, they’re trying to make their ideas come to life. Now, they’re going to inspire you on those days, when you don’t want to do that. It’s really important to support yourself, so that you can feed your soul through this entire process, because some days are not good days, and other days are fantastic days.
What made you sign up with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce?
It was a big part of recognizing that I had my time when I thought I had protested and I fixed the world. And honestly, I stopped and then I had kids, but now my kids are leaving the home, and I’m realizing the world is not where I want it to be. The world is not where it needs to be. My work here is not done.
I wanted to get back involved, with women specifically, because that’s how I walk through this world – as a woman. We do have very specific needs as business people that have to be addressed.
I wanted to be with other women who are claiming their power. And I’m starting to understand what that means and how that’s going to look, because it’s going to look different for all of us. But that doesn’t mean we can’t band together and help each other get there.
So what are the top benefits you’ve gotten from being a member of the Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce?
I’ve got confidence in myself that I never had before as a woman. And it’s weird to say that, because I’ve been doing this my whole life, right? But as a woman, I really felt isolated and alone most of my life.
I felt like other women were competition, more than they were companions, more than they were teachers. Now, I am the biggest cheerleader of other women in their businesses. Because I’m learning as I’m watching them and we’re growing and it’s fantastic.
I feel that connection, that community that we all need; it’s right here. That’s probably the number one benefit that I’ve gotten. But I’ve also met some really incredible women doing really difficult things in difficult areas, and openly saying that it doesn’t feel good.
So- that sense of community and that sense of common goals, and really just being okay with respecting other women and celebrating them and celebrating their wins. Those are probably three of the biggest things I’ve got from it.
What does success look like for you?
That was a big part of changing all of this was that success is very different. For me right now it’s not so much about money, it’s about relationships, it’s about connection, it’s about community.
It’s about changing some of the old world, thinking about what no longer serves us, and being open to not having all the answers, but just being open to the part of the journey. What can those new answers look like? And how is that going to change you?
I’m recognizing today I’m not the same artist I was yesterday, and I’m not going to be the same artist tomorrow. And you know what, that’s exciting, that’s fun. That charges me up. Whereas before, I was so worried about fitting in this little tiny box and staying in that little tiny box. I don’t I don’t want that anymore. I don’t think it serves any of us anymore.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
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