Well you guys, I did it! I took the ultimate chance, a chance on believing in myself and this amazing brand I’m building. This week marked my last day at my full-time job!! CUE THE CONFETTI AND ALL. THE. CHAMPAGNE! I’ve been pretty quiet on here about it, but if you didn’t know I’ve also been a producer at an awesome digital marketing agency since I moved back from California. I led a team that built some amazing promotions for brands like Coca-Cola, Twentieth Century Fox, Under Armour, American Express and Royal Caribbean. Let me tell you, juggling two full-time, demanding jobs is HARD! I really struggled this year finding the time to do everything and give my wonderful #jenniferborisphotography clients the attention and love they deserve. I worked a lot of late nights and early mornings, burning the candle at both ends and often falling into bed at 12 AM exhausted and getting up at 6:30 or 7 AM to finish blog posts, edit or answer emails before heading off to work. I would work 8 hours at work and come home and sit back down at my Mac and work 4 or 5 more. I worked Monday – Friday, and would either photograph weddings on the weekends or have 12 hour editing sessions trying to stay on top of everything. I often felt guilty sleeping, let alone doing anything fun since I had a mile long to do list most of the time. I prioritized my business above everything else, which wasn’t healthy, but was my only choice to get it to where I wanted it to be. I had to pass on countless plans with friends (who have all been so understanding and supportive of me. Love you all!), ate Chipotle or Beyond Juice days in a row because I didn’t have time to go grocery shopping and needed something quick and relatively healthy to eat and barely had time each week to fast forward through the Bachelor let alone make it to yoga. My mom was my rock this past year and stepped up in a big way, taking care of a lot of things I just didn’t have time to, especially the home renovation I had going on ON TOP OF my job and my business (can’t wait to share more about this).
Yet, I kept feeling like I couldn’t quit my career. If I’m being 100% honest, I struggled with the notion that I was throwing away my Michigan degree that I worked so hard for. I felt like in order to not waste my degree, I was supposed to have a career job and climb that corporate ladder. I was scared that people would think I gave up or couldn’t handle it if I bowed out. After much soul searching the past year, it finally clicked that being an entrepreneur, growing my own business and working for myself wouldn’t be a waste. It took countless heart to hearts with a few key people in my life for me to realize that my Michigan education didn’t teach me how to do any of the jobs I’ve had since I graduated. Instead, it taught me how to think, how to communicate, how to brainstorm big ideas and how to analyze everything, all of which I use daily in my photography business.
Even though this year was hard and pushed me WAY out of my comfort zone, it was ALL worth it! The feeling of knowing that I built a business with a solid foundation slowly from the ground up that is not only my passion, but able to fully support me as well, is something that I can’t even put into words. I love what I do, I love the amazing relationships I’ve built with all of my clients and I love capturing some of the most important moments in their lives that they will look back on and cherish forever.
I’m so excited for the days to come and to be able to grow my business even more. I have so many exciting things in the works and a clear path defined to where I want to take my business now that I can focus all of my attention on it! So with that my friends, cheers to running full speed ahead after your dreams! xx, Jen
Photos of me: Nicole Marie Photography