Discovering My Why

Do you love your job? Do you wake up most mornings and feel fulfilled by the work you do? If so, hats off to you, my friend! I’m happy you have found your passion! Or are you someone who desires something more? You may feel unfulfilled, not knowing what you want to do, but that you should be doing something else. This is exactly how I felt. I knew I wanted something more, but it took a life-changing event to discover my true dream and discover my “why.”

In 2017, I received my first professional camera and began taking pictures as a hobby for friends, family, and the occasional paying client. After a couples years of shooting, I still never imagined that I would want to go full-time because I was content in my day job as an Events Manager. I had ambitions to climb that “corporate ladder”, become the best that I could be in event management, and maybe one day receive a director title.

Fast-forward a bit, and COVID-19 hits. To my surprise, during this time I found myself the happiest and healthiest I had ever been. I began taking more photos for not just my family and friends, but more paying clients and I was loving every second of it. I started second shooting for weddings once they were permitted again, exercised daily, and ate better than my normal routine of getting home at 7:00pm from work, cooking something easy, and eating ice cream because it had been a rough day.

Enter here – mindset shift.

I debated with many internal thoughts like,

What if I could actually do this full-time?

No way, there are already so many photographers I would never be successful.

But what if.

I went round n’ round for months with myself, and my now husband, on the possibility of taking this passion and side hustle and turning it into a sustainable career. I dove deep into educational books, photographer podcasts and YouTube channels, attended workshops, and so much more. Before I knew it, I was no longer dreaming of becoming a director of the department. Paige Danielle Photography had become a much bigger dream and was shaping into a reality.

Buy why, why leave a reliable career to pursue the unreliable and very scary road to entrepreneurship? It’s simple, I want to do what I love. I get SO much joy from taking photographs, mingling with your loved ones on your wedding day, and getting genuine giggles from your kiddos during your family session. I get even more joy when I know that you love your images and are proud to hang them in your home.

I want to take photos for beautiful, amazing couples and families beaming with light and give them images that they can cherish for generations to come. Delivering beautiful photos is the idea, right? Yes, but I want to deliver beautiful photos that bring you back to the first-time your grandma saw you in your wedding dress, or when your little baby was just six months old. These photos are  a lasting memory of a time  that in 10, 20, 30 years from now you look at with a happy tear in your eye. I want to build a community of amazing people, recently married couples that are willing to share their support and encouragement to the newly engaged, and a place that I can wake up to every morning grateful for those who have let me into their life to capture these special memories.

So the better question is WHY NOT?

Here it is, the FIRST ever PDP blog… Woop woop! If you’ve read this far, THANK YOU!  I hope you’ve enjoyed a real and honest peek into the beginnings of Paige Danielle Photography, and I hope you stick around and join me in this journey.

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Until next time,

Paige