Introducing

Gyan

Wedding Photographer /

Entrepreneur

On Childhood

What did you want to be when you were a kid?

It’s a cliche answer. I wanted to be a doctor. It was just what was expected of me as I was good at my studies. I was quite academic growing up so people always told me to be a doctor, I don’t think I ever stopped to think what I specifically wanted for me.

How did you grow up to like Photography?

I started photography with my dad’s phone when I moved to the UK at 15. I eventually bought my first DSLR after GCSE results in the summer from my first job. I did photography as a fun way to explore my creativity. At the same time, I used to volunteer at a charity shop and every time I’d find really interesting, wacky things, I’d use them as props to do photoshoots with my friends and post on my blog. I never studied photography as a subject, I just taught myself through practice and the internet. I wanted to go into the medicine field until that point but when I started A-Levels and with my interest in photography around the time, I realised that Medicine was a pipe dream that my parents wanted me to go to but it wasn’t for me.

At University

What did you study at University and why?

I studied Psychology at university as it was my favourite subject at A levels. I was considering pursuing photography full time but I wasn’t brave enough as I was only 17 and didn’t quite know how I would be able to have it as a proper career. My parents wanted me to study medicine so I felt like choosing Psychology was a halfway point of keeping them happy and also doing something I enjoyed. I initially considered working in therapy and mental health but never realised that photography would work out later on.

Start of your career

What was your first job and how was it like?

During my third year at university, I applied to a graduate scheme called Teach First - an educational charity that offered recent graduates Teacher Training while placing them in a full time teacher role at schools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. At this point, I had decided not to pursue counselling or further studies anymore and the Teach First scheme appealed to me because it was just a 2 year programme, without the commitment to the particular career of teaching. I used to work with children with learning difficulties and volunteered with elderly during college so thinking back, it made natural sense for me to go into teaching. This job would allow me to have a role that I could make a difference in.

I was given Maths as the subject to teach as there was a shortage of STEM teachers and I qualified for it with my BSc degree and Maths A-Level. While it wouldn’t have been my first choice of subject, I was really motivated by the opportunity to make a difference and have such a fulfilling role. However, I soon realised that my skill sets would best suit outside the classroom. I found the pressure of teaching full time while also completing the Post Grad in Education very challenging and most days I was miserable and unhappy. I decided to leave the job after a year to work at a Youth charity.

You started working at a Youth Charity, how was the transition like?

It was a smooth transition as I had already done a previous summer role with them while I was at university. I didn’t want to jump into a new career instantly and wanted to take my time, so this new role which was only seasonal was the best transition for me. I was Programme Leader for National Citizen Service for 15-17 year olds in a 3-4 weeks programme to build their confidence, skills and empower them to be active citizens in their local communities. My role was to oversee and pastorally support a group of 70-80 young people at a time through the programme, manage my team of 5-8 staff and ensure the delivery of the programme curriculum. My teaching experience was very helpful for this, and I was able to see how much more enjoyable and fulfilling I found the role when it was in a less formal setting and with the older age group.

After this, I spent 3 months in Zimbabwe volunteering with International Citizen Service, a UK government programme that provides placements for young people aged 18-25 to volunteer abroad. You work as part of a team and live with a local host family. Whilst in Zimbabwe, our work was mainly with street children and also delivering awareness raising programmes for the local schools. I had never been to Africa before and it was a great opportunity to have more work and travel experience while I was still figuring out what I wanted to do, I guess I unintentionally had a delayed gap year.

After coming back from the trip, I decided to go into the field of International Development but found myself disheartened with the job application process. When you’re in an interview being asked what motivates you, you really learn what it is you desire. I decided that it was time I pursued photography and give it a chance, what did I have to lose anyway? As the universe would have it, as soon as I made that decision, I was approached for a job. Ironically, this was a role I had already interviewed for and was initially rejected, but they contacted me again to offer a 4 month contract this time. It was perfect for me to take so I could invest in starting up my photography business and support myself in the mean time. Often, you really can’t plan for the serendipities life has for you.

How did you start as a wedding photographer?

I started my photography business in 2016. Having done it as a hobby for so long and with the online presence of my photography blog and instagram, I had the advantage of having an audience who already knew me as a photographer. I made a website and got my first few clients through word of mouth in the Nepalese community. I did those weddings while I was still working for the youth charity.

Word of mouth and building my network of personal & professional contacts really helped push the business forward at the beginning.

Typical work day

What does a typical work day look like?

There isn't a typical work day.

Being a photographer, its ironic you don’t actually shoot a lot, you are mostly at home, doing marketing. I had to learn a lot of new skills to market, be good at sales, branding, google and SEO along with learning how to invest in myself and how to charge for the work. In this industry, you have to stand out. I was confident with the technical side of photography, so I mostly focused on building my business skills by listening to entrepreneurial and business podcasts. Any webinar that was free, I did it!

I always wanted to find a quicker way to get to where I wanted to be and I researched a lot in the early days on successful photographers and invested in workshops. At the beginning, while I didn’t have many bookings, I persevered and networked a lot, connected to loads of people on instagram and this was where I spent a majority of my day.

Fast forward to now, I am working on 2-3 businesses, it depends on what I am focusing on that day. With COVID right now, it's mostly marketing or admin for the photography side of business, most days I’m working with clients on 1:1 branding sessions or Inner Voice sessions that I offer currently offer.

What you find enjoyable and challenging at work?

I enjoy the marketing and branding side of things as it comes down to psychology at the end of the day and that’s what I am intrigued by the most. When you have a creative business, it's more about building your style and your unique perspective, whether it's your editing or your shooting style. I would even say the photography is not technical anymore, it's more about your vision and how you see the world and how you are going to interpret the event that could be moody, romantic and therefore, once you have the technical confidence, the success of your business depends more on getting your branding right and how you are going to stand out on the market.

One of the challenging aspects of being self employed is that, you don’t have a boss. We are conditioned to work in a structured, office environment where there is a hierarchy and expectations of us. When you are your own boss, there is none of that and it can be challenging at the beginning to know what to focus on or what you’re supposed to. You learn as you go! There isn’t the structure of stability of a secure job and regular income, but having more freedom with your time and getting to earn a living by doing something you love makes it all worth it.

Motivation at work

What keeps you motivated at work?

I went straight into the deep end and started working full time on my wedding photography even when I only had 2 clients. That in itself motivated me so much in my first year as I had no back up plan and I needed to make this work somehow. As you progress further and the foundation has been laid, there is more word of mouth and more people know of your work. You start getting more clients with less hustle.

After running the business for 4 years, it has given me so much clarity about what my life means to me and have narrowed it down to two things: I want to empower people to be themselves and I want to help people realise their capacity for joy. I just want to be myself and empower people to access so much joy that is available to everyone at any moment.

I have to enjoy what I am doing and there has to be a purpose behind my tasks.

That is essentially my motivation right now.

When I was struggling so much in teaching and spent so long being confused what career I’m supposed to do, I would have never imagined myself being successful at photography. It doesn't matter what you do, you don't need to have one career, it's perfectly acceptable to have a portfolio of roles. Having an idea of what impact you want to have, can steer you towards the role you want right now. It doesn’t have to be permanent. Everything always adds up.

Future plans

What are your future plans in terms of your career?

I used to be meticulous with yearly goals and business plans but I’m shifting to a different way of being. I don’t have any plans at the moment. The slow pace of 2020 has made me realise that work is only meaningful if it can bring me joy. I am always flexible in letting go of my expectations and remain open to different ways in which I can fulfill my purpose and enjoy while doing it. My intention for my career is to have it be more digital based in the coming years and that I only want to work just a few days a week.

As for personal plans, I do want to do more travelling. I dream of backpacking for 4 -5 months across South America but with covid and lockdown, who knows? My commitments are always shifting, and I’m not restricting myself to a timeline. My aim is to decrease my work hours to as little as possible, whether it is by outsourcing to a virtual assistant or build a team and to enjoy the things I do more. When I do this, it seems to get me more clients every time. Law of Attraction is working for me, you could say :)

Advice

Any advice to someone who wants to start in a career in marketing?

Specifically in the creative field, it helps to know what kind of work you want to create.

For something like photography, it is good to explore different styles and mediums, and figure out which you enjoy the most. For me, I started by exploring portraits with a conceptual and experimentation style which later on evolved to whimsical romantic photos. When I started my business, this made it easy to pursue weddings as I already loved the style of photos I would be able to create with weddings..

It's similar to graphic design or fashion design, you would have a focus on certain niches. In your craft, you’ll be familiar with the different niches and you already know your niche by the particular artists you follow and what you are intuitively drawn to. In illustration, you already know the style of how you want to illustrate, whether its colourful or minimal. Once you know that, you want to be good at that one thing and be really known for that. Whenever someone is looking for a graphic designer for a certain style, you can be their first choice on that rather than a generalist.

Passion

Anything you would like to share besides work?

Let yourself be surprised. Don't be limited, always be ready to expand your horizons and be open to possibilities.

Travel the world if you can, meet people who are different from you. When I started my business, I got to know and networked with people from so many different places and you learn so much. It helps to broaden your horizon.

In terms of what I am doing right now, I help people find more joy in their life by connecting them with their intuition through Inner Voice sessions. You could say it's a similar modality to hypnotherapy. I get my clients beyond their conscious mind and hold space for connection with their higher self, their inner being. I also run another business Branding For Souls, through which I design websites and help spiritually inclined entrepreneurs build a brand that is aligned with their soul.

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