Hobby versus career, how does one know? Did you ever ask yourself that question? This had come up often in my mind over the years while looking for various jobs. It's always been important to me to be doing something that I enjoy, and as I get older something that is meaningful. If there's a choice, why wouldn't everyone choose to do what they enjoy?
As life would have it, after 16 years in a full-time marketing position at a civil engineering firm, I was laid off. My portrait and fine art photography business had been building along-side may day job, and I remember thinking as my manager's words were unfolding to tell me I was being let go, "this is it...my chance to go full time with my business." And that's exactly what I did, enjoying the past seven years as a full-time pet and family portrait photographer.
But wait! I really enjoyed and missed the graphic design portion of my job. Luckily, my business needed marketing material, so I had an outlet. There were various people and organizations who also needed marketing material and I would offer to help graphically with their needs. This included several book and manual design projects that have kept me busy over a number of years.
It wasn't until this past year, though, when I accepted a position with the Professional Photographers Association of New England that I realized how much fun I was having with graphic design. The position started as a newsletter editor but quickly transformed to a publications editor as their newsletter converted to a full magazine. Passion times two!
What fun, exploring new fonts, new styles, new designs, new layouts, etc.! But if I was going to introduce a second career, it would have to allow me flexibility and time for my photography business as well. Enter Graphic Designs by Jean Wozniak and a new website. The tagline? "Visually Stimulating by Design."
So I'm putting my two decades of graphic design, editing skills, and content writing to good use. To be able to feed my need for more graphic design projects, with a flexible schedule to still incorporate my photography, will be a joy.
A portrait photographer and freelance graphic designer? What more could I ask for? Let life unfold, always keep an open mind, and your path will take you to pleasant places.
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