October 2012
1 post
4 tags
41st Monday: Love your accomplishments
Here I am. I survived.
A lot has changed after my big leap back in January.
I’ve worked hard.
Seven is my number. Seven days a week. For seven months. I’ve had over 200 clients. Big and small and furry.
But seven months of madness has taught me a good lesson or two about doing what I do.
Or let’s make it three. Top three.
One. Inspiration isn’t hidden in other...
April 2012
1 post
8 tags
Eighteenth Monday: "Not a day goes by without me...
I think about happiness every single day.
I think about it in general and what it means to me. I think about peace and happiness and how happiness comes with peace.
And vice versa.
Not a day goes by without me thinking about my business. And how very dear it is to me. I can’t say I was unhappy in my day-job, before starting as a full-time photographer, but I wasn’t happy either.
...
March 2012
4 posts
13 tags
Thirteenth Monday: "Life is too short to be an...
I’ve worked in places where the only right way to work was to be busy. Or at least look busy. Sometimes I wanted to take some time outside the office to think or plan but after realizing I was getting the evil eye, I buried the idea.
I hated the meetings where diary pages were turned dramatically. Every single meeting rolled out to the table. Sighs huffed too loudly. The joy had left the building...
12 tags
Twelfth Monday: "I like the idea that my life...
I’ve never considered myself as a very hardworking person. I’ve seen and felt myself more like a procrastinator who works her butt off before every single deadline.
And it hasn’t really bothered me. Until I decided to leap.
I was brought up knowing that the way to success isn’t dreaming. It’s doing. But would the rule apply to me too? I was a bit worried about this procrastination of mine...
13 tags
Eleventh Monday: "I've always been good with...
I’ve always been good with money.
I was 9 years old when I purchased my very own stereo with my very own money. I saved my weekly allowances and birthday money for two years. I made mum bought me candy and toys so that I wouldn’t had to use my pennies for those ancillary things.
So when the day finally came and we went to our local department store I had only one question in mind. Should the...
12 tags
Tenth Monday: "It’s a little bit like gardening....
Hello crazy March. I have been waiting for you. And fearing for you. Now that you’re here, I don’t know how to be with you.
I enjoyed the slowness of the first two months as a full-time photographer. Shoot here, another one there. Not too much to do. Enjoyable amount of doings every day. I didn’t set the alarm to wake me. I woke up myself.
But hello March who is going to teach me the lesson of...
February 2012
4 posts
11 tags
Ninth Monday: "I used to get paid doing something...
It took me this long to be able to enjoy spur of the moment thingies with my friends in the middle of the day. Today we went to Vapiano (yes, Helsinki has one) and ate pasta. You know the kind of pasta that makes you feel really good. That is salty and spicy and tasty all the way. And why did it taste so good?
Because I wasn’t feeling guilty.
I got so used to working from 9 to 5 (well, in my case...
11 tags
Eighth Monday: "I'm afraid what they'd think."
”Why do you do things like everyone else if you want to stand out?”
”Because I’m afraid what they would think.”
”Who?”
”Well… Umm… Other photographers.”
”Other photographers? Shouldn’t you be more worried about your clients?”
At that moment I saw the biggest ”yes” of my life so far.
Breakfast: Dish of 4-corn porridge with milk, glass of Orange juice, self-baked roll ( I should vary my meals,...
9 tags
Seventh Monday: "I don't work in order to amuse...
I gave myself a task. I wanted to fractionate the five most important things that guide my decision making as a creative business owner. This is what I came up with.
First thing. Business means growth. Nobody is a full-time photographer (I hope) without thinking about growing his or her business. So, every decision I make, has to profit me somehow. Profit doesn’t always mean more money; it can...
9 tags
Sixth Monday: "It’s often harder to make a living...
I don’t believe we Finns are taught to think outside the box, really. I feel like our school system supports an idea of a world that exists inside a box.
Between four walls. No exits.
But every now and then someone crazy looks for an emergency one.
In order to step outside the box to the world that is bigger than the box itself. That is outside one’s lovely little comfort zone. That is a bit...
January 2012
5 posts
13 tags
Fifth Monday: "At 4 am the Universe is different."
January went by slowly. ”Do you think January has lasted longer than other months?” I queried from a friend. This was the thing I kept wishing for back when I had a day job. That the time would go by more slowly.
But the more slowly the time goes by the more anxious and stressed I get. I am too aware of the challenges I need to conquer and I even become slightly scared of them. I’d like to...
8 tags
Fourth Monday: "I cannot work seven days a week...
I’m procrastinating for the first time as a full-time photographer.
We flew back from Italy late last Saturday night. I worked the whole week through reading emails, compiling blog posts, shooting, editing, shooting, publishing my Third Monday scribble.
But this is what I was scared of.
What I learned in my previous life, as a Uni student, as an NGO worker, as a two full-time jobs performer is...
9 tags
Third Monday: "Take the call, gain a client. Miss...
I don’t recall doing much homework when I was in school. I did the minimum and after that went outside to build a hut or stayed in reading books (Nancy Drew!) or writing long stories that ended happily. I loved being adventurous in a serene way and homework never quite fit to this picture.
Right now I’m laying on a hotel bed in Bormio, Northern Italy. I’m literally homeworking, doing work related...
8 tags
Second Monday: "I have a good feeling about this...
It was love at first sight. The new rhythm and I.
To wake up at 8 am is lots better than to be up just after six. To go to bed after your favorite TV show is lots more entertaining than hit the sack without watching it.
It was love at first sight and I really couldn’t believe it could happen to me.
And by the look on some people’s faces they couldn’t either.
I guess we Finns are a...
8 tags
First Monday: "Dreams are never dull."
I love morning food. I think it’s fair to say I live to eat breakfasts and brunches. To drink good coffee and sometimes tea. I’m always excited to try out new cafés that wait brunch. And how about hotel breakfasts then? Well, for me it’s pretty much the same as finding a humongous pile of presents under the tree on Christmas morning is for a five year old.
Now you see why Monday...
December 2011
1 post
8 tags
Start.
This weblog takes off Jan 2nd 2012. It’s a personal blog that belongs to the Finnish photographer Nani Härkönen (owner/photographer at Nani Annette Photography). Please, take a look at her work on her photography blog or in Facebook.
In this blog Nani writes about her first year as a full-time photographer. As an entrepreneur. Ups. Downs. The betweens. With the help of these ramblings Nani...
