Meet Mio Sison

We were lucky to catch up with Mio Sison recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mio, thank you so much for agreeing to open up about a sensitive and personal topic like being fired or laid-off. Unfortunately, there has been a rise in layoffs recently and so your insight and experience with overcoming being let go is relevant to so many in the community.

I’ve overcome 2 layoffs, and an instance of getting fired in my life.

The first of these instances was at one of the leading research labs in the country, stepping in to replace a long-time hire who ended up leaving to pursue a PhD. I had huge shoes to fill. At the time, I was also enrolled full-time to get my Master’s. To say the least, I maxed out my bandwidth as a professional with such demanding time commitments and effort. After 3 short months of late nights at this lab trying to keep up with the former teammate’s speed that the team was used to, coupled with the demands of a full-time Master’s degree program, I was fired. It was unfortunate that this role did not work out; the exposure to top scientific journals, access to the best researchers in the world, and most importantly the easy translation between my Master’s in Bioinformatics and the possible skills gained from this proteomics lab

I bounced back, reluctantly, into a more robotic lab role. I say reluctantly because my goal at the time was to support my Master’s degree, which involved coding and analysis, not pouring liquids and wiping up a cleanroom. As it turns out, I was good at this manufacturing job. I was promoted twice in record time, and eventually took a role that required me to train and onboard new manufacturing lab associates. I was on track to be paid well with my skillset. Yet, I was pursuing my Master’s full time and graduated – this new role did not do ANY bioinformatics. I eventually was fed up and gambled on myself, taking significantly less pay to transition into more of a coding-heavy role.

This brings me to my next set of layoffs. The role was finally revolving around coding, pharmacometrics specifically. Basically using machine learning models to model the effects of different drugs. Not quite DNA sequence analysis that I learned in grad school, but something close enough for me to be happy. It was a contract role, so not the best insurance or benefits, but there was possibility to have them if I was hired full-time! 6 months in, I find out that the department head at my shiny new job was leaving, ultimately leading to the disbanding of the department. I was essentially given the heads up that I would be laid off.

This was the beginning of the COVID outbreak of 2020 for me. The world shut down, and I was left without a job. To top it off, my girlfriend at the time broke up with me, my grandmother passed away because of COVID, and I tore my achilles training for a marathon. One of the darkest times in my life. 3 months into unsuccessful job searching, I found my dream job.

A job in bioinformatics, that paid the original amount that I had when I left the lab! It was great. I worked on a variety of therapies (now using my Master’s!), including the COVID vaccine. I planned on retiring at this company. I genuinely loved my job and the people I work with. 3 years in, the therapies we were working on that were slated for commercialization failed their final round of FDA clinical trials. There were 3 rounds of layoffs. I made it past the first 2 rounds thinking, “there’s no way I could be laid off, I’ve done so much for my company!” I did end up getting laid off. There was only one spot remaining that my boss could keep, and it ended up being the only PhD on the team. As badly as this sucked, I totally understand why they would choose to keep this particular scientist over me.

I should’ve expected that with this layoff would come additional hurdles to overcome because of my past experience with a layoff. In the same week that I was laid off, my girlfriend at the time broke up with me. A long-term relationship that I thought was going to go all the way to marriage. Like my past experiences with layoffs, I should’ve also considered all of the good that comes after weathering such a heavy storm.

How did I overcome this final layoff? Skiing. Kind of. I managed to ski 67 days the 2023-2024 ski season, knowing that freedom like this would only be short and temporary. I really took advantage of it and am grateful for every day I was able to get out there. The other way I would say I overcame this layoff, was the hunger to get back to the income that I was at in my past life as a scientist, but using my creativity, and thus photography to do so.

After 6 months of unsuccessfully trying to land a job back in the pharma/bioinformatics industry, I decided to pursue photography full time. This would mean no safety net, no insurance, and no prior experience that would prepare me for what would happen in the months following this decision. I went from making 6-figures and being ready to settle down, to border-line starving artist, battling debt from out-of-state tuition from undergrad and graduate programs.

I’ve learned that when you’re that low in life, you can only go up from there. I’m counting on this the next time any significant, negative life changes occur.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am a fine art wedding photographer based in Denver. I specialize in ski weddings, and backcountry ski engagements and elopements. I understand that the wedding and photography industries in Colorado are incredibly saturated, so I think it’s why I have been fortunate to find a niche that not many photographers will consider doing. I mean, it’s kind of wild to think about. You’re flying down a mountain and could be injured at any moment. Or worse, damage your $5000 camera setup!

Outside of ski weddings, I have abruptly discovered a passion for an editorial style of weddings, and photography in general. I love more minimal, modern wedding designs and am drawn to tasteful interior design as well. My history with fashion photography has been short, but it truly has allowed me to be more fluid with the way I pose my clients, really making them feel like models.

I also run a frame shop out of Thrive Workplace in the Ballpark neighborhood of Denver. I’m really excited to offer this product to my clients. It’s definitely a unique offering compared to other frame shops; I don’t offer a million options or colors for your custom frame. It’s literally just going to be a black aluminum frame, with a 6-inch or 8-inch mat, depending on what the image needs. I love how simple and minimalist the options are. They are timeless and will be built to truly archive your memories with museum-quality materials.

Another thing I’m working on is my art show, partnering with Fulton Market Gallery. I’m highlighting local businesses and people that have helped me get to where I am with my photography business. I wanted to call it ELEMENT, because I’m fascinated with where people work; where they’re most in their ELEMENT. The title of the show is subject to change as I complete the series. This summer, I had the crazy idea of swapping the business owner, with a dog! Specifically, pups that are having trouble being adopted. It’s been a challenge to pose canines, especially if the owner adopted them from a shelter. I’m confident that I’ll be able to get the shot that I need with dogs from a shelter in the future.

The final thing I’ll share about what I’m working on, is the collaboration between ArtLink, Dark Matter Media Group, Cirrus, Photomaki Photography, Fulton Market Gallery, and Thrive Workplace. We plan to launch exciting things in 2025 with our new residence in the “Arts Wing” of the coworking space. Keep an eye out for events, photography studio specials, and most importantly, a new way to share and collect art.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Continuous Improvement.

I am an ideas person. A major exporter of ideas and schemes. Why can’t we do it this way? Let’s try it out and see what happens. Can we make it better? This applies both in business and when I am out shooting photos. Am I able to climb up this ladder to get a vantage point that no one else has had at this venue? Can my photos be edited this way or that way? I’m always curious about my camera settings, so this made me want to understand my camera more and more to ensure I get the perfect shot. Continuous Improvement for me was learned in the lab, where we were always trying to optimize the process for manufacturing cell therapies. What I have learned to do recently was collect more data about my business, which I can then use to figure out which knobs to turn or levers to pull.

Perspective.

Having been a scientist in pharma, and being raised by second-generation immigrant parents who guided me away from creative occupations, I never thought I would be a creative or have a way to make money using my creativity. This was an important quality that I’ve really leaned into since starting my photography business. At first, I hated that I had a past career in biological sciences. Why couldn’t I have started out as a creative like everyone else? I’d be so much better at my job! Now, I am grateful for that experience because of this fresh perspective that I have when taking photographs. Not having been classically trained in the arts has allowed me to fully experience my profession as a photographer with a lens (pun intended) that’s fresh, new, and exciting.

Professionalism.

I was racking my brain about what this third quality would be, but having heard from my clients and other tenants at the Thrive coworking space rave about my professionalism recently, I realized how much of an impact this had on the growth of my business. Kind of leaning back into the ‘perspective’ quality in the aforementioned paragraph, but spending time in Corporate America/Big Pharma, I truly do have an increased awareness of professionalism and client experience. I also spent 4-5 years as a wedding caterer, so I also offer a more hospitable approach when it comes to professionalism.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I am looking to partner and collaborate with wedding planners and vendors that want to be more involved in weddings on the resort or in the backcountry. Obviously it’s incredible to be photographing a wedding at a ski resort, but there are not many people that are trained or willing to enter the backcountry. I want to be introduced to couples that want to be photographed doing this sport that we know and love, skiing and snowboarding, but I also want to meet the couples that love to hike up, and ski down in their wedding attire. If you’re a wedding vendor that thinks they can create wedding-related items that can withstand an uphill ski tour and downhill photoshoot, let me know! Think – wedding florals that would be able to handle wind and snow, but still look pretty in the bride’s hair, or even a wedding dress that can double as a snowsuit, or even a floral arch that’s packable and can be sturdy enough to handle a summit ceremony at the couple’s favorite mountain!

If you want to talk more about this topic, I would love to meet you! Please add me on instagram @_photomaki or send me an email at me@miosison.com. I would love to spread the stoke and ski with you too!

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