We were lucky to catch up with Haley Hansen recently and have shared our conversation below.
Haley, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I think being a photographer has helped me appreciate the uniqueness of people and celebrate differences. I aim to make others feel confident in themselves no matter what, and that has helped me look at myself differently. I think it’s common to be very self-critical, I am no exception of that, but now I have learned to give myself more grace and love myself. I gave birth to two sweet little girls and my body has definitely changed since before I had them, but I am learning to celebrate what my body has gone through and accomplished.
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?
As a photographer I have the opportunity to meet lots of people and build lots of connections. That is one of my favorite parts of what I do. It is so special for me to get to go out and work with people and learn about some of their unique circumstances. I love when my clients are able to feel comfortable enough to tell me their stories and their struggles. It has helped me want to be better as a photographer so I can help them create beautiful, happy moments that they will be able to look back on forever.
What I am really focusing on right now in my business is doing better at making the experience more personalized so my clients can feel more comfortable and have a very positive experience.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think the top three things that helped me the most were probably communication skills, persistence, and obviously learning how to edit well. I have learned that having great communication with the client really helps with establishing expectations and makes things go much more smoothly. Persistence has been very impactful because there were lots of times when I felt like I wasn’t good enough and had people tell me I was going to be one of the photographers that quits in the first two years, but I didn’t give up and I have kept trying to be better. Then editing, I took several different classes and put in a lot of hours to learn how to edit well and that has definitely made a difference in the quality of my work.
My advice to anyone just starting out is to not give up! Also, allow yourself time to make mistakes and to learn. I have made tons of mistakes and I keep learning and improving, so hopefully I can keep getting better.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me is teaching me how to work hard and to take a leap of faith and just try things. My dad has always worked so hard and has never given up. He is always willing to try new things and learn from them. I have seen him take lots of risks and sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn’t. I’m grateful for his example of putting yourself out there and always working hard to provide for his family. My mom is very hardworking and doesn’t ever quit until the job is done. She always gives 100% to everything she does and has helped a lot of people because of that. She has been a great example to me of being persistent and giving whatever you do your best effort.
Contact Info:
- Website: haleyhansenphoto.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haleyhansenphoto/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haleyhansenphoto/
Image Credits
Haley Hanen Photo
