We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lyn Stevens. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lyn below.
Hi Lyn, so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risks.
Taking risks is part of my DNA. A simple answer, that likely does not make much sense, to a question that is far more complex. I was born into a dairy farming family in rural Wisconsin. My Great Grandfather, Grandfather, and Father were all dairy farmers. Risk and uncertainty were a daily part of the farming process, and this is the lifestyle that I was raised in. As a child, I learned earlier than most, the Importance of hard work. I learned that when one way of doing things doesn’t work out, to pivot and try doing the same thing another way, to get the same end results. I learned the value of a dollar, and learned that all things in life are uncertain, but if I am willing to push through the “hard stuff”, the end results can turn out amazing.
My father has said that the probability of winning a huge State Lottery Jackpot is far easier than it is to be a farmer.
My father also said that his cows produced more milk when they listened to music. The radio was always on during barn chores, and this began my life-long love affair with radio and with music.
After high school, I enrolled into a radio broadcasting school. I was one of 14 students, the year that I attended and only two of us were female. During the very first day of class, the instructor told us that half of us would never graduate. Instead of letting this negativity derail me from my dream of working in radio, I dug in, worked hard, and was one of six that graduated from my class. Working hard alongside my family as they took risks in farming gave me the ability to confidently know that if I worked hard and took a risk, something amazing could happen.
I carried this work ethic with me throughout my time working in radio. I took some risks, saw some results and whenever I had someone tell me I couldn’t do something, my parents were right there saying “why not? do it anyway”.
The next risk that I took was a big one. After 15 years of working in radio, I decided to dive deeper into the music industry, by moving across the country to Nashville, TN. I moved to a city that was packed full of thinkers, creators, dreamers, and innovators, and I wanted to be one of them.
Everyone in Nashville is talented, so I knew that I would need to continue to learn, grow, and work hard. I never managed to secure a job in radio, so I took one of those life lessons learned in my youth, and I pivoted.
During the first few years of living in Nashville, I attended songwriting rounds on a regular basis. I had bought a camera, and would practice using it, by taking photos of the performing artists. I started to get asked to do photo shoots for artists that I met along the way and despite not having any formal photography training, I took a risk and jumped in anyway by saying yes.
In 2014, country music icons, Little Texas, took a risk by asking an unknown photographer to shoot the album cover for their first album in seven years. I went on to win a Nashville Independent Music Award (NIMA) for this album cover in 2015. I would go on to win the NIMA again in 2016 and 2017 for my photography work within the indie music scene in Nashville.
In 2017, Art Gallery Owner Olga Alexeeva pushed me to print some of my photos and sell them at O’Gallery, her art gallery in downtown Nashville, so again I said yes and started to sell photos of Nashville to tourists.
Photography work started to become steadier, I had photo shoots, documented recording sessions, and even went on two international tours as the photographer and road manager for Blues /Rock artist Travis Bowlin. Then Covid happened.
The Covid Pandemic shut down all aspects of the creative arts for the better part of two years. Once again, I took a risk and I pivoted. I knew that my photography prints had the potential to sell, since they sold at the art gallery. Early last year, I decided to dive in deeper and began to sign up for art show vendor booths in the greater Nashville area.
Each time that I spend hours preparing for one of these shows, I run the risk of not selling anything. I am still getting my name out there more with networking, and displaying my art. The hope is that as I increase my visibility, sales will also increase with my art. In taking the risk of pursuing fine art photography, I have become immersed in this wonderful artistic community of thinkers, creators, dreamers, and innovators, and I am now one of them.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a music photographer, who has pivoted into fine art photography, since the covid-19 pandemic. I still go out and do music shoots, but my primary focus since last year, has been on creating and selling fine art photography at art shows in and around Nashville, Tennessee. I am a social butterfly by nature, so my being able to regularly interact with the public is quite invigorating, for someone like me. Being able to interact in person also helps guide me down the path of what type of photos I should print to sell. I have not yet figured out the true art of social media marketing, and I am currently trying to teach myself how to use the backend of my website, so that I can make updates on my website myself. All of this is still a work in progress, so I look a bit of a mess right now if you were to google me. I am proud to say that one of my photographs has been hanging up at GEODIS Park this entire year (Professional Soccer Stadium in Nashville, TN). My artwork is spotlighted and can be bought through the end of October2023 at Nook, a home decor store found at 11853 Lebanon Road Mount Juliet, Tennessee. I also recently attended my first Board of Directors meeting for the Arts Council of Williamson County in Franklin, Tennessee.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1) A strong work ethic will always help you, no matter what it is you want to do in life.
2) Follow your passion, the rest will eventually fall into place.
3) When things get hard and seem impossible, keep going! This is the point when you finally get to the good stuff, after pushing through the wall of hard stuff.
There will always be people in your life who will tell you not to follow your path. They will say it is hard. They will say you can’t do it. They will be wrong.
Surround yourself with like-minded people and ask them questions whenever you can do so.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
My mom taught me that if you can dream it, you can do it. No matter how crazy my ideas have been over the years, no matter how many people have said to me “you can’t do that” my mom said, “sure you can”. She taught me to be an outside of the box thinker, taught me to be strong, and independent, and taught me to be bold.
My dad taught me to have a strong work ethic. He also taught me that when something is not working out as planned, to pivot my way of thinking and try a different way, to get the same end result. He also taught me to be an outside of the box thinker and to never give up.
Even more impactful, they believed that I could do anything that I set my mind to, and then they became my biggest cheerleaders.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lynstevensphotography.com
- Instagram: lyn.stevens
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LynStevensPhotography23/
Image Credits
Cam Volkert Judy Rodman Lyn Stevens
