Meet Melanie Chaponan

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Melanie Chaponan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Melanie, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

My mom has always been my idol honestly. Being a single mother and being able to raise me after coming to a country she knew nothing about? That took so much courage and I thank her so much for doing that for me. I can only imagine how scary that must’ve been. Seeing how strong and independent she is, made me who I am today. She worked so much when I was younger and never stopped until she got what she wanted and was able to give me essentially what I wanted too. She also never failed to show me that it takes hard work to get what you want in life and to not give up even when times are rough. Fast forward to now, I have 3 jobs and work 7 days out of the week to make my dreams and my
moms dreams come true! I owe her everything and more for what she has taught me and helped me on. Seeing her work tirelessly inspires me every day and lets me know that I too can reach my goals if I set my mind to it.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

My name is Melanie, or “Mel” for short. I am a photographer and I specialize in portraits such as birthdays, graduation, engagement, maternity, family, and your fur babies! I also do special events such as holiday parties, birthday parties, quinceañera’s, weddings, etc. I love dancing and singing even though my singing is absolutely terrible, and my co-workers remind me every day. So even at sessions, I take my speaker, play some music for you and will most likely sing/dance while I’m there! I’m proud of how far I’ve made it with my small business and continue to move forward. There have been many times where I have thought about giving up. I know this may sound cliché, but… whatever you have your heart set to, DO IT and DO NOT give up. It is amazing seeing something that you created grow so much. Soon I will be having a giveaway for a photoshoot, make sure to watch my socials!

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?

Having a business can be hard, but definitely not impossible! Discipline I believe is one of the most impactful qualities I had to develop along the way. Keeping up with your marketing, your bookings, your turnaround times for returning galleries to clients. It’s so easy to start procrastinating but my advice would be to make a to-do list every day that you have to finish, it is so easy to start procrastinating. Another quality that may also go along with discipline is, time-management. I currently have 3 jobs, and time management is one of the biggest things for me. I like managing my stuff weeks or even months in advance honestly. My planner helps me so much with keeping everything on track. I have multiple to do lists there, as far as daily, monthly and yearly ones. A third quality I would say that was also very impactful is communication. Having consistent communication with you and your clients on your bookings on the day of the event, etc.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

I’ve learned about the importance of expressing your emotions and setting boundaries through my two supervisors at my day job. Sonia and Erika. I feel like before I met them, I was really shy about setting boundaries in all aspects of my life, from my business to personal relationships. I realized detting boundaries is the kindest thing you can do for yourself but for others as well because it helps promote realistic expectations and accountability. Those things are essential when you are dealing with clients as well.

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