Meet Nina Stanis

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

Nina, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

I left Brazil as the owner of the first studio specialized in Newborn photography of my state, and I was also a reference in mentoring other photographers who wanted to do the same type of photography. In this process, I mentored over 700 people. But it all started with me as a simple child in a house where basic necessities were lacking.
In my childhood, I believed I would experience great things, even when situations were unfavorable, but “no” was never the end for me. I fought for the things I believed in! Back then, leaving the country and speaking another language was something very distant from my reality; my parents didn’t have the money to pay for language courses. So, I had to learn English on my own and used to sell sweets treats at school to make money for an exchange program.
I consider small achievements as important as big ones. With my small goals at age of 9, like buying an ice cream with my one money or going on a trip with my school group, I understood that I could go further. I started thinking: “What if I do bigger things?”. As my dreams grew bigger, people discouraged me from my purpose. After all, leaving Brazil is something for rich people.
What I heard most along the way was that great successes, like Walt Disney, went bankrupt, tried, and didn’t always get it right the first time. Dreaming big or small takes the same effort, so it’s better to face the difficult thing you want than the difficult thing everyone else is already doing. I feel that this is where my resilience began. It took many years of dedication to get closer to this dream. Things don’t happen overnight, so the goal is reinforced with each stage overcome.
I spent five years working to be able to leave Brazil for the first time and see America. On that trip, I bought my professional camera. Throughout my life, I liked many things but hadn’t yet fallen in love with anything. Photography filled this gap of satisfaction and even gave me a profession; this was a new opportunity to continue with more purpose.
After I found photography, I didn’t start knowing everything. It was a long journey to perfect the technique. To become a good professional, I had to make mistakes many times before things started to flow. It’s very easy for people to look from the outside and think that everything is resolved, but they weren’t there from the beginning!
We often compare our backstage with other people’s main stage, but only we know the work required to achieve a goal.
At this moment, my resilience encountered a new obstacle, and I needed to work hard to continue believing that I deserved these achievements.
I was surrounded by people who weren’t like me, even with media appearances, receiving awards, photographing celebrities’ children, filling mentoring classes, making money… I encountered a barrier at conferences because my students were invited to talk about my techniques, about the things I taught, but I was rarely invited to speak in the first person. As if me speaking in my own voice wasn’t valid enough given the experience that was shared. After all, what does a Black, Brazilian, and poor girl know about such an elitist type of photography? Not even my clients looked like me.
After visiting Canada, Argentina, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland… and being well-recognized in Brazil, I decided to start over in the United States. Before moving permanently, I visited the country 19 times. All of them legally, to learn or experience something new. During these visits, I realized that it was time to broaden my horizons and go to a place where I felt like I belonged.
My intention in proposing a Traveling Studio for newborn photography was to make the recording of a baby’s first days accessible. All families deserve to be documented and to feel valued.
I don’t believe that my learning moment with resilience is over; this is a construction that we need to cultivate at different moments in life. But I can say that it was worth giving voice to every desire of my heart.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I have a travel studio for newborn sessions and im offering sessions all over US upon request, but fixed schedules in NYC, NJ , MA, NH , CT , Tampa and Orlando

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Not be scared to dream big
resilience
Find joy in the process.. I am happy all over the making, not just with the result.

The advice would be , be humble to learn from others and dive in .. The most passion and time you dedicate to something faster will gonna grow

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

Restar is always a huge obstacle, even when you already have the skill. This is why im sharing my path in this new beginning, to show every step of the why, and things that people that are new, starting from the beginning can and should do.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ninastanis.com/newborn50off#ls-5XEYwPNrHBq4hHQaLomzES
• Instagram: https://ninastanis.com/newborn50off#ls-5XEYwPNrHBq4hHQaLomzES
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NinaStanisFotografiaNewborn
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/foreverbabystudios/

Image Credits

@foreverbabystudios / @ninastanis