We recently connected with Shemara “Kandyy” Pittman and have shared our conversation below.
Shemara “Kandyy”, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
How did I find my purpose? It kind of found me, when my mother was pregnant with me my godmother told her that the child she’s carrying would make an impact on lives of others and that I would have a calling over my life to help others. For as long as I can remember I’ve always been one to help everyone in some kind of way, others has always found comfort in coming to me for advice or help with things and it’s like people are drawn to me. I’ve always loved finding the light in everything and seeing the glass half full vs empty and I’ve enjoyed trying to help others see the positive of things as well which is my gift so when I see things I try to find beauty in all that’s why I’ve always loved taking pictures of so many things so that I can share it with others so they too can see that beauty. When I decided to become a photographer the name came easy because I have a gift of seeing beauty in things and I wanted to share that gift with the world so now my business name came about as Gifted Lenses because my lenses and my eyes are gifted.
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 live in Charlotte NC originally from Rocky Mount NC. I moved to Charlotte in 2018 after my mom passed, my girlfriend and I became sister-moms to my younger sister who we continued to raise and sent off to college.
When moving to charlotte I started exploring the city taking photos of everything I also grabbed a few bookings starting out as well which helped further get my business name circulating in this new city. My brand grew more and I loved it! I started to get bookings for birthday shoots, product launches, album cover shoots and grand openings! Everyone loved the pictures I took and the energy I brought and the best thing about this was I’m doing it all with my iPhone! Which is why my gift is so special because you’d never know it was taken with a phone. I do plan to get a camera soon so that I can gravitate into bigger photoshoots, I’ve had so many bookings I wanted to take but was restricted to certain areas and times due to me using a phone instead of camera so now I want to get a camera so I’d have a flash to be able to do more photoshoots without restrictions.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Three qualities or skills that were most impactful in my journey I think would be my optimism, my eye for beauty and my kindness. My advice to others in there journey would be to stay true to yourself, be kind to others and never stop following your dreams no matter who has more or how long they’ve been in it before you
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 was believe in me, lived life to the fullest and never gave up.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.giftedlensesphotography.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giftedlenses?igsh=MThsNjJxcThwYjBnNQ==
Image Credits
Gifted Lenses Photography
