We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stacy Baron a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Stacy , 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 get my resilience from my mother. Learning about what my mom went through to create a life here in the states as an immigrant and became a successful business owner. She overcame traumas early in her life and then battled her cancer at the end of her life, yet always was determined to have kids and be a good provider and supporter until the end. Everytime I went through a difficult time, I thought about my mother getting out of much worse and thinking about her telling me that i was even smarter and better off to handle anything
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 went to college switching from Marine Biology to Radio/TV/Film. When I graduated, one of my longest jobs was being an audio/visual associate at the Aquarium of the Pacific. It was the first time i began photographing animals in a more professional way. After a few years, I began working in the TV industry until my mom got sick. I became her caregiver until she passed away. After her passing I took a break from the TV/Film industry and took a job at my apartment complex. I was depressed over my mom and going through a divorce, and the only thing that got me up when i wasn’t working, was volunteering for a dog rescue and photographing them. I bought a simple light kit and started promoting myself as a pet photographer. I started to get some clients and then I submitted a photo of my sister’s dog that became popular and won awards at every contest i entered it in. Other photos that have been recognized in contests have been street photos of the Mexico/US border, womens march, and protected plants. One of the greatest honors was photographing my friend, Traci Asher during her chemotherapy sessions and her post surgery portraits for her book, 1 Cancer Patient.
I recently paired with H.O.P.E. rescue of Upland, CA to work on their upcoming fundraising calendar. I photographed 6 animals for the calendar and are currently being processed into the layout. It’s working with other resilient and generous people like the animal lovers who foster and fight to assist animals, and my friend Traci, who has won 3 battles of cancer, that inspire me to keep going no matter how hopeless a situation can be.
I have my website where I recently set up an online shop for my photos as well as merchandise featuring my photos. I will also be posting dates for the calendar and my next exhibit.
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?
Resilience, empathy, and the openess to accept change and learn new things. There are many people with strict plans that are able to stay the course and accomplish their goals smoothly. It needs to be known, that it’s manageable when plans get put on hold or you find out you are better at something else. Accepting that there are situations out of your control, and the better you are at accepting them and pushing through, the quicker you will get to obtaining the big goals. It’s easy to get stuck and waste time grieving the decisions that slowed you down or resenting the events that stopped you for awhile. I am still working to make my photography a full income career, while going to back to school for my Master’s. I had been thinking about going back to school but kept feeling bad about what that would say about not having done that in my 20s. Realizing that i was still thinking about it 10 years later when I could have been way past that goal, was what made think that there is still time and I can’t waste another minute. I also started viewing more modern photoshop tutorials to update my editing skills and started taking photos of my dog and kids in between jobs to continue evolving as a photographer.
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?
The main obstacle has been the life events my husband and I have been dealt. He was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and has been going through various treatment and trials for the last two years. He had to stop working and went on short term disability. I was gaining my main income from working on a TV show until the strike. I have not been able to find work since then. I was approved to be my husband’s part time caregiver with some unemployment benefits that are about to run out. We also have a toddler and his 10 year old daughter from a previous marriage, so i look for work that can have me available to be there for my husband and kids if he suddenly gets sick.
Finances and stress have been taking a toll and does effect my energy and motivation at times. Like I wrote, if i have to split between photographing and taking another part-time job until we are better off, then I will accept that and look forward to the day it gets better and I can focus more on my photography, without resentment and regret.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.StacyCain-Photography.com
- Instagram: @stacycainphotography
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