We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Talor Stone a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Talor, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
If you knew my life story (like really and truly knew it), you’d probably be surprised to learn that I’m an optimist. In fact, I surprise myself with it most days! I began my adult life working in a challenging career field as a federal agent where I saw the worst of humanity daily. And then I managed to survive a horrifically abusive marriage despite all the odds being stacked against me. If, after all of this, I settled on a guarded or pessimistic view of the world, then I’m pretty sure that would be an understandable and forgivable outcome. But I didn’t.
I was recently asked by a friend whether I have a guiding principle in my life. It took some time to think about, but in the end it was clear to me that at every opportunity I choose joy and that has guided me for years now. It’s a conscious choice and I recall clearly the day I made that decision. It was the spring of 2017 and I had just run away from my marriage for the last time. I had nowhere to go, so I spent my time (months in fact) camping in the southwest deserts and learning how to use a camera for the first time. Alone in the wilderness, you have a lot of time to self-reflect and revisit the path that led to the present. After everything I’d survived, it would have been very easy to put up walls and refuse to trust again. I spent countless hours considering how I wanted to restart my life anew and in the end I decided that I needed to choose joy. Pursuing joy would save me. At every opportunity, with every career move, with every future human connection, I had to choose joy. It’s a conscious choice and it isn’t always an easy one. Choosing joy means being vulnerable and sometimes it also means getting hurt, but the benefits have always outweighed the harm. It has empowered me with a strong sense of peace, a guiding principle for my direction in life, and the confidence to move forward through life putting my full heart into everything I do.
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?
Today I work as a professional photographer specializing in the polar regions. I often joke that I’ll never be warm again, and to be honest, that’s just fine with me! Currently, I’m well on my way to completing my Ph.D. focused on Greenland’s indigenous hunting culture and this means I’ve been very lucky to spend far more time than most exploring rarely visited parts of Greenland and working in the local communities.
As an artist, it’s important to me that I find ways to merge science and photography to tell powerful visual stories that educate and inform others. If you want to learn more about Greenland, you can check out the Visual Stories on my website and stay tuned for the upcoming documentary Hila Kihimi, produced in collaboration with TracingThought Productions. This documentary tells the story of the world’s northernmost hunters as they continue to maintain their traditional practices in the modern world.
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?
I’d say the three qualities that have served me well in my journey have been steadfastness, team-mindedness, and reliability. Steadfastness means a refusal to quit even when things get hard. Believe in yourself and stay the course…those who succeed are most often the ones who suffered through ‘the suck’ long enough to make it to the other side.
Team-mindedness refers to the willingness to be a team player and collaborate with others. I absolutely believe that a rising tide lifts all ships, so celebrate the successes of others, lend a helping hand, and be a strong team player. This will help you build a community around yourself and strong communities will help you grow.
And reliability, of course, is critical. To make it in any professional industry, it will serve you well to be not only reliable but also competent. These two things go hand in hand. It’s okay not to know everything. We all start somewhere! But make every effort to become truly competent at everything you do, keep your promises, and be someone others can trust and count on. This will serve you well!
How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
Oh absolutely! The list is endless! Right now the greatest challenge I’m facing is a personal one in which the only enemy is myself – completing my Ph.D. Dissertation. I’m a field worker…it’s what I do. So coming out of the field to sit at a desk and write the book that will define my entire academic career feels like a monumental challenge. It’s frustrating far more than rewarding and to be honest, I miss being in the outdoors! However, I know how proud I will be when I get to the other side, so I’m remaining steadfast in my determination to do the work.
It keeps me grounded to remember that our challenges and how we face them define us. For me, cultivating a strong support system of people who both hold me accountable and also know when to get me outside for a break has made a huge difference in the resilience I feel to continue to face this challenge daily. Hopefully, I’ll have a whole published book to show for it in 2025!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.talorstonephotography.com
- Instagram: @talorstonephotography
