Meet Veronica Slavin

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

Hi Veronica, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
Growing up, I was taught to believe that a person who was older or who was in authority, knew better than me.  After witnessing many people that I had looked up to making poor decisions, it made me realize that I needed to listen to my own instincts. My real confidence came when life got hard and I found myself making decisions that had no easy answers. When I look back on what I’ve accomplished, that gives me the confidence to move forward in business as well as in my personal life.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m happy that I didn’t listen to other people’s advice and limit myself to one specific genre of photography. I started out in the early 1980’s in surfing photography. Then I went into wedding and portrait photography to support my family. Recently, I’m finding myself doing marketing and commercial photography as well as art. Being open to new opportunities has fueled my growth. Everything that I have learned along my journey in photography is used in what I am creating today. I could never have imagined the places that I would go or the people I would meet if I had kept to one type of work.

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?
As a former co-owner of surf related companies, I learned what it takes to run a business. Paying taxes and invoices are not creative nor glamorous, but are a necessary part to sustain my life as a creative. Learn to be accountable to your finances even if you are an artist.

By working in retail for many years I honed my customer service skills. Many of my former customers and colleagues are still friends with me to this day. Your network and being kind can go a long way! You never know who you might meet.

Know how to do every aspect of your business while you are building it. As it grows, you can focus on what you love and delegate the things you are not as good at. If you don’t understand what needs to be done in every area of your business, you will leave yourself open to being taken advantage of.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?
I have finally taken the time to create an online gallery space to curate as well as to sell photos that I’ve taken over the past forty years. Having grown up in Santa Barbara and specifically in the surf industry, I have always dreamed of launching a brand that combined my love of the area with images that reflect the aesthetics. The Santa Barbara Brand was created in order to share the place that has shaped my life with the world and to bring the feeling of that place into their everyday life.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Jimmy Velarde Michael O’neill Five Star Theatricals La Boheme Productions Brenda Partida

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