So as a photographer, cinematographer, artist or wedding professional, what value does Fast Track hold for creatives in the Chicagoland area?  In one word: community. Relationships keep us accountable and motivated, deepen our experience, and allow us access to more resources than we could ever gain on our own.  Even in our age of independence and getting it done ourselves, the old phrase, “No man is an island,” still holds true.  In an industry that is always evolving and growing, whether you are a newbie or a seasoned pro, we all have something to offer to each other.  Fast Track serves as a vehicle to bring together industry professionals who share the same values who are committed to investing into each others businesses as we see ours grow.  To paraphrase one of Dale Carnegie’s principles, as we become genuinely interested in people, they will be genuinely interested in giving back.

Dane Sanders, author of Fast Track Photographer and founder of this movement takes some time to touch on our FEO- “For Each Other” values in a short video:

Only days after WPPI in Las Vegas, an annual conference and tradeshow for wedding and portrait photographers, has come to a close, I am more energized than ever this year to have connected with an international community of photographers committed to being For Each Other.  Among many of the events that took place last week were several Fast Track gatherings as well as the inspirational UNITE groups formed by David Jay.  Dane also hosted numerous guests on Fast Track TV to share resources with the industry worldwide.  I had an opportunity to share a little bit about our Chicago crew, and I have to say, I am stoked on you guys! I am just so proud of our group and thankful to have a such motivated and inspiring colleagues in our area.

Tonight we’ll be gathering at Calumet Photographic downtown at 7pm (1111. N. Cherry Avenue, Chicago, IL) thanks to Bill.  (More details here.) We’re so thankful he’s made this venue available to accommodate our quickly growing group! But he took it one step further and secured approval through the VP for a special 20% Calumet products from 5:30-6:30. Talk about being For Each Other! Thanks so much, Bill!! We are so grateful for you!  Looking forward to seeing everyone later!

My heart is full. I’m curled up on my couch with my laptop and a glass of wine. It is 3am, and this night owl is still processing, reflecting, dreaming. Only hours ago I sat with my friends at Calumet Photo Chicago listening to Justin and Mary Marantz on the last leg of their Spread the Love Workshop. Woven throughout the many valuable marketing insights and business principles was a lot of talk about setting goals and building momentum.  As they shared about living a life you love, being UN-ordinary (a Justin and Mary-ism), discovering what makes you unique as a photographer and an individual, and being intentional, everything I’ve learned in the past year came rushing back to me like a tidal wave. The timing could not have been more appropriate. It is exactly this time one year ago that several major changes were set into motion to lead me to where I am today. I have been lax about journaling these last few months (until very recently), but tonight I pulled it out to look back, and remember.

February 11, 2009. Rochester, NY. I told myself I was going to start overcoming my fears, be myself, and really start getting to know photographers in the area. I had been to GRPP (Greater Rochester Professional Photographers) meetings before, but it wasn’t until last year that I really made it a priority. “I walked into the meeting tonight trying not to feel fear. I pushed it aside, took a deep breath, and felt a rush of confidence as I walked into Booksmart [Studio]. I didn’t see anyone I recognized at first, and the fear tried to coax its way back in. I was half-tempted to turn around and walk out the door, but I smiled and willed myself to loosen up. Turns out I met some great people and truly ended up enjoying myself. Maybe I’m not a total trainwreck.” Ha! It may seem small, but that was the beginning of the end of this shy girl. Little did I know that I was on the cusp of forming some deeply meaningful friendships.

February 13-19, 2009. Las Vegas, NV. It was my friends and mentors, Brody Wheeler and Daryn Backal, that had originally convinced me to go to WPPI in 2008, and my second year I took a risk and decided to stay with some girls I had never met before. It put me outside my comfort zone and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I was unsettled, unhappy with my job and on the brink of some major changes, and yet I still didn’t know just how profoundly this conference would affect me.  WPPI is what set in motion the renewal and pursuit of my vision and the forming of relationships that have fueled my growth this past year. As my plane departed McCarran airport and tears streamed down my face, I started this entry: “I am exhausted, inspired, emotional, motivated, excited, scared as hell, deeply moved, and so very in touch with my spirit. This is the place from which I want to live my life- I want to live from my heart….For the first time in so long, I feel PURPOSE.” I cannot even begin to express to you, my friends, after years of sifting through the remains of (what I had told myself were) crumbled dreams, just how much it meant to me to tap into a reignited passion. To realize that it was more than creating art that was driving me, but that it was the entire experience that would be most fulfilling to me and my clients. To be reminded not to change who I am for anyone. To be given “permission” to break out of my box of acting like I had it “together,” and just being real as I developed relationships with my colleagues and clients. To be challenged to connect, relate, and shoot from my heart. To take a risk and go after a life I love.

I could go on and on about the events and people that impacted my life over the last 12 months. My first trip out to Chicago in March. David Jay‘s talk on creating freedom in our businesses and Kevin Kubota‘s emphasis on workflow and developing a business mantra at PPSNYS (Professional Photographers of New York State) State Convention in Albany. My travels to Florida, Philadelphia, San Jose, Vegas again, LA….Italy! My mom’s ever-growing support for me and belief in my crazy dream, and my father’s legacy of calloused hands and working hard to get what you want out of life. Developing friendships and receiving priceless instruction from Kenny Kim, Bob and Dawn Davis, and Dane Sanders.  Meeting friends and fellow photographers in Chicago and across the country who have opened their hearts to me, and encouraged me in my journey. I cannot even do justice to how deeply each of them has influenced my life in their unique ways, and I anticipate dedicating future posts to what an incredible investment they have made into me.  Every insight has been progressive, building upon a rock solid foundation for my business and life.

It may sound trite, but I just can’t stop saying it- I am just so thankful. I am so blessed. Last year I was afraid to walk into a small meeting of photographers in Rochester, and now I facilitate a group for photographers to connect in Chicago, a city I hadn’t stepped foot in until 11 months ago. Tonight I sat around sipping drinks with friends- not the “talk-about-the-weather-and-what-kind-of-camera-we-use” friends, but the true “pour-our-hearts-out-and-share-our-hopes-and-fears-I-got-your-back” kinda friends. (Wow. Seriously just blown away by how incredible each of them really are.) Last year I was using all of my energy to build someone else’s business and now I have the freedom to invest into my own. I share this not to brag, but to express my gratitude for all those who have believed in me and poured into me. And because if any of this strikes a chord in you, I want to encourage you to believe you truly have what it takes to go after what you want, and to live a life you love. One year ago, I was a shy, scared girl in Rochester with no direction. And tonight I sit here in the wee hours of the night in my apartment in Chicago, still a little scared, still a little shy, but full of vision and empowered to do whatever it takes to see it through. It has not been easy. Change is expensive. There have been many obstacles that would tempt me to give up altogether. It has already cost me massive amounts of things I care about. I am nowhere close to being “there,” yet. But I’m overcoming my fears and taking on new challenges one step at a time.

Listening to Justin and Mary today, I was reminded of so many disciplines I “should have” put into practice by now.  I feel a little bit like I “should be” so much further along than I am. And then I hear Dawn saying, “‘Should’ is no longer a part of my vocabulary.” And Dane, on redemption, “Renegotiate your commitment, and stick to it.” I look back and see just how far I have really come. It hasn’t happened overnight. There were a lot of late night talks with friends, a lot of laughter and tears, a lot of goal writing, a lot of strategizing and working long hours.  There will be plenty more of those nights, and many days of wondering if I can actually accomplish what I’ve dreamt I can.  But I cannot do anything less than I’m made to do. “I have everything I need within me,” I wrote a year ago. Let’s believe that. Let’s write down our goals and have faith that we can accomplish them. Let’s not settle for anything short of the live we love. Let’s be remarkable.

My first encounter with Fast Track Photographer was last year at WPPI through my friend, Carl Johnson.  He had been so impacted by Dane Sanders‘ seminar that he had to get me a copy. Little did I know what a treasure was to be found in these pages.  I let a few months go by before I picked it up. I was a little skeptical. “Fast Track Photographer?”  I had been shooting for two and a half years, desperately seeking vision, but knowing there was certainly no fast track in the photography world. Like anything worthwhile, photography is a craft that must be practiced over and over and over to be mastered.  But one day in May I decided to pick it up and see what this “Fast Track” thing was all about. I could barely put it down.  What I was reading was not a photography manual or an inspirational book, but a resource that would help me discover my core strengths and passion as an individual and how to transpose those  abilities into practical skills for my business.  There is no fast track to honing our skill- or discovering who we are. But the concept is that as a business, as a brand, as photographers, we are more than the images we produce. “The real value is in the engine that creates the art- the photographer.” To invest in the value of our businesses, we need to invest in ourselves. Getting clear on what we do best and focusing on that is the heart of the book.

So when another good friend, Kenny Kim, encouraged me to go to Dane’s Fast Track Roadshow workshop in Chicago a few months later, I was all in. And it did not disappoint. I’ll save my review for another post, but the truth was it changed my life and business in many ways. And the biggest contribution was that Fast Track introduced me to an entire community of people (through the workshop and the forums) who, in this very competitive industry, were truly committed to being FOR each other.  A sense of community is cornerstone to truly thriving in all areas of our lives.  While our individuality must continually be cultivated, our personal, professional, and spiritual lives are enriched profoundly when we are connected to a group of people with common ideals and understanding. It is in realizing what we have to offer to a community that, often, our own sense of self is strengthened and we become clear on how our personal vision fits into the bigger picture.

Surrounding myself with individuals committed to challenging and contributing to one another has fueled my growth as a business owner.  It is with this same vision that Fast Track groups, an outlet for creatives to come together in a dynamic supported body, was birthed.  These communities are now being launched all over the country and are bringing together artists who share the same values, who want to invest in one another. It is non-exclusive and non-competitive. It’s not about any one personality, or a brand, but about a collaboration between individuals who share the same passions.  So when Dane asked if I’d facilitate in Chicago, greater than my fear of stepping into a new territory was my conviction to see such a group rise up.  And when 20 of us gathered 2 weeks ago at Matt and Stevi Savage‘s place in the South Loop for our first meeting, the response was overwhelming. After spending a good 45 minutes just hanging out and getting to know one another, we convened round table style to get to the heart of what Fast Track is all about.  As we went around the room introducing ourselves, it became clear there was a greater desire for collaboration, relationship, accountability, and sharing of our resources with one another.  I looked around the room, amazed at all the different connections that were made to bring us together that night.  We were blessed to have Bob Davis with us, and he shared from his own experience the value of building relationships and how being tied into a larger community can keep us grounded. Bob and Dawn have been such an incredible example to me and to the whole photography industry of what it means to be “for each other,” as they conduct their lives and business with a genuine heart to give, and an authentic desire to connect.  Ted Suss (Neil Enterprises and Wedding and Portrait Photographers of Chicago) also joined us, and offered himself to the community as a resource. We walked away after our first meeting, some of us having talked late into the night, inspired and empowered. Can I just say, I truly love these guys!!

(Image below taken by Matt Savage of Avery House Creative.)

Collage below includes images from Avery House Creative, Otto Rascon Photography and Jennifer Kathryn Photography.

So much of our success is dependent upon creating the right environment for ourselves. While I tend to be more spontaneous and gravitate towards things that don’t require planning, I’ve realized that things I do not commit to do not happen. We have launched Fast Track Photographers- Chicago with the goal of committing to be FOR EACH OTHER, as we meet monthly to continue facilitating these values in our community. Our next meeting will be on Monday, February 8th at 7pm. (More details can be found here.) We’d love for you to join us!!