–

—

What can I say?

I rather enjoyed publishing Fear, Exposed last Monday, instead of the usual Tuesday.  SO I’M CHANGING IT TO MONDAYS.  It’s a nice way to start the week, isn’t it?  A little jolt of kick-ass inspiration straight from the mouths of others.  Kind of like a hard-hitting, 24 oz. double espresso latte, but better.

With that, I bring you Kyle Hepp. That photo is a damn good one, isn’t it?  Maybe it’s because her & her husband are professional photographers.  Or maybe it’s because she’s one of those gorgeous wakes-up-in-bed-looking-just-as-good-as-ever kind of people. (The envy!)  Or maybe it’s because she’s the chick who took my own photos that you see to the right, and I’m unabashedly biased.

Whatever the reason, Kyle is a no-nonsense broad who, in a fit of lust & love, up and moved to Chile to marry her Chilean husband, with no idea how she was going to make it all work. That was 6 years ago. Six years of uncertainty. Six years of unpredictability. And six years of hard, hard work. But ever since, she’s made it all work if I’ve ever seen anyone MAKE IT ALL WORK. And truly, the conviction to do so is what separates successful entrepreneurs from unsuccessful entrepreneurs. This, friends, is her story. I hope it inspires you to start the things you’re afraid to start, and to embrace the ambiguity of not knowing how it will all turn out, rather than pushing it away.  When you look at things from a new angle–one that shines light on the excitement, adventure, and the lessons learned on the journey in between–ambiguity really is a beautiful thing. Caress her, with love.

Ambiguity, that is.  Not Kyle.

-

*****

-

What is fear?

Fear was when my husband, Seba, was laid off from his job. He was working for a construction company who decided to lower all their employees’ salaries “because of the crisis,” by 20%. Anyone who didn’t sign the new contract would be fired.

We talked about it and decided that we’d rather have him be fired and paid a large severance than continue to work for slave drivers. He could always look for a new job.

-

Fear was when I was hit by a car two days after my husband was fired.

-

I was fearful that my knees would never be the same and I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my favorite sport – running. I was fearful that the man who hit me wouldn’t want to step up to the plate and do the right thing – pay my hospital bills (not to mention my new iPod touch, which was shattered in the accident).

Fear was waking up in the hospital days after the accident and not knowing where I was or what had happened (I still have no recollection of the moment there was truck-to body contact, or those first couple of days in intensive care).

Fear was not being able to work for a month because I was so bruised, even on the tips of my fingers, that I’m not even joking when I say it hurt to type.

And fear was what led to us saying “Screw it all! We’re not going to look for new jobs. We’re going to use this time off to travel the world and then we’ll see how this whole photography thingamajiggy goes.”

-

I’d started a photography business on the side.

-

I’d been shooting weddings on the weekends and Seba helped me when he could. Business had been snowballing the year that Seba was fired and I was hit by a car, but we still weren’t booking enough to be financially solvent of wedding photography alone.

But we had some savings. And more importantly we had the time we’d always dreamed of to travel.

-

So we packed up our bags and headed to Europe.

-

I was quick to realize that long-term traveling wasn’t for me. I love visiting new places, but I’m more of a short jaunt type of girl. I missed my dogs, I missed having more than two dresses to choose from in my wardrobe, and most importantly, I missed running a photography business and taking pretty pictures of incredible people. That was the hallelujah moment for me, when I knew that I had to come back to Chile and that I had to make it work – that I could make it work if I threw all my life and all my energy and all my time and all my everything into it.

Fear was telling the people that loved us, that knew we had been saving up for a Round the World trip — that I didn’t want to go around the world anymore. Fear was telling people that even though all I’d talked about for years was leaving Chile to travel — that all I wanted was to come back and be a full-time wedding photographer here.

-

Now I am. Now we are.

-

We returned from our trip through Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Ireland, Italy, Holland and Belgium and we threw ourselves head first into Making. It. Work.

Because we had to.

Because we were scared of what would happen if we didn’t.

Not Making. It. Work. would mean Seba would have to go back to long hours of exhausting work and not enough vacation to see my family, let alone be able to travel anywhere else.

Not Making. It. Work. would mean me going back to being a professional blogger – a job I enjoyed, but a job where I didn’t feel challenged.

Now Seba and I work together shooting weddings around the globe.

The year before the accident, we shot 2 weddings. The next year–the year I got hit–we shot 15 and I started taking things seriously. The year after that–the year I decided that we would Make. It. Work–we did 24 at significantly higher prices (high enough to live off of). So far this year we have 18 on the books.

-

Now, fear is two weeks passing with no inquiries.

-

Fear is more than a month in between bookings. Fear is my website going down and me being cut off from clients and potential clients. Fear is missing a shot. Fear is an angry mother of the bride. Fear is looking at my budget and knowing we only have enough money for the next six months.

Fear is praying those things never happen, but fear is also what makes me try harder to become a better photographer, a better business woman and a better person, every single day of my life.

At the end of the day, fear can be a real son-of-a-bitch.

But it’s also that same fear that has made me successful.

Because when it’s all said and done, fear is what drives me.

-

Tweet

Related Posts for Your Perusal

• List Your Prices (THE RIGHT WAY) (Calling All Photographers.) (Hedgehogs Welcome, Too.)
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Nina Yau
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Monica O’Brien
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Sean Platt
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Danny Mannina
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Jenny Foss
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Susan Finch
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Steve Thomas
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Illana Burk
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Matt Koenig
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Amy Bowman
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Elisa Doucette
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Claudia Peralta
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Kelly Gurnett (AKA Cordelia)
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Heather Mamatey
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Cara Stein
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Rich DeMatteo
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Jenny Foss, Part Deux
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Avril David
• Fear, Exposed – Featuring Catherine Caine

ZemantaThanks for rating this! Now tell the world how you feel via Twitter.(Nah, it's cool; just take me back.)MOODTHINGYHow does this post make you feel?

• Like You Need a Vodka
• Inspired
• Amused
• Determined
• Contemplative
• Excited

Tags: embracing uncertainty, fear exposed, keywords make me hot, kyle hepp, lifestyle design, start a photography business, wedding photography chile