I came across Jessica Whitaker on YouTube years ago. She was doing short educational videos on photography. I really liked her style of shooting. Since then she has created one of the largest Facebook Groups on photography with over 60K members from around the world called Build + Bloom. With a More We Less Me mantra Build + Bloom puts on workshops for it's members and within Build + Bloom SISTERXSISTER was created for young women creatives.
She now has an online workshop that can be accessed through Teachable. I took this online workshop and I will tell you even with 20+ years of shooting and 10 years of being in business I learned quite a bit from this young lady. If you are a photog reading this, I recommend her online workshop. Lots of good nuggets in there.
Thank you Jessica so much for being a part of Project Strength!
1) Please share a little bit about yourself. Where are you from, what do you do, and what are your passions?
My name is Jessica Whitaker and I am originally from Seattle, Washington. I’m a full-time photographer and I teach film and digital photography full-time. I also run an education non-profit called Build + Bloom.
2) In your own words, what does strength mean to you? Please feel encouraged to use personal examples of situations in your life where you were required to demonstrate your strength.
One of the key words I would use to describe strength is resilience. How fast you can bounce back from a situation, problem-solve, and strategize. After experiencing harassment in the workplace for years, I created SISTERXSISTER. SISTERXSISTER is a space where young girls in creative media can be encouraged, empowered, and educated with job skills for the workplace. I would say how SISTERXSISTER started is a great example of resilience, being able to come back from a situation pretty strongly and turn it into a positive.
3) What would you describe as the source of your strength?
My source of strength is my belief in Jesus Christ. Honestly, for me there’s nothing else that can really match or even come close to it. Being connected to a positive Christian community and serving people outside of my work hours has been a source of encouragement as well.
4) What keeps you from giving up?
This is my job, so that's not an option for me nor is it an option for most people. I think you have to completely take that out of your vocabulary and mindset. What keeps me encouraged is pouring into others in my church. Also creating my own community for photographers around the world, Build + Bloom. Build + Bloom is a 501 c3 and is one of the largest photography communities on Facebook. Photographers can join and ask all kinds of questions about photography, running a photography business, encouragement and much more; really giving it a "More We, Less Me" vibe and more community over competition.
What also keeps me from giving up is having a spirit of generosity. It says in the Bible that your cup will always be overflowing and will never run dry when you have the spirit of generosity.
I also have to remind myself that I don't have to be the most creative photographer or the most innovative, I just have to continue to do what I'm good at which is photography but also teaching. I meet people where they are at in their photography journey. They don't need to be taught by me doing a big scale editorial shoot, that's not profitable to them. What’s profitable and practical for them is basic business skills and customer service skills, how to pose clients and make them feel comfortable.
5) Please share something that you never imagined you have the strength to do but you managed to accomplish anyway?
Moving to NYC when I was 22, to work for myself as a full-time photographer and educator. Moving to NYC was a calculated leap of faith. It was pretty ambitious and radical to move to one of the most expensive cities in the US with no other job outside of working for myself. I know God called me there. I knew I needed to book 10 shoots for that first month of me living there to validate that this move was a good idea. With hard work and God’s favor I booked 15 shoots in for that first month, which was wild for me. I don’t think without God laying a hand over my life and really blessing me I would have made it through a lot of what went on in my personal life and my business.
Where to find Jessica online:
https://buildandbloom.org/sisterxsisterpartnership
https://www.instagram.com/jessicawhitaker
https://www.facebook.com/groups/buildandbloomjessicawhitaker/
http://www.jessicawhitaker.co/workshop
(IMAGES IN THIS BLOG POST WERE NOT TAKEN BY ME)
