Natalie Gettis

I would attribute my success to the support from the people in my life, who have definitely been there for me throughout my journey. I also attribute it to the talents and gifts that God has given me - there have been things I've been interested in but didn't have the talent for, which is always a bummer, but I'm grateful for the abilities I do have. And I definitely have to credit a few people in the photography industry who are now friends but started as mentors - they were kind enough to answer my questions and pour into me when I was just getting started. They were a huge help in getting me on my feet at the beginning of my journey.

The best career advice I've received is that staying true to who you are is the best way to get to where you want to be. If you're always trying to do what everyone else is doing, it's going to trip you up and take you longer to reach your goals. I've also learned that there's no time limit on success - some people become incredibly successful in their 20s, others in their 50s. Everyone has their own path and their own timeline. For a while in my 20s, I was asking myself why nothing was working for me yet, but then I realized everybody has their own trajectory. Something that blew my mind was learning that Oprah was in her late 30s when things really started to take off for her - it seemed so not true at first, but it is. So just keep focusing on you and what you're passionate about, and you'll get there when it's your time.

Even if something is super trendy or it's super easy to copy someone else, try to find your own style. Try to hone in on who you are and your own creativity first. Because if you start out doing what's trendy and just copying what everyone else is doing, then at the end of the day when those trends fade away, you're not going to know what you can actually offer people. There won't really be much sustainability to your photography or design work. I've caught myself doing that - oh, this is a trend, let me try it - but then it's like, can you also take just a good, basic photo? Do you know how to adjust your white balance, or your ISO and aperture and shutter speed? If you don't know how to do all of that and take a good photo by itself, then when the trendy stuff isn't trendy anymore, you're not going to be able to do much. Also, there's so much free stuff on YouTube - when I first started, I thought I had to pay for all these things, but then I realized there are so many people on YouTube showing stuff for free. You can just type in a question and find someone to show you how to do it.

Sadly, I think getting hired is the biggest challenge from what I've seen. So many people can pick up a camera nowadays, and cameras are really good at just getting a good picture because they're so advanced. Pretty much anyone can spend a couple minutes learning how to use it and say they take good pictures and you should hire them. If you already have a large following on social media or you've got people who know people, then you have a leg up on others. So you're all trying to get the same clients or the same jobs, and it's definitely more of a saturated workforce. The same goes for design work and social media stuff - there are a lot of people applying for the same jobs. For me specifically, I've had a hard time standing out because I've gotten stuck in the mindset of 'well, this is who I am, and people will find me,' but now I'm shifting into realizing I have to put in the work and go out of my way to connect with people and expand my network. Before, you could market yourself a little bit and people would find you, or work on your SEO and someone would find you, but now it's like these three people all look like they offer the same thing, but that one person makes really fun reels and feels like I already know them, so I'm going to email them. So now I have to get off the couch and put in a little bit more effort. A lot of people price shop too, which makes it tricky - you could have everything they want, but if you're not in their budget, it's always a bummer. But I remind myself that the right people will recognize my value.

Definitely integrity would be one of them. I think community is really important - whether that's building a community or leaning on your community, just knowing that you're not an island. Obviously sometimes you're on your own doing things or you have to take time alone, but knowing that we're meant to be with other people and building each other up. The whole concept of 'it takes a village' - I think that's really important. Creativity is super important. I think everyone is creative in their own way. When people say 'oh, I'm not creative,' I'm like yes you are, you just haven't found your way - you're not creative in this way, you're creative in another way. So finding creativity in your own way is super important. I also think that rest, like valuing rest, is very important. Not necessarily sleep, but just taking time to recover or take care of yourself. You can't pour from an empty cup, so I think valuing rest is really important. And also compassion. Depending on what field you're in, it can get really competitive and things can get a little cutthroat, but I still think it's important to have compassion for other people starting out in different fields. Everyone started at the beginning at some point, so having a little compassion for people is important. And even in your personal life, I just think compassion's really important for a society.