Photographic Training Courses in the UK, from getting started to setting up a photography business

Catherine on Business

Rule Breaker and Business Pioneer

What has made me the business pioneer that I am today? At fifteen it was the ambition for a better ‘me’. Suffering from dyslexia, I left school with great joy still not knowing how to spell potatoes! Did not being able to spell hinder me? Yes, daily. Did it stop me from developing a fantastic career? Not at all, it just made the journey that much more interesting!

Straight out of school, I threw my whole self, soul and spirit into hairdressing and in this world, where excellence is measured in terms of creative talent not academia, I excelled.

In facing my difficulties with the written word I found that I had an affinity for verbal communication, public speaking and presenting. I became aware of an audience in the hairdressing industry that valued my insights and wanted to learn from me. My work started to feature regularly in national and international hairdressing magazines – I was flying!

Next, I rediscovered education, whilst hairdressing I began attending college in the evenings. I studied English in a bid to combat my dyslexia and gained an adult teaching certificate. I read and read and read, grabbed every experience that presented itself to me with both hands and still do.

A career change that was to shape my entire future followed. One of my goals in life was to work for Wella GB and, like a dream come true, I was head hunted by them to work as a trainer. I had found my destiny and more importantly to me, what I was put on this earth to do. Today, I am recognised as one of the most motivational business trainers within my field.

I look back on my years with Wella GB as my growing years. I invested hugely in my career, in terms of time and energy, I travelled the world training hairdressers at the top of their game until I was worn out and looking for more. I had outgrown the corporate world and was craving a change, a new challenge!

It was at this point I met Annabel Williams, a groundbreaking photographer who I admired greatly and prepared myself to take the biggest leap of faith yet, to set up my own business in partnership with Annabel. It took guts to leave the comforts of the corporate world but it was a breath of fresh air!

Having values matters and never more so than when forming a business. Our personal values are often derived from the qualities and beliefs of others whom we admire. In my case, this was my Grandma, a farmer’s wife by trade and an exceptional woman with very strong family ideals.

I starting learning from my Grandma as young as eleven years old when I accompanied her going about her business on the farm, on a milk round and rent collecting. She was a real-time beautiful hustler, a true sales woman and marketier, an entrepreneur never to be underestimated. She worked hard and smart and was always one step ahead, planning for the future.

My Grandma may be in heaven now but her spirit is with me daily and drives me to be the very best that I can be. The manner in which she conducted her life forms the basis of my business values today. With these values, alongside Annabel I have been responsible for the development of one of the most, if not the most, successful training companies in the photographic industry. I have co written a series of books and write regular marketing articles and blogs for a variety of national and international photographic magazines.

I now have a huge appetite for knowledge and a new-found passion for writing which would certainly entertain my English teachers of the past. I worked very hard at school but left with nothing much to show for it. Despite this, maybe even because of it, I was determined to become successful. I hope that my achievements go some way to inspiring all fellow dyslexics to keep trying because in the right industry, one that appreciates talent beyond the obvious, the world is yours for the taking!

What should you take from this?

- Believe in yourself and your capabilities.
- Have a goal and maintain focus on it at all times.
- You are responsible for your own destiny.
- If school challenges you, look for another form of education – find your passion, go to college or get a job you love.
- Identify your values and make a conscious effect to abide by them.
- Finally, being special isn’t easy, it takes a little practice.