Personal Self-Employment Mission:
I want to work for myself forever! I love being the architect of my career, my schedule, and my style; I have an unparalleled opportunity to deliver a uniquely personal, undiluted message with my work. By empowering myself as a business owner, I have learned how to pass that empowerment along to my clients, involving them in a process that is personal and customized to their tastes and needs. Being self-employed also allows me to pursue all of my interests: I can defy the pressure to be pigeon-holed and instead celebrate the photographer / writer / actor / visual artist / teacher / real estate investor that I was born to be!
History of Employment/Studies:
I have a degree in Theatre Studies from Boston University’s acting conservatory, and before running my own photography business I worked as a sandwich maker, bookkeeper, interior design production assistant, tax form e-filer, professional pet photographer’s assistant, test prep instructor, substitute teacher, and corn detassler. I still teach theatre for various after school programs, and I tutor my fourteen year-old cousin in algebra.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of time, what would it be? Why?
“Solsbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel. It’s upbeat, and it always makes me feel happy and free.
God comes to you with a plate. And says that you can pick a main dish, a side dish, a dessert, and a drink to put on this plate. But whatever you choose, that is what will be on your plate everytime you eat for the rest of time. What do you choose:
Main Dish: Bagel sandwich… probably tuna with honey mustard, cheddar cheese, and fixin’s
Side Dish: Pickle!
Dessert: Carrot cake
Drink: Horchata
You've just won $100,000,000. What are the first 5 things you do?
1. Pretending for a moment that I wouldn’t have to pay the winnings tax of almost 50%, I’d set aside 20% for taxes, 15% for investments, and 5% for savings.
2. Pay off all debts
3. Schedule a trip – a comprehensive tour of Mongolia has been floating around my head lately
4. Buy a huge plot of land in the deep mountains of Colorado where I could then build my artist-in-residency program / camp compound
5. Make all the calls to all the people I’ve met along the way who I want to work with. The call would go something like this: “It’s time.”
Favorite Quote:
“Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you where you need to go.” – Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones
