It's never too late to be what you might have been... George Eliot | Loughborough Photographer
I discovered my vocation quite late in life.
Having been offered a place at Reading University I had a sudden u-turn and decided that I wanted to earn money rather than continue in education. There was one problem with this, I didn’t have a plan.
I did have a job though - working part-time at Wilkos which I really loved (not a huge amount of responsibility and the team was young and a really good fun) but they had no full-time roles and I didn't take it seriously enough to make a career of it. So what on earth was I going to do?
Add a recession to this sudden change of plan and I was living with my parents, with not a lot of money and most of my friends had started their new lives at uni scattered all over the country.
Every Thursday I would scour the jobs pages of the Leicester Mercury and apply for every single role that seemed feasible. I remember it so clearly, I applied for 56 jobs before being offered a position as a cashier at the Alliance & Leicester Building Society (now Santander). It turned out I was good at it and I was promoted quite quickly.
Within 3 years I’d moved to Yorkshire Bank and I stayed there for 14 years. In the beginning I loved it - again, it was a young team and being based in Leicester city centre meant that we partied quite hard. I made some amazing friends and met my husband. My career progressed…mortgage adviser, financial adviser, branch manager… and whilst every promotion was great for my ego it didn't take long for me to feel unfulfilled, stressed and overwhelmed. Which often led to very long days, exhaustion and not a lot of enjoyment.
Add to this the fact that we wanted to start a family, we decided that the best thing all round would be for me to leave the world of banking. I joined a voluntary organisation in Leicester and it was perfect. I ran the office and worked with the volunteers and board - everybody was so lovely and it reminded me of my early days in banking when we all looked out for eachother and the people came first. No surprise then, that I fell pregnant within a few months.
Whilst on maternity leave I took redundancy and was excited about my new chapter as a stay at home mum.
Once Jacob was a few months old I felt ready to do something for me and joined an evening class at the local college. I chose Photography - I’d always enjoyed it and was pretty good, but it was more about meeting new people. I learnt so much on that Tuesday night it was untrue, Darrin shared his knowledge and experience freely as did the other members of the group, things progressed and Darrin invited me and Alison (another student) to help him shoot at a few weddings. My first ever wedding was at Prestwold Hall - how lucky was that?! He then encouraged us both to enrol at Leicester College and to try and make a career out of photography.
Everything happened so naturally; the course was brilliant and I left with the technical ability to become a freelance photographer.
Fast forward 5 and a half years and I’m still here, going strong, doing something that makes me feel truly happy. Since graduating I have photographed weddings, businesses and their owners, babies, dogs, properties and dozens of families. And yes - I still take photographs for pleasure!
I now have a job that makes me feel fulfilled and allows me to be creative whilst giving my clients something wonderful.
I guess my point is, it’s never too late to change direction and to find something that you love. Don’t force it, be open to opportunities and you never know what doors may open. Most importantly of all - don’t be afraid of change.
Feel the fear and do it anyway - Susan Jeffers
Whilst I have photographed lots of photography genres I have focussed my business on providing Outdoor Family Photography and Business Brand Photography. I work mainly in the Leicester and Loughborough areas although sometimes my work takes me further afield. Please feel free to contact me if you would be added to my Priority List for when I can return to shooting.