Student Success Stories with Sonja Damjanoski
Sonja Damjanoski, owner of Sonja Damjan Photography, is a full-time pharmacist and mom of twin boys. She passionately pursued photography since 2007 but took a short break when her children were born in 2016. She always kept her passion to herself, never sharing her art or aspirations.
Seeing covid ravage through her community, she realized how precious life is and how quickly it can be taken away. She wanted to tap back into her creative side and found the confidence to share it.
Sonja invested in her business by joining my signature lighting course, The Missing Link, and my group coaching program, The Six-Figure Studio! In this episode, we chatted all about her business, what she learned in the programs and her advice for fellow photographers.
On The Missing Link.
Before finding my courses, Sonja expressed that she labeled herself as a natural light photographer because she was too afraid to delve into artificial light. She was certain it'd be too complicated to learn, so she was content to continue working with whatever light was available (which wasn't much, being in Northwest Indiana!). And actually, I was in the same boat for the first twelve years of my career! It's funny how so many of us have this misconception that artificial lighting is ugly and can't be tailored to our personal style. It's a story we tell ourselves that is completely untrue!
Eventually Sonja stumbled upon and enrolled in The Missing Link, and that's when things started to change. She shared that she was surprised by how simple and easy my lighting method was. And not only did she discover that implementing what she learned in the course made for consistency in her lighting, but also in her bookings and revenue. I love that she recognized this, because I truly believe these things go hand-in-hand! If you can create consistently beautiful images no matter the weather, your business will definitely benefit as a result!
Sonja also touched on how she loves that the lighting setup I recommend is easily portable for those who may not have a studio space of their own. This is exactly why I have a whole section inside the course about shooting on-location; it makes the work we do more accessible for more people!
On Business & The Six-Figure Studio
Having participated in another coaching program that didn't meet all of her needs, Sonja decided to invest in my group coaching program. She explained that one of her biggest gains from The Six-Figure Studio was the clarity she got surrounding her business, her brand, her clients and who she is as a photographer.
The Six-Figure Studio is divided into three pillars: Clarity, Communication and Consistency. Most of the people inside the program find that the clarity piece is the hardest of the three, because it requires a level of introspection and self-awareness that can sometimes be a little uncomfortable. That's why I always say being in business is like being in therapy; if you're doing it right, then you're confronting yourself in a very real way that tends to cause some internal friction.
And this is exactly why I built my program this way - no one was asking those questions that are crucial to building brand (and let's face it, personal) clarity. I truly believe this is the most authentic approach to building a photography business.
Sonja's Advice.
By day, Sonja works as a critical care pharmacist. That has given her a unique glimpse into the fragility of life. Her role as a medical health professional has also created a lot of structure in her life, which resulted in fear surrounding photography—which seemed to be much less structured. She felt called to embrace this hobby but let the fear hold her back.
So to all the photographers out there, Sonja highly recommends taking the leap even if there's doubt. She mentioned that a loved one of hers once told her that growth lies in the uncomfortable, and I totally agree! Sonja says that starting a business is not the finality we tell ourselves it has the possibility to be, and encourages people to do what they feel called to do in spite of the fears. Even if you fail, what matters is that you tried.
I think this is fantastic advice, because I felt the very same at the beginning of my career. I was terrified but took the risk anyway and I've created a business and community that I'm incredibly proud of. And you can too!
Connect with Sonja on Instagram here!
