March 29, 2024 • 29 mins
In this episode, Gia sits down with Celestina Ando, a contemporary portrait photographer who transitioned from a successful career in accounting to pursue her passion.
Celestina shares her inspiring journey of reinvention, from calculated risk-taking to finding success in empowering women through her boutique studio in Montclair, New Jersey. Discover how she redefined success from financial gain to personal fulfillment, and how her work goes beyond capturing images to empowering women to rediscover themselves.
Join Gia and Celestina as they delve into the transformative experience of portrait photography, the challenges of entrepreneurship, and the importance of finding your cheerleaders during times of transition.
Tune in to gain insights on resilience, identity shifts, and the power of reconnecting with oneself. Whether you're a high-achieving woman seeking inspiration or looking to redefine success on your terms, this episode is a must-listen.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to Your Future Starts Now, the go-to podcast for
extraordinary women who are ready to step into their next chapter with
authentic confidence. I'm your host, Gia Lacqua empowerment coach,
motivational speaker, children's book author, and girl mom. Whether
you're a corporate powerhouse or an entrepreneur, this show is
designed for you. Your Future Starts Now is more than
(00:20):
just a podcast. It's a movement, a movement towards rewriting
the rules of success for high-achieving women. Are you ready
to get unstuck and step into your next chapter? If
so, you are exactly where you need to be. Your future starts
now. Welcome to Your Future Starts Now. I'm
your host, Gia Lacqua Thanks for joining us today. I'm so excited
(00:43):
to introduce you to Celestina Ando. Celestina
is a contemporary portrait photographer. Previously, she
was an accountant with the Creative Soul who studied photography for
years. She made the bold move to pursue her passion and is
the proud owner of a boutique studio in Montclair, New
Jersey. Her work has been published and featured in various publications. She's
(01:04):
won numerous awards, both locally and internationally, and
she's also held three photography exhibits. Her
specialty is magazine style portraits, headshots, family,
senior maternity, modern boudoir. She has a passion for
working with clients who feel aren't photogenic and creating
empowering experiences for them. Celestina, welcome
(01:30):
So tell us a little bit about your background and
what led you to where you are today.
You have a background in accounting. How long were you in accounting for?
I worked in corporate accounting and finance for almost 20 years.
Wow. Wow. And so did you just wake up one day and
say, I think I want to open my own photography studio
(01:56):
Um, you know, it was a whole bunch of different reasons, Gia,
but, uh, I think. I just fell
in love with photography. It was something that I was always interested in. I
studied it. I went, you know, and traveled and studied with different
photographers. And, um, I just met a lot of
great photographers who had their own businesses, found
(02:18):
some mentors and, and it just kind of.
organically bloomed over time, and I just
fell in love with it more and more. And it
wasn't, you know, an easy switch, that's for sure. You know,
I was definitely very comfortable with
my corporate finance career, having that steady paycheck, you
(02:40):
know, I worked for 20 years doing that. So
but I had a five year plan. And, you know, I was doing photography
part time while working in corporate accounting and building my
business. And it just so happened that at the end of the five
year time frame, there was just so many things happening in
my life that just made me decide to
(03:03):
realize and pursue my dream and and go
So that's amazing. And you opened your studio in
Yeah. Incredible. Incredible. Yeah. I
love the five year plan. Talk to us a little bit about the itch
that crept up for you and, and sort of how you
(03:26):
Um, so, you
know, my, my job in corporate accounting, my
longest period was an accountant client, and I was there for 10 years, and
I was constantly surrounded by creatives. and
photography. And my office in the
city wasn't the typical corporate accounting office, you
(03:49):
would think or imagine because I had black and white,
you know, photos of half naked models all over my wall. And
so I was every day
inspired. And I don't know if all the designers that I work with realize
this, but they really inspire me every day, all the creatives, all
the people in advertising, UPR, And
(04:12):
I just really love photography. And once I started studying it,
I showed up for my first photography class not even owning a camera. And
I was just really, really curious. And I thought, okay, if I really
like it, I'll go and pick up a camera. And that's literally what I did after the
first class. So but
you know, when you really fall in love with something, and I've had
(04:33):
many other passionate hobbies, but I just, I
don't know what it was. Yeah, it's just I think I met a
lot of great photographers who are doing really well with their business. And,
and it's just that idea of possibly doing something that
you love, really started to grow, grow in
me. And It just became an obsession, really.
(04:55):
And I just wanted to continue studying. I just wanted to continue to
shoot. I just love being able to capture these moments, you
know, for my clients. And, and
it just grew. That's my passion just grew to the point where I
I love that. I love that. So you had sort of a curiosity, you
(05:15):
felt the passion, and you explored what that was. And then it
sounds like you just listened to that inner voice that was talking to
you, right? Amazing. Amazing. So
tell us a little bit more about your five year plan. And how did you
go about preparing yourself for such a massive change, right? Because
leaving your corporate job, which, as you mentioned, can
(05:37):
be really safe to you know, taking
I'm a really calculated risk taker. Yeah, I'm
not when I share my story with people, they think
that I'm really brave. And you know, this and
that, and they give me so much credit, but I really planned
(06:00):
a lot. My savings, when
you know, I had a little business plan, a budget plan, my
five years you know, I took that time to
build my website to just build the whole fundamentals of
my business and get things started. And I wanted to
kind of get that cash flow going with my photography business
(06:21):
and feel comfortable with that. And, and I'm not saying
that, you know, things just continue to grow organically,
you know, there was a lot of things that I kind of learned the hard way. And,
but for the most part, I did as much as I
could to plan for it. And I think, you know,
on the flip side, part of the reason
(06:44):
why I had that itch as well was because my
accounting career, something that I studied, and that was
the only thing that I knew how to do. I did it for 20 years, and it's
a long time. And I think Um, it was a great
journey, uh, you know, progressing, traveling,
you know, everything that I was able to do amazing companies that
(07:05):
I worked for and people that I got to meet and learn
so much. But I think, um, you know how people say it's,
it's more about the journey than the destination. It
was kind of like that for me. And once I got to
the level that I did, I just realized that it wasn't a good fit
for me anymore. And I just wasn't happy. So it was both of those things
(07:28):
that just made me realize, okay, I
need to think of an alternative plan and what's the best way
to do it. And that's how I tried to plan for
Love that. I love how you talked about taking calculated
risks and having plans upon plans, because I think
you're right. People do think of entrepreneurship as
(07:51):
this overnight flip the switch, and it's not. Or it doesn't have
to be, right? It can be, but it doesn't have to be. And so I love the way you were
methodical. And you went through your process of
making that change, but feeling comfortable. What would you
say, I mean, obviously change is hard and
this is a big change, right? So what
(08:12):
would you say was the hardest part or what were the challenges that you faced along
There were a lot of challenges, Jan. It's
hard to, oh my goodness. I
get asked this question a lot, but you know, just the uncertainty first
and foremost. You're feeling liberated
(08:35):
and excited and so inspired and you
start this new chapter and then on the flip side, you
know, every other day I was like freaking out. wondering,
if I'm doing it right this way, how come I'm not, you know, getting
inquiries this way? Why is this, you know, strategy that
(08:57):
I decided to use not working, you know, there are many things
that you learn along the way. And,
you know, when you're becoming
an entrepreneur, I just I saw so many videos, and so
many people just doing so well with their business. And
And I really thought that if I work hard and if I really like
(09:20):
work on my skills and and do everything that everybody says
that things are going to work out the same way and everybody's
journey is completely different. And. I
don't think you hear as much of those business
owners. For me, photographers who also
really struggled. And, you know, no one really tells you
(09:43):
that it takes, you know, at least a few years. You know, for me,
I think my magic number was five and COVID is kind of like in
there too, right? But Um, it
really takes some time for, for
you to get the exposure for you to get those referrals,
you know, of those past clients, you know, to, to come into play.
(10:05):
And, and of course my service is a little different. Um,
it's such a highly personalized service, but, um, and,
and to get the SEO and online exposure and
all that kind of stuff, you know, it just, it takes time. So.
Yeah, so it sounds like patience and persistence, right?
(10:26):
And learning what works and what doesn't along the way, to your point, because
what works for one person may not work for someone else. So
it is it is a learning journey. And, you know, I can certainly relate
to that. I think, you know, you and I have similar experiences in terms of leaving
a corporate background to pursue our passion and
start our own businesses and You know, I can definitely relate
(10:47):
to a lot of what you're saying in terms of the uncertainty and not knowing. And
I think you're also used to, in a corporate environment, having
instant reward and payoff, right? When you check something off the box,
you finish a project, you complete something. There's sort of that
instant gratification, whereas in entrepreneurship, I
found what was really challenging is I did something or
(11:08):
I did it well, but there wasn't that instant reward. It's
more of a long-term play. So definitely
a lot of learnings along the way. And you,
I mean, your business is incredibly successful and it's been so amazing. I've
known you for years now to watch your business grow. What was
(11:30):
There's so many things. You
know what? There's kind of like a top three that I have, Gia.
finding mentors, networking, and
then the online presence. That's what I think were
the top three for me. I don't know if I can just name one.
(11:52):
I think those things were, those
top three things were so important for me. And I've
really seen how it's also changed. you know, over
time because like with networking, I think I was always putting
myself out there and just really trying to sell my business and now
the way that I network. you know, you kind of network everywhere you
(12:15):
go. Like any person that you meet any, you
know, person that you meet in class, or maybe you're at the mall, or
maybe at a party, you know, just being able to
connect, you know, to be kind, you know,
to be approachable to just organically connect
with people, whether through friendships, business relationships, you
(12:36):
know, and so forth. And and just building a network
of people who can support you, help you, refer
clients to you, you know, all those things is
Yeah, I think, you know, in all three of those things are super important and also have
(12:56):
a community aspect to it. Right. So
that I agree. Super important. What would you say are,
you know, in terms of going from a corporate employee to being
an entrepreneur, how would you describe that shift for
you in terms of your life pros,
(13:18):
Um, so, you know, I, like, I decided to pursue this because
I just imagined, um, uh,
a different life, you know, where I'm just in
various different aspects. I think, um, like
I mentioned, I didn't think that, you know, being at
(13:39):
the level I was at in my corporate accounting career was a good fit
for me. Um, I, I, I think, Oh,
How do I say this? You know, I think in the corporate world, and
as we all should, as business owners, it's very profit
driven, you know, all the decisions that are made. It's
very based on what's the best way to
(14:01):
get to our goals, plans. And we should
also be thinking that way as business owners. But I think since
I was really young, I I've always volunteered since
I was a kid. Yeah. And I always wanted to be
able to make an impact on people's lives and
in some kind of way, you know, whether it's just through kindness or being
(14:23):
able to help someone with something and, and it,
you know, I I just
saw its instant gratification when
you, with what I do, taking
photos of someone and seeing someone get emotional over
(14:43):
them. and having them
discover something about themselves, you know, or even
just, you know, that small little impact that I can
make. It just, it just
fuels, you know, your motivation
and inspiration even so much more. And I
(15:06):
just really loved what I was doing. And I
just imagined you know, a different life as an entrepreneur, being
able to manage my own schedule and being able to do different things.
And, and so you just, you
just have to keep yourself motivated and, you
know, resilient and just kind of keep going even
(15:33):
Yeah, I think the resilience is an important point and
remembering your purpose and your why, right? And even during
the difficult times, you know, when you're going through those challenges
is keeping in mind your why and your
end goal. So I think that's great, great insight. I
(15:53):
want to dig into something you just talked about, which is there's
an experience that you provide for women. Like you and I are both
in the business of empowering women and from different angles, but
I want to talk about portrait photography and
the work that you do, right? Because clients might find you
(16:14):
and say, wow, I really like her work because you're incredibly
talented. And they might walk in there thinking that
they're getting one thing, but I can speak from
personal experience in working with you as a client that
you walk out with a whole lot more. So
talk to us a little bit about the experience that
(16:40):
So Gia, this isn't something that I realized that
I wanted to do right away. I actually started with money photography when
I first started my photography journey. And, you
know, I loved wedding photography. It was a
lot of fun, you know, a great way to start
because a lot of weddings, weekends and so forth. But
(17:02):
as I connected with photographers, you know, I
had gotten some feedback from them and they were like, Sel, you
know, who calls me Sel or Tinette for short, you
know, you, you, you connect with women, you know, have you ever thought
about doing beauty photography? And I, you
know, I didn't really understand what that was about. And I just,
(17:23):
you know, I just wanted to learn more. And, you know, I would never consider
at that time, I was very conservative and, and
never thought of myself doing a portrait session like
that also. But, um, You know,
I, uh, two reasons very quickly,
um, two stories I'll share really quickly. Um, my,
(17:46):
my mother had portraits like that done when she was young, all
the way back in Japan. And, you know, she,
my grandmother had passed and my mother couldn't go to Japan. So my
aunt sent over a box of all this, you know, memorabilia and
she took all these things out and And then one of the things that
she took out was this portrait of herself. And she didn't know that
(18:07):
my grandmother had up onto this portrait for all this time. And
she got emotional. And we just sat there and we were talking about how
that happened, how that was a year that she left Japan to
start a new life in Canada. You know, and
now I have that portrait and I get to, you know, um, treasure
that for the rest of my life. And so that along
(18:30):
with, um, a client that came in, uh,
who's, you know, no longer with us today. Uh, she
had a session with me and she contacted me afterwards and
told me. How, you know, during the whole time
that she was with me that she forgot that she was sick, you know,
it's just, um, Being able to
(18:51):
provide these experiences and, you
know, for different reasons, but, you
know, for the majority of women, you know, who are able
to just reconnect and rediscover themselves
and, you know, realize how beautiful they are
and, you know, finding that confidence and getting empowered. That's
(19:15):
a big part of like what these types of portrait sessions
It's so beautiful to hear you say that, because, you
know, I do think that the
work that you do is, is, is much deeper, right, than just a
photo or a picture or portrait, right? Like, it is an empowering
experience. It is perhaps discovering about your something
(19:37):
about yourself that you didn't know or see before. I
And it's also most often a forgotten feeling, you know,
it's, um, just a lot
of my clients that come in that just forgot
what it feels like to be seen, to
(19:57):
be able to have portraits of themselves that they
can proudly share with so
many mothers that come in and always tell me, I'm always someone
that's taking the photos of my kids and I never like to have photos
of me taken or don't have a chance to have photos of me taken. And
a lot of them come in and enjoy some of the session by themselves and
(20:19):
then have the family join for the last part of the portrait
session. And I always love that moment when the family comes
in and I think, you know, they see their
parents, you know, totally glowing and feeling beautiful,
but just more the energy, you know, and then
continuing that experience for them to share with their family, too. You
(20:41):
know, that happens a lot in my studio, but Yeah,
just reconnecting, rediscovering, remembering, and
just holding on to that and keeping that with you, you
know, and I've, I've had women, you know, just come
back to me and tell me that, you know, it's helped
(21:03):
them, you know, go for this or pursue
this job or go online dating or do things
that they probably would have never thought to do just by
having that little boost of like confidence, you know, so definitely.
Definitely, definitely helps with the confidence. And I love what you said about reconnecting with
yourself, I think rediscovering who you are, because
(21:25):
as high achieving women, you're, you know, you made a great point, right?
We're always so focused on everybody else, family, kids, our
job. And this is really can be a very sacred
experience, right? That's all about you. And that empowering moment,
right, walking away with a greater sense of confidence and rediscovering who
you are, You know, I have to say that there's also a piece
(21:46):
of it could be related to finding yourself, right? Maybe there's
a piece of yourself that you didn't know existed or you didn't recognize
or see before. And I think for people like
you and I who have made these career transitions, maybe
talk a little bit about the identity shift, right? And
the reinvention that happens because as women, you know, I think this happens, this
(22:09):
is true for men too, but we become our career becomes such an
ingrained part of our identity. And we wear many hats, many roles,
but it becomes part of who we are. And so stepping out of that
can be really challenging. And, you
know, so even I can say from personal experience, the
work that I did with you was almost a step
(22:30):
in my process of reinvention. It's like seeing myself in a
Oh, thank you for sharing that. It
was really mixed, honestly. I think some people were
cheering for me. Some people were worried
for me. And then some people, I don't know if
(22:50):
they really took me seriously. I was
just like on a break, you know, crisis. So,
you know, you get a and that was also a bit of a challenge to
deal with to GM. Yeah. And you
have to just stay focused. I really
had to stay focused and I really had to find
(23:14):
that network of people who could understand the
situation or the transition I was going through, that
desire of wanting to pursue
something that might not work but you just have to go
for it. It was really
tough. As excited as
(23:35):
I was, I really tried to keep my mind busy as
much as possible because of course your business
is going to be a little slower in the beginning. I,
you know, it's so easy to fall into that half
glass and half glass empty, you know, situation and always
worry, worry, worry. And I really try
(23:58):
to just push through and, and read
books, you know, inspirational books. You
know, there's so much great reading out there. I
just tried to and I was constantly keeping my mind busy.
And I can also speak to like, you
know, even the pandemic, you know, I was shut down for five months.
(24:21):
So you know, not being able to photograph other people,
I ended up photographing myself, you know, online,
and, and just getting a lot of amazing interaction
and feedback. And, and that'll that also inspiring
others, you know, to do the same. But yes,
(24:42):
you know, when you become an entrepreneur, you're wearing so many different hats, you
know, you gotta become everybody all at the same time, you
know, the salesperson, the marketing, the, you know, getting
my books in order, you think that would be easy for me as
an accountant. And, you know, just getting everything, you know, I
(25:05):
think sometimes business owners and I can, I've
met a lot of photographers, you get so also hung
up in the craft of it, you know, just on the creative part of things and
not realizing that you really have to still, you know, set
up that whole um, the foundation, you
know, for your business and find that CRM software, fine,
(25:28):
you know, your bookkeeper and, and get all that stuff, you know,
uh, organized as well. And that's really important. So I
was just constantly hustling. You know, I just tried to keep my mind busy and,
um, to just, uh, try and keep inspired
Yeah, yeah. And I think, you know, we're used to hustling as high achieving
(25:49):
women. It's just a different type of hustle. Yeah,
right. And I see your point, you know, finding the
people that are your cheerleaders and supporting you
through that journey is really critical. And sometimes letting
go of people who aren't supportive of your transition.
Yeah. So Celestina in our,
(26:12):
in this podcast, we talk a lot about redefining success. I
would love to know from your perspective, how do you
define success for yourself and how
Um, success for
me in the beginning, even in my younger days in
my corporate years was about money. Um, and
(26:35):
my, my, uh, perspective has
now changed to, being happy. And,
you know, of
course, being happy, you know, it's really generalizing things,
but I give myself a little grace. I,
you know, I just try not to focus
(26:58):
so much on the little things and just
trying to balance and little
bit of, you know, financial success, but a little bit of personal success,
you know, and both personal and career and just,
just trying to be happy. And that's how I measure success now.
(27:19):
So love it. Love it. That sense of fulfillment, right?
Yeah, for sure. Celestina, I want to
thank you so much for being here for sharing your insights and expertise. Where
can our listeners learn more about you and the work that you do?
Thank you so much for having me, Gia. It's so great to
chat with you like this. Listeners can find
(27:48):
Perfect. And if you are curious about portrait
photography, I highly recommend reaching out
to Celestina and having a consultation and
an initial call. She does incredible, incredible work. And
of course, you can visit my website at gialacqua.com, reach out on
Instagram at gialacqua. On the homepage of my website, you can download
(28:08):
your complimentary copy of From Chaos to Clarity, a 30-day journal
for self-discovery and healing. This is Gia signing off
with gratitude for your time and energy. Our mic drops, but the
movement continues. Until next time, your next chapter is
waiting. Take care. That concludes another empowering episode of
Your Future Starts Now. Before we wrap up, I want to thank this
(28:29):
incredible community of high-achieving women. Your energy, resilience,
and commitment to growth are the driving force behind what we do.
If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate it, leave a review, and don't forget
to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Your feedback fuels our
mission to empower high-achieving women just like you. And of
course, share Your Future Starts Now with the extraordinary women in
(28:50):
your life who are also on a journey of healing and empowerment. Connect
with us on social media, share your thoughts, let us know what topics you'd like to
explore in future episodes. Stay connected on Instagram at
GiaLacqua. I encourage you to carry the energy of this conversation
into your day and keep on supporting the incredible women around you.
Welcome to Your Future Starts Now, the go-to podcast for
extraordinary women who are ready to step into their next chapter with
authentic confidence. I'm your host, Gia Lacqua empowerment coach,
motivational speaker, children's book author, and girl mom. Whether
you're a corporate powerhouse or an entrepreneur, this show is
designed for you. Your Future Starts Now is more than
(00:20):
just a podcast. It's a movement, a movement towards rewriting
the rules of success for high-achieving women. Are you ready
to get unstuck and step into your next chapter? If
so, you are exactly where you need to be. Your future starts
now. Welcome to Your Future Starts Now. I'm
your host, Gia Lacqua Thanks for joining us today. I'm so excited
(00:43):
to introduce you to Celestina Ando. Celestina
is a contemporary portrait photographer. Previously, she
was an accountant with the Creative Soul who studied photography for
years. She made the bold move to pursue her passion and is
the proud owner of a boutique studio in Montclair, New
Jersey. Her work has been published and featured in various publications. She's
(01:04):
won numerous awards, both locally and internationally, and
she's also held three photography exhibits. Her
specialty is magazine style portraits, headshots, family,
senior maternity, modern boudoir. She has a passion for
working with clients who feel aren't photogenic and creating
empowering experiences for them. Celestina, welcome
(01:30):
So tell us a little bit about your background and
what led you to where you are today.
You have a background in accounting. How long were you in accounting for?
I worked in corporate accounting and finance for almost 20 years.
Wow. Wow. And so did you just wake up one day and
say, I think I want to open my own photography studio
(01:56):
Um, you know, it was a whole bunch of different reasons, Gia,
but, uh, I think. I just fell
in love with photography. It was something that I was always interested in. I
studied it. I went, you know, and traveled and studied with different
photographers. And, um, I just met a lot of
great photographers who had their own businesses, found
(02:18):
some mentors and, and it just kind of.
organically bloomed over time, and I just
fell in love with it more and more. And it
wasn't, you know, an easy switch, that's for sure. You know,
I was definitely very comfortable with
my corporate finance career, having that steady paycheck, you
(02:40):
know, I worked for 20 years doing that. So
but I had a five year plan. And, you know, I was doing photography
part time while working in corporate accounting and building my
business. And it just so happened that at the end of the five
year time frame, there was just so many things happening in
my life that just made me decide to
(03:03):
realize and pursue my dream and and go
So that's amazing. And you opened your studio in
Yeah. Incredible. Incredible. Yeah. I
love the five year plan. Talk to us a little bit about the itch
that crept up for you and, and sort of how you
(03:26):
Um, so, you
know, my, my job in corporate accounting, my
longest period was an accountant client, and I was there for 10 years, and
I was constantly surrounded by creatives. and
photography. And my office in the
city wasn't the typical corporate accounting office, you
(03:49):
would think or imagine because I had black and white,
you know, photos of half naked models all over my wall. And
so I was every day
inspired. And I don't know if all the designers that I work with realize
this, but they really inspire me every day, all the creatives, all
the people in advertising, UPR, And
(04:12):
I just really love photography. And once I started studying it,
I showed up for my first photography class not even owning a camera. And
I was just really, really curious. And I thought, okay, if I really
like it, I'll go and pick up a camera. And that's literally what I did after the
first class. So but
you know, when you really fall in love with something, and I've had
(04:33):
many other passionate hobbies, but I just, I
don't know what it was. Yeah, it's just I think I met a
lot of great photographers who are doing really well with their business. And,
and it's just that idea of possibly doing something that
you love, really started to grow, grow in
me. And It just became an obsession, really.
(04:55):
And I just wanted to continue studying. I just wanted to continue to
shoot. I just love being able to capture these moments, you
know, for my clients. And, and
it just grew. That's my passion just grew to the point where I
I love that. I love that. So you had sort of a curiosity, you
(05:15):
felt the passion, and you explored what that was. And then it
sounds like you just listened to that inner voice that was talking to
you, right? Amazing. Amazing. So
tell us a little bit more about your five year plan. And how did you
go about preparing yourself for such a massive change, right? Because
leaving your corporate job, which, as you mentioned, can
(05:37):
be really safe to you know, taking
I'm a really calculated risk taker. Yeah, I'm
not when I share my story with people, they think
that I'm really brave. And you know, this and
that, and they give me so much credit, but I really planned
(06:00):
a lot. My savings, when
you know, I had a little business plan, a budget plan, my
five years you know, I took that time to
build my website to just build the whole fundamentals of
my business and get things started. And I wanted to
kind of get that cash flow going with my photography business
(06:21):
and feel comfortable with that. And, and I'm not saying
that, you know, things just continue to grow organically,
you know, there was a lot of things that I kind of learned the hard way. And,
but for the most part, I did as much as I
could to plan for it. And I think, you know,
on the flip side, part of the reason
(06:44):
why I had that itch as well was because my
accounting career, something that I studied, and that was
the only thing that I knew how to do. I did it for 20 years, and it's
a long time. And I think Um, it was a great
journey, uh, you know, progressing, traveling,
you know, everything that I was able to do amazing companies that
(07:05):
I worked for and people that I got to meet and learn
so much. But I think, um, you know how people say it's,
it's more about the journey than the destination. It
was kind of like that for me. And once I got to
the level that I did, I just realized that it wasn't a good fit
for me anymore. And I just wasn't happy. So it was both of those things
(07:28):
that just made me realize, okay, I
need to think of an alternative plan and what's the best way
to do it. And that's how I tried to plan for
Love that. I love how you talked about taking calculated
risks and having plans upon plans, because I think
you're right. People do think of entrepreneurship as
(07:51):
this overnight flip the switch, and it's not. Or it doesn't have
to be, right? It can be, but it doesn't have to be. And so I love the way you were
methodical. And you went through your process of
making that change, but feeling comfortable. What would you
say, I mean, obviously change is hard and
this is a big change, right? So what
(08:12):
would you say was the hardest part or what were the challenges that you faced along
There were a lot of challenges, Jan. It's
hard to, oh my goodness. I
get asked this question a lot, but you know, just the uncertainty first
and foremost. You're feeling liberated
(08:35):
and excited and so inspired and you
start this new chapter and then on the flip side, you
know, every other day I was like freaking out. wondering,
if I'm doing it right this way, how come I'm not, you know, getting
inquiries this way? Why is this, you know, strategy that
(08:57):
I decided to use not working, you know, there are many things
that you learn along the way. And,
you know, when you're becoming
an entrepreneur, I just I saw so many videos, and so
many people just doing so well with their business. And
And I really thought that if I work hard and if I really like
(09:20):
work on my skills and and do everything that everybody says
that things are going to work out the same way and everybody's
journey is completely different. And. I
don't think you hear as much of those business
owners. For me, photographers who also
really struggled. And, you know, no one really tells you
(09:43):
that it takes, you know, at least a few years. You know, for me,
I think my magic number was five and COVID is kind of like in
there too, right? But Um, it
really takes some time for, for
you to get the exposure for you to get those referrals,
you know, of those past clients, you know, to, to come into play.
(10:05):
And, and of course my service is a little different. Um,
it's such a highly personalized service, but, um, and,
and to get the SEO and online exposure and
all that kind of stuff, you know, it just, it takes time. So.
Yeah, so it sounds like patience and persistence, right?
(10:26):
And learning what works and what doesn't along the way, to your point, because
what works for one person may not work for someone else. So
it is it is a learning journey. And, you know, I can certainly relate
to that. I think, you know, you and I have similar experiences in terms of leaving
a corporate background to pursue our passion and
start our own businesses and You know, I can definitely relate
(10:47):
to a lot of what you're saying in terms of the uncertainty and not knowing. And
I think you're also used to, in a corporate environment, having
instant reward and payoff, right? When you check something off the box,
you finish a project, you complete something. There's sort of that
instant gratification, whereas in entrepreneurship, I
found what was really challenging is I did something or
(11:08):
I did it well, but there wasn't that instant reward. It's
more of a long-term play. So definitely
a lot of learnings along the way. And you,
I mean, your business is incredibly successful and it's been so amazing. I've
known you for years now to watch your business grow. What was
(11:30):
There's so many things. You
know what? There's kind of like a top three that I have, Gia.
finding mentors, networking, and
then the online presence. That's what I think were
the top three for me. I don't know if I can just name one.
(11:52):
I think those things were, those
top three things were so important for me. And I've
really seen how it's also changed. you know, over
time because like with networking, I think I was always putting
myself out there and just really trying to sell my business and now
the way that I network. you know, you kind of network everywhere you
(12:15):
go. Like any person that you meet any, you
know, person that you meet in class, or maybe you're at the mall, or
maybe at a party, you know, just being able to
connect, you know, to be kind, you know,
to be approachable to just organically connect
with people, whether through friendships, business relationships, you
(12:36):
know, and so forth. And and just building a network
of people who can support you, help you, refer
clients to you, you know, all those things is
Yeah, I think, you know, in all three of those things are super important and also have
(12:56):
a community aspect to it. Right. So
that I agree. Super important. What would you say are,
you know, in terms of going from a corporate employee to being
an entrepreneur, how would you describe that shift for
you in terms of your life pros,
(13:18):
Um, so, you know, I, like, I decided to pursue this because
I just imagined, um, uh,
a different life, you know, where I'm just in
various different aspects. I think, um, like
I mentioned, I didn't think that, you know, being at
(13:39):
the level I was at in my corporate accounting career was a good fit
for me. Um, I, I, I think, Oh,
How do I say this? You know, I think in the corporate world, and
as we all should, as business owners, it's very profit
driven, you know, all the decisions that are made. It's
very based on what's the best way to
(14:01):
get to our goals, plans. And we should
also be thinking that way as business owners. But I think since
I was really young, I I've always volunteered since
I was a kid. Yeah. And I always wanted to be
able to make an impact on people's lives and
in some kind of way, you know, whether it's just through kindness or being
(14:23):
able to help someone with something and, and it,
you know, I I just
saw its instant gratification when
you, with what I do, taking
photos of someone and seeing someone get emotional over
(14:43):
them. and having them
discover something about themselves, you know, or even
just, you know, that small little impact that I can
make. It just, it just
fuels, you know, your motivation
and inspiration even so much more. And I
(15:06):
just really loved what I was doing. And I
just imagined you know, a different life as an entrepreneur, being
able to manage my own schedule and being able to do different things.
And, and so you just, you
just have to keep yourself motivated and, you
know, resilient and just kind of keep going even
(15:33):
Yeah, I think the resilience is an important point and
remembering your purpose and your why, right? And even during
the difficult times, you know, when you're going through those challenges
is keeping in mind your why and your
end goal. So I think that's great, great insight. I
(15:53):
want to dig into something you just talked about, which is there's
an experience that you provide for women. Like you and I are both
in the business of empowering women and from different angles, but
I want to talk about portrait photography and
the work that you do, right? Because clients might find you
(16:14):
and say, wow, I really like her work because you're incredibly
talented. And they might walk in there thinking that
they're getting one thing, but I can speak from
personal experience in working with you as a client that
you walk out with a whole lot more. So
talk to us a little bit about the experience that
(16:40):
So Gia, this isn't something that I realized that
I wanted to do right away. I actually started with money photography when
I first started my photography journey. And, you
know, I loved wedding photography. It was a
lot of fun, you know, a great way to start
because a lot of weddings, weekends and so forth. But
(17:02):
as I connected with photographers, you know, I
had gotten some feedback from them and they were like, Sel, you
know, who calls me Sel or Tinette for short, you
know, you, you, you connect with women, you know, have you ever thought
about doing beauty photography? And I, you
know, I didn't really understand what that was about. And I just,
(17:23):
you know, I just wanted to learn more. And, you know, I would never consider
at that time, I was very conservative and, and
never thought of myself doing a portrait session like
that also. But, um, You know,
I, uh, two reasons very quickly,
um, two stories I'll share really quickly. Um, my,
(17:46):
my mother had portraits like that done when she was young, all
the way back in Japan. And, you know, she,
my grandmother had passed and my mother couldn't go to Japan. So my
aunt sent over a box of all this, you know, memorabilia and
she took all these things out and And then one of the things that
she took out was this portrait of herself. And she didn't know that
(18:07):
my grandmother had up onto this portrait for all this time. And
she got emotional. And we just sat there and we were talking about how
that happened, how that was a year that she left Japan to
start a new life in Canada. You know, and
now I have that portrait and I get to, you know, um, treasure
that for the rest of my life. And so that along
(18:30):
with, um, a client that came in, uh,
who's, you know, no longer with us today. Uh, she
had a session with me and she contacted me afterwards and
told me. How, you know, during the whole time
that she was with me that she forgot that she was sick, you know,
it's just, um, Being able to
(18:51):
provide these experiences and, you
know, for different reasons, but, you
know, for the majority of women, you know, who are able
to just reconnect and rediscover themselves
and, you know, realize how beautiful they are
and, you know, finding that confidence and getting empowered. That's
(19:15):
a big part of like what these types of portrait sessions
It's so beautiful to hear you say that, because, you
know, I do think that the
work that you do is, is, is much deeper, right, than just a
photo or a picture or portrait, right? Like, it is an empowering
experience. It is perhaps discovering about your something
(19:37):
about yourself that you didn't know or see before. I
And it's also most often a forgotten feeling, you know,
it's, um, just a lot
of my clients that come in that just forgot
what it feels like to be seen, to
(19:57):
be able to have portraits of themselves that they
can proudly share with so
many mothers that come in and always tell me, I'm always someone
that's taking the photos of my kids and I never like to have photos
of me taken or don't have a chance to have photos of me taken. And
a lot of them come in and enjoy some of the session by themselves and
(20:19):
then have the family join for the last part of the portrait
session. And I always love that moment when the family comes
in and I think, you know, they see their
parents, you know, totally glowing and feeling beautiful,
but just more the energy, you know, and then
continuing that experience for them to share with their family, too. You
(20:41):
know, that happens a lot in my studio, but Yeah,
just reconnecting, rediscovering, remembering, and
just holding on to that and keeping that with you, you
know, and I've, I've had women, you know, just come
back to me and tell me that, you know, it's helped
(21:03):
them, you know, go for this or pursue
this job or go online dating or do things
that they probably would have never thought to do just by
having that little boost of like confidence, you know, so definitely.
Definitely, definitely helps with the confidence. And I love what you said about reconnecting with
yourself, I think rediscovering who you are, because
(21:25):
as high achieving women, you're, you know, you made a great point, right?
We're always so focused on everybody else, family, kids, our
job. And this is really can be a very sacred
experience, right? That's all about you. And that empowering moment,
right, walking away with a greater sense of confidence and rediscovering who
you are, You know, I have to say that there's also a piece
(21:46):
of it could be related to finding yourself, right? Maybe there's
a piece of yourself that you didn't know existed or you didn't recognize
or see before. And I think for people like
you and I who have made these career transitions, maybe
talk a little bit about the identity shift, right? And
the reinvention that happens because as women, you know, I think this happens, this
(22:09):
is true for men too, but we become our career becomes such an
ingrained part of our identity. And we wear many hats, many roles,
but it becomes part of who we are. And so stepping out of that
can be really challenging. And, you
know, so even I can say from personal experience, the
work that I did with you was almost a step
(22:30):
in my process of reinvention. It's like seeing myself in a
Oh, thank you for sharing that. It
was really mixed, honestly. I think some people were
cheering for me. Some people were worried
for me. And then some people, I don't know if
(22:50):
they really took me seriously. I was
just like on a break, you know, crisis. So,
you know, you get a and that was also a bit of a challenge to
deal with to GM. Yeah. And you
have to just stay focused. I really
had to stay focused and I really had to find
(23:14):
that network of people who could understand the
situation or the transition I was going through, that
desire of wanting to pursue
something that might not work but you just have to go
for it. It was really
tough. As excited as
(23:35):
I was, I really tried to keep my mind busy as
much as possible because of course your business
is going to be a little slower in the beginning. I,
you know, it's so easy to fall into that half
glass and half glass empty, you know, situation and always
worry, worry, worry. And I really try
(23:58):
to just push through and, and read
books, you know, inspirational books. You
know, there's so much great reading out there. I
just tried to and I was constantly keeping my mind busy.
And I can also speak to like, you
know, even the pandemic, you know, I was shut down for five months.
(24:21):
So you know, not being able to photograph other people,
I ended up photographing myself, you know, online,
and, and just getting a lot of amazing interaction
and feedback. And, and that'll that also inspiring
others, you know, to do the same. But yes,
(24:42):
you know, when you become an entrepreneur, you're wearing so many different hats, you
know, you gotta become everybody all at the same time, you
know, the salesperson, the marketing, the, you know, getting
my books in order, you think that would be easy for me as
an accountant. And, you know, just getting everything, you know, I
(25:05):
think sometimes business owners and I can, I've
met a lot of photographers, you get so also hung
up in the craft of it, you know, just on the creative part of things and
not realizing that you really have to still, you know, set
up that whole um, the foundation, you
know, for your business and find that CRM software, fine,
(25:28):
you know, your bookkeeper and, and get all that stuff, you know,
uh, organized as well. And that's really important. So I
was just constantly hustling. You know, I just tried to keep my mind busy and,
um, to just, uh, try and keep inspired
Yeah, yeah. And I think, you know, we're used to hustling as high achieving
(25:49):
women. It's just a different type of hustle. Yeah,
right. And I see your point, you know, finding the
people that are your cheerleaders and supporting you
through that journey is really critical. And sometimes letting
go of people who aren't supportive of your transition.
Yeah. So Celestina in our,
(26:12):
in this podcast, we talk a lot about redefining success. I
would love to know from your perspective, how do you
define success for yourself and how
Um, success for
me in the beginning, even in my younger days in
my corporate years was about money. Um, and
(26:35):
my, my, uh, perspective has
now changed to, being happy. And,
you know, of
course, being happy, you know, it's really generalizing things,
but I give myself a little grace. I,
you know, I just try not to focus
(26:58):
so much on the little things and just
trying to balance and little
bit of, you know, financial success, but a little bit of personal success,
you know, and both personal and career and just,
just trying to be happy. And that's how I measure success now.
(27:19):
So love it. Love it. That sense of fulfillment, right?
Yeah, for sure. Celestina, I want to
thank you so much for being here for sharing your insights and expertise. Where
can our listeners learn more about you and the work that you do?
Thank you so much for having me, Gia. It's so great to
chat with you like this. Listeners can find
(27:48):
Perfect. And if you are curious about portrait
photography, I highly recommend reaching out
to Celestina and having a consultation and
an initial call. She does incredible, incredible work. And
of course, you can visit my website at gialacqua.com, reach out on
Instagram at gialacqua. On the homepage of my website, you can download
(28:08):
your complimentary copy of From Chaos to Clarity, a 30-day journal
for self-discovery and healing. This is Gia signing off
with gratitude for your time and energy. Our mic drops, but the
movement continues. Until next time, your next chapter is
waiting. Take care. That concludes another empowering episode of
Your Future Starts Now. Before we wrap up, I want to thank this
(28:29):
incredible community of high-achieving women. Your energy, resilience,
and commitment to growth are the driving force behind what we do.
If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate it, leave a review, and don't forget
to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Your feedback fuels our
mission to empower high-achieving women just like you. And of
course, share Your Future Starts Now with the extraordinary women in
(28:50):
your life who are also on a journey of healing and empowerment. Connect
with us on social media, share your thoughts, let us know what topics you'd like to
explore in future episodes. Stay connected on Instagram at
GiaLacqua. I encourage you to carry the energy of this conversation
into your day and keep on supporting the incredible women around you.
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