February 11, 2025 • 37 mins
What if you could step into a photograph and truly be seen? Join us on the Resonate podcast as we welcome Éadaoin Curtin, a remarkable photographer, educator, and copywriter dedicated to breaking the chains of perfectionism and self-judgment.
This episode is a heartfelt dive into Éadaoin's unique journey from brand photography to empowering visibility work, where she creates environments that allow clients to reveal their essence without fear. Her transition into copywriting is another chapter of her story, showcasing her inclusive approach to helping diverse individuals feel comfortable and confident.
Éadaoin Curtin is an inclusive feminist photographer, educator and copywriter. She helps people dare to be seen without feeling the need for performance, perfectionism or fear of (self) judgement. She works with ambitious Leaders, creatives, movers & shakers who are excited to be visible in their business as they are – not in spite of who they are. She is the creator of the Dare To Be Seen visibility course and The Urban Quickie shoot process.
Connect with Éadaoin
Instagram: @firechildphotography
LinkedIn: @eadaoin-curtin
Website: www.firechildphotography.com
Thanks for listening! To book a free consultation with Aideen visit https://www.confidenceinsinging.com/contact/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Aideen Ni Riada (00:03):
Welcome to the Resonate podcast with Aideen.
My guest today is anotherEadaoin, and I'm really looking
forward to introducing her toyou, as I've known for quite a
number of years now.
is an inclusive feminist,photographer, educator and
copywriter.
She helps people dare to beseen without feeling the need
(00:24):
for performance, perfectionismor the fear of self-judgment.
She works with ambitiousleaders, creatives, movers and
shakers who are excited to bevisible in their business as
they are not, in spite of whothey are.
She is the creator of the Dareto be Seen Visibility Course and
the Urban Quickie Shoot Process.
(00:45):
You're very welcome, aideen.
Éadaoin Curtin (00:47):
Thank you so much, Aideen.
Aideen Ni Riada (00:49):
So I know you primarily as a photographer.
We met many years ago, I think,through another online
community, and I just loved yourphotographs.
I know you're doing lots morenow, but let's start with that
little story about how we knoweach other because, my husband
and I, when we got married, wechose you as our wedding
(01:10):
photographer at that point.
Now, that wasn't your main roleeven then.
Éadaoin Curtin (01:14):
I think you were mostly doing brand photography
then right, yeah, I think Iprobably was, but I mean, I've
always I love shooting weddingsand I just don't adore the
industry, um, and so yeah, I'll,I'll happily shoot a wedding
when it's uh, when it's my kindof vibe and yours was oh, we
(01:38):
just loved having it there, wejust loved it and the
photographs turned out so well.
Aideen Ni Riada (01:42):
Everybody like, um, I have to share a few
wedding photos when you're whenyour podcast episode comes out.
But, um, one thing I love aboutyou, aideen, is your just your
warmth, okay, and I just feellike you have a way of bringing
people into a very, a state ofbeing very comfortable with who
(02:03):
they are and that they revealwho they are with you.
And I'm really excited to hearthat you're going beyond
photography now, even intohelping people to be more
visible in different ways.
Tell us how this evolution hascome about, because I'm so
(02:24):
curious about it um, so okay, soI've run the business.
Éadaoin Curtin (02:32):
I started firechild photography in sort of
2015 and one of the things thathas always been the the most
difficult for me has beenmarketing.
Um, I love to write, I love toexpress myself, but, you know,
it's always it's been one of thethings.
I think they overthink it a lot.
(02:53):
Um, it's become this big kindof you know, the social media
aspect of it particularly iskind of like a monster.
I know there are plenty ofother aspects of marketing, you
know, like conversations likethis and face-to-face and all
that kind of stuff.
But I came across thiswonderful marketing consultant,
(03:14):
kelly Deals, a couple of yearsago, and so I took a course with
her called Copywriting forCulture Makers, and the idea,
the reason that I wanted to takeit, is because I wanted to
learn how to write for myself.
But that was very exciting andI started talking to people
(03:37):
about it and, lo, people wantedme to write for them.
So that's just kind of how ithappened.
I had a wonderful client that Iworked with for a second time on
his, with his photographs, hisPR photos for his business, and
he brought with him a consultantthat he works with and we hit
(04:02):
it off really well and we werehaving coffee and we were
talking about her business andshe was saying, was saying how
you know, she wanted to changeup her website and change how
she works in her business and Isaid, right, let it, let's do it
.
You can be my gorgeous guineapig.
I'm going to write you yourwebsite.
If it's great, you can pay me.
If it's not, hey, I've learnedfrom it, kind of thing.
(04:24):
And it turned out really wellbecause the process that I have
learned is very, very similar tothe process that I use with my
photography clients.
Aideen Ni Riada (04:39):
I'm kind of just guessing now that you're
going quite deep with people.
Éadaoin Curtin (04:44):
Quite deep, Excuse me, Quite deep quite fast
.
And I think you know I always Ilaugh at how I do that with my
clients, because sometimes Iwill have had a very short
(05:05):
conversation with them before weengage in the work and then all
of a sudden we're getting intoyou know their greatest dreams
and desires and they're thepeople they admire and the way
that they want to be seen andheard and all of those things,
and they're the kind ofconversations that you don't
(05:25):
really have on a day-to-day like.
There's very little small talkin a lot of the work that I do
and I think it is driven by mydesire to know people you're a
curious person.
I am a very curious person.
I am.
I always find it reallyinteresting when I have it
(05:47):
reflected back to me about howcomfortable I make people feel
and how safe I make them feel,because I actually think that
that is probably my primaryskill.
The photographs are almost abyproduct of that.
Um, you know that it's.
It's the experience and becauseyou know yourself, whether it's
(06:12):
wedding photos or even justsnaps that you make yourself,
there's a story connected tothem and how you felt in that
moment.
Like you remember how you feltin that moment and I think when
people are uncomfortable, it'svery obvious, you know.
Aideen Ni Riada (06:32):
So like, of course, there are technical
skills necessary, but I thinkthe primary thing is making
people feel comfortable, thatthey can be vulnerable and they
can be themselves really quicklyand we don't have to, we don't
have to dig too far, you knowyeah, because, um, but just
before we came on and startedrecording um, we spoke a little
(06:55):
bit about you know that you liketo work with very diverse
people, that you're veryinclusive, that you want people
to feel good in their bodies, nomatter if they look different
from others.
Because you do say in your bioyou know that you want people to
feel good in their bodies, nomatter if they look different
from others.
Because you do say in your bio,you know that you want people
to be visible as they are not,in spite of who they are.
They're not trying to fitthemselves into a mold that's
(07:16):
palatable for others.
What like that?
I just I'm curious about that initself, because that's deeper
than just looking like you'recomfortable on camera, right,
that's like what I'm.
What am I saying about who I am?
What am I revealing aboutmyself that I don't reveal often
(07:36):
?
Éadaoin Curtin (07:37):
yeah, yeah, and I think for a lot of us running
a business because the peoplethat I primarily work with are
solo business owners,entrepreneurs, maybe some small,
small businesses and we getinto running a business not
because we want to be businessowners, but because we want to
(08:00):
work in a certain way and wehave ideas about how to do
things differently.
Probably and that does notnecessarily mean that we're
happy with everybody looking atus, if you know what I mean yeah
, there's doing the work, andthen there's there's the
(08:27):
visibility around it and thestanding up to say that this is
what I believe and this is whatI disagree with and how I want
things to be different and how Iwant to change how things are
done.
Um, and yeah, it's a challenge,for for a lot of us and myself
included, you know it'ssomething that I've come up
against.
Like I said, like, for me, themarketing thing has always been
(08:50):
a little bit difficult.
You know, as um, as a familymember once said to me, you know
somebody who'd never used theinternet in his life.
You know you have to putyourself out there.
He understood, he understoodthe idea, the concept.
We all understand that.
I understand that, but thereality of it, that you know
(09:13):
that thing.
You know what I talk about,without feeling the need for
performance or perfectionism orjudgment, and it's the judgment
from others and it's thejudgment from ourselves, and I
think that's something that weall like we.
Being a business owner is a cutas a practice, you know, it's a
(09:35):
constant reminding ourselves ofwhy we're doing it, of what
we're doing, and remindingourselves that, um, that we're
doing this for a reason, andjust trying our best to remember
(09:57):
that not everybody is judgingus and not everybody's thinking
like, who are they to be doing?
That, you know, and I thinkthat's it's something.
Maybe it's particularly acutein the Irish psyche, I don't
know, but I think I think itaffects a lot of us oh,
completely, it really does.
Aideen Ni Riada (10:17):
I've been um working with my dad a little bit
on some marketing for um, afestival here in Ireland called
the Eugene O'Neill Festival andthere was a beautiful playwright
, uh, sheeda Forsey, and I wroteher um, uh, press release
because I used to work in PR andmy dad's like I need you.
So when my dad says, do thisAideen, I'm like okay, um, and I
(10:38):
wrote this thing and she's likeyou made it, you made it sound
too good.
And I said but I didn't tellanything more than what you
actually told me.
I just might've used the word,you know, maybe I said, you know
, I said it was a world premiere, the play.
She's like how can you say that?
Well, it is a world premiere.
And so you know, I think Irishpeople do downplay things and
(11:03):
they are acutely aware of howothers might perceive them in
their success.
And I get it.
Actually, I see the benefits toboth Like I don't.
I like when people are you knowthat they really see that not
everybody's succeeding right now.
You know that they really seethat not everybody's succeeding
(11:24):
right now.
And I have to, I'm mindfulright about that I may be
succeeding and someone elseisn't struggling, and in America
it's like people get applaudedfor tooting their own horn.
So my being there and livingthere has kind of given me a
kind of a different perspective,and I think if you're there has
(11:47):
kind of given me a kind of adifferent perspective.
And I think if you're, you dohave to be brave and there's a
huge amount of vulnerability.
I think that's when you werespeaking about how people might
be feeling.
Tell me a little bit more,though.
I'm really curious how visualscan bring out like somebody's
(12:07):
essence, because what you're, Ithink what you do, is you.
You see them for who they trulyare, they become comfortable
with you, but then somehow youare packaging it like that's
what you're doing with aphotograph or with your
copywriting.
What kind of like?
What do you, what do you do?
Like?
(12:28):
What is going on in thatfascinating brain of yours that
helps the, the look of somethingsay everything that you know
that person needs to be said.
I know, like a picture doestell a thousand words, yeah, but
not every photograph will showwho you are or what you, your
(12:49):
passion, is like.
You mentioned there yourpurpose and you know your values
.
Éadaoin Curtin (12:53):
Even you mentioned and you know what it
is you want to say, what your um, what it is you want to give to
the world really yeah, and Imean, it's impossible to capture
all aspects of somebody in oneimage, um, but I think it kind
of boils down to being able tolook at an image of yourself and
(13:16):
feel, oh, that's actually me,you know, and I think it's.
It's very much as simple asthat simple, you know, that
comes from being comfortableduring the the process of making
the photograph.
It comes from like a kind of asense of psychological safety,
maybe, um, during the process ofmaking the photos, but also
(13:39):
during the process of seeingthem for the first time, um, in
terms of, like, creating thevisual, like I studied interior
and furniture design in college,so in terms of being present in
a space and the kind of thevisual language of things, I
(14:01):
suppose there's like anintuitiveness for me, you know.
So I remember years ago I didthe like the deep dive with a
client before her shoot and wehad no ideas of location and
like, as in, she wasn't great,she didn't come with anything
going.
Oh, I'd like, I think I'd liketo work here or I have this
(14:23):
space, or whatever.
And so we finished the thething and I said, like I think
I'd like to work here, or I havethis space, or whatever.
And so we finished the thething and I said, okay, I have,
I have nothing for you right nowin terms of like, there's
nothing jumping into my mind ofwhere would work really well for
you, but leave it with me.
And probably about an hourlater I was making a cup of
coffee and I just went oh yes,going.
Oh yes, this is the place,because what it feels like and
(14:46):
looks like in my mind was whather essence feels like.
So it's that kind of yeah,there's definitely an
intuitiveness to it, you know.
And it's the same way with,like during a shoot.
I don't know when we're goingto be done, but I will know.
Do you know what I mean?
(15:07):
Like it'll come to a point like, okay, we're finished now, and
then it might inevitably they'llbe like, oh, but wait, let's,
let's just do a little bit overhere, or let's just do the last
little whatever.
And then it's like, okay, nowwe're done.
So it's um, it's that it.
The deep dive is a really bigpart of it too, because it's
(15:28):
that getting to know the personand getting the information that
I need to kind of pull thethings together.
And do you know, does that makesense?
It does, it makes completesense.
All of that said, it kind ofdoesn't matter where we make the
(15:48):
photos.
In a way, you know there willbe, there will be things that
will be fit like visuallyjarring, like I'm always very
conscious of where people'shands are, um, because if we can
see in a photograph, if we cansee one hand but we can't see
the other, the person who'slooking at the photograph,
(16:10):
unconsciously they're wonderingwhere is the other hand?
Uh-huh, or you know, so there's.
There's that in terms of likethe, the the word is gone from
my mind anyway how the image isconstructed, um, and there will
(16:32):
be things that you know we wantthings to feel and look natural,
so we don't want something toappear like it's out of place.
Or you know that that there's umthat either the person is kind
of blending in with what'saround them or that they're
contrary.
You know their look contraststoo much.
(16:52):
You know, if you, I don't know,like something like super, um,
a super vivid example of thatwould be, like you know well,
sometimes the contrast can bereally exciting.
But I'm just thinking like areally shintzy kind of living
room situation and you havesomebody who's, you know, all in
(17:12):
like leather and has a reallylike sharp haircut, and you know
the contrast would be jarring.
Yeah, so it's.
In order to, to convey somebody, you need the psychological
safety, and then there is thatkind of element of the location
(17:32):
tells part of the story as welland even poses and things like
that.
I presume yes yeah, like I lovewhen we have somebody who's you
know, somebody who's dressedlike they're super feminine and
then I get them in a reallymasculine pose, all right, you
know, like just kind of playingwith things.
Um, yeah, and something that'salways really important, I think
(17:58):
, you know, particularly whenyou're being visual in order to,
uh, be found, in order for yourbusiness or your service to be
found, um, it's not a fashionshoot, it's you're.
You're not expected to be amodel, um, it's important that
(18:19):
you look good and you feel good,etc.
But what's really important, Ithink, is eye contact, eye
contact with the.
The lens is not actually a lens, it's a window, you know, and
and the only people who see thecamera are me and the person
who's being photographed.
But when you're using thosephotographs in your business as
(18:45):
a marketing and sales tool,nobody's thinking about the
camera, they're just looking atyou through this little window
that you've created.
So I think, eye contact andmaking sure that your eyes are
the, the kind of the closestpart of your body to the camera,
you know, I've noticed over theyears that people have this
(19:07):
kind of um, it happens almost bydefault where we kind of lean
away a little bit from thecamera, because maybe we don't
really want to be seen.
Sorry, I've just leaned awayfrom the microphone there as
well um, which results then inmaybe our head being slightly
(19:27):
further away and our body beingcloser to the camera.
Okay, and whatever is closer tothe camera will be, will look
bigger, basically, um, you knowand we've all grown up in a
world where we're being taughtthat our bodies need to be as
small as they can possibly beand all of those things and I am
(19:49):
not here to tell anybody how tomake themselves look smaller.
That is not my mission in life.
I am here to make sure that youfeel comfortable about every
part of you, but there arethings that are important to do
and, in terms of posing, youknow, making sure that you are
(20:09):
greeting the camera and theperson who's on the other side
of it, who is your client, yourpotential client.
Aideen Ni Riada (20:16):
I love that, love that um.
I I'm not sure if you've heardof Vanessa Van Edwards, but
she's a body language expert.
She's like the Brené Brown ofbody language and she has some
fascinating um research done onyou know, the use of your hands
in, you know even on a zoom callor even in photographs, and
(20:38):
you're going to really love umher.
I'll send you um and I'll putthe link to the her, to an
amazing podcast with vanessa,into the show notes as well,
because I just think you knowthe way we communicate visually
can either alienate people or itcan make them feel our warmth
or our competence those are thetwo words that she uses.
(20:58):
It's about getting the feelingof the smile, but also that you
are trustworthy, credible, allof those things.
But so anyway, that's just aside note Tell us a little bit
about your Dare to be Seenvisibility course from the
perspective of your clients.
Like what is it that they getin there that makes it easier
(21:21):
for them?
Éadaoin Curtin (21:22):
So I wanted to change how I was working.
A couple of years ago it waskind of 2021, 2022.
Things were different, peoplewere different, the energy was
different.
I think we'd all spent a lot oftime being seen head and
(21:43):
shoulders, but not the rest ofus, and not being out in the
world, and I found I wasstruggling, definitely so.
I had my first son in thesummer of 2020.
We were not living here in ourhome, we were.
We'd moved out for renovationsand we moved back in in 2021.
(22:07):
We had no mirrors in the housefor a solid year, but we have a
window by the front door, and sowhat would happen Is I would
Look at myself in the reflectionof the window After I had
locked the front door.
I would not necessarily behappy with what I saw.
It was too late to go back inBecause I was on my way wherever
(22:30):
I was going and that was it.
And I think my experience likethe layers of becoming a parent
for the first time, the physical, emotional and mental changes
that came with that, layered onthe isolation and the craziness
(22:52):
of the world in the pandemic Ithink it may have been magnified
for me in some ways, but I'msure other people had
experiences that magnified itfor them, but what I found was
um, I wanted to change up how Iwas working.
I wanted to bring a differentenergy to the work, and I also
saw that people needed, um, alittle bit more coaching.
(23:16):
So what I used to my standardkind of shoot that I used to do,
kind of pre-2020 was aboutthree hours long, but actually a
lot of that time was spentcoaching the client how to pose,
figuring out what outfits theywere going to wear, where they
were going to wear them.
You know, we'll do this outfitthere.
(23:39):
This would be really good here.
I don't think that's going tophotograph very well.
Let's put that back in thesuitcase or whatever.
So the client would be comingto the shoot with very few
decisions actually made.
Um, I was accepting fullresponsibility for making those
decisions on the day.
So what was happening?
Like my, I was engaging in thatpower dynamic of the
(24:02):
photographer has the power overhow you look okay and I.
I began to understand that thatneeded to change and I wanted
to shift that power and thatresponsibility so that the
client was both accepting theresponsibility of how they
showed up but also engaging withthat very, very powerful thing
(24:26):
of you know, choosing anddeciding how they were going to
be seen, but also that they weregoing to love how they were
seen, because a lot of it is adecision.
So I were.
I was working with um, a clientof mine, one of my kind of
first branding clients, um, andI photographed her in.
(24:48):
I photographed her wedding.
I photographed her a couple oftimes as a business owner and
the last time that we engagedtogether was a couple of years
ago and she shared with me herprocess and it actually helped
me to blueprint how I wanted myclients to engage in the process
(25:08):
, so that they weren't showingup to the shoot with the
suitcase full of clothes andgoing right, I'm here, what are
we gonna do?
Aideen Ni Riada (25:14):
so it's um can I just go back there, just just
for my own clarity?
Éadaoin Curtin (25:19):
so the reason she had a process was because
she had worked with you a fewtimes no, I know, I think
probably yes, because she'd beenphotographed a few times and
she wanted to um, to engage withit in in in a new way for her
as well.
So she began to photographherself like she.
(25:40):
She began to get dressed forthe day and then photograph
herself and go, oh, that doesn'tlook in the photograph the way
I thought it was going to look,and okay.
So I like how this makes mefeel, but I don't like how it
looks in a photograph.
And she began to kind of, um, Isuppose, reorient how she was
(26:01):
seeing herself and so seeing herdo that, having her share that
with me, and you know the factthat we had worked together a
couple of times and she, she,she did.
She had learned from me aboutposing already, so we did in
that one hour the shoot was, Ithink was, about 55 minutes.
(26:24):
From the first frame to thelast, seven different sets of
images.
There were wardrobe changes, um, she probably got back more
images from that shoot than shewould have from the previous
three-hour shoot that we've done.
Wow, um, I always think it'sreally important when you are
hiring a photographer, not toask how many photographs you're
(26:44):
going to get, but how many setsyou're going to get, because I
could sit and I could take 5 000photographs of you in one day
but.
If they're 5 000 photographs ofexactly the same thing, then
you've got one photo.
But if you've got sevendifferent sets where you're
changing your wardrobe, thebackground is different, the
(27:07):
poses are different, your facialexpressions are changing, then
you've got you know, you've gotyour five sets, your seven sets,
and you've got maybe four orfive images within each of those
that you're going to use.
Do you know what I mean?
so you have that one where yougo, that's me and then you'll
have those other ones you'relike that would be great for my
(27:27):
newsletter.
That'll be social media.
This will be great for PR.
This will be great for thiskind of PR, you know, whether
it's newspapers or digital mediaor whatever, um.
So, yeah, I began, I documentedthat process and I also brought
in my own process.
So, like I'd said to youpreviously about doing that deep
(27:47):
dive with the client, I don'treally do that anymore now
because they do a lot of thatwork by themselves.
So it's a self-paced course andwe kind of work on the, the
three, the three foundations.
My methodology it's it's aboutum, preparation and that's kind
of like the logical, thelogistics of it.
(28:09):
So the posing, the deciding onyour wardrobe, all those kind of
things.
Then there is the power, and soI have some lovely podcast
interviews that are laid outthat you can listen to.
There is the taking selfies asa way to step into your power
and see yourself.
(28:30):
There are some other kind ofself-coaching exercises, I
suppose, where we think abouthow we want to be seen and why
we want to be seen and thosekind of things.
And then there's also thepurpose of the images, because I
will tell you, there is nothingthat breaks my heart more than
(28:53):
knowing that my client hasincredible photos of themselves
and they're not using them.
They're sitting on a folder onthe desktop, um, and I always
get a thrill.
My my photo hosting platformsends me a notification when
somebody downloads photos andsomebody downloaded photos the
(29:16):
other day and this is somebodywho, who I photographed years
ago and nothing ever came of it.
Because when I photographpeople, they're on a threshold
of change.
They may or may not choose toactually cross that threshold,
and there was a long time whereI carried that um, and now I've
(29:40):
I understand now that that's it.
There's a wider thing.
It's not all about me, you know.
It's not that.
It's not all about me and mywork.
Aideen Ni Riada (29:49):
But that brings me to what I wanted to ask you
is like why are you sopassionate about that for people
that they actually use thosephotographs?
Why does that matter?
Éadaoin Curtin (29:58):
um, because their visibility matters and
their work matters and beingseen, making that choice to be
seen and then following throughwith it is there something
beyond that, something deeper?
I think it, I think what it does.
I I've seen it time and timeand time again where even the
(30:21):
prep, the process of preparingfor the shoot, does something
for people's confidence.
The process of nailing theshoot does something for
people's confidence, and thatcan be enough.
Sometimes, you know people,they sprinkle the photos in.
Like I said, the photos arealmost a byproduct in some ways.
(30:43):
But I think there is also thisthing of like continuing the
momentum.
You know, you decided how youwant to be seen, you made the
financial investment, you madethe energetic investment.
Now let yourself be successful,let your people find you, you
(31:05):
know.
So, yeah, so this client I gota notification the other day
that she had downloaded photosand I haven't been in touch with
her yet, but I will just tosend her a little note to say
you go, you do it, I can't waitto see what happens you know,
it's like a seed gets sown andyou're you're expecting.
Aideen Ni Riada (31:26):
You're expecting change for people,
transformation yeah, there'sactually a transformative
process there for them that canhave a knock-on effect on others
.
Then that they get inspired bythat or they get to receive the
service from that person orsomething in them that is
valuable but may be hidden.
(31:47):
One of the things that I alwaystalk about is that you're a
treasure, your voice has valueand stop hiding.
Are you hiding?
Because this is so importantthat we all each of us find a
way to allow ourselves, beourselves and be, to do
(32:11):
something with our lives.
You know what I mean?
Mean, and it's not.
It's a timing thing.
There's a lot to do with when'sthe opportunity coming and
when's my time coming, but Ijust love this idea that we're
going to say to each other Iknew that was about to happen
for you.
I'm just so excited.
Something's changing,something's happening.
There is like that feeling ofmomentum of excitement, of you
(32:34):
know, feeling of momentum ofexcitement of you know we're
living for a reason.
We're living to be here to dosomething, and I want people to
be curious and passionate andinspired, and it feels like
we're exactly on the same pagethere that you're just itching.
You're like a cheerleader, butyou're like you.
You're, you get on the fieldand you're like here, kick the
ball.
Éadaoin Curtin (32:52):
This way, I don't know, but I am the
cheerleader.
You know the, the um, I'm anINFP, I'm pretty sure oh, that's
your personality test.
Aideen Ni Riada (33:01):
Yeah, which?
Éadaoin Curtin (33:01):
is a cheerleader wow, there you go, nailed it
yes, 100%.
I love and that's the thinglike the the fact that I get to
play a part in someone else'ssuccess is just a thrill like.
I firmly believe that thesuccess of small businesses is a
success of all of us, you know,because when a small business
(33:24):
owner is successful, thatripples out throughout their
community, you know, and it itchanges how their community,
both locally and their businesscommunity, is.
You know, I think it's, it'sjust yeah, it's a thrill.
Aideen Ni Riada (33:39):
Is there anything that you would like to
reiterate or anything that youhave had on your mind that you'd
like to say?
So this, in essence, is like awindow.
This podcast is like a windowIf you talk to the people.
They're listening to us rightnow.
They've enjoyed theconversation, but what is it you
want them to know?
Éadaoin Curtin (33:58):
yeah, that's one of the questions I ask my, my
clients.
Um, your work is important,your work is valuable.
You have the responsibilitySorry, I'm going to say you have
(34:19):
the power to shape your ownnarrative and you can dare to be
seen.
Aideen Ni Riada (34:30):
Beautiful, I'm so happy that we have had the
chance to have this conversation.
Beautiful, I'm so happy that wehave had the chance to have
this conversation.
Um, I know that another passionof yours is community, and that
you're.
That's a part of your next step.
Is there anything you'd like tomention about that?
I'm afraid we didn't get muchof a chance to talk about it no,
not at all.
Éadaoin Curtin (34:48):
It's just my, it's kind of my focus for this
year.
Um, I think a lot of what'shappening in the world, um, it's
just, you know, there's a,there's a divisiveness and there
, you know, I feel like we'vemoved towards individualism and
(35:08):
isolation from each other and Ijust really community has become
a really strong value, I think,for me and a way that I want to
live my life, um, bothgeographically, physically, and
in in the social media worldyeah, and I think sometimes you
(35:28):
know, when you see someone, likeon a podcast or you know you
see their photographs like I,I'm redoing some of my, my
branding and stuff and I justsaid I want people to know that
I'm here for them, right?
Aideen Ni Riada (35:39):
I don't want to be like an icon in the distance
that everyone's like oh yeah,aideen's.
I mean, you know what did mycousin say?
I I said to her one day youknow, everyone in my, my family
is very different.
And she said, yeah, but Aideen,you're the most different.
And I was like, okay, because,um, I I do have, I have done the
(36:00):
dare to be seen thing indifferent ways and surprised
people, but I'm in my heart, Iam just wanting to be there for
others as well.
And this podcast it's not like.
You know, we are way aboveanyone else.
We just we have a journey we'vebeen on and if you're listening
(36:21):
right now, you have a journeythat you've been on and you have
a story to tell and I don'tfeel any bigger or smaller than
anyone else and I would love forpeople who are listening to
realize that thing that you justsaid that your, your, your, you
know your work is important,but you are important and we are
happy that that people listento the podcast, but also would
(36:44):
love for people to realize thatwe want to cheer them on in
whatever stage of their lifethey're at yeah, 100 yeah, so
let's connect.
So this idea of community, right, let's find aiding on on social
media um, find her course.
It's available.
You know you might not want todo your photograph straight away
(37:06):
, but maybe the course itself isgoing to help you to step into
your power.
Um, and we want to hear fromour listeners.
We want to hear from you, um,we're, that's why we do what we
do.
We want to hear from ourlisteners.
We want to hear from you.
That's why we do what we do.
Éadaoin Curtin (37:20):
We want to uplift people, I think 100%.
Aideen Ni Riada (37:22):
So thank you so much, Aideen, for being on the
podcast today.
Thank you all for listening andI'll see you next time on the
Resonate podcast with Aideen.
God bless and take care.
Bye-bye.
Welcome to the Resonate podcast with Aideen.
My guest today is anotherEadaoin, and I'm really looking
forward to introducing her toyou, as I've known for quite a
number of years now.
is an inclusive feminist,photographer, educator and
copywriter.
She helps people dare to beseen without feeling the need
(00:24):
for performance, perfectionismor the fear of self-judgment.
She works with ambitiousleaders, creatives, movers and
shakers who are excited to bevisible in their business as
they are not, in spite of whothey are.
She is the creator of the Dareto be Seen Visibility Course and
the Urban Quickie Shoot Process.
(00:45):
You're very welcome, aideen.
Éadaoin Curtin (00:47):
Thank you so much, Aideen.
Aideen Ni Riada (00:49):
So I know you primarily as a photographer.
We met many years ago, I think,through another online
community, and I just loved yourphotographs.
I know you're doing lots morenow, but let's start with that
little story about how we knoweach other because, my husband
and I, when we got married, wechose you as our wedding
(01:10):
photographer at that point.
Now, that wasn't your main roleeven then.
Éadaoin Curtin (01:14):
I think you were mostly doing brand photography
then right, yeah, I think Iprobably was, but I mean, I've
always I love shooting weddingsand I just don't adore the
industry, um, and so yeah, I'll,I'll happily shoot a wedding
when it's uh, when it's my kindof vibe and yours was oh, we
(01:38):
just loved having it there, wejust loved it and the
photographs turned out so well.
Aideen Ni Riada (01:42):
Everybody like, um, I have to share a few
wedding photos when you're whenyour podcast episode comes out.
But, um, one thing I love aboutyou, aideen, is your just your
warmth, okay, and I just feellike you have a way of bringing
people into a very, a state ofbeing very comfortable with who
(02:03):
they are and that they revealwho they are with you.
And I'm really excited to hearthat you're going beyond
photography now, even intohelping people to be more
visible in different ways.
Tell us how this evolution hascome about, because I'm so
(02:24):
curious about it um, so okay, soI've run the business.
Éadaoin Curtin (02:32):
I started firechild photography in sort of
2015 and one of the things thathas always been the the most
difficult for me has beenmarketing.
Um, I love to write, I love toexpress myself, but, you know,
it's always it's been one of thethings.
I think they overthink it a lot.
(02:53):
Um, it's become this big kindof you know, the social media
aspect of it particularly iskind of like a monster.
I know there are plenty ofother aspects of marketing, you
know, like conversations likethis and face-to-face and all
that kind of stuff.
But I came across thiswonderful marketing consultant,
(03:14):
kelly Deals, a couple of yearsago, and so I took a course with
her called Copywriting forCulture Makers, and the idea,
the reason that I wanted to takeit, is because I wanted to
learn how to write for myself.
But that was very exciting andI started talking to people
(03:37):
about it and, lo, people wantedme to write for them.
So that's just kind of how ithappened.
I had a wonderful client that Iworked with for a second time on
his, with his photographs, hisPR photos for his business, and
he brought with him a consultantthat he works with and we hit
(04:02):
it off really well and we werehaving coffee and we were
talking about her business andshe was saying, was saying how
you know, she wanted to changeup her website and change how
she works in her business and Isaid, right, let it, let's do it
.
You can be my gorgeous guineapig.
I'm going to write you yourwebsite.
If it's great, you can pay me.
If it's not, hey, I've learnedfrom it, kind of thing.
(04:24):
And it turned out really wellbecause the process that I have
learned is very, very similar tothe process that I use with my
photography clients.
Aideen Ni Riada (04:39):
I'm kind of just guessing now that you're
going quite deep with people.
Éadaoin Curtin (04:44):
Quite deep, Excuse me, Quite deep quite fast
.
And I think you know I always Ilaugh at how I do that with my
clients, because sometimes Iwill have had a very short
(05:05):
conversation with them before weengage in the work and then all
of a sudden we're getting intoyou know their greatest dreams
and desires and they're thepeople they admire and the way
that they want to be seen andheard and all of those things,
and they're the kind ofconversations that you don't
(05:25):
really have on a day-to-day like.
There's very little small talkin a lot of the work that I do
and I think it is driven by mydesire to know people you're a
curious person.
I am a very curious person.
I am.
I always find it reallyinteresting when I have it
(05:47):
reflected back to me about howcomfortable I make people feel
and how safe I make them feel,because I actually think that
that is probably my primaryskill.
The photographs are almost abyproduct of that.
Um, you know that it's.
It's the experience and becauseyou know yourself, whether it's
(06:12):
wedding photos or even justsnaps that you make yourself,
there's a story connected tothem and how you felt in that
moment.
Like you remember how you feltin that moment and I think when
people are uncomfortable, it'svery obvious, you know.
Aideen Ni Riada (06:32):
So like, of course, there are technical
skills necessary, but I thinkthe primary thing is making
people feel comfortable, thatthey can be vulnerable and they
can be themselves really quicklyand we don't have to, we don't
have to dig too far, you knowyeah, because, um, but just
before we came on and startedrecording um, we spoke a little
(06:55):
bit about you know that you liketo work with very diverse
people, that you're veryinclusive, that you want people
to feel good in their bodies, nomatter if they look different
from others.
Because you do say in your bioyou know that you want people to
feel good in their bodies, nomatter if they look different
from others.
Because you do say in your bio,you know that you want people
to be visible as they are not,in spite of who they are.
They're not trying to fitthemselves into a mold that's
(07:16):
palatable for others.
What like that?
I just I'm curious about that initself, because that's deeper
than just looking like you'recomfortable on camera, right,
that's like what I'm.
What am I saying about who I am?
What am I revealing aboutmyself that I don't reveal often
(07:36):
?
Éadaoin Curtin (07:37):
yeah, yeah, and I think for a lot of us running
a business because the peoplethat I primarily work with are
solo business owners,entrepreneurs, maybe some small,
small businesses and we getinto running a business not
because we want to be businessowners, but because we want to
(08:00):
work in a certain way and wehave ideas about how to do
things differently.
Probably and that does notnecessarily mean that we're
happy with everybody looking atus, if you know what I mean yeah
, there's doing the work, andthen there's there's the
(08:27):
visibility around it and thestanding up to say that this is
what I believe and this is whatI disagree with and how I want
things to be different and how Iwant to change how things are
done.
Um, and yeah, it's a challenge,for for a lot of us and myself
included, you know it'ssomething that I've come up
against.
Like I said, like, for me, themarketing thing has always been
(08:50):
a little bit difficult.
You know, as um, as a familymember once said to me, you know
somebody who'd never used theinternet in his life.
You know you have to putyourself out there.
He understood, he understoodthe idea, the concept.
We all understand that.
I understand that, but thereality of it, that you know
(09:13):
that thing.
You know what I talk about,without feeling the need for
performance or perfectionism orjudgment, and it's the judgment
from others and it's thejudgment from ourselves, and I
think that's something that weall like we.
Being a business owner is a cutas a practice, you know, it's a
(09:35):
constant reminding ourselves ofwhy we're doing it, of what
we're doing, and remindingourselves that, um, that we're
doing this for a reason, andjust trying our best to remember
(09:57):
that not everybody is judgingus and not everybody's thinking
like, who are they to be doing?
That, you know, and I thinkthat's it's something.
Maybe it's particularly acutein the Irish psyche, I don't
know, but I think I think itaffects a lot of us oh,
completely, it really does.
Aideen Ni Riada (10:17):
I've been um working with my dad a little bit
on some marketing for um, afestival here in Ireland called
the Eugene O'Neill Festival andthere was a beautiful playwright
, uh, sheeda Forsey, and I wroteher um, uh, press release
because I used to work in PR andmy dad's like I need you.
So when my dad says, do thisAideen, I'm like okay, um, and I
(10:38):
wrote this thing and she's likeyou made it, you made it sound
too good.
And I said but I didn't tellanything more than what you
actually told me.
I just might've used the word,you know, maybe I said, you know
, I said it was a world premiere, the play.
She's like how can you say that?
Well, it is a world premiere.
And so you know, I think Irishpeople do downplay things and
(11:03):
they are acutely aware of howothers might perceive them in
their success.
And I get it.
Actually, I see the benefits toboth Like I don't.
I like when people are you knowthat they really see that not
everybody's succeeding right now.
You know that they really seethat not everybody's succeeding
(11:24):
right now.
And I have to, I'm mindfulright about that I may be
succeeding and someone elseisn't struggling, and in America
it's like people get applaudedfor tooting their own horn.
So my being there and livingthere has kind of given me a
kind of a different perspective,and I think if you're there has
(11:47):
kind of given me a kind of adifferent perspective.
And I think if you're, you dohave to be brave and there's a
huge amount of vulnerability.
I think that's when you werespeaking about how people might
be feeling.
Tell me a little bit more,though.
I'm really curious how visualscan bring out like somebody's
(12:07):
essence, because what you're, Ithink what you do, is you.
You see them for who they trulyare, they become comfortable
with you, but then somehow youare packaging it like that's
what you're doing with aphotograph or with your
copywriting.
What kind of like?
What do you, what do you do?
Like?
(12:28):
What is going on in thatfascinating brain of yours that
helps the, the look of somethingsay everything that you know
that person needs to be said.
I know, like a picture doestell a thousand words, yeah, but
not every photograph will showwho you are or what you, your
(12:49):
passion, is like.
You mentioned there yourpurpose and you know your values
.
Éadaoin Curtin (12:53):
Even you mentioned and you know what it
is you want to say, what your um, what it is you want to give to
the world really yeah, and Imean, it's impossible to capture
all aspects of somebody in oneimage, um, but I think it kind
of boils down to being able tolook at an image of yourself and
(13:16):
feel, oh, that's actually me,you know, and I think it's.
It's very much as simple asthat simple, you know, that
comes from being comfortableduring the the process of making
the photograph.
It comes from like a kind of asense of psychological safety,
maybe, um, during the process ofmaking the photos, but also
(13:39):
during the process of seeingthem for the first time, um, in
terms of, like, creating thevisual, like I studied interior
and furniture design in college,so in terms of being present in
a space and the kind of thevisual language of things, I
(14:01):
suppose there's like anintuitiveness for me, you know.
So I remember years ago I didthe like the deep dive with a
client before her shoot and wehad no ideas of location and
like, as in, she wasn't great,she didn't come with anything
going.
Oh, I'd like, I think I'd liketo work here or I have this
(14:23):
space, or whatever.
And so we finished the thething and I said, like I think
I'd like to work here, or I havethis space, or whatever.
And so we finished the thething and I said, okay, I have,
I have nothing for you right nowin terms of like, there's
nothing jumping into my mind ofwhere would work really well for
you, but leave it with me.
And probably about an hourlater I was making a cup of
coffee and I just went oh yes,going.
Oh yes, this is the place,because what it feels like and
(14:46):
looks like in my mind was whather essence feels like.
So it's that kind of yeah,there's definitely an
intuitiveness to it, you know.
And it's the same way with,like during a shoot.
I don't know when we're goingto be done, but I will know.
Do you know what I mean?
(15:07):
Like it'll come to a point like, okay, we're finished now, and
then it might inevitably they'llbe like, oh, but wait, let's,
let's just do a little bit overhere, or let's just do the last
little whatever.
And then it's like, okay, nowwe're done.
So it's um, it's that it.
The deep dive is a really bigpart of it too, because it's
(15:28):
that getting to know the personand getting the information that
I need to kind of pull thethings together.
And do you know, does that makesense?
It does, it makes completesense.
All of that said, it kind ofdoesn't matter where we make the
(15:48):
photos.
In a way, you know there willbe, there will be things that
will be fit like visuallyjarring, like I'm always very
conscious of where people'shands are, um, because if we can
see in a photograph, if we cansee one hand but we can't see
the other, the person who'slooking at the photograph,
(16:10):
unconsciously they're wonderingwhere is the other hand?
Uh-huh, or you know, so there's.
There's that in terms of likethe, the the word is gone from
my mind anyway how the image isconstructed, um, and there will
(16:32):
be things that you know we wantthings to feel and look natural,
so we don't want something toappear like it's out of place.
Or you know that that there's umthat either the person is kind
of blending in with what'saround them or that they're
contrary.
You know their look contraststoo much.
(16:52):
You know, if you, I don't know,like something like super, um,
a super vivid example of thatwould be, like you know well,
sometimes the contrast can bereally exciting.
But I'm just thinking like areally shintzy kind of living
room situation and you havesomebody who's, you know, all in
(17:12):
like leather and has a reallylike sharp haircut, and you know
the contrast would be jarring.
Yeah, so it's.
In order to, to convey somebody, you need the psychological
safety, and then there is thatkind of element of the location
(17:32):
tells part of the story as welland even poses and things like
that.
I presume yes yeah, like I lovewhen we have somebody who's you
know, somebody who's dressedlike they're super feminine and
then I get them in a reallymasculine pose, all right, you
know, like just kind of playingwith things.
Um, yeah, and something that'salways really important, I think
(17:58):
, you know, particularly whenyou're being visual in order to,
uh, be found, in order for yourbusiness or your service to be
found, um, it's not a fashionshoot, it's you're.
You're not expected to be amodel, um, it's important that
(18:19):
you look good and you feel good,etc.
But what's really important, Ithink, is eye contact, eye
contact with the.
The lens is not actually a lens, it's a window, you know, and
and the only people who see thecamera are me and the person
who's being photographed.
But when you're using thosephotographs in your business as
(18:45):
a marketing and sales tool,nobody's thinking about the
camera, they're just looking atyou through this little window
that you've created.
So I think, eye contact andmaking sure that your eyes are
the, the kind of the closestpart of your body to the camera,
you know, I've noticed over theyears that people have this
(19:07):
kind of um, it happens almost bydefault where we kind of lean
away a little bit from thecamera, because maybe we don't
really want to be seen.
Sorry, I've just leaned awayfrom the microphone there as
well um, which results then inmaybe our head being slightly
(19:27):
further away and our body beingcloser to the camera.
Okay, and whatever is closer tothe camera will be, will look
bigger, basically, um, you knowand we've all grown up in a
world where we're being taughtthat our bodies need to be as
small as they can possibly beand all of those things and I am
(19:49):
not here to tell anybody how tomake themselves look smaller.
That is not my mission in life.
I am here to make sure that youfeel comfortable about every
part of you, but there arethings that are important to do
and, in terms of posing, youknow, making sure that you are
(20:09):
greeting the camera and theperson who's on the other side
of it, who is your client, yourpotential client.
Aideen Ni Riada (20:16):
I love that, love that um.
I I'm not sure if you've heardof Vanessa Van Edwards, but
she's a body language expert.
She's like the Brené Brown ofbody language and she has some
fascinating um research done onyou know, the use of your hands
in, you know even on a zoom callor even in photographs, and
(20:38):
you're going to really love umher.
I'll send you um and I'll putthe link to the her, to an
amazing podcast with vanessa,into the show notes as well,
because I just think you knowthe way we communicate visually
can either alienate people or itcan make them feel our warmth
or our competence those are thetwo words that she uses.
(20:58):
It's about getting the feelingof the smile, but also that you
are trustworthy, credible, allof those things.
But so anyway, that's just aside note Tell us a little bit
about your Dare to be Seenvisibility course from the
perspective of your clients.
Like what is it that they getin there that makes it easier
(21:21):
for them?
Éadaoin Curtin (21:22):
So I wanted to change how I was working.
A couple of years ago it waskind of 2021, 2022.
Things were different, peoplewere different, the energy was
different.
I think we'd all spent a lot oftime being seen head and
(21:43):
shoulders, but not the rest ofus, and not being out in the
world, and I found I wasstruggling, definitely so.
I had my first son in thesummer of 2020.
We were not living here in ourhome, we were.
We'd moved out for renovationsand we moved back in in 2021.
(22:07):
We had no mirrors in the housefor a solid year, but we have a
window by the front door, and sowhat would happen Is I would
Look at myself in the reflectionof the window After I had
locked the front door.
I would not necessarily behappy with what I saw.
It was too late to go back inBecause I was on my way wherever
(22:30):
I was going and that was it.
And I think my experience likethe layers of becoming a parent
for the first time, the physical, emotional and mental changes
that came with that, layered onthe isolation and the craziness
(22:52):
of the world in the pandemic Ithink it may have been magnified
for me in some ways, but I'msure other people had
experiences that magnified itfor them, but what I found was
um, I wanted to change up how Iwas working.
I wanted to bring a differentenergy to the work, and I also
saw that people needed, um, alittle bit more coaching.
(23:16):
So what I used to my standardkind of shoot that I used to do,
kind of pre-2020 was aboutthree hours long, but actually a
lot of that time was spentcoaching the client how to pose,
figuring out what outfits theywere going to wear, where they
were going to wear them.
You know, we'll do this outfitthere.
(23:39):
This would be really good here.
I don't think that's going tophotograph very well.
Let's put that back in thesuitcase or whatever.
So the client would be comingto the shoot with very few
decisions actually made.
Um, I was accepting fullresponsibility for making those
decisions on the day.
So what was happening?
Like my, I was engaging in thatpower dynamic of the
(24:02):
photographer has the power overhow you look okay and I.
I began to understand that thatneeded to change and I wanted
to shift that power and thatresponsibility so that the
client was both accepting theresponsibility of how they
showed up but also engaging withthat very, very powerful thing
(24:26):
of you know, choosing anddeciding how they were going to
be seen, but also that they weregoing to love how they were
seen, because a lot of it is adecision.
So I were.
I was working with um, a clientof mine, one of my kind of
first branding clients, um, andI photographed her in.
(24:48):
I photographed her wedding.
I photographed her a couple oftimes as a business owner and
the last time that we engagedtogether was a couple of years
ago and she shared with me herprocess and it actually helped
me to blueprint how I wanted myclients to engage in the process
(25:08):
, so that they weren't showingup to the shoot with the
suitcase full of clothes andgoing right, I'm here, what are
we gonna do?
Aideen Ni Riada (25:14):
so it's um can I just go back there, just just
for my own clarity?
Éadaoin Curtin (25:19):
so the reason she had a process was because
she had worked with you a fewtimes no, I know, I think
probably yes, because she'd beenphotographed a few times and
she wanted to um, to engage withit in in in a new way for her
as well.
So she began to photographherself like she.
(25:40):
She began to get dressed forthe day and then photograph
herself and go, oh, that doesn'tlook in the photograph the way
I thought it was going to look,and okay.
So I like how this makes mefeel, but I don't like how it
looks in a photograph.
And she began to kind of, um, Isuppose, reorient how she was
(26:01):
seeing herself and so seeing herdo that, having her share that
with me, and you know the factthat we had worked together a
couple of times and she, she,she did.
She had learned from me aboutposing already, so we did in
that one hour the shoot was, Ithink was, about 55 minutes.
(26:24):
From the first frame to thelast, seven different sets of
images.
There were wardrobe changes, um, she probably got back more
images from that shoot than shewould have from the previous
three-hour shoot that we've done.
Wow, um, I always think it'sreally important when you are
hiring a photographer, not toask how many photographs you're
(26:44):
going to get, but how many setsyou're going to get, because I
could sit and I could take 5 000photographs of you in one day
but.
If they're 5 000 photographs ofexactly the same thing, then
you've got one photo.
But if you've got sevendifferent sets where you're
changing your wardrobe, thebackground is different, the
(27:07):
poses are different, your facialexpressions are changing, then
you've got you know, you've gotyour five sets, your seven sets,
and you've got maybe four orfive images within each of those
that you're going to use.
Do you know what I mean?
so you have that one where yougo, that's me and then you'll
have those other ones you'relike that would be great for my
(27:27):
newsletter.
That'll be social media.
This will be great for PR.
This will be great for thiskind of PR, you know, whether
it's newspapers or digital mediaor whatever, um.
So, yeah, I began, I documentedthat process and I also brought
in my own process.
So, like I'd said to youpreviously about doing that deep
(27:47):
dive with the client, I don'treally do that anymore now
because they do a lot of thatwork by themselves.
So it's a self-paced course andwe kind of work on the, the
three, the three foundations.
My methodology it's it's aboutum, preparation and that's kind
of like the logical, thelogistics of it.
(28:09):
So the posing, the deciding onyour wardrobe, all those kind of
things.
Then there is the power, and soI have some lovely podcast
interviews that are laid outthat you can listen to.
There is the taking selfies asa way to step into your power
and see yourself.
(28:30):
There are some other kind ofself-coaching exercises, I
suppose, where we think abouthow we want to be seen and why
we want to be seen and thosekind of things.
And then there's also thepurpose of the images, because I
will tell you, there is nothingthat breaks my heart more than
(28:53):
knowing that my client hasincredible photos of themselves
and they're not using them.
They're sitting on a folder onthe desktop, um, and I always
get a thrill.
My my photo hosting platformsends me a notification when
somebody downloads photos andsomebody downloaded photos the
(29:16):
other day and this is somebodywho, who I photographed years
ago and nothing ever came of it.
Because when I photographpeople, they're on a threshold
of change.
They may or may not choose toactually cross that threshold,
and there was a long time whereI carried that um, and now I've
(29:40):
I understand now that that's it.
There's a wider thing.
It's not all about me, you know.
It's not that.
It's not all about me and mywork.
Aideen Ni Riada (29:49):
But that brings me to what I wanted to ask you
is like why are you sopassionate about that for people
that they actually use thosephotographs?
Why does that matter?
Éadaoin Curtin (29:58):
um, because their visibility matters and
their work matters and beingseen, making that choice to be
seen and then following throughwith it is there something
beyond that, something deeper?
I think it, I think what it does.
I I've seen it time and timeand time again where even the
(30:21):
prep, the process of preparingfor the shoot, does something
for people's confidence.
The process of nailing theshoot does something for
people's confidence, and thatcan be enough.
Sometimes, you know people,they sprinkle the photos in.
Like I said, the photos arealmost a byproduct in some ways.
(30:43):
But I think there is also thisthing of like continuing the
momentum.
You know, you decided how youwant to be seen, you made the
financial investment, you madethe energetic investment.
Now let yourself be successful,let your people find you, you
(31:05):
know.
So, yeah, so this client I gota notification the other day
that she had downloaded photosand I haven't been in touch with
her yet, but I will just tosend her a little note to say
you go, you do it, I can't waitto see what happens you know,
it's like a seed gets sown andyou're you're expecting.
Aideen Ni Riada (31:26):
You're expecting change for people,
transformation yeah, there'sactually a transformative
process there for them that canhave a knock-on effect on others
.
Then that they get inspired bythat or they get to receive the
service from that person orsomething in them that is
valuable but may be hidden.
(31:47):
One of the things that I alwaystalk about is that you're a
treasure, your voice has valueand stop hiding.
Are you hiding?
Because this is so importantthat we all each of us find a
way to allow ourselves, beourselves and be, to do
(32:11):
something with our lives.
You know what I mean?
Mean, and it's not.
It's a timing thing.
There's a lot to do with when'sthe opportunity coming and
when's my time coming, but Ijust love this idea that we're
going to say to each other Iknew that was about to happen
for you.
I'm just so excited.
Something's changing,something's happening.
There is like that feeling ofmomentum of excitement, of you
(32:34):
know, feeling of momentum ofexcitement of you know we're
living for a reason.
We're living to be here to dosomething, and I want people to
be curious and passionate andinspired, and it feels like
we're exactly on the same pagethere that you're just itching.
You're like a cheerleader, butyou're like you.
You're, you get on the fieldand you're like here, kick the
ball.
Éadaoin Curtin (32:52):
This way, I don't know, but I am the
cheerleader.
You know the, the um, I'm anINFP, I'm pretty sure oh, that's
your personality test.
Aideen Ni Riada (33:01):
Yeah, which?
Éadaoin Curtin (33:01):
is a cheerleader wow, there you go, nailed it
yes, 100%.
I love and that's the thinglike the the fact that I get to
play a part in someone else'ssuccess is just a thrill like.
I firmly believe that thesuccess of small businesses is a
success of all of us, you know,because when a small business
(33:24):
owner is successful, thatripples out throughout their
community, you know, and it itchanges how their community,
both locally and their businesscommunity, is.
You know, I think it's, it'sjust yeah, it's a thrill.
Aideen Ni Riada (33:39):
Is there anything that you would like to
reiterate or anything that youhave had on your mind that you'd
like to say?
So this, in essence, is like awindow.
This podcast is like a windowIf you talk to the people.
They're listening to us rightnow.
They've enjoyed theconversation, but what is it you
want them to know?
Éadaoin Curtin (33:58):
yeah, that's one of the questions I ask my, my
clients.
Um, your work is important,your work is valuable.
You have the responsibilitySorry, I'm going to say you have
(34:19):
the power to shape your ownnarrative and you can dare to be
seen.
Aideen Ni Riada (34:30):
Beautiful, I'm so happy that we have had the
chance to have this conversation.
Beautiful, I'm so happy that wehave had the chance to have
this conversation.
Um, I know that another passionof yours is community, and that
you're.
That's a part of your next step.
Is there anything you'd like tomention about that?
I'm afraid we didn't get muchof a chance to talk about it no,
not at all.
Éadaoin Curtin (34:48):
It's just my, it's kind of my focus for this
year.
Um, I think a lot of what'shappening in the world, um, it's
just, you know, there's a,there's a divisiveness and there
, you know, I feel like we'vemoved towards individualism and
(35:08):
isolation from each other and Ijust really community has become
a really strong value, I think,for me and a way that I want to
live my life, um, bothgeographically, physically, and
in in the social media worldyeah, and I think sometimes you
(35:28):
know, when you see someone, likeon a podcast or you know you
see their photographs like I,I'm redoing some of my, my
branding and stuff and I justsaid I want people to know that
I'm here for them, right?
Aideen Ni Riada (35:39):
I don't want to be like an icon in the distance
that everyone's like oh yeah,aideen's.
I mean, you know what did mycousin say?
I I said to her one day youknow, everyone in my, my family
is very different.
And she said, yeah, but Aideen,you're the most different.
And I was like, okay, because,um, I I do have, I have done the
(36:00):
dare to be seen thing indifferent ways and surprised
people, but I'm in my heart, Iam just wanting to be there for
others as well.
And this podcast it's not like.
You know, we are way aboveanyone else.
We just we have a journey we'vebeen on and if you're listening
(36:21):
right now, you have a journeythat you've been on and you have
a story to tell and I don'tfeel any bigger or smaller than
anyone else and I would love forpeople who are listening to
realize that thing that you justsaid that your, your, your, you
know your work is important,but you are important and we are
happy that that people listento the podcast, but also would
(36:44):
love for people to realize thatwe want to cheer them on in
whatever stage of their lifethey're at yeah, 100 yeah, so
let's connect.
So this idea of community, right, let's find aiding on on social
media um, find her course.
It's available.
You know you might not want todo your photograph straight away
(37:06):
, but maybe the course itself isgoing to help you to step into
your power.
Um, and we want to hear fromour listeners.
We want to hear from you, um,we're, that's why we do what we
do.
We want to hear from ourlisteners.
We want to hear from you.
That's why we do what we do.
Éadaoin Curtin (37:20):
We want to uplift people, I think 100%.
Aideen Ni Riada (37:22):
So thank you so much, Aideen, for being on the
podcast today.
Thank you all for listening andI'll see you next time on the
Resonate podcast with Aideen.
God bless and take care.
Bye-bye.
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