Living The Whole Picture with Jama Pantel

Finding Clarity: Transforming Passion into a Thriving Business on Living the Whole Picture with Jama Pantel

• Jama • Season 1 • Episode 1

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After struggling through the whirlwind of balancing multiple jobs to survive and even not having a home to go home to, I discovered that my longtime hobby—photography—was my true calling, leading to the creation of my business. On the debut episode of Living the Whole Picture, I invite you to hear how this passion not only transformed my own life but also empowered countless others to see their true beauty through my lens. From the heartwarming stories of clients overcoming their insecurities to the candid moments that led me to launch this podcast on my birthday, I promise you'll come away with inspiration to capture your memories and pursue your dreams fearlessly.

Running has been more than just a pastime for me; it's a source of clarity and a catalyst for unexpected opportunities, such as becoming an influencer for a major brand. Through my experiences, including both my parents battles with cancer, I've learned valuable lessons about authenticity and brand building, which I share in my e-book: Picture This - Quick Tips for Social Media Portraits. In this episode, I reveal how these personal stories have shaped my entrepreneurial journey and offer practical advice on personal growth and tackling life's challenges. Join me to explore topics ranging from photography tips to entrepreneurship, enriched with stories from other inspiring women who have walked similar paths.

https://www.jamapantel.com

Jama:

Hey y'all, welcome to Living the Whole Picture podcast. I'm your host, jama Pantel, and I'm so excited that you're here with me today for this very first episode. This podcast is all about living the whole picture of life, whether it's through the lens of a camera, through your personal brand or entrepreneurship, or through the pursuit of big, bold dreams. If you're looking for inspiration, photography tips or insight on how to grow a business or brand that you love, then you're in the right place. But before we dive into all the exciting topics I have lined up for you throughout this podcast, I thought it would be helpful to share a bit of my own story how I found my own voice as a photographer, influencer, business owner and just as a person in general, because, like many of you, I've had my share of ups and downs, moments of doubt and even times when I felt like I was losing my direction. But through it all, I've learned how to embrace my journey and create something that I'm truly passionate about, and that's why I'm here today to help you do the same. So I don't know what this podcast is going to look like. I don't know how long the episodes are going to be. I never understood how people could talk and hear their own voice for as long as some things I hear. But I'm just going to try to put this out there and put this out there messy. So I decided to release this podcast today, because those in the know in the podcasting world say Tuesday is a good day to drop podcast episodes and guess what? It's my birthday, so why not just put it out there?

Jama:

So a bit about me. I'm not your typical success story and half the time I don't think I'm that much of a success. But I remember earlier this year I invited my little cousins into the studio. I've been taking pictures of them pretty much their whole lives. They're in their 20s now and I remember the oldest one asking me how does it feel knowing that you've made it, jayma? It really gave me pause. I never thought in my mind I had made it. Yet when she asked that, I did some deep reflection and I was like you know what? You're right, I have. You see again, I'm not your typical success story. I come from nothing. If you're a person who feels hopeless and feels like the world is just hard, I've been there, I've done that. I know what it means working multiple jobs just to get by. I know what it means not having your own roof over your head, depending on friends' couches to sleep on and waking up every day just hustling to do it all over again. Now, I don't necessarily believe in the hustle culture, but I do believe in survival, and that's exactly what I've had to do survive on my own, and it's hard, it gets easier, but there are days where it's just hard, and so that's why I wanted to start this podcast to share some of that with you, amongst the other things. But before we get there, let's talk about my journey into photography.

Jama:

My love for photography started over 30 years ago in the darkroom in high school. It wasn't something I fell into by accident. My grandmother passed away my senior year of high school and I was really close with her. I realized in the moment when she was laid to rest with my family's photo clutched in her hands how important photography is. We were her world and she took us with her. Photography for me was always about more than just taking pictures. It was about capturing a moment, a feeling or a story in a single frame. It's a moment in time that you'll never get back but can relive over and over each time you view that picture. Now, it's hard to remember memories sometimes, but as soon as you look at a picture, your memory is jogged and I am beyond grateful to have photos of my grandmother and with my grandmother and, you better believe, every time I look at them I hear her sweet southern jaw calling me sweetheart and telling me you know, jayma, a proper lady should, and I'll never forget her because of that.

Jama:

But as I developed my skills over the years, I found that what I loved most was working with people, helping them feel confident, beautiful and truly seen in front of the camera, and eventually realized how this related to life as well. Isn't that what we all want? To be valued and seen for who we are? To have the confidence to speak our truth and share our own story without fear of judgment, and to feel confident through it all. Trust me, confidence through it all is harder than it sounds, but practice makes perfect right. Okay, not perfect, but I wonder if my voice or my story is something people want to hear and listen to. But when I sit back I realize everybody has a story to tell and that's what makes connection great Listening and really hearing what other people have to say so, let's fast forward. And when I decided to take the leap and turn my photography passion into a photography business, I started my own portrait studio, specializing in luxury portraits, working with high school seniors and families, professionals needing headshots and personal brands who wanted to elevate their online presence.

Jama:

I've been fortunate enough to work with some incredible clients and women, and I'm known for helping them feel confident in front of the camera, even if they've never felt that way before. Heck, I had one client who told me she left her house to come to the studio and went back home because she was so terrified Her son had to gently coax her back out the door and locked her out. So she had to go to the studio and when we wrapped up, she said I don't know what I was so nervous about. You made this so easy. You made me feel all the things I didn't think I was, and at the end of the day, when she viewed all her pictures, she loved every single one of them and really couldn't narrow it down. That's what I'm talking about Helping people feel seen and beautiful and confident.

Jama:

But what you don't always hear about is the journey, the road that leads to the point that we're at now, and let me tell you, mine has not been all that glamorous. Trust me when I say that the struggle is real. I struggle with the same things that many of y'all struggle with the feeling of not good enough or why do I even deserve this. You know all the negative things we fill our heads with and, just like everything, anything worth having, it takes work to achieve. I am forever a work in progress and I'm assuming that, by you being here, you're the same way, so the willingness to learn is a huge step in this.

Jama:

Building a business or brand takes a lot of work and there's a lot of self-doubt involved, but also a lot of pushing through those fears and just doing it all anyways. When I look back at my own life, I still wonder how I ever made it this far. I know struggle. I know working multiple jobs is to barely get by Waking up the next day, do it all over again. I know sleepless nights trying to make it all happen and, trust me, I also know not trusting anyone but yourself to make it happen. So if that's you, you're my people and you're in the right place. I want to be your cheerleader and I promise that it does get better. You'll slowly learn to trust not everyone, but the right people, and you will learn that the right people will help you without wanting anything in return. I've been fortunate enough to find so many of those people since I slowly started putting myself out there. I promise I'm an introvert and I actually have a great episode on being an introvert and building your brand that we'll get to eventually. But for now I wanted to get to another point, and that was how hard it is to balance real life while trying to make it all happen and being a busy entrepreneur.

Jama:

When my dad was diagnosed with cancer years back, I poured myself into my business and running marathons and doing all the things to keep my mind off of him being sick, but also I was balancing my time between going back and forth home to help him make it to his doctor's appointment, be there for surgery and all the things. I ended up getting really sick with shingles from all the stress. Fortunately, my dad beat cancer something that for a time I didn't think would happen and my business began to thrive. I was so excited that I was able to build my business up to six figures just a random goal I'd put on myself to stay busy during the darkest hours. But then, as life often does, it threw me another curveball. This time my mom was diagnosed with cancer. Talk about my world coming to a complete halt. I put the brakes on everything related to my business. I stopped marketing it altogether. I issued refunds on promises I didn't have the capacity to keep, and that was really hard.

Jama:

I poured myself into my running and my fitness and if you stick around long enough, you'll quickly learn that running has been a huge part of my life and passion of mine for over 30 years. I can pretty much turn anything into a running analogy, but I'll try not to. I can't make any promises, but this time around I was determined not to get sick, as another parent was fighting cancer and, I'm happy to say, my mom is cancer free today as well. But it was during those times where I let everything go. I recognize that so many people didn't understand why I was doing it, but those that knew me stuck around and were there to support me and lift me up. I had so many clients who were unhappy with me. I issued more refunds than I ever thought I would, but I knew it was the right choice for me. Sometimes we have to find the courage to do the hard things the things that we know people won't understand. The things we know that are going to disappoint people. But we have to take care of ourselves first.

Jama:

It was during this time that a photographer friend mentioned you talk about running a lot. You should really look into being a run ambassador for a certain brand that I was talking about. And I found myself in a new role, one I didn't expect. I actually became an online run influencer for a billion dollar run company. At first it was really overwhelming. There were more people on this run team than I had in my entire high school. Talk about scary, but it was also really exciting being part of something that was bigger than myself. I was suddenly in front of the camera a lot more, sharing my journey, building a personal brand and connecting with an online community.

Jama:

Being an influencer for another brand taught me so much about personal branding and how important it is to present yourself authentically online. I always wanted to build a personal brand for my own photography business, but sometimes it's hard to do it for yourself. It's a lot easier to do it for another brand, especially a well-established brand that you already know, like and trust. How do you turn yourself into a brand that people know, like and trust? And that was something that I'd struggled with for years. So this new role, although scary, was so much easier for me, but it also brought its own set of challenges, especially when it came to balancing my photography business with this new role, all while trying to stay true to who I am and deal with my mom's cancer on the side. But a promise I made myself day one in this new role was to always stay true to myself and be authentic. That's when I started thinking about living the whole picture. I'd taken a lot of time off in my business, was doing a lot of running and a lot of thinking on the side. Running also gave me the clarity and prompted my e-book Picture this Quick Tips for Social Media Portraits.

Jama:

I was often asked in the influencer world for tips on taking better portraits and it just made sense to put that out there. It's all about helping people create beautiful, professional-looking portraits with just their smartphone or basic camera. You don't need fancy equipment to make it happen, and you can download that from my website, jamapantelcom, under photo resources. But I realized that, whether you're behind the camera or in front of it, finding your voice and staying authentic was essential. It's what makes people want to connect with you, trust you and want to be part of what you're creating. So here we are with the Living the Whole Picture podcast.

Jama:

After years of being both a photographer and an influencer, I wanted to create a space where I could share what I've learned with all of you, because if there's one thing I know for sure, it's that chasing those big dreams whether that's starting your own business, creating a personal brand or simply putting yourself out there isn't easy, but it is worth it. This podcast is my way of helping you find confidence, whether that's in front of the camera, in your business or in your life. I want to share tips that have helped me grow my photography, business strategies that help me stand out as an influencer, and stories that will inspire you to chase your own dreams. But more than that, I want this podcast to be a place where we can talk about the real stuff, something I felt was missing in the social media world the challenges, the struggles, the moments of doubt, because those are the moments that shape us. Those are the moments where we learn the most and grow the most.

Jama:

What can you expect from the Living the Whole Picture podcast moving forward, we'll cover a wide range of topics, from practical photography tips like how to pose or find great light and create social media portraits to elevate your brand, but we'll dive deeper into conversations about entrepreneurship and career leadership, building confidence, the importance of your own personal brand in this day and age, and finding your voice amongst the noise so that you can stay true to yourself. I'll be sharing personal stories about my journey, offering insights into what has worked for me and sometimes what hasn't, because, let's be honest, more goes wrong than that goes right. And I'll also be sitting down with other inspiring women, entrepreneurs and leaders who have taken big leaps in both their careers or built successful businesses and navigated the ups and downs along the way. Whether you're just starting out or you've been at this for a while, I want this podcast to be a source of inspiration and actionable advice for you. My hope is that each episode will leave you feeling empowered to chase your dreams, however those look for you. My final thoughts on sharing this first episode with you is I'm beyond grateful. I'm happy that you're here and I'm excited to embark on this journey with you, and I do hope that you'll stick around for more of what's to come.

Jama:

Next week, I'm gonna dive into one of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs face, and something I've talked about already finding your voice and I'll share some strategies that have helped me stand out and stay true to myself. So if you've enjoyed this episode and you wanna do me a big favor for my birthday, please subscribe, rate and leave a review. That's what I'm supposed to ask you to do at the end of every podcast episode. So trust me, I'm gonna keep doing it. It does really help get the word out there and let other entrepreneurs, personal brands or creatives know that this podcast even exists. And if you're feeling inspired, head over to my website or YouTube. Yes, I do have a YouTube. Photography is very visual and it's easier to share some tips on there versus on here. And don't forget to follow me on social media. Until next time, don't forget to keep living the whole picture in pursuit of those big dreams.