#8 – How To Change Careers With 3 Simple Questions

The question about switching careers is one of the most frequently asked because it is a tough decision and tough decisions need courage.

My intention is to help you find clarity about what you might need to think about if you’re on the threshold of switching to being a full time photographer someday.

Here’s what can come your way and how you can power through it by asking yourself 3 simple questions.

Question 1. Yes or No..

You may or may not have a full time job. You took to photography or blogging as a hobby and enjoy it. People love what you create, you find joy in it and there’s not a single day where you don’t wake up thinking, what if I could take it up a notch & do this professionally, maybe have some income from it offsetting what I spend on it and live my whole life continuing to find that joy by doing what I love.

Now, we are all different as people. Some of us are reasonable, logical, wise, thinking from our brains & minds. Some of us are more emotional, sensitive and think from our hearts but most of us are somewhere in the middle.

If we talk about me changing career paths, I would say that it was kind of the same balance for me when I took the leap. I felt strongly from my heart, but knew that I also had to be practical about it.

So, I asked myself one question – the toughest question – do I ever want to turn this into a profession?

The timing, How I would be able to do it, whether I would be able to, was not important. What was important was the simple decision of whether I was ready to leave my life as an architect and switch to being a full-time professional food stylist and photographer?

The answer had to be either yes or no.

My answer was obviously yes.

I knew I wanted to change career paths. I knew I was willing to move away from architecture into this new life. At least now I knew what I wanted. The dilemma wasn’t haunting me anymore. I knew I wanted the switch.

The how’s and whys would come next.

Question 2. How & what..

The next question I asked was, “what is the kind of work I want to do as a stylist and photographer?” I loved photography but how did I envision it becoming a profession.

I answered  – “I want to take photos for clients esp. magazines and restaurants. I want to be an architect who walks into a set, styles beautiful plates of food and takes smashing photos for clients.”

With this answer I knew who my target clients could be, what skills I would need to shoot for them, what gear I would need and what investment I would need to make before diving right in. The investment in learning skills, buying the equipment.

Again, it cleared up my mind.

Keep it simple, keep it honest and your answers will appear in front of you.

Question 3. When..

Once you know that you want to make the switch and what you need to do to make your vision real, you can decide whether this switch can be done in minutes or it’ll take 2 months, 4 months, a year – it could be whatever works for you because now you know what you’re after. You’ve done the hard part of taking decisions.

But then comes the biggest curveball – money, finances, bills. And it’s probably the most important criteria to consider.

Everyone does this part differently and so, you’re in the best position to decide which approach works for you.

There are different ways to do this.

Approach #1

Let’s say you are in a full-time job. You make good money and the thought of suddenly not having a pay check every month, is making you shaky.  The most common way people change paths is by turning their hobby into a part-time business.

While still working in your current job, you could potentially start learning the skills, buying the equipment, finding clients and photographing for them in your free time, perhaps on the weekend.

This can give you a good feel of what it’ll take to do the same work full-time and help you gauge whether you’re enjoying the process. You’ll have a real experience and test waters before diving in.

But remember to ask yourself what it will take for you to take the plunge – will it take having 100, 000 dollars in your back account so that you’re financially secure or will it take having 5 returning clients so that you know your work has a space in the market.

Give yourself some tangible metrics and a timeline when you might be ready to move to the new lane.

This approach works very well for people who think more from their minds vs. hearts because every step is measured and the risks involved are much lower. You go in knowing exactly what to expect.

Vs. people who think more with their hearts.

Approach #2

I am a healthcare architect turned food stylist and photographer. I worked on several hospitals in the US and designed prototype cancer centres, and woke up every single day with the satisfaction that my job helped humanity in some way.

I had a six figure salary, holidayed and had no children at the time. I worked hard, partied hard and finances were never an issue. But I wasn’t completely happy with the people surrounding me in architecture, the co-workers and the environment was sucking out the joy I had for the field.

So, when I was taking a break from architecture after designing two amazing hospitals in Singapore, I started to cook, because I’d missed cooking and taking photos of the cooking. Soon people wanted to pay me to take photos for them.

The idea of photographing professionally seemed wild at first but since the answer to whether I would ever make the switch was yes, I didn’t want to wait.

My heart kept telling me that I needed to give this opportunity a fair chance but even though I made 6 figures, I didn’t have much savings. If I started a new busines, I had to literally start from scratch with negligible financial backing.

I gave myself 4 months to see whether I could make this happen. At this time I had never ever worked with a camera & yet, gave myself 4 months. I had a ton of job offers on the table, with much higher  salary. I put them all on hold & told them upfront that I needed 4 months to come back with my answer.

That day I signed up for photography workshop and in the coming months, went on to learn technique, artificial light, etc.. Just as I was about to hit the 4 month mark, I registered the business so that it would leave me no option but to survive.

I had no paying clients at the time, refused all architecture job offers but I had fire in my belly and I began crazy working.

In 2 more months I had my first client paying me over 10 times the revenue goal I had set for myself for that year. That’s the power we have within ourselves to move mountains.

This is a high risk approach. With this, I did not have a single sense of what to expect going in, I had no idea if there was a space for my work in the market and I literally dipped into my savings to make the big investment I needed on gear and equipment.

This was my very emotional approach but I started by making sure I had clarity by dipping into my logical and reasonable brain, and determining what I needed to chase.

Changing careers can be whatever experience you want it to be. High risk, low risk, logical, spontaneous –whatever works for you. It’s your decision, and no one else knows better than you.

My only suggestion would be to get clear in your mind before you go ahead.  As long as you have your reasons sorted, your purpose for the switch is crystal clear, half your work is done.

You’ve conquered yourself, your second guesses, your doubts and your dreams, because it won’t be long before you no longer wake up wishing you made the switch, you wake up with that fire in you to go and chase your new life.