When Tanja and I started our business together a year ago, both of us decided to combine it with our day jobs. Evidently, it would take time to generate enough income to live off of.

Shortly before, I had started working at Starbucks, which seemed like the perfect place to start. “Really? Starbucks?”, you might ask, alluding to my previous career as a lawyer. But think about it: those five years at the bar were a constant brain marathon, in a stressful and negative setting. Now, think of a coffee shop, where the atmosphere is upbeat and the conversations are limited to small talk. Consider it a break, one that I direly needed. Of course, I also had some romanticized ideas about it through my travel experiences in the States. Nonetheless, it served its purpose. It reinvigorated me with positive thoughts and a can-do attitude. Not to mention unlimited amounts of caffeine. Until…

In December 2012 I got promoted, which involved working more hours and at odd times of the day. Tanja and I hardly shared any time (my weekends overlapped with her working days and vice versa) Both our personal and business lives were suffering. So one day, we sat down, and decided it couldn’t go on like that. Back to square one: we needed jobs with more stable hours, and most important weekends off (so we can have photo shoots). With my experience, I started looking for a job in an office setting. However the more we looked, the more both of us realized this was not what I wanted. We did not move here to replicate our lives in Belgium. We want to be successful photographers!

 Luckily, the solution found us on the brink of disaster: while shopping for dressed pants… (insert dramatic music)

Tanja and I were checking out the new Crate&Barrel at Oakridge shopping centre when lightning struck us: “I should leave Starbucks and start working full-time for our business”

Lightning was followed by thunder: our gut feeling, which we hadn’t felt in a while, told us this was the right path to follow.

The thought is frightening and leaves us with a ton of questions: “what if we don’t get enough work? What if we spend all of our savings? What if we make a mistake? What if we are on the wrong track and this is not the way to make our business work? What if it turns out we can’t make this dream come true?”

And we have but one, albeit very strong, answer: our gut feeling tells us it’s right. If restarting our lives from scratch in Vancouver has learned us one thing it’s this: follow your gut. Always. More so when the thought scares you.

So today I have told my manager that I’m quitting to pursue my dream job. Watch me fly!

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