They say, motherhood is the greatest thing and the hardest too! Perfectly true! Being a mother is sacrificing a lot of things in life and learning to live and adjust just for your child. In the journey of trying to be a perfect mother, most of us set aside our thriving careers, our goals and passions only to become a full-time stay at home mom.
Today, I would like to share the success story of a stay at home mother, Shilpa Venkat, who is now a Professional Photographer and a proud owner of The Click Studio, where moments are captured through her camera.
Shilpa was always passionate about travelling and photography. Photography became her hobby-turned-profession. Struggling between her baby and her passion, she finally learnt to balance both and became a Professional Freelance Photographer.
Shilpa Venkat’s story straight from her to my readers.
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| Shilpa Venkat, Founder & Owner of The Click Studio |
“Pregnancy and baby had literally put a big halt in my journey of being a photographer. For two years, after my son was born, I hadn’t touched my camera. I had lost the zest and enthusiasm of pursuing anything in my career. Postpartum depression hit me badly as I spent sleepless nights during the first six months. It was becoming really tough for me to handle my baby who used to cry all the time and especially in the nights. I was super-exhausted mentally and physically during that phase and it took a heavy toll on my health. I had terrible mood swings and bouts of emotional imbalance. It was a phase where I had totally lost my confidence and chirpiness.
Slowly, as my son turned 10 months old, I started taking orders for handmade paper quilled jewelry (I learnt quilling during my pregnancy. Thanks to my good friend who introduced me to the world of quilling). Initially, I started taking small orders as it wasn’t easy managing my 10 month old son and quilling at the same time. I used to sit late nights to complete the orders after putting my son to sleep. Over a period of time, I started getting more orders and my hands were full. I got a huge order of 70 paper quilled earrings, thus moving one step towards achievement.
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| Shilpa's latest photoshoot |
In the meanwhile, a very good friend of mine approached me if I could do a photo-shoot of her 2 year old daughter. My immediate answer was NO. I hadn’t touched my camera for 2 years and was scared to do a photo-shoot. But my friend kept on pushing me to take up the job, till I finally said YES (I still can’t believe, I said yes). I can still remember the day of photo-shoot. I was very nervous, as it was the first time I was doing a professional photo-shoot after 2 long years. The photo-shoot went really well and thus giving a big start to my hobby-turned-profession. Post this shoot, I started getting more photo-shoots and then there was absolutely no looking back. But, I ensured that I took up photo-shoots only on weekends, so that I was able to give full attention to my son on weekdays. I didn’t want my schedule to affect my son’s daily routine.
It gets very hectic at times with jewelry orders, photo-shoot & editing, managing my son and house work. But I am just loving it! It feels amazing to be super busy, highly charged up and motivated. And the best thing is, I am following my passion and have turned it into a profession.
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| Another beautiful shot by Shilpa |
I want to thank my family especially my mother and my husband. Both of them were amazingly supportive and went out of their way to help me. My mother has taught me to always pursue things I am good at, and my husband has given me wings to follow my passions. Without his big support and advice I wouldn’t have reached this far. Thanks to my brother who was always behind me to start photography again and has always motivated me. A big thanks to my son who has taught me the value of TIME! I have never been so active nor have I ever done effective time management. Things have changed now. I have learnt TIME MANAGEMENT and I am able to complete work more efficiently.
A small message for stay at home moms (SAHM): I know it’s purely by choice and desire that most of us want to be a SAHM. But if you are passionate about something, go for it. It can be as simple as taking tuitions from home, taking up catering services from home, making crafts or anything that you have always been passionate about. It’s definitely very stressful to manage things with a small baby or toddler. TRY following your passion at least once!
BEING A MOTHER is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had. You can be a perfect mother and still follow your dreams, if you so desire!”
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| Shilpa's yet another amazing work |
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Hope you all got some inspiration and motivation by reading Shilpa Venkat’s story. Her journey has indeed been amazing and challenging!
I will be back with more information related to work from home jobs and career growth in my upcoming posts. So, stay tuned by subscribing to my blog or following my Facebook page.
