Become a confident storyteller for your brand to stand out and sell more. I'm a Visual Brand Coach and Award-Winning Photographer (featured in NY Times, Instagram, Apple). I help badass women entrepreneurs own their stories, showcase their uniqueness, and create brands that are downright magical. Ready to make your brand sizzle? Get your hands on my free brand guide packed with five essential ingredients to create an unforgettable brand experience.
The photo nobody wanted me to take
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Dear Reader, One quick photo, years ago, became the one that mattered. Last week, a dear friend passed away, and it had me thinking about the people who come into our lives and become family. I met Pravin and his wife when I was single and had just moved to Peoria for my first job. Those early days were hard. I was an immigrant trying to fit into American culture. I was far from my own family, and somehow, their home became a place where I felt at home. Their two kids were little then, and I got to watch them grow up. Pravin could whip up the most delicious veg or non-veg food in no time. His wife is also a wonderful cook, so showing up at their house usually meant laughing, drinking his home-brewed beer, eating something good and talking long after you meant to leave. Over the years, as life took us to different places, we stayed in touch and met in Chicago, India and the San Francisco Bay Area. Pravin was spontaneous, whether it was taking a trip or whipping up an amazing meal. In my early days, he hosted my Storyboxart website, for those of you who have known me since 2007. That is how I want to remember him. Full of ideas. Over the past year, Pravin’s illness had gotten worse. Then last week, his daughter called with the news I had been afraid to hear. She also told me that for the messages they sent out after he passed, they used a photo I'd taken of him and his wife during one of my visits to Chicago. She said, "It's the best photo of Dad." It was a photo nobody wanted me to take, and I dragged them out for it. And now it means so much and I am grateful that I took that photo. I've seen it with friends and clients — a moment can matter so much. So take photos of your people, especially your parents, your elders, who may not want to be in the frame. Hire someone if you have to. Because sometimes that one ordinary photo becomes anything but ordinary. Alpana P.S. His daughters are planning his celebration of life at a brewery. That is exactly how he would have wanted it. |
The Secret Sauce is Your Story
Become a confident storyteller for your brand to stand out and sell more. I'm a Visual Brand Coach and Award-Winning Photographer (featured in NY Times, Instagram, Apple). I help badass women entrepreneurs own their stories, showcase their uniqueness, and create brands that are downright magical. Ready to make your brand sizzle? Get your hands on my free brand guide packed with five essential ingredients to create an unforgettable brand experience.
Reader, I took my son to another business mixer today. No nudist community this time. 😂 Just a regular room full of people there to connect. And if you have ever walked into one of those rooms not quite sure where to stand, who to talk to, or how to start, you know the feeling. He walked in a little easier this time. He talked to several people, one of them an electrician who had just started his own business, after quitting a job that had turned toxic. He has an 18-year-old son and tells him...
Reader, If you saw yesterday’s email, you know I took my 23-year-old son to a networking mixer at a nudist community without telling him where we were going. Us on a trail hiking in what is practically our backyard, connecting without technology. The mixer. It was great. People were warm, friendly, and yes, fully dressed. Worth repeating. 😂 Someone handed my son a card about volunteering at their nonprofit, and someone else asked him to follow up about a possible opportunity. In that one...
Reader, I took my 23 year old son to a networking mixer at a nudist colony. And no, I did not tell him where we were going. I knew he would throw a fit, so I kept that little detail to myself. Then right before we left, he looked up the address.Yep. Not amused. At all. Did not want to go. I pulled up the email and showed him that yes, people would be clothed. It was a business mixer. Still not amused. Then we started driving down this road to nowhere, endlessly, and I was trying very hard not...