We were lucky to catch up with Sarah Porter recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sarah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
When I look back on my life, I’m incredibly grateful how my parents challenged us to do hard things. My upbringing was fairly nontraditional. As one of seven children, my parents took the unpopular route of homeschooling me and my siblings so that they could mix life experience with academics and provide extracurriculars that other children didn’t have as easy access to.
My father has a very strong entrepreneurial drive and has started several businesses. He touted the slogan of, “family run business,” often as we all sat around the dining room table folding and licking the latest newsletter that needed to make it to the post office by 5pm. I chuckle because I can remember mumbling to myself that I’d never own my own business; yet here I am, doing the exact thing and pulling my own young family into the fray.
An important staple to our Faith was doing what was right even when others didn’t, paired with our family value to do things that are uncomfortable and hard when life calls for it. I find that I now thrive when pushed and challenged to grow because my parents followed through on teaching us to do things that were outside of our comfort zone from a young age.
Sarah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m a proud Colorado native with a flair and love for all of the arts. My non-committal degree in Communications left me as a floundering fish out of college who took the closest thing to a, “real job” that I could find during the economic struggle of 2008 by joining the Weld County District Attorney’s Office. Working in the capacity of an office assistant, I quickly surmised that being a paper-pusher was a stifling career choice for my creative spirit.
I’d save all my money and then find travel buddies to go abroad to experience different cultures, always with my faithful camera in hand. My passion for photography started young. I remember using up 2-3 disposable cameras JUST on photographing the Statue of Liberty at 12 years old. My enjoyment and skill have evolved from a 12 year old, then to a lost and confused postgraduate, to a now thriving and tenured photographer.
I’m sure I had fleeting thoughts of becoming a photographer, just like all the other things I wanted to do when I was young, like acting, running a bank, joining the military, etc. I’m so grateful that my winding path brought me to a career in photography. The value of continued learning and community are key to longevity in the photography world.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
If your passion has spilled over into a career, knowing how and what you need to do to keep fresh, creative and driven can be hard. Looking at social media can create more of a vortex of similarity instead of originality (I’m often guilty as charged). In a world of comparison, social media can feed off of our vulnerability and insecurities instead of empowering us. Knowing your purpose and your strengths are imperative to any long term success in any field.
Invest in your continued education and putting yourself in growing experience where there are smarter and more seasoned people in the room. I wish that I wouldn’t have tried to be a one woman island when I first started out. Never limit your learning to things directly in your field the best inspiration comes from looking outside your own field of study I’ve found.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Years ago, I established a strong answer to my “why” with Jordan Raynor’s book, Called to Create. The next recent exceptionally helpful discovery was learning about the Working Genius personality test. If you’re unfamiliar with what Work Genius is, I urge you to run, don’t walk to https://www.workinggenius.com/ to learn more. It’s basically an enneagram for knowing how you function in a work setting.
Knowing what kind of work brings you joy, invigorates you and challenges you, in a good way, is a way to build on the foundation of your why. Knowing where you thrive in work and where you feel drained, and sometimes demoralized, can help you know what needs to be outsourced and what you need to cultivate in your business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sarahporterphotography.com
- Instagram: @sarahporterphotos
- Other: TikTok: @sarahporterphotos