We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stefania Harangus. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stefania below.

Stefania, appreciate you joining us today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

I am so grateful to God to see how amazing, and necessary all of my parents’ teachings were, and still are, to both my career, and personal life. First, there are the basics, which we sometimes take for granted these days, or don’t have enough time for, like tidying up your home daily, and keeping it spotlessly clean, being well-groomed, nicely put together, and respectfully dressed, eating well, helping out with chores, being respectful, and kind to others, no lying, no stealing, and many more.

And then there are the more complex teachings, like being polite, and helpful, putting others before you any time it’s possible, and even when it’s not so possible; and making sure you always pay off your debts, whether you think you can, or not. For as long as I remember, if my parents got a gift, they immediately returned the favor, with absolutely no hesitation, period. And more than that, most of the gifts they gave were things people actually needed. This is something I greatly admire and am still working on – not giving just to give, but giving something useful, or fulfilling to the person receiving.

At first glance, and when I was younger, and more rebellious, these teachings seemed small, irrelevant, outdated, and old-fashioned, and so I practiced “freedom”, and self-improvement instead, and tried to figure out the meaning and purpose of life elsewhere. But we’re never truly free in practice – we either serve God, or an idea, or ourselves, or others, but we do serve something, or someone. I heard a saying that we have 2 choices in life: we can either sacrifice our present for a better future, or our future for the present. “Choose your pain,” my mentor used to say, and I did not like that at the time.

But in my low of lows, not knowing what else to do, I turned to God, and once I received of His wisdom, and humility, I began to appreciate, embrace and practice my parents’ teachings, and my life started to improve slowly, but surely.

Through their actions, and their beautiful, abundant, and fulfilled lives, my parents taught me that when you are at your lowest, all you need to do is focus, first, and foremost, on these so-called small things, and just put one leg in front of the other. Start by cleaning up your room, so to speak. Keep it simple, keep it slow, so you can keep it honest, and steady. In fact, watch that honesty like a hawk – don’t stray from it, and if you do stray, get it back right away. The rest will come to you, in perfectly manageable steps, just as soon as you’re ready.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am Stefania, and I was born in Romania. My family moved to the US back in 1995, and I lived in Chicago, Boston, and New York. Coral Gables is my new home, and I’m grateful to be here, enjoying palm trees, blue skies, and blue waters. It’s beautiful!

BUSINESS:
My business is called Stefania Harangus Portrait Photography, and we create portraits for women, with a little bit of a twist. Instead of a regular photoshoot, we offer whole day experiences, based on creative collaboration, and leading to beautiful artistic, one-of-a-kind images.

We also offer commissioned Photography Art pieces, for our clients’ homes, or offices.

BUSINESS MOTTO:
I DON’T photograph your weight, or extra weight. I DON’T photograph your wrinkles. I DON’T photograph your blemishes. I DON’T photograph your big nose, or thin hair, big thighs, or big behind. I DON’T PHOTOGRAPH YOUR IMPERFECTIONS.

I’m actually not even a photographer, really. I AM MORE OF A PHILOSOPHER OF RELATIONSHIPS, CONNECTION, AND BEAUTY.

If I meet you, I don’t see you as a flat static image, with a million physical imperfections. I SEE YOU AS A PERSON , WITH A PERSONALITY, WITH YOUR UNIQUE WAY OF NEGOTIATING YOURSELF, YOUR RELATIONSHIPS, AND THE SPACE AROUND YOU. You may be one of the many people who runs from being photographed, because you believe a photograph is a magnifier or all of your physical imperfections, and it can be, if done in that way.

BUT MY JOB, PASSION, AND TALENT IS TO SEE BEYOND THAT. I SEE AND FOCUS ON YOUR EMOTIONS, EXPRESSION, AND SUBTLE MOVEMENTS, AS YOU CONNECT TO THE SPACE AROUND YOU, AND NEGOTIATE YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO ME, AND MY CAMERA, AND I GUIDE YOU TO A PLACE WHERE YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE, AND SAFE. I GENTLY GUIDE YOUR PHYSICAL SELF TO START SERVING, AND SUPPORTING YOUR PERSONALITY, THE HIGHEST QUALITIES OF YOUR MIND, AND HEART, AND ALL OF YOUR SUCCESSES, AND TALENTS.

BACKGROUND:
I have a Master’s Degree in Architecture and have worked as an Architect and Designer for over 15 years, serving high-profile clients such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, Wells Fargo, Tiffany and Co, Chanel, Michael Kors, and others. The things I learnt during these years are invaluable, as they span from technical, to artistic, and to management expertise. Artistically, I learnt all there is to know about lighting, composition, layout, design, and spacial relationships, while working in small, and large teams, constantly collaborating, and innovating for the success of our projects.

And so my strong background in Architecture and Interior Design gives my current photographic style an ARTISTIC, CONTEMPORARY, FASHION-INSPIRED PORTRAITURE feel, with EXPERT MASTERY of COMPOSITION, POSING, LIGHTING, and IMAGE POST-PROCESSING.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’m actually currently in the process of pivoting in a few different areas of my life.

In business, I used to offer a lot of different kinds of regular photo sessions, where clients could choose a shorter photo session type, and anywhere from 1 to x images. I am now only offering 2 services: the full day experience, with a minimum of 20 images, focusing on artistic collaborations with the client, and unique, beautiful final images, and the commissioned photography art for homes, offices, or hotels. These 2 areas are where my true passion is, and I decided to follow it exclusively.

In my personal life, but affecting my business life as well, I gave up the constant search for freedom, and obsession with self-development literature, and went back to my Christian roots, focusing on basic, more traditional principles, like I have described earlier in this article, which I have learnt from my parents. I did not like the person I became in my personal relationships, ever since I had started my business back in 2010. Oftentimes I got busy, I got stressed, and I dropped the bar, even with some clients, but mostly by not delivering on my promises to people that were not my clients. This is something I’m currently working on – delivering on my promises to absolutely everyone, not just my clients, or potential clients, and being very careful not to make promises I cannot keep.

I also started eating meat again, after over 15 years of being a vegetarian, with some short intervals of eating some fish. This was a major change, but I’m glad I did it now, and did not wait even longer.

Since most of these changes are still pretty new, all I can say is that change became hard for me, and didn’t even realized it. I spent 2 months in a lot of fear, and anxiety during these changes, before it started to lift off and give way to some glimmers of faith. Oftentimes we know exactly what we need to do to move forward, but doing the right things can be hard. Admiring good principles is not the same as getting yourself up, and actually putting them into practice.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Because of the Luxe service, experience, and products my business offers, my most effective strategy for growing my clientele is forming real friendships, real relationships, and then word of mouth. This strategy takes a little bit longer up front, especially if you find yourself in a new city, with no family connections, or friends. But I’m in business because I love people, and so this method of finding new clientele works out great for me. It still remains one of the most effective methods of doing business in spite of the popularity of the Internet and Social Media.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thisilovestudios.com
• Instagram: @thisilovestudios.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefania-harangus-04280745/

Image Credits
Stefania Harangus Portrait Photography