We recently connected with Arnet Jonuelle and have shared our conversation below.

Arnet, appreciate you joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

The first time I answered this question, my first thoughts were qualities in someone who has built success. I even Googled “top qualities of successful business owners” and received answers like “persistence”, “determination”, and “ability to critically think”. Today I sit here dumbfounded at how I completely glossed over the answer that made my small business achieve its milestones thus far. Granted, the said qualities are still very important, but even more important are the relationships built. Where would I be today if it weren’t for that one photographer who invited me to my first photo meetup, or another photographer who referred me to my first client, and that client who gave me 5 star reviews, or another who referred me to their cousin, or the model who nominated me for this feature. The list goes on. Imagine how different your success would be today had you never nurtured a relationship with the people who supported you in your business. Take a moment to really imagine it – the referrals, the advice, the listeners, and the tremendous amount of support that happened so you can be here today. For me, I am forever grateful to my clients, mentors, peers, friends, and family who have supported me thus far and helped Blurr achieve many things. I’ll end this with one of the best advices I learned from a consultant; she said instead of asking yourself, “How do I book more clients?”, instead ask yourself, “How do I love my clients more?”.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Arnet and I am the photographer and owner of Blurr Photography, LLC. I’m an engineer by title but an artist at heart! Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been drawing the Sailor Scouts, Lisa Frank, the Bratz girls, and all sorts of cute things. Nowadays my artsy guilty pleasure is photography. The name Blurr came from my favorite Photoshop tool called Gaussian Blur, and rest assured all photos delivered to my lovely clients are edited to the best of my ability. Types of photos I do are portraiture where the focus is on people. I do family, engagements, birthdays, graduations, maternity, and many more. Something I want clients and future clients to know about me and Blurr is that we love our clients!! Everything I do – the plans, the business model, the customer service, the experience, is all geared towards the clientele. My wish is to perfect this one day so that when clients book with me to capture memories, the photoshoot itself is a memory they’d want to remember as well.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The word “creative” in itself conveys the reward aspect because I get to be so free – free in thought, expression, ideas, and even have literal freedom whenever I’m driving on a peaceful morning to scout for locations. The best type of “free” I experience in being a creative, however, is being stress-free. It’s my outlet amidst a very hustle and grind culture, my break from my regular corporate job, and my way to express the passion I’ve had as a little girl. People say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and it’s so true about photography. No one can tell me I’m doing it wrong because it’s really for me to portray what I want and feel (granted I use the art principles, elements, and theories correctly to make my former art teacher proud, hehe.) I am so appreciative to have found photography in my life. The creative world is so immense with so many concepts to explore, and you know what else, it’s “free” to try it.

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

It’s not a complete “no I don’t have multiple streams”, but it’s more like “no, not yet”, haha. I have so many plans in the future to expand my services, and I am so excited for them! Currently Blurr only makes revenue from the photography service itself, you know, the digitals delivered after taking and editing pictures. It’s fun and simple, but one day I’d really like to manage my own studio and provide prints. They’re huge investments, hence why they’re only dreams at the moment, but it would help scale out the business and diversify the revenue stream. More than anything though, even more than wanting higher profits, I want to take bigger risks, and I want to do them soon. So in short, within a few years’ time, if I am back on this magazine, I hope the answer to this question will be a “yes”. I hope to have my own studio then and have a canvas printing service. I believe I can do it, I believe in my 3-year plan, and with continuous grinding, I know the revenue will follow.

Contact Info:

• Website: Blurrphotography.mypixieset.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/blurrphotography_
• Facebook: Facebook.com/blurrphotography

Image Credits
Models: Bryan L. Adelina D. Wilfredo S. Mayra M.