Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gina Hessburg. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Gina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Flashback to a decade ago, when the world and the industry of commercial photography were different. I was contracting for multiple clients, corporate and agency, working all the time and flying all over the country. My Delta status soared, and so did I, because working with an impressive roster of clients and creatives. I could hardly keep up with all the work, but it was such a part of my identity.

And then in the winter of 2017, my life felt like it had shattered when I was hospitalized with an autoimmune response in Managua while traveling alone. My biggest client I had been working with for the previous seven years, dropped me instantly, and what would now be an eight-and-a-half-year journey through an undiagnosed medical issue that has left me with a disability began.

I loved and love my career, but everything has shifted for me, not only in how I approach jobs, who I work with, but also in how I present myself. Against the recommendation of many peers, I lived my medical journey in the open from the beginning on social media.

Some people have spouses, some have children, or hobbies and brand images they share on social media. I shared my mess, my fear, my hope, and my story. And it all climaxed in the Spring of 2020 when the world shut down. I was on a catastrophic amount of prednisone (a steroid that in small amounts, can cause psychosis and depression), recovering from my second of four spinal taps, as my city was torn apart by the murder of George Floyd.

In a moment of desperation to do something other than lie in discomfort and listen to what was happening on the outside around me, I called a friend who was a VP at an agency I had contracted with. I asked her about an idea. I threw out making a book about a blow-up doll named Rafael that I had been posting an imaginary life in isolation on Instagram. Daily, he and I shared are little joy and existential crises as people were trapped inside. I thought I could publish and donate some of the proceeds to help patients like me.

In seconds, the idea escalated into the agency designing and branding the book. Months later, with the support of a handful of other industry individuals and companies, I had a hardcover coffee table book and a community that was an army of believers. Since, this community has been with me as I have ridden the rollercoaster of an undiagnosed patient with an incredibly rare issue, and is a single woman supporting herself in an industry that is often about presentation.

I know I am not everyone’s cup of tea and that I make some people cringe, but this is how I have navigated and processed all the difficult things I have been through. And maybe I am no longer getting upgrades to first class on planes, but I am proud of the person I am now and how she approaches everything with more empathy and kindness and not so much concern if I am cool enough.

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?

I function as an executive and content producer for agency and corporate clients, as well as work as a line producer for various commercial photographers and directors. For my clients, I source and hire the appropriate vendors for creative projects, manage communication, the vendors, the budgets, and all other logistics, through execution and production. I facilitate project management for a range of scopes and have developed not only new processes, but new roles for corporate clients that support efficient workflow for creative production.

I also support individual creative vendors with business consultation with the mission to teach how to better value and protect their work to maintain the quality and value of the industry as a whole.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Being freelance and being on a long journey as an undiagnosed patient, I can easily say that I am proud of myself for maintaining a twenty-three-year freelance career through not only several hospitalizations and debilitating treatments, but also many economic downturns and industry shifts. I have had to ride a lot of waves knowing that they are the nature of not just our industry, but life.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I was not forced to pivot, but in 2009, I felt I needed a major change. The industry slowed down and it was depressing to be in the middle of the crash. I was also 30, and while many of my friends were getting married and moving to the suburbs, I was not partnered or feeling ready to settle down.

In the span of a few weeks, I found a job teaching English in South Korea, packed up and rented out my condo, and moved to a country on the other side of the planted I knew very little about.

I spent 16 months there and worked on a few magazines as a side hustle to teaching. My first boss wrongfully terminated me. I have never been to court in the United States, but I sued him and won and moved to another and better job. I learned what it feels like to be objectified and underestimated because of the color of my skin and gender. My low social status was compounded by the fact that I was a woman and unmarried at my age. Experiencing life as a minority and living in a world that was foreign to me not only taught me to be more empathetic and cultivate my communication skills, it has also taught me to be more diplomatic in my career. It made me a better leader.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: @blowinguprafeal.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gina.hessburg
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gina-hessburg/
• Other: https://www.blowinguprafael.com

Image Credits

Black and white photo – Thomas Strand