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

Sheri, 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?

I believe that success is not determined by one thing, instead, it is a balancing act between our personal, career, and financial goals. Every one of us needs to determine our own personal idea of fulfillment in each of these areas to truly feel successful.

If I am to spend my life becoming successful, I need to understand what makes me tick and what makes me happy. My living and working ratio needs to then balance within those expectations. If I don’t have time for personal relationships, or to do what brings me joy outside of work, any amount of career success won’t matter in the long run. The same goes in the reverse, if I love my career but I don’t have time for fun, love, my family, or friends I will be left empty and regretful.

To be truly successful and happy you need to figure out how to bridge all of these things and to never become complacent. Life changes also factor into each of these areas so success is a continuation of challenges, there is never a definitive end to the search. Maybe that’s not what success means to others but for me combining these things and enjoying the process is what allows me to feel successful.

You must first determine what success means to you not what it means to others. As kids, we are encouraged to choose high-paying careers in order to be successful in life. For many, success is often associated with a dollar amount, one’s status or through ones popularity. With all of these things, we drive ourselves to keep chasing the dollar. If this is what we believe success is, we find over time that financial success often results in temporary fulfillment.

When it comes to the career area of success, you have to determine what you want to do, that you can put your heart and soul into every day while enjoying the process. I love getting lost in my work and because I am passionate about what I do I can’t wait to get up every day and get started.

When I began working as a photographer in my 20s as an assistant, I was eager and loved learning all aspects of my chosen career. I discovered after several years I was no longer learning and hated counting down the minutes to when I could go home. I was passionate about photography but not about working for someone else. I love being in charge of my time and I very seldom feel like it is work, instead, it is MY work.

I believe you never finish finding success, instead, each achievement leads you to want to accomplish whatever is next. The desire to learn drives my constant need to succeed at small things and keep moving forward. As an artist, I don’t feel there is ever an endpoint so success isn’t an outcome of one thing it is the achievement of many things that continues to drive me to want to do more. For me, no amount of money matters if I am not enjoying the results of my life accomplishments.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have worked as a commercial photographer at Sheri Oneal Photography for more than 30 years offering lifestyle, product, architectural, industrial, and travel imagery as well as headshots for companies and individuals. I enjoy the creative process of working with my clients, gaining their trust, and providing high-end professional photography that helps them market and advertise their products and services.

As an artist, I also offer fine art imagery and mixed media art. I have several creative platforms outside of my commercial work that includes writing blog posts, creating vlogs, and a podcast called The Creative Push. My blog, Diary of a Storyteller shares behind-the-scenes, location, and travel assignments.

My creative platform called Learn and Create provides inspiration, information, and online courses. Having taught photo and business courses at an art college in Nashville for 10 years I love helping others grow their own creative passions through inspiration and knowledge.

Through my love of storytelling, my goal is to help others while sharing ideas and inspiration. My hope is that it will help creative individuals in their own search for success.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My commercial work offers the financial ability to grow my personal projects that include knowledge, vlogging, blogging, and fine art imagery. Through my love of storytelling, my goal is to help others while sharing ideas and inspiration. I believe it is my own personal way of inspiring others and preserving a part of history that I hope will be around long after I am gone. My desire is that my work over time will help creative individuals in their own search for success over time.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think the biggest misconception about artists in general is that they are lazy and unmotivated to get a real job. I feel that for some art is not considered a career or that you can’t make a living doing it. To those who may have this perceived belief, I ask what would the world be without music, photography, painting, design, typography, books, movies, textiles, culinary craft, or any other form of art. Our world would look much different without these things. A career as an artist or a creator is a difficult path, the masses struggle to ever be paid the value of their worth yet some manage to become elite through their own unique vision. It takes hard work, thick skin, internal drive, passion, discipline, business savvy, dedication, and often a bit of luck. For everything that is given up in the process of chasing the dream of being an artist, it is multiplied in joy for the ability to live with passion as a creative visionary.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sherioneal.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sherionealphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sherionealphotography
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherionealphotography/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sherioneal
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/sherionealphotography
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sheri-oneal-photography-nashville
• Other: https://learnandcreate.com/ https://thecreativepush.com/ https://learnandcreate.com/links/