From US Navy Captain to Professional Photographer, meet Laura Hatcher in Alexandria, Virginia
What starts as a hobby can totally change your life—and Laura Hatcher is living proof.
In this episode of The Career Flipper, I chat with Laura, a former Navy captain turned full-time professional photographer based in Alexandria, Virginia. Her journey from military structure to creative entrepreneurship is honest, emotional, and so deeply inspiring.
We talk about:
If you're in the thick of a transition—or wondering if your side project has legs—Laura's story will meet you where you are, and maybe even give you that little nudge to keep going.
🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts and don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if this one resonates!
Connect with Laura Hatcher:
📸 Website
📷 Instagram
📘 Facebook
🎥 YouTube
💼 LinkedIn
Laura 00:00:00 You have to be mindful of how you talk to yourself, right? Because if you don't appreciate yourself, then no one else is going to appreciate you.
Jenny 00:00:08 Hey friends, welcome back to the Career Flipper podcast. I'm Jenny Dempsey, your host, a furniture flipper and someone who's fully experienced the what the heck am I doing with my life spiral that comes with a career change? This show actually started during one of those exact spirals. I got laid off from my job and customer experience, applied to hundreds of new jobs, and heard nothing except rejections. So I did what any logical person would do. I picked up junk furniture off the street and taught myself how to flip it in my garage, cover it in paint, sanding through my feelings and figuring it out as I went. No, I had no idea how to do this beforehand. And if you want to check out my furniture flips, visit me on Instagram and TikTok under San Diego furniture flipper. But anyways, in between scrubbing grime and crying into wood filler, I kept wondering how do other people get through this? Like the real stuff? The messy.
Jenny 00:01:06 Non-linear? Am I totally nuts stuff? So I just started asking people. I found them on LinkedIn and I saw they did a career change. So I was like, how did you do it? And what I found were stories full of courage, self-doubt, resilience and hope. The kind that reminds you that starting over doesn't have to be glamorous to be good. Now, every week on this podcast, I talk to regular, every day amazing people who've totally flipped their careers. Some jumped, some got pushed, but all of them figured out how to create something new, something more aligned, more joyful, more them. New episodes drop every week, so make sure to follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. And if something hits you right in the gut, in a good way, I hope. Leave a review and tell me about it. All right, let's get into today's episode. Laura Hatcher from Alexandria, Virginia, went from serving as a Navy captain to becoming a full time professional photographer.
Jenny 00:02:12 We talk about what it's really like to transition out of the military and try to figure out who you are without the uniform. Laura opens up about imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and learning how to embrace her creative voice. After decades of structure and service, there is so much heart in this conversation. From finding mentorship and building community to setting goals she wasn't sure she was ready for to navigating her own cultural identity while stepping into new spaces. We also talk about how the pandemic forced her to adapt, how she balanced her passion for photography with her full time responsibilities, and how she slowly grew from hobbyists to full on pro, trusting herself along the way and learning more every day. So if you're in the thick of a big transition or trying to figure out how to turn the thing you love into something real or a story is really going to hit home. Let's get into the episode now. Laura, it is so great to have you here on the Career Flipper. Thank you so much for being here. How are you?
Laura 00:03:17 I'm great, and thank you for having me.
Laura 00:03:20 I'm excited to be here.
Jenny 00:03:21 Well, I'm so excited to have you. And I was kind of like fangirling because I know you've listened to the podcast for a while and we follow each other on Instagram. And I have just, you know, over the past several months have just like seen the work that you do and just like how you show up and what you bring to the table. And I am just so excited to pick your brain about how you got to be to this place. And also, you know, selfishly, my my dad, my grandpa's, we're all in the military. So it's very like near and dear to my heart. So I am just like really excited to to chat with you. So Laura, tell everybody about you and what you're doing now and then we'll dive into the career flow. Okay.
Laura 00:04:07 so I am currently the proud owner of a small company run by me. I'm the owner and operator of Laura Hatcher Photography. I've been a professional photographer for about eight years now.
Laura 00:04:22 It's my second career. Hence the career flipping invitation. I retired as a Navy captain, in 2018. and I like to joke, but it's really serious that I probably am one of the few naval intelligence officers who took her clearances, her security clearances, and ran in the opposite direction from all the three letter agencies that surround my neighborhood in the DC area. So I'm in Northern Virginia, very close to DC. and I quickly discovered after working like one job, barely that working for somebody else after you've been institutionalized in the military, is completely overrated. and so what I like to say is that I took my pension, and I ran towards my passion and my pension. My health care from being a veteran is what's fueling, the ability for me to follow my my passion. So.
Jenny 00:05:23 Wow. I love that you're running for your passion. So how how did you start that run? How did you make that decision to flip? Where did everything begin? Laura.
Laura 00:05:34 Okay. In terms of the photography itself, it was a hobby.
Laura 00:05:41 I'm an only child. I was raised in a in a military family, so we moved around quite a bit. Never really fit in anywhere. I was always bored. My my parents would joke. I know it's joke now, but when I was back then, I don't think it was a joke to me. But I would say I'm bored and my dad would say it's because you're a boring person. No. Or he'd say, go play in traffic. Now keep in mind he was a crusty sailor. Okay. Yeah. These are things you expect to hear from a Navy chief. But, you know, I always had creative outlets. Because when you're knowing, child, you have to either make up your own friends or go find them. And I was a professional at finding friends because we moved every 2 to 3 years throughout my entire childhood. Around the world, different cultures. and so, it it really never stopped through my, through my adult adulthood. so in around January of 2015, I decided to take, a just a basic photography class because it was the dark ages.
Laura 00:06:46 It's cold. and, I just fell in love with it. At first, I didn't, I don't do math in public. I got very scared on the first. The first class because the instructor started talking about f stops and shutter speeds, and my non math brain was going, no, I can't do this. And then he didn't make fun of me, but he kind of looked at my camera and said, yeah, that's not a real camera. You need to go buy a real camera, a real camera. So you know, is one that you can take the lens off. it's it's not a point. And shoot, it doesn't matter how much you spent for the point and shoot, it's. That's not a real camera. But once I went and got my my Costco packaged real camera, I, I kind of I came back and I stuck with it. It was about nine weeks long. you know, on the weekends, the class was geared to adults who work. And I'm still in the Navy at this point, and he was able to take us to places.
Laura 00:07:43 I had just moved to DC for my for my final tour, if you will. last stretch of my career. And he took us to all these places that I, I didn't know how to get to. So I realized placement and access. You know, if you have a camera, you can you can get to so many places. And then I was hooked. It was just amazing.
Jenny 00:08:04 So you you started out, you learned it. You weren't too sure at first, but then you started to get the right equipment and you saw what it unlocks for you on your path, and you just kept going. So when did that kind of pivot into a business from the hobby?
Laura 00:08:23 Yeah. See, that's the downside of being a veteran. We are overachievers. We can't just have a hobby, we have to nuke it completely. And, it was just it just really became, almost like a disease. I couldn't turn it off. You know, just with photography, you could just continue to learn and learn and learn.
Laura 00:08:43 There's no end, right? There's so many, niches or niches, however you pronounce, however you pronounce it, I say niche, but basically your focus could be anywhere. And because I traveled a lot with the Navy and usually to some obscure, boring places. Having a camera in hand, I could go and even in the most mundane situations, find something interesting to photograph. Yeah. And I started photographing. Believe it or not, classic cars. I would go to meetups on weekends in my neighborhood, and it was just a bunch of cool people with some very cool old cars sitting in the in the parking lot of, like, Safeway. And I started, you know, honing my, my eye and my detail, my focus and lighting and all that just by focusing on the small details that a classic car has, right. With the different emblems and the fins and, and and then suddenly people started asking me, where can they buy these pictures that I'm taking? And I'm like, buy.
Laura 00:09:46 And then suddenly I have an LLC and then suddenly I'm making money and I'm like, okay, I've just stumbled into business and I'm sure there's something legal I'm supposed to be doing, you know, because I'm still in the Navy, right? So, and it just flourished in there. And really, what I learned was people who have those classic cards don't necessarily want to spend money on photographs of those classic cars because they're so busy fixing those classes. So needless to say, I did have to shift to something a little bit more lucrative once I did get into the business.
Jenny 00:10:18 Wow. So then you are taking it to the next level as that overachiever and and you made it into something. So what were some of the things that you were finding about like? Because I know for me, I also can lean into my overachieving tendencies and I just want to start everything. I'm like, I'm going to do this and this and this. And then I have ten projects and I'm like, okay, let's let's go.
Jenny 00:10:43 but sometimes when we kind of take that on, I know as over two years we have to kind of have conversations with ourselves to be like, all right, let's let's make this real, and let's see what we actually can work on right now within what we have available to us, time wise, energy wise, financially. So I'm curious whether there are things that any like roadblocks or any like challenges that during this time, as you're kind of like making this into more that you ran into. And if there are, how did you kind of face them and move forward?
Laura 00:11:16 I wouldn't say there were roadblocks, per se, because, I'm, I was developing this while I was on active duty. Right. So I have a job, I had a focus. And this was kind of the side hustle, if you will. And but what I would say for anyone who wants to take their hobby and turn it into their job is I like to say, yeah, you need to if you're self-taught, which I am, you need to understand that you can't just stop at whatever last lesson you have.
Laura 00:11:47 There's always more to learn, right? You don't know what you don't know, and more than likely you You haven't learned it the correct way or the legal way, especially when it comes to starting a business. And so the Navy taught me, and all of us in the service know that we don't get through our career alone. We always have leadership and mentors and accountability buddies. So believe it or not, I walked in off the street into this, small, cozy studio in the heart of Old Town Alexandria, which is where I live. I live in, near Old Town Alexandria. I can't actually afford to be in it, but right outside it. So I walked into the studio off the street, and there's this, woman running her studio, and I look around and I see her prices, and. And I said, hi. I said, I aspire to be where you are in the future. Would you mind be my mentor? Okay. I just walked in off the street now.
Laura 00:12:45 Right. But I'm coming in with the confidence of a naval officer. And I explained to her, you know, I'm. I'm active duty Navy. I'd like to do this on the side, but I need to get better. would you like to be my mentor? And. And, for, like, three years, we we kept in touch, you know? I didn't stalk her or anything. I just kind of used her what I needed, and she introduced me. And this is the key thing she introduced me to, higher level of thinking and learning, right? Because if you stay with amateurs, you're basically going to stay at that performance level. But you need to align yourself with people who are going to make you strive to be better. and, and then long story short, one day, three years later, 3 or 4 years later, she says, yeah, I'm going to move. I'm retiring. I'm going to go back closer to my children and grandchildren. And I'm like, well, how much is this rent? Thinking there's no way I'm going to be able to afford this.
Laura 00:13:42 In the heart of Old Town Alexandria. And the rent was very reasonable, mainly because it was a hole in the wall with eight foot drop ceilings, no windows, you know, 500ft² total. But actually, when it comes down to it, 236ft, to be exact, of operational space, which is not a lot of room for a headshot. and keep in mind, I didn't actually know how to do professional headshots. I just saw an opportunity to get a space in a desired location, and I was like, the Navy's taught me how to sink or swim. I'll figure it out. The headshot thing later.
Jenny 00:14:19 Wow.
Laura 00:14:20 And so I got I got her studio, literally six months before the pandemic.
Jenny 00:14:27 Oh, my. Yeah.
Laura 00:14:28 This is 1st October 2019. I've already been out of the Navy a year. I've already gone through my first job and saw that it wasn't a great idea to let me pivot and and start and go serious. You know, with this, with this photography thing.
Laura 00:14:45 but I wouldn't have done it any other way because because it was such a reasonable rent, I was able to absorb the cost of sitting on my butt for what seemed to be like six months. Yeah. Yeah. You know, from really it was like March of 2020, which, can you believe it's been five years?
Jenny 00:15:03 You know, that's. It's tripping me out. Yeah.
Laura 00:15:07 Five year anniversary since the PE days. but yeah. So from March to, like, July, maybe complete shutdown of all retail spaces. but I was able to kind of absorb that cost, mainly because the rent was, was reasonable enough. but anyway, that that's that's how I got into my first studio. Just.
Speaker 3 00:15:32 Oh, yeah.
Jenny 00:15:33 It just you asked a question. I, I love that you walked in off the street and you asked a question, and then you developed this relationship, and you had this mentor, and then you're there like, it's it's it's yours. And so I just think that like, gosh, you know, it's one thing to have something that we want to do, but if we don't know how to do it or we're not exactly sure, like it's totally acceptable to ask questions.
Jenny 00:16:00 And I just think that that is something that can hold people back or they're like, oh, I don't want to bug them, or oh, I must be annoying, or I'm a nobody. And like, I get it, but if you don't ask, you may never have the opportunities. And I just like you are like, that is such a great example of that. So you're still in that space, right? You're still there.
Laura 00:16:23 So I just moved out of that space. I stayed there for four and a half years.
Jenny 00:16:27 Wow. Wow.
Laura 00:16:28 Four and a half years. It was a great space. It was a, you know, I was able to. And it forced me to learn, really understand my gear and the constraints of being in such a small space so that when I and I don't, I don't just stay in my studio. I am I'm an event photographer. I do military ceremonies, I do corporate events. and I do actually take all my gear, all my headshot photography studio gear and go on sites on conferences and that kind of stuff.
Laura 00:16:57 I do, I mean, I do a lot of different types of photography. So the studio was, was nice just to have kind of a home base, if you will. it also kind of helps with a little as I was growing this business, have a little bit of credibility and then also tie myself to a community. Right. Which is really important when you're a small business owner is to be known in that community as part of that business entity.
Speaker 3 00:17:23 yeah.
Laura 00:17:23 But yeah. So four and a half years and, and obviously did well enough to be able to afford to move into still a reasonable rent, but twice as much space now.
Speaker 3 00:17:34 Wow.
Jenny 00:17:35 That's amazing. So you're in this bigger space now. And what does like a normal day to day look like for you?
Speaker 3 00:17:43 Yeah.
Laura 00:17:44 Well, the beauty of being a self employed or solopreneur is that if I don't want to get up, I don't have to. I always, I always tell people that I'm not a morning, not a morning person.
Laura 00:17:58 I faked it for 31 years. And so, I, I live and die by my calendar, as I know you do as well. Yeah. And I will tell you, really, in the last maybe 2 or 3 years, the focus and emphasis has more been on being a businesswoman as opposed to just a photographer. And, just learning how to market yourself, how to position yourself and how to how to value yourself, you know, both in price and in time and boundaries, which I'm still working on. Some of those, mainly the boundaries. Yeah. but day to day, to be honest, day to day is very different. Every day is different because, I advertise quite a few things that I do. my headshots alone. I think I have 5 or 6 different types of packages. So just to giving you example. So it's Thursday. just in the last week I've been in someone's home for on location headshots. Okay. So which was exciting because that's like a completely different environment and palette I've never seen.
Laura 00:19:09 Yeah. You know, and, I bring in my, portable studio gear and we're, I'm in a new playground. I'm running around looking at different angles, seeing what was going to work. and that went super well. better than I actually expected. and then before that, I was in studio with on on, excuse me. On Sunday, I was going backwards in my head. On Sunday I was teaching, I teach classes to other photographers. On Saturday, I had, two headshots, and I only try to do two in a given day because they're not. I'm very I'm a boutique approach. So I prefer to spend time with people. get them comfortable, give them options. review the images before they leave. and we do that in a series of events, so that they can see. Okay, the first series, they look a little stiff. Or maybe we didn't notice something with their clothes or their hair, and then we go and do another series with a different background or a different outfit.
Laura 00:20:12 And you'll see as the series, as the time goes through those 90 minutes, usually towards the end, the pictures are the best, right? Because we're best friends.
Jenny 00:20:21 Oh, yeah.
Laura 00:20:22 They know what to expect. Yeah. And but the entire time you see how much energy I have the entire time, I'm trying to keep these people pumped so I can only do two because I'm exhausted. Right. Yeah. because most people that walk through my door don't want to be there. It's a necessary evil. Their boss sent them, you know. If the boss is not paying, they're in a bad mood.
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Laura 00:21:47 But yeah. And then, you know, week before that, it was headshots. It was teaching. I could be doing events. So it's. And I think that's what I like about it. There's no routine.
Jenny 00:22:00 Yeah, yeah, there's no routine. And kind of thinking back to, like, you know, when you were just doing this as, like, a side gig and you had, you know, you were working full time, essentially in the Navy. And so thinking of all you're doing right now and the variety of things, and if you were to think back to when it was just this side gig, how did you juggle that? Because it does sound like there's a lot of different things that you maybe, you know, doing or learning or teaching.
Jenny 00:22:31 and so how did you juggle that while working full time?
Laura 00:22:35 Yeah, I don't I probably didn't take on as much knowing that I only had the weekends. Yeah. You know, and there were also those three kids I had and a dog. My I've been. There was a.
Speaker 4 00:22:48 Few more distractions. You got a lot to. Maybe.
Laura 00:22:52 So I probably didn't take on. And also keep in mind, when I was doing it as a side hustle, the confidence level. And I know you can relate to this. imposter syndrome is real, right? And when you're learning something from scratch, you know, there's this idea that you get in your head that it's supposed to be a certain way because of all the influences that you've seen from googling or YouTubing or, you know, or envying somebody else's scroll. And, and it just becomes overwhelming sometimes. So I know I didn't take on as much when it was a side hustle because one, I didn't have the confidence I could do it. and two, I just didn't have the time to practice now.
Laura 00:23:33 You know, I'm full time and I get a lot of work. I surround myself with other photographers. They are the best referrals, right? Because a lot of the photographers that I know are side hustle is part time for them. and and they're not doing work on Monday morning or Tuesday afternoon. You know, they're, they're they're in their full time job. So, I, I feel like I'm much better at what I do because I have the time to do it all the time.
Jenny 00:24:02 Yeah. Now, that makes a lot of sense. And that's something that I think, you know, when we are thinking about it and we're doing it part time or very, very little on the side, we, you know, dream about those days when we can do it more and how much not only how much more will get done, but how much more we'll learn, how much more community will build with that. And so to kind of hear like of that, you know, how you juggled it and set boundaries, which it sounds like you did a great job at setting boundaries with everything else that you had to juggle family life.
Jenny 00:24:30 you know, and, and all of that setting boundaries to know what you were able to accomplish at that time. But when you touched on the imposter syndrome, I just I just got chills because that is so real when we're learning new things. And and from what I'm hearing you say, like, you learn new things and you may not be at this level yet and you're comparing yourself to everyone else out there. Like, sometimes the momentum can slow. I know for me, sometimes I'm like, okay, well, you know, I didn't do a great job on this, but everyone else looks at it and tells me that it's great, but I'm like, oh no, I could have done better because so-and-so on Instagram or this person, I'm just like, like you get in your own head. Do you have any advice of, you know, for someone listening in right now who might be thinking about doing something creative or starting their own business, but they're getting in their head, what is something they could do to kind of help, you know, what's helped you navigate?
Speaker 4 00:25:27 Yeah.
Laura 00:25:28 So, self talk, right? When talking to yourself, you have to be mindful of how you talk to yourself, right? Because if you don't appreciate yourself, then no one else is going to appreciate you. and I do. I, I use a lot of self-deprecating humor. Ma. And sometimes I have to be mindful. Okay. You. You're not just the dumb jock. I mean, that's why I tell you, buddy. Yeah, I'm just a dumb jock that got into the Naval Academy, and they kept me, and I stayed, and I graduated. I know that's not true. I know I'm intelligent, but sometimes, depending on the situation, I need the self-deprecating humor to feel comfortable. Right? Yeah. Yeah, but. But you have to be careful not to listen to that deprecating. And, you know, I call it a roommate, right? The roommate that that's in your head sometimes gets in the way. and I'm constantly giving advice to, veterans that are transitioning out of the military now because that's the space that my studio is in.
Laura 00:26:25 my ideal client is someone who is, like me, left the military either after a very long time or a short period of time, and then now they have to rediscover themselves. And the first thing I tell them is you need to introduce yourself to yourself. Right. Because when we were in uniform, that was the brand that really wasn't us. We're representing our service, and now you're representing yourself. You kind of have to figure out who you are. And the first thing that's going to happen is you're going to have a lot of doubts. I will tell you, leaving the military after being in uniform for 31 years, I know this for a fact because I'm watching my my adult children doing the same thing. It's like leaving college and trying to figure out how to be an adult, right? So I've been in service for 31 years, but I don't know anything about taxes. Right? personal property tax, because I was completely, exempt from the state of California while I was in. Right.
Laura 00:27:23 And then suddenly I'm out and and California and Virginia are like, hey, you owe us taxes. I'm like, wait, you know, you're trying to figure out your health care. you're trying to figure out all these different things that, to the average adult, they learned, you know, when they were 19 and 20. And here we are. Because we've been inside this ecosystem. And so there's going to be a lot of self-doubt and a lot of imposter syndrome. And we have to figure out how to translate our military jargon into skills on a resume that resonate with an employer who already has a preconceived idea that we all have PTSD, or that we're all, you know, fill in the blank.
Speaker 4 00:28:09 Right? Yeah. Right. Yeah.
Laura 00:28:12 And so there's a lot of outside influence and forces that. So really, what my advice would be, if you're especially getting into the creative space, is keep track of what you're doing so that you can see your own growth. Okay. So I think it's important to have a website, even if it's only inward facing.
Laura 00:28:30 It doesn't have to be forward facing. Right? Maybe it's just for you. Keep your early work every time you do new work. You know, put it in this website so you can visually see your own growth. I mean, I have seen headshots out there of mine from 7 to 8 years ago and I'm like.
Speaker 4 00:28:45 Please.
Laura 00:28:46 Take them down. I'm so much better. But it's important. I still have my own. I have every single picture I've ever taken. And when I look at the the journey that just a headshot has taken from looking like a pink salmon person, regardless of what their ethnicity was to the actual, you know, greatly.
Speaker 4 00:29:07 Yeah.
Laura 00:29:09 It's it's phenomenal. And that gives me that gives me strength. And it also gives me a little bit more motivation that okay, look how you know. Give myself credit Laura. Wow. Look how far I've come. Right. Or look how much I've, you know, when I see my annual revenue and it's it's more than, you know, the year before or and I also keep very, very detailed notes, in my, I use my business plan as an analytical tool for myself.
Laura 00:29:38 And every year I summarize what's working and what's not working. I mentioned them overachiever. Right. So I've got pie charts. I can tell you, you know what the head shots versus events are doing well and how many and why. But to see like the one chart I love is my revenue growth. You know, that started at $2,000 when I first started. And, you know, full disclosure, over 100,000 for the last two years. Wow. Right. Actually, which thank you. Which sounds like a lot. But just don't forget half of that goes towards taxes.
Jenny 00:30:15 So you write that you now know. Yeah. Yeah.
Laura 00:30:18 That was that was a rude awakening. I was like, wow, I made $100,000. Wait a minute.
Jenny 00:30:24 Right. But I think, gosh, I just love that because whether you're looking at the pictures, you know, and seeing the progress over time, looking at the numbers like there are the facts to show that growth and it gets you out of your head, like you can think whatever you want, but there are facts in front of your face that are showing.
Jenny 00:30:42 You're doing a great job and you are learning and you are growing and you're, you know, all of the things like. And sometimes I have to I can't very much in my head to and I'm like, no, like I'm not doing anything. But then I look back a year ago, I'm like, oh my gosh, what I see about furniture now and what I'm doing today, I know so much more and I'm selling these pieces for a little bit more. And so I just think that like that, I it's such great advice because it really does help you get out of your head and focus on like, no, you are you are actually doing things that are making improvements and it can be seen. And honestly, I think your level of detail with the graphs and everything is so important too, because we really can keep track of that more and more over time. I just yeah, I just think that that's it.
Laura 00:31:29 And, and it's and I keep studio journals as well. Right.
Laura 00:31:32 So every, every year I open a journal and I list out the, in the front, the first page. It's my lessons learned from the year before. my goals for the for the year coming. And then I also have a new a new year checklist. Right. There's always the same things I have to do at the new year. And if I don't do that, then, you know, March, April. I'm like, did I, did I change the copyrights on my camera? you know, or has it said 2024 for the last three months? Yeah, those kind of things. And so, because there's a lot of recurring tasks that you have with as a business owner. and we should be able to at least I feel like I should be able to anticipate a lot of things, so that it's not just flying by the seat of my pants. And that, to me, is the fact that I'm maturing as a business owner. Right? That I that I can anticipate certain things.
Laura 00:32:28 And I understand my numbers and I understand, you know, the workflow and and I've set up processes, and that's another way of determining that you've got growth, right. that one that you could afford some of the tools that help you grow, that you're making money that you can afford, those subscriptions that give you a great website, or give you a great customer relationship management system, which you know, and understanding where to invest in your time as well. but yeah.
Jenny 00:32:59 Yeah.
Laura 00:33:00 Be kind to yourself.
Jenny 00:33:02 Yeah. Right there. That is really important to that self-talk that you mentioned. Like it's it's very easy to go down the path of just being really rude to yourself when you're learning something new because you're gonna make a lot of mistakes. And, I just, I think, well, if you can't make mistakes, then why even bother? At least that's what I tell myself. Yeah, it's like I have to. If I don't make them, I'm never going to learn. And, to be comfortable with making those mistakes and be comfortable with learning and be comfortable with slow growth.
Jenny 00:33:32 I think sometimes we see things like, I know I see these things on Instagram and I'm like, oh, these this person, you know, made X, Y, and Z over 25, 24 hours and or I don't know, they're like posting things about furniture. I'm like, that's not the reality of it. Like it can take years. And that's actually even better than it just happening overnight sometimes.
Laura 00:33:53 And another thing I would add to is and I, I, I tend to tell myself at the end of the day, did you get paid? Yes. Then what do you care what so-and-so thinks about your client liked what you did. Your client paid you that sort of. Thank you. you know, move along. Laura. Stop scrolling.
Jenny 00:34:15 Yeah. Yeah. So true. So true. Just the facts again. Going back to the facts and just making that real. Like, okay, your head, you're going to feel certain ways you're going to all these things that you might be thinking.
Jenny 00:34:29 But at the end of the day, yeah, you got paid. And, Yeah. So, Laura, one thing that you mentioned earlier was, you know, this your childhood self and you were moving around a lot. And the things that your dad would tell you. And I'm curious if there was something that you could tell your childhood self about where you are now, what would you what would you tell her?
Laura 00:34:53 I probably would tell her not to be so obsessed about fitting in. Right. Which I think every young girl growing up has that challenge. and and and for me, it was even more hard because, you know, moving around with a military family. But I'm. I'm, of two ethnicities. My my biological father, who passed away when I was in college. He was an African American. My mother is British and about as white as they come with beautiful red hair when I was growing up. So, I never fit in, you know, culturally, ethnically, generally, that's a word, Right.
Laura 00:35:38 And I'm constantly moving around. And oh, by the way, my stepfather, who raised me was Puerto Rican. So just throw all of those, you know? And it's funny, my own children, my eldest son taught me a term that I wasn't even aware of when I was younger. it's called third Culture kid. Right? So you have several cultures. You have the one that your family is in, you have the one that you live in, and then you have the one that your family has to adapt to because of those other two. Right? And we were constantly moving into, different places where I always try to fit in, and I didn't because I was a new kid or because, especially in high school, it was challenging my mother, and my stepfather was a disciplinarian. So there was lots of rules. Right? lots of rules. And most of them included, like, not going out, not having a curfew. Because y you don't have a boyfriend. Because you don't.
Laura 00:36:34 We're not. That's a rule. Right. So any time that you're a child and you don't have the same, privileges as your classmates, you stick out. Right. my mother also believed in only wear it. Make me wear dresses. You know, I had to be a lady. and so, I mean, I went to high school in San Diego. Can you imagine? Yeah. Only coming to school in the 80s in dresses. When? With the pop culture that was going on? Yeah, I always stuck out. So I would tell her, you know, it doesn't matter if you don't fit in because, you know, these people or this situation is not going to last. Right. There's so much more. but I get it. I mean, it's I had the same conversations with my kids growing up, and you just have to, unfortunately, sometimes suffer through it. Right. The bullies and the naysayers and everything else. but I do think that's important because I think, technology has made it so much easier for children to be picked on, to have self-esteem issues.
Laura 00:37:42 you know, childhood suicides, all of those. way more than when we grew up. not putting you in my age category, but you know what I mean?
Jenny 00:37:52 Yeah, no, I agree, I agree. I can't imagine being a kid with social media at school. I got picked on so much as a kid, and so I just. Yeah, I agree, I agree.
Laura 00:38:03 Yeah. Yeah, that would be hard.
Jenny 00:38:05 Yeah, it really would be. And but Laura, you have done some amazing work and you continue to just show up and lead the way to do more and inspire others to do more. And I want people to be able to connect with you and see your work. And how do they do that? Where do they find you?
Laura 00:38:26 Yeah. So if you're on the socials, I probably need to tell you where I'm not.
Jenny 00:38:31 Yeah, there you go.
Laura 00:38:33 I'm on. I'm on LinkedIn because that's the my main platform has been LinkedIn, because that's where my audience is, right? I'm talking to those veterans that are leaving and they need a headshot.
Laura 00:38:45 so LinkedIn is the main place. but I would I am on Instagram. I started on Instagram because I wanted to stalk my kids. but now they stalk me. It's cool. I'm also on Facebook. Not a fan of of Instagram or Facebook, but I understand, you know, in order to be a business, you it's a necessary evil. I'm also on YouTube and of course my website is, Laura Hatchet Photography.
Jenny 00:39:12 So amazing. Laura, thank you so much for being here with me today for sharing your story. You're an absolute joy. Thank you so much. Yeah.
Laura 00:39:22 I had fun. Thank you for having me.
Jenny 00:39:25 Thanks for tuning in to this episode of The Career Flipper. You can connect with Laura using the links in the show notes. And hey, if you like this episode, go ahead and subscribe. rate and leave a review. It helps other career flippers find the show. And let's be real, figuring out this career stuff is way easier when you know you're not the only one winging it.
Jenny 00:39:46 If you got your own career flip story to share. Head over to the career flipper com to send me your story. I'd love to hear it and consider you for a potential future episode. If you're ever looking for someone to talk and blab on and on about this career, flipping stuff as a speaker for your team or an event or one on one coaching, I do those things. Just reach out to me directly. Hello at the career flipper.com. You know what I love most about this podcast and this topic in general? Is that the chance that someone out there might hear these stories and think, okay, maybe I can take the first step and that first step? Yeah, it's really scary, but it's also where everything begins. Even if it's messy, even if it makes $0.00. Keep going, my friend. What's the best that could happen?