MAD LOVE MONDAY - Tammy Deren |Smiley Eyes Photography
For me, life is nothing without passion. Each click of the shutter and every photo I take is designed to tease out the passion of my subjects
Written by: Tammy Deren - Smiley Eyes Photography - The Photographer Studio
For me, life is nothing without passion. Each click of the shutter and every photo I take is designed to tease out the passion of my subjects. Sometimes it’s professional headshot of a new lawyer and in their eyes I see a desire to change world. Other times it’s a bride and groom with a serene stillness around them despite the busy wedding day – the stillness that comes from knowing you have found someone that touches your soul. In the same way a sculpture sees the story in a block of wood, I see the emotions behind each photo. I coax them forward and capture them with my lens.
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My name is Tammy Deren. I picked up my first camera when I was six years old, a Kodak Instamatic with 110 film! I took rolls and rolls of photos with that camera and I just never stopped shooting. Four kids, two thriving businesses, and husband later, I’m still clicking away.
I find inspiration everywhere and whether or not my camera is in my hand, I see the world through the eye of a photographer. A rainy day with fat droplets splashing onto a hot sidewalk, a meandering stream running past a campsite, bare feet sinking into flip flops – even the smallest moments inspire me.
Real passion cannot be contained – I decided to go official with my life’s purpose in 2006 and hung out my shingle: Smiley Eyes Photography.
I believe in giving back. Since not every photographer has the opportunity to work from their own fully stocked studio with lights, props and backgrounds, I opened my second business: The Photographer Studio.
This venture rents out three studios, two on the west side and one west central. The studios give aspiring photographers access to everything they need to create and share their beautiful art. The studios can also be rented as creative collaborative spaces for meetings, product launches, parties and events.
Being an entrepreneur is serious business, and ladies, you know with kids, a household and a career, it’s not easy to manage it all. I’ve been so fortunate to have a great support system, a strong work ethic, and wonderful clients that helped me to quickly build up the business. Today, I shoot in my three studio locations, on site at weddings and events, for magazine editorials, and even destination weddings. My work has appeared on the cover of Blush magazine and I’ve grown The Photographer Studio from one location to three fully stocked, bright and beautiful, in-demand studios. It’s hard work, but very rewarding.
Sometimes people ask how I do it – even I wonder some days! Taking photos is a very personal business, especially for families and weddings. My vision isn’t always what the client had in mind. I couldspend time second guessing my work or wondering if my studios are good enough, but the trick is to just keep going. My list of happy clients far outweighs the few complaints. When I do have someone that isn’t happy, I do my best to fix it. I take it all as constructive feedback, try to make it right, and move on.
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My advice for new boss babes is to determine if problematic issues were caused from an inefficiency within your business. If so, fix it so it doesn’t happen again.
My other piece of advice is set business hours and stick to them. It’s so tempting to answer every call and email even if it’s 9 PM, but that work/life balance is absolutely critical. Delegate, let your family help with the chores and household duties, and schedule time away from work. Remember, you can’t be productive or present for your clients, friends and family if you burn out.
When people meet me, they see a happy, upbeat, socially active girl that loves to smile, dance and laugh. That’s truly me, but I didn’t start out this way. Every day I work hard on my personal and professional growth. My life has had many ups and downs and I’ve had to overcome traumas that could have sentme in a much darker direction. I’ve learned that life is truly what you make of it. Sink or swim, walk or fly – that’s a choice I have to make every day. I choose to spread my wings and fly, and uplift as many people as I can along the way.
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WINTER MIXER 2018 | EVENT RECAP
Thank you so much to the wonderful #YEGBOSSBABES who attended the Winter Mixer! This was only our second mixer and we are so proud of amount of local female
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Thank you so much to the wonderful #YEGBOSSBABES who attended the Winter Mixer! This was only our second mixer and we are so proud of amount of local female entrepreneurs & community members that made it out!
The Woodrack Cafe was an amazing location that provided us with great service, delicious drinks, and a cozy place to network. We defiantly filled the space and appreciated your understanding when things got a little cramped!
Our evening started at 7PM and the conversations seemed to flow easy! People started filling tables, networking and learning more about each other. We love to provide name tags to all of our attendees to help with the "I totally just met you but now I forget your name" situation!
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Founder, Kirsten Kyle started the evening with a quick run down of our "WHY" and introduced the other members of the team! Next up we introduced Zakiyaa Murji and she gave an amazing speech on Self Love & Body Positivity. Now you might wonder why we may have choose a topic that wasn't specifically related to business and heres why..
When we heard Kia speak at a previous event we were so moved by her story and feel that in a community full of women that this topic would relate to so many. Confidence in yourself will help you succeed in all things, one of those being your business. It will give you the confidence to step out of your comfort zone and land those clients, jobs, sales etc.
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We are committed to hosting a mixer every season. With that being said, we are already working on details for our Spring Mixer and will be taking into consideration all of the awesome feedback we received! We encourage all of the Fall & Winter attendees to join us next season as well!
Want to keep in touch regarding the Spring Mixer? Here is how:
- Visit our WEBSITE and subscribe to our mailing list! - Be sure to follow us on INSTAGRAM
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Keep the feedback and partnerships coming our way! Who knows, maybe you will be featured as a YEGBOSSBABE by us in the near future!
For all the ladies who attended and were interested in some of the feedback we received here is a list of the FAV YEG HANGS!
MyGym / All Stars for Kids (#MOMBOSS HANG)
Cafe O'Play (#MOMBOSS HANG)
Sincerely,
Team BOSSBABES! xo
Photo Credit | @smallwave photography
MAD LOVE MONDAY - Tara Dragon | Work Evolution
We go Q&A style with Tara Dragon, founder of Work Evolution AKA the place to consult with regarding flexible employment opportunities in Edmonton and area.
We go Q&A style with Tara Dragon, founder of Work Evolution AKA the place to consult with regarding flexible employment opportunities in Edmonton and area. We are so on board with her vision about flexible work opportunities as the new employee standard. Finally, a consulting firm for employers and employees to benefit from with a unique twist we l-o-v-e.
1. What is your Business all about?
I am the founder of Work Evolution and we are connecting the best employers with professionals seeking flexible employment. I am very passionate about helping professionals find meaningful work that utilizes their skills, education and talents while respecting the boundaries that they need for work-life balance. To do this, we are also changing the way that organizations think about employees and helping break down some of their barriers to accepting and/or hiring a flexible worker.
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2. What inspired you to start your own business?
I recently had a career in IM/IT and was a partner in a boutique consulting firm. I returned to work six months after my son was born and found work and roles that allowed me to balance time at home with time in the office and also gave me enough flexibility to attend my son’s activities and appointments when I wanted.
Looking around at one of my peer groups – professional women with young families – I saw that many were not able to find a balance that worked for them. Some asked their employers for flexible arrangements and were denied, forcing them to make a decision about what to do. Options that they reviewed included returning to the same role and same circumstances, not returning at all, or returning to a different role with more flexibility (sometimes in a different organization). Some of the factors that were frequently under consideration were: cost of child care, ability to spend time with their family, income, opportunity to use their experience/education, and their ability to stay in a job they considered meaningful. At the end of the day, the decisions were very important, extremely personal and often very stressful.
Rather than convert everyone to IM/IT careers (which can be very flexible), I decided to tackle the problem a different way and found that the model was appealing to parents of young families (they don’t want to be away from their kids all day, every day), folks approaching retirement (they often want to ease into transition with a flexible “bridge” job), and millennials (they want to have jobs that support all of their other interests and passions).
3. Do you have a go to quote / motto?
If you do the right things, the right things get done.
4. What’s a personal goal of yours to accomplish? (time frame?)
My personal goal for 2018 is to be more active and involved in the lives of those closest to me. I had a stressful work project in 2017 that reduced the amount of time that I had to connect with people. This year I want and need to work at strengthening those relationships again now that I have left the consulting world.
5. Why do you love being an entrepreneur?
FLEXIBILITY! (Pun intended!) I love that I can work anywhere and at anytime. (E.g., I can take my son to gymnastics during the day and put in a few hours of work in the evening.) I also love to see the excitement and buzz around something that I am building.
6. What’s your best boss babe moment? (First moment of reassurance).
My best moments since launching Work Evolution have been the emails and notes from people that I don’t even know. I expect my family and besties to love my idea, but it’s extra-special when a stranger does! For example, I received this on LinkedIn, “…I was just browsing on LinkedIn and somehow stumbled on your article and story about flexible work. Thank you for what you are doing to help others find flexibility in their careers. As an HR Professional, I have seen how this has affected colleagues of mine and understand how flexibility impacts me personally. It makes me sad to see that so many employers are so rigid in their belief that you can only do work within the confines of their offices. Kudos and all the best to you in this venture. I'm a fan…”
7. Work-life Balance: What you do you do to destress? What is your must-have moment of the day (me time)?
I wake up at 4:50am every week day and get in a 60-minute workout before the household wakes up. I also use this time to watch my guilty-pleasure shows: The Bachelor, Nashville, Grey’s and Dr. Phil.
8. What are you looking to learn from other YEGBOSSBABES in the community?
I would love to learn more about how other YEGBOSSBABES are achieving their work-life balance. I would also love to learn more about how I can support them through the services offered by Work Evolution and find any and all opportunities to collaborate.
Interested in being featured? contact us at yegbossbabes@gmail.com