Sue Thorn Photography - I care
Photography has long been a love of mine. I have a background in marketing but took time off to raise my babies and found that photography filled my cup and allowed me the freedom to not only capture this special time for you, but to be there for my kids when they needed me. It’s been a gift I cannot quite put into words - Sue Thorn Photography
Sue Thorn was the first person to reply to my note in a Flourish newsletter when I asked for volunteers to work with me on a new idea for creative coaching.
I’d worked with Sue during lockdown as an online mentor and she was moving from part-time photography to full-time. I knew it would a great opportunity to work with her at this exciting and nervous time.
We now take regular bushwalks, and coffee dates together. Any excuse to spend more time with her is welcome. She has a beautiful heart, and bakes a beautiful scone.
Sue has helped me bring THRIVE to life and work out the kinks. Her heartfelt answers were encouragement, and kept me working on this wild idea!
1) Over the last year, you moved from doing photography part-time to running a full-time business. Has it helped to have monthly conversations, check-ins, and someone on your side with a creative coaching program?
Absolutely, it has helped to have someone who has made me feel accountable to stay on track. It's so easy to chase where the money is coming from, and not where your heart really is. You really helped me find my lane and then stay in it as well.
“the art of seeing their real personality”
Looking at your work in print, we found a theme about childhood. You love to focus your camera on the child, to capture their natural smiles and the essence of their personality. You often receive compliments from your clients, saying you've captured them perfectly. How has seeing these strengths given you confidence in your work?
When a client receives their photos and comments on how much I have been able to capture their personalities, it's a HUGE win. It's the biggest compliment! I really try hard to be a friend to the kids, to be fun and to interact with them so that they feel comfortable with me and those compliments are absolutely integral to my confidence in pursuing the art of seeing the real personality in children!
Your dream is to offer sessions that capture the inner spark of children. You did a model call with a ballet dancer, and your goal was to be less about the dancing poses and more about the young girl. Did it help you to have support and accountability as you worked through your ideas to make it happen?
Without support and accountability, the ideas would have remained ideas. Sometimes you need someone to just give you a push or a gentle nudge that can give you the confidence to do it. I really enjoyed that session and hope to offer more in the future.
“You circled two words that I had written "I care". That was a bit of a revelation because it had been an unconscious thought.”
What’s one thing that bubbled up in our coaching conversations or activities which you didn't expect but has had a significant impact on you?
Right at the beginning you took all my favourite photos that were in different groups and found a common theme - I love joy, happiness, playfulness and realness particularly in kids. It may seem silly but that wasn't a conscious thought of mine before that. Diving into what happens at my family sessions is that I almost always chat to the kids more than the adults so it made a lot of sense. You asked me a lot of questions and got me to write a lot of things down about kids, why it is so special to me and after prodding (which I needed!), you circled two words that I had written "I care". That was a bit of a revelation because it had been an unconscious thought. It's never been about what they're wearing or how they're behaving - I really care about how they're feeling and I want children to look at their photos for years to come and feel like they matter. And now it's really top of mind which is amazing. I feel like having a 'why' has helped me so much in directing my business in the way forward. E.g. I want to offer more children-only sessions/ 1:1 sessions.
Self-confidence and comparison can get in our way. Did our conversations help to you to stay in your lane? Did you feel seen through The Thrive coaching process?
Self confidence/Comparison. Eeek! You know I have struggled with this, but having you alongside me to keep me in check or to tell me that I was wrong(haha!) actually made me realise how much I doubt myself and now it's more front of mind. The Thrive process was fabulous - I felt that you took time to really think about where I was and where I wanted to be. You had lots of suggestions along the way. I felt seen and heard. I am so grateful for our time together - it has made a huge difference in the way I make decisions now in terms of what I want to do and how I am going to get there! You found my why! I can't thank you enough Cindy!
Thrive will encourage you to:
LOVE what you create.
Be SEEN in a world of similarity for your SOULFUL work.
LISTEN to your intuition above the noise of what others are doing.
CONNECT with your ideal clients by creating EMOTIVE images.
FEEL supported on a journey which sometimes feels lonely.