My Entrepreneurship Journey Began Long Before I Started My Photography Business

You might think my entrepreneurship journey began in 2012, when I officially started my photography business. But in reality, it began when I was a little girl walking the cobblestone streets of Nochiango, Jalisco, the small town in Mexico where I was born.

I was around five years old, perhaps even younger. I cannot remember my exact age now, but I can still picture myself carrying buckets filled with produce from my grandfather’s ranch and walking through town to sell it.

Depending on what the ranch produced, I sold avocados, papayas, mangoes, guavas, lemons, cucumbers, squash, and other fruits and vegetables. Lemons and cucumbers were usually among the most popular.

I did not know words like entrepreneurship, profit margin, sales strategy, or customer service. I was simply a determined little girl learning how to talk to people, sell what I had, and earn a little money along the way.

My First Lesson in Making a Profit

My grandfather never really paid me for selling the produce, so I had to get creative.

If he told me to sell five avocados for one peso, for example, I might sell them for one peso and twenty-five cents and keep the extra twenty-five cents as my profit.

Was that an official business arrangement? Not exactly. But it was my earliest lesson in understanding value, negotiating a price, and finding a way to make money from the opportunity in front of me.

Looking back, I can see that the resourcefulness I rely on as a business owner today was already taking root.

Homework and Love Letters

Selling produce was not my only childhood business venture.

I was a smart kid, and I realized that some of my classmates were willing to pay me to help with their homework. I also became the neighborhood love-letter delivery girl. My uncle would give me five cents to deliver notes to his girlfriends, and off I would go.

Apparently, I understood early that people will pay you when you can help them solve a problem, even if that problem is getting a love note safely into the right hands.

The Lessons I Carried With Me

Those childhood experiences taught me more than how to earn a few pesos or five cents at a time. They taught me lessons that have stayed with me throughout my entrepreneurship journey:

• Be resourceful with what you have.
• Do not be afraid to talk to people.
• Learn how to communicate value.
• Pay attention to what people need.
• Keep going, even when the work is not easy.
• Look for opportunities where others may not see them.

Years later, when I started my photography business in 2012, I was not beginning from nothing. I was building on lessons I had learned as a little girl in Mexico.

The products and services have changed. Instead of carrying buckets of produce, I now carry cameras, notebooks, ideas, and years of experience. I help women entrepreneurs become more visible, communicate the value of their work, and create a clear plan for growing their businesses.

But the heart behind the work is still familiar.

I am still using what I have. I am still building relationships. I am still listening for what people need. I am still finding creative ways to solve problems. And I am still willing to walk the road, one step at a time.

Your Story May Have Started Earlier Than You Think

Sometimes we mark the beginning of our entrepreneurial journey by the year we registered a business, launched a website, or accepted our first official client. But the qualities that shape us as business owners often begin much earlier.

Maybe you organized neighborhood events, sold something you made, helped in a family business, or were always the person finding a creative solution. Those early experiences may have been preparing you long before you knew what to call them.

My photography business began in 2012. My entrepreneurship journey began on the cobblestone streets of Guachinango, with buckets of produce in my hands and a mind already looking for possibilities.

And that little girl is still part of the business owner I am today.

 

LYDIA GILLIS PHOTOGRAPHY is Denver based Seniors, and Personal Branding Photographer as well as educator. She helps photographers run a profitable and sustainable business.

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