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Being a self-employed person, one who works mostly alone, can be challenging.  Especially when it comes to getting praise.  It’s not going to come from your boss because you don’t have one!  It’s not going to come from co-workers for the same reason!  So, when a client praises you and your work…you can really take it to the bank.

Recently, I had the privilege of working with Jeff Blackman, a ‘Platinum” speaker from Chicago.  He had several keynotes to deliver in the Houston area over the course of a month, and he hired me to tape them.  I jumped at the chance!  Jeff is the kind of speaker that us videographers are dying to work with: he’s nationally known, he works with top companies and organizations, and he’s charming and dynamic.

About a month after our work together, Jeff sent me this email:

Life is good when you pay it forward.  Thank you, Jeff!

All the most influential people in my life thus far (excluding my father and a man named John Dellarocco) have been women. Shari Sklar Jacobson was the first person to hire me out of film school in Boston to work as a video producer at Lyons Group Management for a club called Metro, back in 1986. We have remained friends to this day. A woman named Donna Wong hired me to edit the magazine for the Boston Film/Video Foundation around the same time. My boss at Arnold Worldwide, Lenora Cushing, saw something in me I could not even see myself. Not only that, but she had my back during one the darkest periods of my life. Lenora was the first person who saw in me the entrepreneurial spirit.

This realization about women has struck me during a period in my life where I am experiencing huge personal growth. Today, I am touched by the amazing gifts I have received from of a group of three women who help keep me grounded:

• Karen McCullough, my mentor and office mate, has taught me the invaluable lessons of perseverance, reinvention and self reliance. In addition to that, she has kept me on an even course with her incredible and endless energy.
• My friend and colleague, Tracey Rubio, has shown a collaborative spirit and generosity to me by offering me the use of her photo studio and all of her equipment, as well as her expertise in the field of photography and her incredible gift for exhaustive research.
• Sharon Ferranti has trusted me enough to take a risk and let me in to her world of film making. Sharon is a genius in a field that hypnotizes me. I love film making, and Sharon has shown me that I can do this for a living. She has shared with me her experience and her knowledge with such generosity that I almost feel unworthy of such an honor.

The sweet realization of the influence of these women in my life comes at a most opportune time: the release of a book that explores the talents of women from two cross-generational viewpoints. The Seven Women Project by Karen and Meredith McCullough beautifully illustrates and explains the unique and varied perspectives of the seven different “personalities” that are a part of every woman, and how women have the ability to tap into these different talents throughout their lives. I was lucky enough to help with the design of this book, and I can honestly say that it is a work of truth.
I say “thank you” to the many women in my life.

What if you decided to write your own philosophy and give it a visual rendering? This was the challenge put to me by Karen Davis of Karen Davis Design in Houston. Karen actually directed me to a video she liked on YouTube about one of her contemporaries, Eric Cohler. I watched his promotional video and became inspired. I could create something very similar. My mind started going into creative overdrive as soon as this idea became tangible. Watch the video I created for Karen, and then watch the video that inspired me.

This time of year always elicits from me an attitude of reflection.  Today I am thinking about some of the things I’ve learned about my business, in my role as an entrepreneur, and some of the changes I’d like to make in my work and career.

One of the most important things I’ve gleaned recently is my desire to move towards better clients.  It’s a terribly difficult decision to make to turn down work, or to sever a client relationship that isn’t working, but sometimes it’s the smartest thing to do.  I couldn’t understand this during the first few years of building my business.  I took whatever work came my way.  Some of these clients were struggling themselves, and couldn’t pay the fees I was asking.  So I reduced my fees.  Some of them just pushed me around and didn’t pay me on time…and I let them.

This attitude toward my business and my own value defined the level of work I did for the first stage of my career as an entrepreneur.  I’m calling it a “stage” because I’m ready to move out of it.  By thinking of it as “old” or in the past, I am also signaling to myself to move on.

But then a mentor of mine told me to imagine my life with a better echelon of clientele.  It wasn’t until I saw the damage that was being done to my self-worth that I understood what she meant. I started to value myself more, and visualize a customer that values my talent an is willing to pay for it.  It’s been an uncomfortable thing to do, because I have had to look at the opportunities that will arise instead of the ones I am declining.  This, I was told, is called growth.  But I have faith and I’m taking action to support that faith.  This is called “inspired action”.

“The Law of Attraction formula (and the correct formula in my opinion) is “be/do/have.” In this way, you get to start with Being. Be happy. Be joyful. Be loving. Be appreciative. All of this “being” is what makes you an energetic vibrational match to what you want. Concentrate on who you want to be, then Do what you’re inspired to do (and don’t worry about this part, the inspiration will come as you focus on simply being) and you will Have all that you desire.”

Ruth Hegarty