As part of our Season 02 of CulturallyOurs we have guest contributors from around the world who have generously shared their entrepreneurial journey. It is so interesting to read different perspectives and experiences even beyond the guests featured on our CulturallyOurs podcast.

This week we showcase Darlene Hildebrandt from Alberta, Canada.

Thank you so much for contributing a few words on Global Entrepreneurship for CulturallyOurs.

#1 Can you tell us a little bit about who you are and where are you from and what is your business – just to set the stage if you will.

My name is Darlene Hildebrandt, I am from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I teach photography and lead photography workshops and tours for amateur and hobby photographers at a beginner and intermediate level. I have been an entrepreneur since about 1991 when I co-owned a portrait and wedding studio with my now ex-husband.

I’ve reinvented myself many times in the photography industry and have done many different things including: commercial product photography, food photography, portraits and weddings, acted as an industry rep for an international album manufacturer (Queensberry Albums in New Zealand, as their North American rep for 9 years), sold my work as fine art prints at art shows and in galleries, worked in a camera store, was Managing Editor for another large photography site for 5 years (dPS) while I ran my own business and site as well. Now I manage my own business full time.

#2 What has been your biggest win/ah-ha moment and what has been your biggest challenge?

Just one? LOL

Biggest win – hard one to nail down for me because I’ve had some in each of the stages of my business and career (listed above). Most recently I would say that the biggest challenge was also the biggest win. Oddly enough, that occurred after breaking my leg in Colombia in January of 2017. That incident forced me to bring on another tour leader for my upcoming Morocco tour that April as I knew I would not be able to deliver the full experience to my clients (tour participants). Doing that lead me to Daniel Korzeniewski joining the tour and subsequently joining my team as a new tour leader!

So while I don’t recommend breaking a limb to advance your business, sometimes there is a silver lining inside the hardest situations you face. I have since added third tour leader, Kav Dadfar, and we’ve become a really close team. We had a LOT of laughs when we were all together in India on a recent tour!

#3 As an entrepreneur we sometime are alone at the helm steering our ship without any help and support – both mentally and physically – have you ever felt that way? And how and where do you find your support system?

Yes all the time. Although, I’m in a unique situation in that my husband is also my business partner. He’s my webmaster and web manager and he handles all the tough technical stuff. So I have someone to bounce ideas off of, and share things with when my day isn’t going as I planned. Also as mentioned above I have added two new tour leaders to our team and we use Slack to communicate about projects, and just random chit chat and sharing. It really helps to have others that understand what it’s like running your own business and doing what I do.

I’m also part of a mastermind group of four people, we have a meeting every two weeks. We are all online entrepreneurs and we brain storm ideas, and help each other review things like sales page copy, etc.

#4 What does the business and entrepreneurial landscape look like where you are based?

Canada has many small businesses and entrepreneurs and there is a lot of support available (accountants, training, etc.). But where I’m located really isn’t relevant as I can work from anywhere. My business is incorporated in Canada and my home base is there, so I file and pay taxes here – but at any given time you may find me abroad (in fact I’m writing this email on a plane to Tokyo where I’m going on a food tour and scouting locations for photo tour in 2020!).

#5 Lets talk motivation / mindset / growth / business for a moment, how do you keep yourself motivated and excited about your future? What keeps you going when the going gets tough?

That’s where the support system comes in. You can’t do this all by yourself, and if your significant other, parents, your immediate and/or extended family are not supportive of your goals and what you do, it will be infinitely harder. You may feel like you’re always swimming upstream and that you have no lifelines.

As for motivation, having written annual goals and plans for the business is essential. That doesn’t mean I have to do everything I write in my goals, sometimes I review and do a course correct if need be, but it gives me direction and motivation. Also, knowing my big WHY is key. What I mean by that is that I know why I do what I do, why it’s important to me, and why it’s important to others. Along the same lines is knowing my main goal, why do I want to be in business for myself? For me it’s freedom.

Freedom from having to follow someone else’s rules. Freedom of taking a day off when I want for no reason or just because I am not feeling it and need a down day to recover from something emotionally. Freedom to create my own reality and the lifestyle I choose. For me that looks like sleeping until 9am and morning cuddles with my cat. Getting to my desk by 10am and finishing up by 6pm or 7pm (working on that, doesn’t always happen!). It also means freedom to travel whenever and wherever I want and I can continue to run my business as long as I have internet. Lastly it means I control my income and the only limits on what I can achieve are in my own mind.

#6 If you could go back in time to when you first started – would you do it all over again? Or would you change something and what would it be?

I wouldn’t change a thing! Every step on my journey has lead me here, to the lifestyle and business I love and am excited about (most days – don’t ask me about bookkeeping).

But it’s not for everyone. If routine, security, and structure are important to you – then an entrepreneurial lifestyle may not be right for you. There is a lot of ups and downs, daily needs to adjust the course, and things like no health plan, no retirement plan, no unemployment plan – YOU are all those things. So with freedom also comes responsibility but I personally wouldn’t have it any other way.

Thank you so much Darlene for taking the time to share your story with us.

{Words by Darlene Hildebrandt of Digital Photo Mentor, Instagram: @dpmentor}

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