Sheila Rutledge

Certified Professional Photographer F-PPANI

Greetings Friends,

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a chance to relax and reconnect with those family members you barely saw over the holidays while we were all so crazy with the last quarter rush in our businesses. I hope you are all using the slower times to plan your year to make it better than ever!

For my first president’s address I wanted to say thank you to all of the members of this wonderful, diverse group of talented people. During the term of my membership I have made terrific friends and have learned more about how to run this crazy business we call our profession.

I have been a member of PPANI since 1995. While I had had a couple of years of wedding photography experience and had been a serious hobbyist for many years this group is where I first started to hear the little voices in my head say “Yes, Sheila you can be a professional photographer!”. That was new for me because I don’t have to tell you that we photographers are our own worst critics. It helped that the face I first encountered was Joe Weber and he made me feel very at home.

After coming to the meetings I began to notice the current board at the time. My first impression of the group was great. What made me decide to volunteer for the board was to try to do a better job of reaching out to the newcomers. Once I joined I found out that they did a terrific job of connecting but it took more initiative on my part to reap the benefits.

As I have gone through the different chairs to the presidency the other board members led by example and being on the board gave me a front row seat. Seeing the way they competed in print competition and guided their businesses as well as the organization was of much greater value to me than what I was doing for the association. I learned not only how to be a good board member but a better business person and photographer. I have seen my business increase. I have learned to work less for more money. I was able to take a break from weddings for a few years and develop other business lines to take their place.

Did I have to be at every meeting? Yes! Did I have to stay after the meetings for board meetings? Yes! Did I have to take time out of my business day to attend to my board duties? Yes! Was it worth it? Absolutely!

As your new president I will be asking all of you to get more involved. There is so much more to be gained from our group besides listening to the talent that takes time to share with us. If you are only coming and listening to the speaker then you are not getting your money’s worth. By becoming involved you not only learn from the hired talent you’ll gain many new ideas from the members as well.

They say that a rising tide raises all ships; my goal is to raise all of our small business dinghies!

 

Copyright ©2008