The Bookstore

The other day we had a field trip to a major publishing house located here in Manhattan, the famous Simons & Schuster for our book publishing class.

I didn't know what to expect. I know I love books so much and bookstores are my favorite place to go. I don't know how to explain but there is this magical feeling about them. To me it will always be as if the books appeared there by some magic spell or something. How they convert thoughts to words, to sentences, to full books... So many titles, so many opinions in one place. From all over the world. It's a place where different religions can coexist in peace. All in harmony, all in silence. If this isn't magic, I don't know what it is. 

I sure was excited about the field trip but to be honest I was afraid that meeting the business side of it would take away all the magic and mystery behind my favorite place. You know how most business are, behind the curtains is all about numbers, numbers, numbers... So I took a deep breath and headed to meet my classmates and professor that cold Friday. 

As soon as I spotted the building my jaw dropped. OMG, how can they actually own an entire building with the freaking business of online books and magazines taking over the good and old paper?!!?? Apparently yes. I was amazed.

Going through those doors and sitting at the conference table was extremely exciting! Seriously. I've seen those cool meetings in several movies and I've always wondered if one day I would be a part of one. I am not that kind of person, who enjoys business and stuff, but I like the cool part of it, looking important and dressing up in the morning. So "Confessions of a Shopaholic"...

Anyway, we were able to meet some of the employees who have been working there for years. No, seriously, YEARS! Like a decade! Which was an amazing thing to see, I'm sure they are great employees who love their jobs, otherwise they wouldn't be there.

Anyway, we heard about their experiences and how the business side if it works and to be honest, I wasn't disappointed at all. I was mesmerized. Right there, in the middle of the greatest city in the world I was learning more and more about books, taught by people who not only do that for a living, but love what they do. They love books and they are there because they fell in love with them. Magic. Right there!

We finished our visit with some free books and funny enough, I caught the one that couldn't have been more cliche, "The Bookstore" by Deborah Meyler, a British author. And I can't wait to start reading it.

The Path to Success

People have different dreams in life. Some want to be a rockstar, some want a Nobel Prize , some want a happy family and a house with a big backyard and so on. When I moved to New York in 2010, I only had  one goal in mind: to be a successful photographer.

 I didn't know where to start but I had a vision that I was gonna make it. I've read so many books where the main character, usually a young woman like myself   lives in the city and works as hard as she can until she makes it! The "Devil Wears Prada" and "Queen of Babble" were two of those books that I would read over and over whenever I felt like giving up. Yep, I had those moments. I received many, many "Nos" since I began and even though they didn't shake me that much, at times of exhaustion, they would add up and make it for a big meltdown. Which made me even consider acting as a career, I can put on a (drama) show like nobody else. Still, thanks to the books on  my shelf, inspiration wasn't a problem for me, I've read plenty of these stories and I decided that being them fiction or not, mine was going to be real. 

And today I can say that all that "if you love what you do and work hard for it you will achieve" cliche, is not a joke. There is no magic formula, it's not an overnight thing. If you have big dreams, you have to work hard for them. 

Weekends off are something that don't really exist in my life for the first 3 years. Working as a nanny from 8-5 and going to school every day at night, I only had 2 days to do what I loved, which was and still is, photography. It wasn't easy. Apart from running around carrying very heavy equipment in all types of weather, there was also editing, one part of the process that I particularly dislike and that unfortunately is the one that takes the longest to do. I often edit after class, so going to bed at 2am and waking up at 6:30 was my new routine for the past three years. It wasn't easy. Living in New York and not being able to enjoy the city was hard. Not being able to see your friends and family, even harder. But that was the price to pay if I wanted to learn, improve my skills and be where I am today.  I still have a long, loooong way to go, but right now I can support myself and sleep at least seven hours every night if I want to! And I am able to attend school at day time and meet my classmates, even hang out with them, something that I wasn't really able to do in my  evening classes when everyone was exhausted from a long day of work.

I feel complete. I feel like I have the most exiting life, going from photographing a celebrity event at Lincoln Center to running downtown to photograph a newborn baby! Every day is different. Every day is a different client, a different theme, a different subject to work with. One day I'm wearing converse, jeans and a t-shirt at the park and the next hour I have to put on heels, fancy clothes and cover a gala event.  I had amazing experiences, amazing concerts, amazing places that I got to go and photograph. I've met some idols in person and had to act really professional event though inside all I wanted to say was that I am a huge fan and I still might or might not have posters of them on my walls. I also learned how to behave myself and be professional at all times. I grew up and matured. I learned how to provide great customer service, how to find clients, how to promote and grow my business and how to work with crazy deadlines. I've traveled for work and I've seen the world with different eyes since them. I came from not knowing how to get clients to having to turn them down because I was already booked. And it all happened here, in New York, my city of dreams, it all happened because I read a book that made me believe it was possible to be found in this crazy city.

Speaking of dreams, I wanted to share this event I covered last month at the Parsons School of Design here in New York. It was for a Non-profit organization that does an excellent job helping women and children who were abused in some form. They have an annual fashion show to benefit the organization and this year I had the honor to watch it and photograph. Seeing so many young designers and artists donating their time and talent, working really hard, full of dreams and expectations...It just made me realize how amazing it is when you love what you do. You might not get compensated financially every time but when you can do what you love and smile even then, you my friend, are on the right track.