©GREGORY DANIELPRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
by Audrey Wancket, M.Photog.Cr., CPP
u July 4 celebrates the signing of the Decla-
ration of Independence, which gave us cer-
tain unalienable rights, including life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness. As Americans
we not only have the right to dream, but we
have the right to establish our professionalindependence—to build a business that re-
flects our individual interests and values.
Starting a business involves risk, respon-
sibility, and unexpected limitations. But if
you seek knowledge in the right places,
you’ll learn ways to overcome challenges,develop the skills you lack, and gather ideas
from others who’ve travelled the same road.
The independence you gain from being
your own boss means the freedom to set your
own schedule. Never again will you miss im-
portant life events (or so you think). You can
wander into your office or studio whenever it
suits you. But as we all know, indulging too
heavily in this freedom can mean falling be-
hind on client work and missing out on in-
quiries. If time management is a skill you
could improve on, check out the new PPA
video by Andrew Mellen, “You Have Time,
You Need Priorities” (ppmag.com/priorities).
As entrepreneur photographers, we also
have the freedom to be creative. Making
images that others love is what inspired
many of us to become photographic artists.
But most successful photographers have
non-creative days as well. Feed your creativ-
ity should be on your daily to-do list, and
you’ll find plenty of ideas in PPA videos.
I attended the Wyoming Professional Pho-
tographers Association convention in March
and met Jenni Knezovich, M.Photog.Cr.,CPP,
who’s had a photography business for 20
years. After she joined PPA, everything im-
proved, she said. “Growing and learning
and competing only with myself has been
the best lesson PPA has taught me. In the 20
years I’ve been in business, there were three
that were clearly the worst financial years
I’ve had to date. It isn’t a coincidence that
during those three years I decided to take a
break from PPA, my state affiliate, print com-
petition, et cetera. A decision to save money
had an adverse financial effect on my entire
business. As soon as I rejoined and started
attending conventions again, business start-
ed booming. I focused on a clear path to my
CPP, then my master, then my craftsman
[degrees], and business just keeps growing.
You cannot become a worse photographer
through print competition or a PPA degree
path. Having that focus on improving my
craft helps me improve myself as an individ-
ual, a business owner, even as a parent. My
life is just better with PPA.”
Entrepreneurship is as American as ap-
ple pie and baseball. You have the freedom
to choose whether to be ordinary or extraor-
dinary. You have the freedom to take advan-
tage of all the benefits PPA has to offer. •PERSPECTIVE
THROUGH THE LENS OF PPA
FREEDOM
70 PPMAG.COM