Significant Career Lesson From An Independent Photographer At Their Own Business
Willa's most significant career lesson is that procrastination leads to subpar results and avoidable consequences; "the worst that can happen happened," illustrating the high cost of delaying tasks like photo editing or employee training, impacting both quality and finances.
Project Management, Time Management, Consequences of Actions, Hiring and Training, Data Management
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Willa Cutolo
Independent Media
Independent Organization
UCLA
N/A
English, Writing & Education, English
Arts, Entertainment & Media
Operations and Project Management
Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, LGBTQ, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Procrastination leads to subpar results and impacts final product quality. Waiting to edit photoshoots until the last minute negatively affects the final output, highlighting the importance of time management and prioritizing tasks.
2. Rushing the hiring process without proper training can result in significant setbacks. Inadequate preparation of new hires can lead to unusable work, emphasizing the need for thorough onboarding and training.
3. Consequences of poor decisions are self-imposed. The interviewee stresses personal accountability for mistakes, emphasizing the importance of careful decision-making and understanding potential outcomes.
Transcript
What is one lesson that you have learned that has proven significant in your career?
One of the most salient lessons I've learned is that I will suffer the consequences of my own actions or inactions if I wait to edit a photo shoot or a photo set a couple days before I need to turn them around to the client. Those edits are simply not going to look as good if I committed more time to them.
And that sucks because the only person to blame is me. I know all the things I could have done differently or prioritized differently to have done a better job. Sometimes I haven't, and I have to own those mistakes.
Sometimes I've rushed on hiring people or hired them without giving them proper training. I'll give them everything I think they would need to succeed, and then they do a really rough job. I can't use any of the photos they made for me.
Basically, if I know I need to do something, even with data management, if I put it off, it's going to cost me money, or the end result won't look as nice as it could and as I want it to be for the people I'm working for.
In this field, I suffer the consequences of my own actions. I wish I understood that in those key moments where I was making the rough decisions that stand out in memory. In my head, I thought it would probably be fine. What's the worst that can happen? And then the worst that can happen happened.