Episode 41: Lockyer Valley wildlife photographer builds her own new business

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Choice and Control Episode 41

“Lockyer Valley wildlife photographer builds her own new business”

Transcript

0:00  Carers Queensland announcement:  Choice and Control is a podcast celebrating meaningful inclusion of people with disability in our communities, brought to you by Carers Queensland, your NDIS Local area coordination partner in the community. Each episode provides a conversation space for people with disability, their families and carers to share their stories with you. We also hear from members of the wider community, local businesses and community leaders who share information, ideas and possibilities to give you more opportunity and more choice and control in life.

00:00:44  Voiceover:  Michelle Young is a talented wildlife photographer who has created her own photography business through the assistance of the Carers Queensland Be Your Own Boss Program. In this episode, Michelle tells her story of how she came to receive her late diagnosis of autism in her 40s and how she's worked with her NDIS supports to set up her own online photography business, exhibit her work in galleries and grow her success in the market. Michelle shares her love of photography and the exciting plans she has for traveling overseas for the first time. We caught up with Michelle and started by asking her how she first came in contact with the NDIS.

00:01:26  Michelle Young:  So I heard about the NDIS a number of years ago when I worked in the childcare sector. We had a number of children with additional needs who were able to get funding and then they were able to have support educators help them in the centre.

I was really struggling. I'd only been diagnosed about four years ago with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and obviously I was born with that. So I was struggling and I was seeing a psychologist, and we talked about the NDIS, so we went through the process.

00:02:08   Emily Smith (interviewer):  So when you got your diagnosis, what was your reaction?

00:02:12  Michelle:  A lot of people don't like using labels, but for me it's given me a sense of who I am and it's helped me fit into the world better. And I can also verbally say that I have a disability and say ‘Can you please slow down? Or Can you please repeat that I need assistance’. I can voice that now whereas before I didn't really understand what was happening. I just couldn't work out why I was different to everybody else… And it wasn't working. I think it was probably just relief and it was such a process to get diagnosed actually. Like I'm sure they picked stuff off at school and I did try and get my school records, but unfortunately I couldn't access them. So I have a really good friend and she's the one that kind of pushed me into getting the diagnosis. She picked up I was autistic, so that was really good, and she assisted me.

00:03:22  Voiceover:  Michelle connected with Carers Queensland's Be your own Boss Micro-business program through YEP Entrepreneurship Facilitators in Ipswich and took part in the workshops and marketplaces in 2022.

00:03:37  Michelle:  I think it's a fantastic opportunity for people who need that assistance and it's been great to have the support of everyone in the group, who’ve helped and we’ve all grown, during this period of time, during this journey.

 

00:03:55  Emily:  So as in business, did you have your business set up before you came and joined their own boss?

00:03:59  Michelle:  Yeah, so I'd already started the process. I started my business a couple of years back, I actually had a support worker who was videographer and built websites. So he said, What do you want to do with all your photos? How about a show you how to build a website and we can put all your photos and people. So that's what I did. So I learned how to build a website. Oh my goodness. It's been a very big learning curve and so on and then I have a friend who is a bookkeeper and she helped me write Business Plan.

So that took 18 months, since we did business planning in be your own boss, we have guest speakers speak to us. So I was a little bit starting on my way of where I already had my business name, which is Love Thy Nature Images. So I was already in the process when I tried this. So that’s what I’m aiming for.

00:05:06  Emily:  So and I understand you yourself were a mentor, can you tell me how that came about?

00:05:11  Michelle:  So a number of people in the program do jewellery making and stuff, and I was having a conversation with one of them and said, Well, I can show you how to take a photo to make your products look good. And then I went and spoke to the facilitators running the Be Your Own Boss program. So they allowed for extra mentor day. So I'll be a mentor. So I did my peer mentoring last week with the group and I went, I went through my personal journey and I went through my photographic journey. So I’ve been photography for about 30 years. I started in high school.  My teacher, one of my teachers, gave me a camera to take some photos for the school magazine, and it just kind of gave me the confidence that I didn't have.

00:06:16  Carers Qld Announcement:  Want to know more about the National Disability Insurance Scheme? A chat with a local area coordinator can help you understand the NDIS, whether it's right for you and how to apply for access Book a spot at LAC in community – a free service from Carers Queensland. Find out more. Check for events coming up near you and book your spot online at   carersqld.com.au     You can also call us on 1300 999636.

00:06:47  Emily:  What do you love about photography?

00:06:53  Michelle:  It gives me focus. I can't focus on very well. Behind the camera, yeah, I can focus. And I often, particularly if I'm doing like close up photography, I forget about everything else in the world.  And I think to my disability I'm really good at observing. So as a photographer you observe things. Often so maybe there's a little caterpillar on the ground under the leaf, I don’t know it really just brings me alive when I’m in nature. So yeah, photography is the main focus and a sense of direction. And I come from not a very good childhood, so it's quite traumatic.   And when I was 18, I met Judith Wright who was the founder of Queensland Wildlife Preservation Society and I fell in love with nature. I think I've always had an affiliation with nature… then I really wanted to be a nature and underwater photographer. I haven't done that yet, but I'm going to get there, that's one of my future goals.

00:08:29  Carers Qld Announcement:  Do you have a passion or talent to share with the world? A small business can be a great way for people with disabilities to earn income, build your confidence, be more independent, and be an active part of your community. Carers Queensland is supporting our next generation of entrepreneurs with the be your own boss micro-business project. It's a place to find out what it means to start a business. Whether it's a good fit for you, connect with business mentors and learn from existing micro business owners and even opportunities to showcase your goods and services in the be your own boss marketplace. Find out more, get in touch or look for events and opportunities coming up near you. Visit our website at carersqld.com.au or call our inquiries line on 1300 999636.

00:09:18  Emily:  So what did you get out of Be Your Own Boss as a participant in the program?

00:09:25  Michelle:  Well, knowledge or more knowledge, it's always good to get as much as possible as well. Networking and being around like minded people, the other participants, we all are trying to better ourselves, particularly financially, that's what I'm aiming towards. I have a business mentoring advisor who's been working pretty hard over the last few months working towards that journey.

00:10:02  Emily:  So it's not easy to imagine that. Is it pretty hard to break through? And what sort of guidance is that person giving you to help break through into the market?

00:10:13  Michelle:  We haven’t quite got to the market. We’re just about there. In our first meeting with business mentors and advisors and my support worker who come from a business background. So her passion is to help people with disabilities. You know, they even become financially stable I suppose.

00:10:45  Emily:  And so you were saying that one of your goals is to do underwater photography, which is pretty adventurous. What other sort of goals do you have, you know, thinking 5, 10 years ahead?

00:10:57  Michelle:  So I'd like to go overseas, I haven’t been overseas yet so… My first trip is going to be next year to New Zealand, so I have a popup caravan, so I do travel. Eventually I'd like to get around Australia.

00:11:15  Emily:  What sort of advice would you have for others in your situation who want to go forward’ have a business idea or thinking about a business idea? What would your advice be to them?

00:11:25  Michelle:  I mean, just take things slowly, simply like quite a long process, find the right people and support, My business adviser and mentor was a support worker – finding the right support worked well. Getting on to the Be Your Own Boss program; go on to places like Eventbrite and see what’s free. There's lots of information out there. Yeah, and try to do networking in the areas of interest that you have.

00:12:08  Carers Qld Announcement:  Everybody has rights, but sometimes it's not easy to speak up and advocate for yourself. It takes confidence, resilience, knowing your rights and knowing someone has your back. “Be the Voice You Want To Be” can help. It's a free program from Carers Queensland for people with disability. It'll build your skills, help you be a strong advocate for yourself, your family and friends, maybe even your community. Along the way you'll build a peer network so you have a squad to support you speaking up.

Find out more, get in touch or look for events and opportunities coming up near you. Visit our website at carersqld.com.au or call our inquiries line on 1300 999636

00:12:55  Emily:  And are you taking place in the market place for the Be Your Own Boss that's happening at the end of the year?

00:13:01  Michelle:  Yes, so at the end of November will be a local shopping centre. And so yes, I'll have my work there. I've got some gift cards and some smaller prints made up.  It's going to be a bit hard to have my bigger work there on sale, but I can refer people to my website and they can purchase from there. I'm also doing a solo exhibition in December, in Laidley at our local bookstore. So this is my first solo exhibition. I recently participated in the Lockyer Valley Arts Trial and I had good response. I had lots of people liking as well, so I just need to get my name out there now. I've done the hard yards of taking the photos, developing skills, so now I just need to get my name out there so people can purchase my work online. I want people looking at my artwork to feel as if they're sitting in nature observing this unique moment in time. So I want people to feel and see what I see. And that's something that my business mentor says to me, that my work, that's what I do, right? Brings feeling into my work. Which makes me a little bit unique, I think that's due to my disability that I can capture about that, what a lot of people probably miss. I suppose something that could be potentially a weakness. And there are some areas within that disability where I do struggle and that's the advantage of having that support from NDIS and having support workers where they can assist me in those areas too so I can start to become more confident, more capable of doing those tasks.

00:15:16  Emily:   Sounds like you’ve got an exciting future ahead, all these great plans and solo exhibition, it's quite a must be quite a full on thing to have to come up with, you know.

00:15:26  Michelle:  Yeah, yeah. I got lots and lots of photos so its working out which photos I want to use. When I did the arts trail I chose different types of styles and such. So I do landscape photography or do macro/close-up, that's probably my favourite genre. I do artworks or I like to manipulate my photos. Sometimes I can see it from a different angle. I'll do Yeah. Wildlife. So we don't have that much wildlife in Australia so often I have to go to a zoo.  Hopefully get to Africa.  Mind you, like I've been out whale watching a couple of times this year. It was pretty awesome. The second time I went out, the water was really clear and crystal. Well, actually I could see the whales underneath the boat. I was only on a rubber dinghy, chuckling. We can see the whales twice the length of the boat and then I can see them coming up. So I had my camera ready, that was pretty awesome. I actually wanted to fall in the water with them. It’s just a beautiful experience. And that's what made my passion is, just to be able to witness that. Even sometimes seeing things and not photographing is quite spectacular. The other week I was out and say two Red Belly Blacks – they were doing their fighting, two males, twisting and turning and capturing that, was pretty awesome.

00:17:21  Emily:  Well you won't see Snakes in New Zealand, but you will get a lot of other gorgeous scenery. Are you anywhere particularly going to go to New Zealand?

00:17:29  Michelle:  I'm going to South Island first, so I'll go on to photographic tour with other people. One of the facilitators lives in New Zealand, so she's got local the knowledge.  And then my sister and some of the family and friends of coming over to New Zealand and we'll do the North Island. So I just like to say to people, just be true to yourself, be kind to yourself. I know I'm quite hard on myself and being a photographer, I do need to get to a level to be able to sell my work.  Treat others the way that you want to be treated, say thanks. Gratitude. Yeah. And when you achieve goals, no matter how big or small, reward yourself. So I like I like to buy myself flowers.

00:18:35  Emily:  I love flowers. That's a great thing to buy. Might come with some special lady birds on there too. Ladybugs you can take photos of as well.

00:18:4  Michelle:  Yeah, that’d be good! (laughing)

00:18:45 Voiceover: And that was Michelle Young, a talented wildlife photographer. And if you'd like to visit Michelle's website go to www.lovethynatureimages.com.au.

00:19:02  Carers QLD announcement:  Thanks for joining us at Choice and Control, a Carers Queensland podcast. For more information about the National Disability Insurance Scheme or Carers Queensland, contact us online www.carersqld.com.au or you can call us on 1300 999636 or head to Facebook and look for  Carers Queensland NDIS.

Until next time, thanks for listening.