Episode 9: Michelle Nicole Ng
““Mom and dad, I am quitting my job to become a photographer.”
“You’re doing what!!!???”
Not the words any Asian parent wants to hear.”
"If you look for passion, you'll look too hard."
Michelle Nicole Ng
International Photographer,
on becoming a craftswoman
with her passion
Have you ever heard the advice, “Follow your passion!”? What if you didn’t know your passion but it somehow ended up following you? This was Michelle Nicole Ng’s story.
Michelle was in a corporate job for four years, working her way up the corporate ladder according to her master plan- get a college degree, get a job, buy a house, get married and have kids. Michelle’s plans changed when she decided to do more with her spare time in the evenings and signed up for a few classes in photography. One workshop led to another including international trips to China and Paris and the rest, as they say, is history.
You might be thinking this only happens in books or in the movies. The reality is that Michelle’s journey to getting to her end destination of launching a photography business wasn’t easy. It was full of peaks and valleys that Michelle had to learn to navigate through to where she is today, a successful photographer who is highly sought out by clients.
Podcast Details
Find out from the podcast how Michelle:
- Discovered her passion for photography, or in other words how it ended up finding her
- Juggled learning and honing her craft, while maintaining a full time job and working long nights
- Took the fork in the road and the difficult conversations with her parents leading up to it
- Found her mentor and the community that became her support system
- Defines success in photography terms
- Learned to negotiate for herself, become authoritative, and experienced the hard lesson of “time is money”
- Handled two mistakes in her photography business and how she managed through them
- Gives advice to anyone looking to get into photography
- Started living in the moment
Passion is not only about doing what you love. It’s about having a mindset of a craftsman where you are constantly honing your skill and working hard so that you become better every day. It’s about facing self-doubt, dealing with rejection and looking at failure straight in the eyes. Michelle’s story embodies what it means to become a craftswoman and she continues to put in the hard work to perfect her art every day.
About Michelle
Michelle Nicole Ng is the owner and photographer for Michelle Nicole Photography. While she had a love for photography at an early age, she went the route that all Asian parents want for their kids: go to school, get a job, buy a home, get married, have children... or almost. She graduated from the University of San Francisco with a B.S. in Business Management, worked at Advent Software, and then realized she wanted to turn her passion into a career in April 2010. In July 2011, she decided to pursue photography full time and since it has taken her to so many new adventures. She has traveled around the world for photography, been featured in publications such as Today's Bride, NAILS, and SLR Lounge, and also become an international award winning photographer from WPPI, Weddings & Portrait Photographers International.
Michelle continues to better her craft every day, while creating that client relationship with all the people she is so lucky to meet. Michelle photographs anything from weddings, engagements, families, babies, landscapes, and even food! On her free time she likes to cook, practice calligraphy, and continue to grow the relationships and friendships she holds dear to her heart.
ttp://www.michellenicolephoto.com/