Meet Shani Hadjian | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shani Hadjian and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shani, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I started my business as a hobby, so my work/life balance at the beginning was great, as taking photos was part of my “life.” But then I soon realized I could make money with my hobby, so I started my business. That’s when the balance got wonky. What I love doing and find joy in is now my “work,” so what was a perfectly balanced scale before, now is leaning heavily towards “work.” Over the years, as my business continues to grow, I have to constantly reassess my balance. Add in there a wife and family that I would like to spend time with and I have to reassess again as the family grows.

A few years ago I switched to an online calendar with instant booking capabilities. Time that I had been spending responding to emails went down drastically! This year, I decided to send my photos out for retouching instead of doing it myself. This opened up DAYS of work. Basically, I needed help and I found it.

I think about balance as not feeling burnt out, being able to enjoy my time off without thinking about work, being present while I’m working and not worrying if I’ll have enough time off. I want to be able to focus on my family, my clients, and myself without distractions, and that means finding a balance.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I believe my super power is creating a space where people truly feel themselves—where they feel seen and heard. Where they walk away with images that capture their inner essence while also looking stellar. I take a very collaborative approach, and I have a very large returning client percentage and I believe that is very telling of my business. It isn’t just about the outcome, but the experience. This is how I am outside of photography also, so this came fairly easy to me when building my business. The challenge was and always is, finding confidence in myself.

I think these days, social media leads many people to feel the dreadful “imposter syndrome.” I am definitely one of those people. I have to constantly shake that feeling and remind myself that I have been doing this professionally for ten years, that I do know what I’m doing, that I am good enough. I have affirmations sent to my Apple watch and iPhone. I put a limit on how long I spend on IG looking at other photographers work trying to take notes to improve my craft (and sometimes getting down about my own work, comparing myself too much). I am one person, one human being, running my business, so every quality that comes with being human is a challenge for me. But I’ve learned to just keep pushing, that when I’m comparing myself to others to take a moment to feel sorry for myself and then push to improve anyways, to recognize the joy I have in what I do and to soak that in. To take a moment and really listen to the clients compliments and take in their smiles after sessions. That I am doing what I love and not everyone gets to do that. That I wouldn’t want to do anything else, so just keep going and keep learning.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Living in Brooklyn, there are endless places to go and things to do! However, that makes this kind of difficult. I love my neighborhood (Prospect Lefferts Gardens) and would want to take advantage of how wonderful small neighborhoods in NYC can be. I would take them to Prospect Park for a walk and maybe a little picnic. We’d go to Kulushkat, the Israeli restaurant down the street (who also catered my wedding!). We’d also eat at Mango Seed, a delicious Caribbean place down the street, and definitely hit up J&J Delicious Cakes for incredible gelato (multiple times…not just once). The Brooklyn Botanic Gardens is a short walk away and we would spend a day there. We could venture outside the neighborhood and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset, maybe grabbing food in Dumbo after. We would absolutely go to a Broadway show and hopefully somehow get to a Magnolia Bakery for some banana pudding.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I will forever shoutout my wife, Emily. She has always been supportive of my dreams and aspirations, been there to cheer me on or lift me up, she is incredibly sound of mind and is always there to listen and provide insight. She does all of this while also pursuing her own endeavors. She is an educator, she is a writer, she is an empath, and she is the funniest not funny person I’ve ever met. Thank you, Emily!

Website: www.photography.shanihadjian.com

Instagram: @shanihadjianphotography

Facebook: www.facebook.com/shanihadjianphotography