That was the statement I pondered last week while attending the Fast Track Photographer’s National Leadership Conference in Newport Beach, California, lead by Dane Sanders.
If you are not familiar with Dane Sanders or Fast Track Photographer, Dane Sanders is the author of Fast Track Photographer: Leverage Your Unique Strengths for a More Successful Photography Business as well as The Fast Track Photographer Business Plan: Build a Successful Photography Venture from the Ground Up – both published by Random House. I first met Dane while attending the Inaugural Cypress College Photography Expo in April 2010. He was one of the speakers along with Jasmine Star, Jeff Jochum and Becker to name a few. While sitting in Dane’s lecture, I was moved to tears by his story, which is similar to my own reason for getting involved with photography. Meeting Dane and reading his first book, Fast Track Photographer, has had a huge impact on my photography career.
Anyways, back to the Conference I attended last week…
I whole-heartedly agree with the first part of that statement. “Life is not fair!” Life has taught me that on more than one occasion. Even at a young age, when life handed me lemons, I figured out a way to make lemonade. And then you look at the second part of that statement, “Its what you negotiate.” I have to say at first I was stumped. I was thinking to myself, “What the heck is Dane talking about when he says negotiate?” My interpretation was, “Negotiate equals how I navigate my way through my life.”
Little did I realize at the time that I was going to learn the art of negotiating and how to apply those tools to my life and more importantly my photography business. And there is an art to negotiating. I wish I had learned some of these skills years ago before my daughter hit the “teenage years.” 
Some of the things we worked on is how to manager ourselves during a negotiation and how my behavior can affect the outcome of the negotiation. Mindset, mindset, mindset. I learned how to engage others and build trust. Engaging others has not always been one of my stronger skills until I became a photographer. Being a photographer has forced me out of my shell. And the last skill we developed is how to integrate resources into our negotiation to make sure that the interests of all parties sitting at the negotiation table are met. Not always an easy thing to do. The key factor here is to do your homework before coming to the negotiation table.
There was more to this Leadership Conference than just learning the art of negotiation. There was the food. If you happen to follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you may have seen the images I was posting as we dined at various locations in and around Newport Beach.
Tuesday night we got together at a restaurant in Fashion Island called True Food Kitchen. If you are looking to eat healthy this year, this is a great place to start. I savored every bite of my meal, especially my dessert. Flourless Chocolate Cake in a caramel source topped with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. It was divine! Wednesday for lunch I was introduced to a place called Chipotle. I love mexican food and their tacos are yummy. Later that night we got together at a place called Gulfstream for Happy Hour. And then we sought out a place called The Sidedoor for dinner. While the service has plenty of room for improvement, their Mac-n-cheese is to die for. I’ve never had it so good!
The food was not the only thing I enjoyed while in Orange County. I miss the beach! You see, I grew up in Orange County. I lived in Anaheim but whenever I got the chance I would head for the beach. I can recall a few times I rode my beach cruiser from my home to Newport Beach Pier, like 26 miles one way. So first thing Wednesday morning, I got up early and headed to the beach, which fortunately for me, my parents live 1/10 of a mile away. I was seriously making all my friends back home jealous with all the photos I was posting online. It was indeed a beautiful day on the beach. The one thing I do not miss about Orange County is the traffic. Thursday night I made my way to Fullerton from Newport Beach and it took forever. 
And with that, I bring this post to a close. Thank you for walking along with me as my journey as a professional photographer continues.