So for anyone who has spent time on my blog or read the about section on my website you have read “…rebranding to Exposure One Studios— an idea developed in Capetown, South Africa.”
In all the years I have been blogging and running this business I have never come out and really discussed what that meant except touching on it briefly in my memoir. So today That is something I want to focus on.
In 2012 while traveling with Semester at Sea on of the stops we made was in Capetown, South Africa. Now Semester at Sea is a unique experience you are surrounded by people from all over the world, with big dreams, ambitions and drives to create change and reach their goals. Some of these students will talk about it, others will dive in and go for it and they won’t wait, they will use their time on the ship and traveling to network and make it happen.
That was something I encountered on my voyage. Two students who developed a business idea together and then used their time abroad to find investors, make connections, and use the liked minded individuals around them to make their dream a reality— by the time we stepped off the ship 107 days from when we set sail they were weeks away from launching a new business.
It was inspiring.
I had been dabbling in photography. Operating under my initials and playing photographer. But I wanted so much more. So while these go getters were designing a company logo in our cross cultural anthropology course sitting in the harbor of Capetown, I really started pondering what I wanted.
I knew I wanted to be a photographer. I knew I would have to grow, and that meant starting a business. I knew I usually loved the first image I made or exposure. I knew photography at the end didn’t have a good flow. So I played with naming ideas and some really meh logo sketches.
But it was there in that class, in Capetowns Harbor that the name Exposure One Studios was born. But it would take me nearly four more years to make the name and business a reality but I did make it happen.
In just a little time, sitting with peers, soaking up culture, and experience a dream was born and eventually realized. South Africa is beautiful and dynamic country where I had many incredible experiences but it was that moment in class that really inspired me.