Sean Sheridan shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Sean, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: Would YOU hire you? Why or why not?
Great question. Yes, I’m just a bit unsure for WHAT. This is a fundamental problem with owning your own business and working for yourself: it’s necessary to do all the things to keep it solvent, which means being a jack of all trades and master of … one or two things that may not be marketable in a traditional corporate setting. So while I would love to hire myself because this is a capable guy who can zero in on a few things having to do with story and image making, I’m not sure what I would hire him to do other than that when he weren’t on assignment. He can make a good cup of coffee, so perhaps that’s what I would put him on, although that would be an expensive cup of coffee every day!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am Sean, a photojournalist and author who for over two decades has been running around the world on assignments to help organizations tell their mission-critical stories through great photo and film content. I have seen the world change in amazing ways over time, and helping tell those stories is what I am really good at. And I’ve loved it. My bio would say that I’ve helped dozens of commercial and cause-minded organizations solve their flat marketing content problems and grow their sales exponentially by harnessing the incredible power of story and the image. I would simplify that a bit and just say I help organizations tell their stories and move people to give and get involved in the biggest issues of our time. That’s been a privilege — and a heck of a ride.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I was a corporate hack suffering miserably in a cubicle wondering if I would ever escape. But it wasn’t the “world” that told me who I had to be; it was more like a God who cares opened doors, and I responded. Little ideas or doors that cracked open led me to this work, and I’ve never been the same since I responded to those simple things that were urging me to move.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
This idea of pain as a positive force is something most people know nothing about. Our normal response to pain, as humans, is to numb it. Try to remove it. But early on, through a series of accidents, I have come to see that pain is a gift. And this is all kinds of pain — physical and emotional. The trick is to slow down and ask “what is this pain trying to tell me?” Often it is God’s way of telling me to stop. And when I do and listen to the pain, it often tells me to be kinder to myself. I think when I started doing some of that and not trying to grit and grind my way through it is when its potential for power started to show itself. Going INTO my physical and emotional pain — not around it — and addressing why it was there has allowed me to heal and gain and understanding and feel a stature that I previously did not have.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
You bet it is. I am not two people, just one trying to be honest and authentic and let the images do the talking.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I would cease and desist the hard core travel immediately. My work is fundamentally about finding the struggle and hope in other people’s situations and scenes, which has been amazing. But it demands I am highly present to THEM. And if I only had 10 years left, I would want to be highly present to MYSELF and MY FAMILY a bit more. That is all that matters at the end of the day, that we give ourselves to our loved ones. I would want to make up for the moments I have failed at that — all while still being open to the people and work that I would want to engage in, albeit in a much less intense and time consuming way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.seansheridan.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theseansheridan/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-p-sheridan/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spsheridan
Image Credits
(C)2025 Sean Sheridan. AllRights Reserved. Used by Permission.
