Conversations with the Inspiring Sloan Blanton

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sloan Blanton.

Sloan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Success is the fruit of failure. I’m still seeing that unfold before my eyes today. Here, you can read a bit about how my failures have propelled me to take my creative dreams to the next level.

Photography:

Excellent photography isn’t mainly the camera. It’s about the eye.

My eyes overcompensated for my hard-of-hearing ears with sensory information at a young age. I’ve always had an eye for good images.

Additionally, creativity always played a significant role in my young life. In childhood, I created masterpieces, wrote short stories, and read many books.

During my teenage years, I photographed everything on my summer travels. The world fascinated me: both its manmade and natural works of art. Documenting these moments was an obsession.

In New Zealand and Australia on a study abroad trip, I took thousands of photos. My peers encouraged me to chase after a career in professional photography.

Upon returning to the University of Georgia campus in the fall of 2007, I switched my major to journalism and mass communication (I had been studying pre-medicine!) and acquired a professional DSLR camera.

In 2008, I failed a photojournalism class in the first semester of my journalism program. But I learned so much from that experience!

That summer, I worked as a camp photographer. I captured hundreds of photos daily of youth playing sports in the mountains, as well as posed group and portrait shots.

The following semester, I took the role of photo editor for a major campus magazine for two years until graduation. The following two summers, I continued to capture images of youth adventures for a popular camp in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado.

I acquired expertise in event photography by attending friends’ birthday parties, special occasions, and college-themed parties. On these occasions, I’d constantly walk around with my DSLR camera and flash, focusing on capturing the perfectly framed moments of friends and acquaintances.

I took an unpaid volunteer internship full time for two years after college. While there, I documented and edited dozens of photography projects.

In 2012, I filled my schedule up with graduation and engagement sessions, while continuing to do side photography projects. For the next several years, I assisted small businesses and nonprofits with their commercial photo needs. Occasionally, I’d second-shoot weddings for wedding photographers.

Humans of New York inspired me to create the “Humans of Athens Georgia” project in 2015, which I continued until I moved away from Athens, Ga.

One thing that I lacked was the in-depth study of photography courses online. I also didn’t market myself as a professional photographer, even after upgrading my camera and lenses (fast forward to this year, and I have changed that.) I logged dozens of hours recently in studying photography techniques, editing and composition.

After moving to Denver in early 2016, I put photography aside for two years while pursuing other dreams and career options.

In early 2018, I upgraded my photo editing software to Lightroom CC. It was then that I fell in love with editing photos. I quickly learned photography hacks.

A few months later, after soul searching, I quit my corporate job and traveled for a short while, regaining my inspiration with travel photography.

Upon returning home to Denver, I completed a number of professional portrait sessions.

In December of 2018, cochlear implant surgery and listening rehabilitation filled my schedule for several months. Meanwhile, I struggled to achieve career aspirations.

Finally, I hit a breaking point late this spring. I was tired of failing while struggling to find motivation to press forward. I implemented drastic changes in my daily habits and mindset. A key part of this has been reading books on professional development and listening to podcasts and videos.

I began to find a pattern in the messages that the speakers, authors and influencers were sharing. It gave me faith and confidence that anything was possible – I just had to CHOOSE to create mindset and habit changes.

I took ownership of my career development, relationships, time, finances and everything else. During that time, it hit me: every action has an equal and opposite reaction. I began to choose actions that’d lead to positive progress. I started to think in terms of the future. I was tired of living with regrets.

I started to eliminate the “noise” and distractions of life. I began to realize it’ll never be perfect, but I must continue to put myself out there to press forward. I gained a strong sense of hope for the future!

Digital Marketing:

Back in 2012, in the early days of social media marketing, I contributed to directing social media for a startup. The startup ultimately didn’t scale, but I acquired social media experience for a marketing agency and several other small businesses and nonprofits.

In early 2017, I took a break for a couple of years with digital marketing after hitting a “wall.” I was burnt out and uninspired, and needed a break.

Fast forward to this summer, and one of my life coaches saw the gold in me, encouraging me to use my talents to jump back into social media marketing.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As a hard-of-hearing individual living in mainstream society, communication was challenging for me during my formative development years. I feel like I missed out on valuable emotional and social development. To make up for this, in recent years I’ve received valuable coaching and feedback from others on how to master these areas of deficiency. I’ve also studied in-depth the areas of emotional intelligence, writing for an audience, and the power of brevity in recent years. Focus on these key areas have helped me develop my written communication skills more effectively.

You may be wondering… I was born with a severe-to-profound bilateral hearing loss. I didn’t use hearing aids until the age of two. Just this past year, I received cochlear implant surgery on one ear.

It was a struggle to communicate in everyday organic conversations along the journey of youth. While I used additional devices to communicate, at times those became exhausting.

I reached a breaking point in 2018 and realized the cochlear implant would benefit me after several months of research. It was hard to thrive in a fluid manner socially and professionally, especially on the telephone and in noisy situations.

However, after months of rehabilitation, my hearing with the cochlear implant has drastically improved! Communication is effortless, and I have more energy to focus on other crucial matters.

Advice to young women:

Don’t be afraid of failing. Persevere. Keep going. When life hits you, that’s the most important time to press in. Remind yourself that even when you don’t see change on the outside quite yet, it’s coming, because you’re making positive changes on the inside. So much of our external circumstances are dependent on what we’re telling ourselves.

Just try something: something you love or are talented in, and your passion will grow and increase!! If you go all in, eventually, you’ll fall even more in love with it. Don’t let flaws and imperfections hold you back! May they make you even more beautiful on the inside!

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I’m a creative at heart. I use my eyes to capture excellent imagery, beauty and joy for clients. I love capturing joy-filled moments: whether that’s a human being or landscape that sparks joy. For my business in this season, I’m focusing on portraits, family photos, lifestyle, engagements, pets and maternity shoots. I use strong attention to detail to capture quality photos. I’ve also developed resilience from obstacles that help me press through challenging projects.

I’m very authentic, intentional and LOVE those who I work with!

I’m booking sessions for fall 2019 and winter 2020! I’m also seeking wedding photographers to second-shoot with.

It’s a trial and error process, and the first draft of something is never the final draft, but it’s a giant step in a positive direction while pursuing dreams!

I have ideas for sharing messages of inspiration with the masses on social media. Additionally, I want to reach the hard-of-hearing individuals of all ages with advice and encouragement.

This fall, I’ve been super busy studying social media channels, advertising, graphic design, copywriting, strategy, industry trends, analytics, and influencing.

Currently, I’m onboarding for digital marketing with the first of many organizations! I assist business owners with their digital marketing needs. I help them acquire new business through the power of content marketing. Additionally, I help business owners develop technology proficiency.

In other news, I hope to publish books someday!

What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership, in your industry or generally?
To be honest, I’m not well versed in this issue. I’d rather not publish anything I type for this question, it’s just not something I’ve looked into enough to publish on a platform.

Pricing:

• Custom Photography sessions start at 30 minutes for $100. Includes access to full digital resolution photos, professionally edited.
• Social Media Marketing packages for business owners start at $200 per month. Custom packages depending on business/brand needs. No lock-in contract required.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.rebeccasloancreative.com/
• Email: phototography@rebeccasloancreative.com
• Instagram: @rebeccasloanphoto
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaSloanCreative

Image Credit:
Christiana Bultbaob took the photo of me in the bio photo section.

Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.