Meet Heidi Wagner of The Passions Project in Boulder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Heidi Wagner.

Heidi, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
When I started The Passions Project, I was working at a retirement community in Boulder called Frasier. I was reconnecting with my photography during that time and I decided I wanted to bring my photography into my work at Frasier. I have always loved the residents and admired all of the cool things they did every day. I wanted to create a project that would tell the story of the residents and honor the passionate lives they lived. I asked the administration of Frasier if I to do a portrait series that included the residents and they were very supportive. When I started the first project, all I was thinking was about the photos and creating a cool project about the residents of Frasier. It was not until I finished the project that I saw that it was so much more. Not only did it tell the story of Frasier and the amazing people that live there, but it had a larger message, a message about redefining aging. When we see people engaged in their passions, we no longer see age, we see their passion. What a great way to start a conversation, by asking people, “what’s your passion?”

In 2013, about a year after the first Passions Project debuted at Frasier, I quit my job at Frasier to pursue The Passions Project full time. Over the years, the project has been done with retirement communities in Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Texas (2), Montana, California. And The Passions Project is also the permanent art at a national aging organization, LeadingAge, in their Washington, DC Headquarters. This year the project will be expanding and working in Orange County, California, Louisville, KY and Milwaukee, WI. I am very excited about the growth and attention, that means that people and organizations are understanding the importance of eradicating ageism. And that is the mission of The Passions Project, to change the paradigm of aging in our culture.

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?
It has not been smooth. Being a small business owner was never something I thought I would ever do, but I knew it is what needed to be done if I was to pursue The Passions Project. The learning curve has been steep and I have made so many mistakes. Especially in the beginning, I had a lot of self-doubt about successfully building and growing a business, so I often looked to find someone to do it for me. I wanted to do the creative part and the sales, marketing and day to day running of the business was very scary for me. My fear leads me to trust people that I should not have and make decisions that almost cost me my business. Fear can be a great motivator and it can push you, but fear unmanaged can lead you to believe your greatest fear. And mine was that I was not capable of being a business owner. I have been pushed to the limit and I eventually aligned myself with great people to help me learn and grow. People that help me be a great business owner not make promises to do it for me. I am still learning and growing and still feel scared, but I have a great team to help me stay on track.

Please tell us about what you do.
I am a photographer and my work redefines aging. When I decided to leave my full-time job at Frasier to pursue The Passions Project, it wasn’t simply because I love to take pictures, it was because I felt I had a really specific story to tell and that story is redefining aging. The Passions Project is a portrait series of an older adult engaging in their passions. When you see people doing what they love to do – from art and music to being outdoors you see a new view of aging. An exciting time filled with vitality and wellness, wherein each day ahead has a purpose. There are many people out in the world doing photography, but I don’t know of any that are choosing to focus on changing the conversation around aging and doing so by focusing on people and their passions.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Getting my first camera. I was about 12 years old and I had saved all of my money over several months. I was very into athletics as a kid and big tomboy, so when I asked my mom if she would take me to Sears to buy a camera she was pretty shocked. My family did not see me as a creative person, they saw me as an athlete. To my mom’s credit, she took me and helped me get my first camera. A completely manual Ricoh and from that moment I was in love with creating images within the viewfinder of a camera.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thepassionsproject.com
• Phone: 7209331567
• Email: heidi@thepassionsproject.com

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