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E6: Marissa Naylor's Experience of the 3/6 Profile in Human Design




Marissa Naylor

Photographer


Jess Trent - HD Profiles Podcast - Clear Quartz Creative

Marissa Naylor is a Canadian Wedding and Brand Photographer located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her passion for photography began in high school where she found a love for capturing authentic moments with her loved ones. As the owner and lead photographer behind Marissa Naylor Photography, Marissa has captured a 100+ weddings, sessions, and moments where her clients have trusted her to tell their love stories.



Connect with Marissa...



Full Transcript - Episode 6

 

Chantelle: Today, my conversation is with Marissa Naylor, a Canadian wedding and brand photographer located in Winnipeg, Manitoba.


Her passion for photography began in high school, where she found a love for capturing authentic moments with her loved ones. As the owner and lead photographer behind Marissa Naylor Photography, Marissa has captured a hundred plus weddings, sessions, and moments where her clients have trusted her to tell their love stories.


Have a listen while today's guest Marissa, a 3/6, shares her story while you read [00:01:00] between the lines. So Marissa, the 3/6 profile has a lot of change, a lot of variation. The three line is about experimenting and trying new things and learning lessons through lived experience. I'm a three line as well. We have that in common, but it's in my unconscious side. For you, it's in your conscious side.


Chantelle: Is that something that really resonates with you?


Marissa: I think as a business owner , we're all trial and error people, right? So when something doesn't work I'm like, okay why did that not work and what can we do better to improve that whatever they might have be so for like weddings when I was first starting out I love certain presets, I love certain styles and I had one certain way of posing and I quickly learned that that one way is not gonna work with every single client that I have. And so an example of that, yeah, was building three or four different ways of posing. Couples, families, brands, whatever I'm working with to really showcase what I'm photographing, but in a different way based off of the client's needs.


So I would [00:02:00] say trial and error is the biggest thing across business. I think especially in business, you need to be okay with failure, but be okay to that. Not every idea is going to work, which I think nowadays with. Social media and just everything in the marketing side of business is very much trial and error.


And just, I mean, hoping something works, but also having strategy behind it. Ultimately you're just trying something and adjusting it as you go.


Chantelle: Yeah. Constant adjustment, I think is the name of the game, especially because things in the external world are changing all the time.


But then things within yourself and within your business are changing as well.


Marissa: Exactly. And I think it's also to being open to that change. So I know like years ago, when I first started my business, I was very much a person where like, I hated change and change is very hard for all of us, let alone business owners or people who have lots on the go.


And so I think being okay with change, and I think COVID actually taught me a lot of that because there was a lot of change that was involved with that. And so that really opened me up to being okay with change and really adapting to that side of [00:03:00] myself that I never was open to before.


Cause I was kind of, someone said change to me and I was like, okay, we're going to shut that down before I even get into it. And so now with learning from those experiences, it's a lot easier to adapt to change or see how change can help. my business or my career or like, also when I do my sports, how can that, how can that really play out to what I'm doing?


Chantelle: Mm hmm. Yeah, it sounds like, flexibility is a theme you're learning.


Marissa: Yeah, I would say adaptation is a big one too. I know when I was working with my psychologist back in university, I was on the golf team at the U of M and I remember him mentioning so many times to me of like, you have to be able to adapt fast and I think it's really, really important in business to have that too because if you can adapt pretty quickly, then you can try those new things and then really adjust pretty quickly.


But if you are unable to adapt or just trying to learn that skill. It's just a good skill to have, but it's tough to learn too when you haven't been in those situations. And so I think for me personally being in different [00:04:00] types of situations across all aspects of my life, especially in business, have put me in a situation where I know how to adapt.


So for example, on wedding days, when the weather goes sideways or something, yeah, like what do I do? It's just kind of taking what the day gives you, or what the client gives you or whatever, and just making the most of it too.


Chantelle: Mm hmm. Yeah, I have this theory that three lines and I guess six lines too by extension because the six acts as a three for like a big phase of your life is that we really thrive in situations or businesses that are client based or project based, because the clients are changing all the time, right? The scenario's changing all the time for you, like the location changes all the time. And that is exciting to a three line, because yeah, you always get like a new project to work on.


Marissa: Yeah, and I would say like the location that you just said to me was the biggest thing because like. I love a park, but if you give me downtown, I'll get even more excited. And then my fiance, like my soon to [00:05:00] be in laws, I'm getting married this year. They live in the mountains and I'm like, Oh my gosh, I get to shoot in the mountains.


I'm so excited. And so like little projects like that and just try new things. I think that also type three or three and six is that we always need something new to o. I find and kind of coiling business with sports for a minute. It's like, in sports for all the athletes out there that kind of correlate to business is that it's like you always need a new win or a new success or something to kind of feed into what you're doing.


And I think it's the same in business where it's like when you get that one dream client that you've been working super hard for. Or you redo your whole business and you're launching this new, exciting thing and you just want to be something you're proud of. And then one client books you from that and you're like, okay, it worked.


And so I think just like those little moments to play into those new ideas and they come together so well, it's like, Oh, it's like magic.


Chantelle: You're right, it is like a bit of a cycle, hey, you try something, you adapt it, you tweak it a little bit, it works, and then that fuels you for the next thing that you [00:06:00] try.


Marissa: Exactly. Yeah, exactly. I think it's also , once you find like a sweet spot in a sense, right? Like once you have developed a business and your plan and all that kind of stuff and things are working and things are happening, you just start fine tweaking stuff and then you actually find what works what doesn't work, but then also like what you really, really like and want to keep doing, but just do it a different way.


So for example, for me, when I first started, there was a lot of things I did wrong, just like any other business owner. But I would say too, that like, that's where you learn the most as always. In my like fourth or fifth year of business is when I realized, okay, so I did this really well when I started.


But I can actually do this now just in a different way. It's funny that you say that too, because I'm just launching like an elevated version of my brand because I've grown so much since starting my business. And that is kind of funny how things change, but all what I'm doing is just little tweaks from where I've started.


Those new versions come to life in different ways, really.


Chantelle: Yeah, and actually, like, we know each other from way long ago when you were just starting.


Marissa: [00:07:00] Yeah. That's crazy to me, by the way. Oh my gosh.


Chantelle: I took some of my first brand photos for my yoga business, like a long time ago now, like seven years ago. I remember our first shoot very vividly and like you were super upfront with me of like, look, I know a lot of things, but I also know that I don't know a lot of things That was really resonant for me.


The 1st time that we met, you made it really clear that like you were open to learning.

Right, right.

Yeah.


Marissa: And I think that's the biggest thing too, as business owners and just as human beings, I would even say, because people think business owners and entrepreneurial and they're some like special person sometimes. And I'm like, we're all human. We're all just trying to figure life out here.

And so I think having that skill, but also just a way of being like, Hey, this is who I am. This is what I'm doing. With every client that we work with, if we're like that, then they can actually like be themselves even more around the person that's either photographing them or whatever service they might be providing. I feel like nowadays people just [00:08:00] want authenticity. Right. And so the more authentic you can be to people, especially with everything going on in the world right now, I'll just say the better, just because that way people can open up to you too.


Chantelle: Right, yeah, like sharing vulnerability to receive vulnerability. Photos are super vulnerable for lots of people for all sorts of reasons.


Marissa: Yeah. Oh my goodness. I have remember like a shoot with my very first branding client after we shot together actually a couple years later when I was like, okay, I want to get in branding photography a little bit. And I remember them looking at me being like, I'm terrified to have my photo taken.


And I looked at it and that is an honest feeling and I appreciate you for sharing that because that is very hard to share. But it was also like a matter of 15 minutes until that person was like, you know what, I'm not going to be great at this, but I can at least be somewhat good at this after some instruction.


And I think that goes for all types of different photography and again all types of businesses where if you work with the right people and have the right people in your corner, then you really can do whatever you want. And so I think for for [00:09:00] me in business growing from that. Yeah, eight years ago when we worked together, to now it's basically just keeping doing what I'm doing, but just increase the authenticity that I have with my clients because with photography, I think it's the one business out there that I would say really needs to be up front with people because you have to make people feel comfortable in a matter of minutes or seconds

and so I think just having that as a skill, but also maybe having that trait in human design a little bit too is super important because it's, correlated to everything I do outside of photography, but even in my business too.


Chantelle: Yeah. Well, the six line is all about leading and guiding and being that mentor figure.

Leadership has been a huge part of your life, especially in the sports world.


Marissa: Yeah, yeah.


Now that you say that, it's going full circle now in my head. Yeah, I mean, I can touch on that too a little bit. So how I've correlated the two, because actually a question I get a lot, and people are like, first of all, how do you do it all? Second of all, just how [00:10:00] and then third, they're like, but how does this make sense?


It's actually a part of my photo brand right now is being in sport, being an athlete and doing what I do outside of business because going back to the authenticity standpoint is that if you tell people who you are and what you do outside of your business. They will care more about that than they care about anything that you're gonna take your photo of, really.


A lot of my wedding clients, the groom is like, Do I go for a golf round after this? And I'm like, Do you care that I photograph your wedding? Or do you want me to just go for a golf round with you? Like, which one do you want? And so I really think like building that relationship. But going back to the leadership, I've been playing sports since I probably could walk.


It's a pretty long time. And so I would say taking those lessons and just experiences from Team Manitoba that I've been on and even Team Canada now that it's all transferable into business in some way, whether that is building systems, figuring out what to do when curveballs are thrown your way, or even just dealing with stress, too, because when you're in a [00:11:00] leadership position, everyone looks to you to deal with stress or bring the positivity to a situation when everything's crap, so to say. And so I think just learning from those experiences in sport and seeing how I can transfer them into business has been really helpful.


And as I work in more into workshops and do that sort of stuff with photographers and creatives now it's really nice because I feel like I can bring more of myself and what I've learned as a self taught photographer to all those people who are picking up a camera, want to start a business like I did, but they're like, oh, the heck do I do this?


And so doing little workshops like that's kind of where I started with the leadership component in my business work into something beyond that in the coming years Don't know what that is yet, but talk about trial and error.


But yeah, I really use sport though in business, really coincide with each other also grateful enough that like I started my business sort of through my university career when I was going in for my marketing degree.


A lot of what I learned in sport and university, I applied into business. So I really had like a [00:12:00] triangle of like business, sports, and then the university. And they were all like playing with each other in some degree. And so I think that plays a lot into my success.


Now as a still part time business owner, I just do on the side, in a way that I can really manage, but also still enjoy too.


Chantelle: Mm hmm. Yeah. Listening to you talk, I wonder if three lines in general share this strong belief in transferable skills, because I'm constantly talking about that with clients.


I had a full day session with a client today and we talked a lot about transferable skills. You're not using lessons from your life, in your business, you're missing out. If you're not using lessons from your relationships, like your past, whatever career that you had, that you think is unrelated, you're missing out.


A three line knows how to mine every experience for a lesson and use it.


Marissa: I would say even too, that like kind of going back to the people skills, it's also who you have in your corner in those different areas of your life. And [00:13:00] so with sports, I have had very talented coaches, I have been very blessed with the best coaches and mentors and so that for sure has a lot to deal with my leadership, but also just who I am as a person because when you're going through rough things in sport for any athlete, it's not easy, especially when you just want to reach that pinnacle of success, but as I tell a lot of the athletes I coach, you have to go through the bad stuff in order to get to the good stuff.


And so I think it's the same thing in business and in life. If you have the right people in your corner, cause in business too, when I first started, I had no one, I had myself and my laptop and then my parents who bought me my 300 camera from shoppers, which I didn't want to admit that, but that was how I started.

and it's something simple like that with three people in your corner to lead into what you have today and you make relationships along the way.


Chantelle: Just knowing that you're not alone in entrepreneurship is huge and, and finding that community is a big aspect of it.[00:14:00]


Marissa: For sure. Outside of photography and sport for me as like a career in marketing professional, that's the biggest thing is like networking outside of just business because there's the marketing mindset, and there's the entrepreneurial mindset, and they do come together, but they're also very different.


And so, when I go to networking events, I'm always like, okay, do I want to market myself as the marketing professional, or am I the business photographer tonight? I really just brought the two together, though, because they go so hand in hand, and that I think for any business owner too, it's all about personal branding and that it all comes together too.


Chantelle: Well, I've gotta ask you since I don't think you ever go on a podcast without being asked this, but how do you do it all? The full time job and the photography business and high level sports.


Marissa: Yeah, I mean, and you can add a fiance on top of that now too. But yeah, the biggest thing is time management, also just finding your balance. For me it took about three years to find the right balance.


When I first started I thought I knew it all, just like any 17 year old would think. I quickly realized I did not know it all. [00:15:00] And so I would say finding your balance is the biggest one. So for me, when I was in university, I had it locked down what my day to day looked like. As soon as I graduated, I went into a full time job that quickly slapped me in the face that nope, you have to reevaluate now what your day to day looks like and what you're doing.


So for me at that time, it looked like less sessions, less weddings automated systems for my business and then really just blocking out time. That's one thing that I've continued on today is just blocking out time, literally day by day, week by week, month by month. My brother the other day looked at my phone, he's like, you don't have a free dot, like, day in your calendar.


And I'm just like, that's for a reason, Liam, it's okay. But it's also just planning ahead too and that realizing what you need, what, your partner or family needs. And what you need, like I said, as a person. I think for me.


One big lesson that I learned recently, which I actually haven't shared too much, is that it's okay to not be okay, especially when you don't have everything [00:16:00] balanced. When I recently went to Kuwait for World Bowling Championships, before that point, everything was quite messy.

I was just coming out of wedding season. And it was a really good wedding season, like really busy, but just a lot on the go. My fiancé was away for work and basically everything was piling up at once and so I basically hit a point where I was like, I have no idea how to do all of this now. Yeah. And so that's where I really turned to my loved ones, but also I'm lucky to have a psychologist and she was like, you just need to say no and kind of block out different aspects of your life. And so to answer your question, the biggest thing is time management and blocking out my schedule literally for every aspect of my life.


Because if I don't block it out, then either I'm going to forget it, it won't happen, or it'll cause me some sort of anxiety. I'll feel it down the road when I'm like, why do I feel like this? Oh, because it wasn't in my calendar. That's probably why. So that's kind of like the long and short of that answer , that question I get a lot.


I would also note too, that like, I have been [00:17:00] busy since the age of 10. I was in four sports I was doing, I was in private school and I was doing a bunch of things.


So I've never been a slow person, kind of similar to the human design of 3/6 and everything..


But yeah, I'd say being busy for me just allows me to see success in me reaching my goals. And so if I'm ever slow, it's for a reason to rest and take a step back or re evaluate. It's not to feel of like, okay, I'm not doing enough. So that's kind of how I view things too, is that if you always just kind of take a step forward every single day, then it's going to pay off in the long run too.


Chantelle: That's very wise. Thanks for sharing some great sixth line wisdom. Yeah. So we close the show with a card reading. I have affirmation cards here created by Christina from Glow Glow Juice HD, and I'm holding the three six cards. You and I will take a deep breath in together. And let that go.[00:18:00]


The card that I pulled today says, I release the need for everything to be perfect. I am growing at my own pace. And the question is, am I comparing my growth? Can I trust my trajectory?


Marissa: Ooh, that's a really good question, especially in 2024 just starting. Whoa. That's a really good question.


Having like a group of people, like I said before, or quotes or affirmations that you can look to that pulls you out of that mindset of comparison. We all have it, especially for me as an athlete.

I'm preparing to go to a pretty big tournament soon, and it hit me pretty hard the other day where I was comparing myself, and I was like, like, just don't just stop. And then reevaluate and then continue on. For me personally, I find journaling really helps.


A lot of thoughts go through our head every single day. Having those thoughts written on paper and for us to look at are really key. A second part to that too, especially with like the [00:19:00] online world, social media. You name it. Following people that inspire you that you don't compare to because, being in marketing and business and sport, there's, and just in general, people are always on social media.


So, for me personally, a couple days ago, I cleansed all of my social media profiles. I took anyone negative or like people I haven't talked to off my accounts and just have really kept it to people who inspire me, clients that I want to work with, or have inspired me in some way or sport fanatics, on my personal page anyways that I really look up to.


And so I think those two parts really go hand in hand to kind of stop the imposter syndrome a little bit. But also just kind of feed into that positivity that comparison's okay, but in a healthy way only.


Chantelle: Right. Yeah. Thanks for being on here and sharing the 3/6 wisdom.

Tell everyone where they can connect with you.


Marissa: I am on Instagram, of course. My business Instagram is [00:20:00] @marissanaylorphotography then my personal Instagram, where it shows more of my sports stuff, me and my fiance, of course and all of our wedding planning adventures going on right now. And my personal one is @marissa.Naylor, so no photography, just my name. And then on LinkedIn, yeah, you can just type in Marissa Naylor, I'm sure it'll pop up. And www. marissanaylorphoto. ca, which has now been revamped and really exciting to share in a couple weeks. Oh, exciting. It's kind of like an elevated brand, like I said, because I've just been wanting to enhance everything and make it more me.


Chantelle: Well, and it's grown up with you, right? Because you started when you were really young.


Marissa: Yeah. Yeah. Talk about comparison and like answering that question again too. It took a lot of journaling and a lot of brainstorming and values and morals check almost too, that like, all of this has changed, okay, is this still the same brand that I want to bring into my experience, and it turns out a lot of the work that I was doing before stayed it was just more of how that work is portrayed.


Chantelle: Congratulations on the rebrand. Thank you. And thanks again for being here.



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CQC Crystal - How to Develop an Entrepreneurial Mindset

mentor to service-based business owners and the author of the Aligned Action Series of print books for solo entrepreneurs.

 

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