Lane Changer - Jessica Waraich, changing lanes on the career on-ramp
Jessica takes a turn in front of the camera after our photoshoot
Jessica came into my life a decade ago as the then-girlfriend of Jack’s son. Still in her late teens, she was studying to be a health care professional. Much has happened since. Jess’s story is about knowing early on when you’ve made the wrong choice and not being afraid to switch paths. She knew her creative side needed to shine - she’s a photographer now, and like her many other clients, I’m particularly grateful!
Jessica grew up in Brampton with her mother, who knew from her own experience growing up in the Philippines that health care professionals always had work, wherever they ended up. Jess took that philosophy on, wanting to meet her mother’s expectations, despite loving the visual arts all through high school. She cried when she didn’t make the cut for nursing school - it was her first moment of questioning her life. Instead she completed a Health Sciences diploma at George Brown College and pursued a dental assistant program on her way, she thought, to a career in dental hygiene.
By this time, her relationship with Jack’s son had ended and she had met her now-partner. He and his crowd were all freelance creatives. Her partner carried a camera with him all the time and moonlighted shooting music videos. The spark for art Jessica felt in high school reignited and soon when she wasn’t studying, she was in the thick of the creative world .
Her new circle saw her interest and encouraged her - “if we can do this, so can you.” She took the leap and left college, again with tears, but this time knowing she was pursuing something that was more genuinely her. She was 22.
Waraich started out with her lens focussed largely on A-Lister local musicians. It gave her a new appreciation for the kind of life that must be, as she saw them warm to the way she kept any feelings of being star-struck in check. She knew she’d arrived herself though when Spotify included one of her photos on a billboard at Toronto’s Yonge Dundas Square (now Sankofa Square). Seeing her image on a medium other than a hand-held device gave her new confidence!
With the end of pandemic restrictions, Jess was able to expand to other markets, including her now-thriving weddings, events, and newborn photography using her business name, Eye Do Studios. Being in the love- and family-making biz has been lucrative too. While things were financially tougher during COVID, she’s making enough now with her camera that she could support herself and three-year-old, River, whom she’s raising with her partner, if for some reason she ended up alone. Jessica knows financial independence is important for every woman to achieve.
And she loves the work too! Anytime Jess has had a 9-5 job, she’s felt like a robot. But not so with the camera, which she says is magical work, keeping her on her toes to respond to whatever’s happening. Getting the work though is not magic - Jessica works hard to market herself on social media and submits pix to bridal sites for publication. Perseverance and resilience are the key. Even her mother, unenthusiastic as she’s been about Jessica choosing the photography lane, has seen that it works out if you stick it out!
As I always do, I concluded our interview asking two questions.
First, if she had to do it again, would she? Absolutely. No question. Even the health care part of her story is important to defining who she is now at 30.
And second, is there another lane in her future? Jess is realistic about the longevity of being a wedding photographer for two reasons: it’s hard work being on her feet all day and young couples want young people to document the important events in their lives in ways that are on-trend. So yes, likely another lane change. She doesn’t rule out returning to health care fulfilling the need to help people. Lane changing is already starting in her circle. One friend, at 34, has just switched from music to architectural technology. Jessica laments the fact that high school perpetuates the narrative that you have to know what you want to do for 40 years. It’s not realistic.
Despite being creatives in the image-making business, Jessica and her partner decided not to splash River all over social media. When I told her how much I admire this, Jess smiled. I can tell she’s proud too. One day River will decide when it’s time to debut to the world, she explained. But not before. That’s the sign of someone who knows we each need to choose our own lane, just as Jessica did eight years ago.
Want to check out Jessica’s work? Her website is https://www.eyedostudios.ca/ Or take a look at my website, where you can see her great pix of me and Chandlerville, my little house.
Missed previous Lane Changer profiles?
Peter Chandler, how it all began for me
Cathy Crowe, her lane is the street
Marissa Bastidas, same lane, new direction
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