The woman called Jordan’s mom over.
Jordan’s mom had taken her three little boys, including Jordan (age 4), to the local mall (because it was the ’90s) and there was a Disney sketch artist in town.
If you waited in line long enough, you could walk up to the easel, tell the artist your favorite Disney character, and she would draw you a picture and add a personalized message on it.
Jordan’s brothers (and apparently every normal kid in history until this moment) chose heroes and happy characters.
For example, Jordan’s younger brother, Stefan, chose Goofy, and the artist inscribed, “I’m goofy about Stefan!” on the portrait.
Super sweet.
Totally innocent.
Absolutely adorable (and age appropriate).
Here’s the real sketch still framed in Jordan’s parent’s house…
Jordan, on the other hand, at age four, chose arguably one of the scariest, most evil characters in Disney history…
(Which SHOULD raise some eyebrows)
“Keep an eye on that guy!”
Four-year-old Jordan’s FAVORITE Disney character?
Maleficent…
“She’s his favorite,” his mom laughed.
“So… he won’t be scared to have HER hanging over his bed at night?”
“Not at all! He’s enamored with her.”
*PAUSE*
Enamored?
ENAMORED?!
ENAMORED?!?!
But, hey, it was the early 90s. We ate Dunkaroos and Fruit Rollups and didn’t ask a lot of questions.
At a MINIMUM, it should’ve been disclosed to Amy during pre-marital counseling that Jordan had complicated history… with bad girls.
“Okay, young man…” the artist conceded with an unsure tone. “One MALEFICENT coming right up!”
Here’s the actual sketch that STILL hangs in Jordan’s childhood home…
And yes, you read that right. To Jordan – FROM THE MISTRESS OF ALL EVIL.
In a plot twist…
Fast forward thirty years…
With NO prompting from Jordan AT ALL…
Our little blue-eyed blonde who LOOKS sweet and innocent *just* like Mama…
Is actually a little bit of a wild card… like her father.
And is ALSO a raving Maleficent fan…
When we were potty training her, we told her she could pick out any kind of “big girl underwear” she wanted, and what did she ask for?
Maleficent.
Turns out, NO ONE on all the internet is crazy enough to try to make money selling Maleficent underwear to children.
But it sure is fun that all these years later, we’ve got someone else in the family who isn’t afraid to be themself.
Why do we tell you all this?
To simply encourage you to stop being scared to be YOU.
So often in business, we look around at what *everyone else* is doing, or what everyone else likes, and try to be just like them because we think THAT is what makes us successful, instead of recognizing/leaning in to the fact that what makes us different is what makes us interesting.
So when you’re trying to figure out what to post on social media, or what you should write on the “about” page of your website, or what you should blog about, don’t create what you think you SHOULD create. Stop worrying about what “everyone else” is doing.
Instead, be you.
In a world of AI this and AI that, real, authentic voices have only become more valuable.
People want to know the person behind the camera.
People want to invest in people.
Remember, the more that a potential client can connect, like and trust you before reaching out to book with you, the less you’re going to feel like you’re “selling” yourself to get the job, and the more you’ll attract the kind of clients you genuinely love serving.
And that’s what we want for you! Clients you’re SO excited about you can’t believe they’re paying YOU to take their photos!
So this is your friendly reminder to share more of YOU.
You’re a lot more interesting than you give yourself credit for.
