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How Dan Barker transitioned from mechanical engineer to full-time photographer [#74] The Ideas Lab Podcast

13th August 2020 By John Williams Leave a Comment

DAN BARKER BANNER
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How Dan Barker transitioned from mechanical engineer to full-time photographer

[Clip] When you niche enough, people automatically start sending you referrals

Quitting your job to go and do something more creative that you really love doing sounds very tempting. But the reality of it is more complex. How do you transition from a full time job that you're no longer enjoying, to doing something you love full time and getting paid for that?

That is not usually a simple process. So I'm really glad that Dan Barker could make it on the podcast and tell his story of how he went from a job in mechanical engineering and transition step by step into becoming a successful photographer with his own studio.

Along the way, he describes how he discovered what he wanted to do, how he started experimenting with it and got the confidence to explore his new hobby, and then how he made his first playcheck.

And after that, scaling up to make more and more until he could safely walk out of his job and go full time as a photographer.

Dan was actually inspired in his journey early on by my first book Screw Work Let's Play, so it's great that when it came to reinventing and recreating that book under the new title, F**k Work Let's Play, but it's being published on Kindle by Pearson on the 30th of August, that he could be included as one of the many case studies of people who are now getting paid to play after following the kind of principles I first wrote about.

Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts here to tell us what you liked the most.

Best Wishes,

John

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What I've learnt so far from starting a photography business

Dan’s Bio

Dan Barker felt stuck in a job he wasn't enjoying for many years. With a young family and a large debt to pay off, he was desperate to make a change and set a good example to his children.

After picking up a camera in 2012 to help with his wife's shop website, he realised how much he enjoyed taking pictures. Making time to teach himself about photography and business while working full-time in aerospace engineering, he gradually began picking up paying clients.

He now works full time as an industrial photographer and is passionate about helping other people succeed in their businesses.

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