Ilanna Barkusky Photography
Name: Ilanna Barkusky
UBC major: Political Science
Year in E101 Class: 2014
Name of Current Business: Ilanna Barkusky Photography
What we do in our business:
Provide commercial and editorial imagery for clients in the action sports industry.
Why this particular business?
I combined my love for action sports and adventure with my interest in capturing moments. It only made sense to combine my passions together and be able to maximize my time being able to do everything that I love rolled into one!
•••• Ilanna at work
Biggest day-to-day challenges as an entrepreneur:
Accepting how unpredictable my line of work is! I try to get everything organized ahead of time since I like to have everything planned out. However, it doesn’t always go to plan when you’re dealing with so many other variables! This could mean snow (or lack of it), dealing with other people’s schedules or something completely unexpected! I have to adjust and work on a short-term basis to stay focused and make sure I’m always being as productive as I can. If a plan falls through, I need to be able to pivot and find other options as quickly as possible!
Greatest delights in being an entrepreneur:
Being able to live out my dreams and goals that I have had since high school. I love the independence, control and responsibility that comes with being able to take charge and to make the decisions about all aspects of a business. I would say overall my greatest delight would be being able to develop my own type of career that gives me the highest sense of achievement and fulfillment.
Four Key pieces of advice you would give to future entrepreneurs:
1. Be prepared to give 100 percent, 24/7. It is good to know when to scale back and relax if it’s all starting to be too overwhelming, however you need to be prepared to work ridiculously hard the large majority of time. Your work ethic is what will draw interest in your business and help it grow.
2. Move on quickly from failures. Do whatever you need to do to quickly overcome a setback. It is, after all a helpful learning experience and will teach you valuable lessons. Be prepared to make adjustments as needed but remain positive and spring forward towards whatever is next with your confidence intact.
3. It is really important to build and maintain good relationships with people in your industry. They can open doors and opportunities for you that would have otherwise never existed. However, never take their help or support for granted and always show your appreciation for their time. Once you have valuable relationships in place, work hard to keep them and continue to prove yourself as someone who is deserving of their efforts.
4. Don’t forget to have fun and embrace it all! Sometimes I get too wrapped up in the work itself and forget what an amazing journey it is to be able to be an entrepreneur. The freedom and reward that comes from crafting something you are passionate about is like no other. It is never easy but that is what makes it the most fun. It’s nice to stop and look around and see how far you’ve come and what you have managed to develop!
Where do you see yourself going as an entrepreneur in the future?
Action sports media is changing and developing at such a rapid pace, which means there are so many aspects I would love to get involved with in the future. I see myself capitalizing and contributing to this shift in sports media. Above all, I want to build a signature style of my work that is recognized as truly my own.
