How Photography & Family Fueled Jama Pantel's Success!

 Join us for an inspiring conversation with Jama Pantel, a photographer, educator, author, podcaster, and former influencer. Jama's journey is a testament to resilience, demonstrating how vision, hard work, and a deep understanding of her "why" propelled her through challenges and ultimately led her to success. From growing up in rural Texas to building a thriving photography business, Jama's story is one of overcoming adversity, the importance of documenting life's precious moments, and the power of human connection!

You can find Jama at: 

https://www.jamapantel.com/

You can find me at:
https://www.instagram.com/cataton/
https://www.facebook.com/casey.taton/

You can find what sparks me at:
https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1AgeRtyojY/
https://www.instagram.com/lmbdcelebrations/

Music by: Jason and Ashley Scheufler
Artwork by: https://www.instagram.com/graphx_ink/

Transcript

0:04

Hey friends, welcome to the inner spark podcast. I'm your host, Casey Tatum. If you're looking to hear stories of transformation and personal growth, this podcast is for you. My guest and I will be sharing those sparking moments that has changed them into living a more fulfilling, authentic life. I'm so excited for you to hear each unique story. So sit back, relax, and let's get started. Hello, friends. Welcome back to another episode. Today, you're going to meet Jema Pentel. She is a photographer, an educator, an author, a podcaster, and a former influencer. You guys, she is magic. I cannot wait for you to hear her story and just connect. Jema, I'm so excited for you to be here. Thank you. I'm happy to be here. This is exciting and a little nerve wracking. It's gonna be great. You are an amazing person with an amazing story. Can you please give us a little little bit? Okay, so I Am a single female. I'm just kidding I grew up in a really really small town, I'm from Texas, I'm a Texas girl I grew up in a really small town in the country in South, Texas But my entire life, I knew I was going to college. That's what my parents pushed on us. Um, so I grew up in a town where not many people left. I left, and moved up to the big city, for college and have been here ever since. It's basically chasing my dreams. Even as a kid, I knew I wanted to, you know, do more and not be stuck in a small town. Not that that's a bad thing. I'm very grateful for where I grew up and how I grew up, but I knew I wanted more. So, um, after, and I have a degree in photography, but after doubting myself for years and years and years and working for others and all the other things, I finally decided to start my own portrait photography business. And slowly started putting myself out that way and took a very long time to get going with that. It was during actually during coven when I realized that I couldn't actually be around people that I started putting. Myself and my voice out there. and that got me a lot of speaking opportunities. And so I taught a lot on zoom during COVID, um, photography stuff, and that transitioned into in person teachings as we came out of that and slowly started growing my business. Hence the educating I've been able to teach and author. So after becoming a run influencer for a billion dollar brand. And people constantly asking about pictures. It gave me the idea to write a book about how to take better portraits. And you don't need fancy camera equipment or anything like that. You can do it, you know, with your smartphone more often than not. The basics are the same. Lighting, posing, all that stuff's the same. So put a book out there, any book out in the world. and then. Wanted to have been wanting to do a podcast for years, basically, since COVID is when I got the idea to start it. But as usual, I'm slow and move slow. And finally got the podcast going. Here we are now doing all the things. Okay, I'm gonna stop you for a second, because, wow, you guys, did you just hear everything she does? I did not know that you were an author until right now. Yeah. So that's incredible. Um, I don't think I met, I said where we met each other. So we are both, we both did a podcasting course together and have got to connect. So I want to go back and ask you a couple of questions. Absolutely. what got you into photography? So both my grandfather on my dad's side and my mom actually always had cameras. It was one of the things that every time we were together pictures were taken and clearly that was filmed back in the day. Um, and so my life is very well documented from, you my birthday is two weeks before Christmas, so I just celebrated my birthday last month. So there are pictures of me at my first Christmas, two weeks old, you know, in front of the Christmas tree with my parents and grandparents and everything. So my entire life has been documented. so I grew up around that. in junior high, my, uh, parent, I can't remember if it was my parents or my grandparents, but I got a Polaroid instant camera. Yes. Um, And I started documenting my podunk little junior high high school with a junior high I had a little instant camera. Everybody who knows me knew you were always going to be in a picture before we did anything like we had to document the group. Right. And at one point, I eventually started taking those pictures apart to see how they were made chemicals inside those fuller rings, um, to actually form the film, the picture and stuff like that. And so when I got to high school, both my brothers, again, very small town, I was, you know, You know, not a lot of people both my brothers were in journalism. So I was like, oh, I should be in journalism, too So I got my first or had access to my first 35 millimeter film camera learned how to take pictures with that develop film in the dark room Put together your book all those things. And so then when I got to college I was like I was a political science major, and that was, one part of the brain that I was using. I wanted to continue the other part, so I decided to get a degree in photography, too, and maintain that. And so that, again, that was still darkroom days and everything else. And so, um, I'd always had an interest in it. What got me really interested in documenting people, my senior year of high school, my grandmother passed away, unexpected, suddenly, and she was very young and, um, When she was laid to rest, she had my family's picture with her, and, uh, I realized in that moment how important this documentation was, right? And so I'm grateful I have all these pictures with her, um, and of her, and it's the one thing I can still hold onto to this day. I was really, really close with her. Again, I grew up around all my family on a ranch, um, so I was very close with her. My dad was an only child. I was the first girl, so I was her first girl too. Oh yeah. So very, very close. And so when I lost her very unexpectedly at a very young age, when I was told she would be home the next day, and she never came home, it was hard. And so I know how important the value of a picture is. They're priceless. I think it's one of the few things that we can hold on to and help jog those memories. The memories start to fade, but the second you pick up that picture and look at it, it's like, You're taken back. You're taken back to the laughs, to the memories, to what was going on. I have taken thousands, hundreds of thousands of pictures in my life. I can look at each picture and tell you exactly what, like from junior high, high school, college, all the way through exactly what was going on at that time when I took that picture, how I was feeling, how the group was feeling, all those things. So the pictures jog the memory of that. And that's why it's so important and why My love for documenting people grew out of that. Before that it was obviously taking pictures of friends, but taking pictures of things too. Yeah, that happened. I knew it when I wanted it to be people. okay, I want to stop you here for a second, because, first of all, I'm the person that always has my phone and taking pictures and people laugh at me, and I'm like, one day, you're gonna, you're gonna thank me. You're gonna thank me for these priceless pictures, okay? They may not be perfect, but they're like, glimpses. And I also remember doing the darkroom days. I did that in high school, that was fun. Yeah. But, I want to come back to this. Your grandmother left such an impact and that picture now gives you and allows you to still feel and hold the space and feel all the love and like takes you back to what a beautiful person and what an impact she had on your life. Yep. And I hear her voice still when I look at him. She had that sweet Texas Southern drawl. Sweetheart, now sweetheart. Like I can hear her voice every time I look at him and picture all the advice she gave me. And again, I'm a little bit older, so it was always a perfect lady should, a perfect lady should. And I hear her sweet Southern drawl teaching me how a perfect lady should. And I'm so grateful for those. Oh, that gives me chills. Oh, what a special lady. Okay, sorry. That was good. The amount that you don't realize what a picture holds until something happens. Exactly. And I don't, sometimes it's hard to convey that because there's I don't want to be sappy, but that is exactly what it is. You don't realize what it is until it's too late, and then you're like, Oh, I should have, I should have. And there's a lot of regret in that, and it's a lesson I fortunately learned at a very young age. So it's, I don't know. Again, she was I still had all my great grandparents that were alive when I was born at that time She was the first person close to me that I lost and again sudden and unexpected and still way too young and so it was huge and a huge lesson for a High school kid for sure. Oh, yeah. I can't even imagine. I just lost my grandmother and I'm 41 and it was still It's it's heartbreaking. Yeah. I mean, to this day, she was the first of my grandparents that I lost. And, my grandfather, her husband, I just lost 2 years ago. and so the 1st grandparent to the last grandparent, like, it's, they hit different, but that 1 will, will have the biggest impact on me always. Yeah, well, thank you for sharing that. Okay, can I dig a little bit deeper? Is that okay? Oh, yeah. Okay, so I always want to know why I know your grandmother is a big part in this, right? So, do you want to share, would you be willing to share a little bit more about, you are such a magical person, and I can't wait to, like, get deeper into that, but I know we all have this little thing where we go through something, and I know me and you have chatted, so just open chat, would you be willing to share any part of what really drove you to be the person you are? Yeah, sure. I will try to dig deep into that. So again, I grew up in the country, not much, right? So, These old farmhouses that are hundreds of years old, you know, holes in the floors, like, you know, thin walls, everything else. Like we didn't have central heat or air. we didn't have any of the luxuries. I wasn't a big TV watcher. We didn't have. cable in the country that was pre internet, you know, all, all those things and everything else. But I remember breaking out in heat rash in the summer, sleeping with my clothes in the bed in winter, because getting up and getting dressed when it's, you know, 40, 50 degrees in a house is not pleasant. Um, you know, all the things. And then I'd go to friends houses or, wherever else. And Oh, there's AC. Oh, there's heat. Oh, this is what it's like being comfortable inside. so I spent most of my time outside. it doesn't take long to chat with me to learn that I'm a runner. I've been a runner since I was A kid in junior high, because it was easier to be outside. Even in the summertime in Texas, I was fine sweating if I was in running clothes, right? And to this day, I'll say that I have no problem sweating if I'm in running clothes. Um, so I spent a lot of time outside running. And any runner will tell you, you run enough. Like you, it's like being close to God is what they say. That's where you have these conversations with yourself with, you know, in your head, all the things, music on a phone was not a thing back in the day, none of that, right. So you ran what we call running naked now, like there were no smartwatches. There were, there was none of that. So I ran a lot and thought a lot and thought a lot about what I wanted my life to be in the future. I didn't want to want for these luxuries, right? I come from a big family, we didn't have the means to take vacations. a vacation to us was driving, a couple hours north to San Antonio or New Broncos to visit my other set of, my mom's parents, my grandparents. Like, that was the extent of vacations my entire life. But basically when I got to college again, college was put on me. I knew I was going to college. That was a given. I got to college and I was shell shocked. Um, I've never been around so many people who had so much more than I ever could have had. And it was a tough transition. And you feel like you don't belong. Like, I remember my roommate, my freshman college roommate calling me. When I was still at home, she's like, okay, what are you bringing to our dorm room? I've got a TV, I've got a refrigerator, I've got a microwave. And I was like, I've got sheets for my bed and a couple articles of clothing. Yeah. Like that's, that's what I'm bringing. Did you go to college, um, as a runner? Yes. I didn't have the privilege of being able to run in college. And did get part of it taken care of that way. Um, but again, living expenses, um, all the things, right? And so, if you're an athlete in college, you cannot work too many hours at the school jobs or whatever. So, I was the girl who then got multiple jobs off campus at fast food places or, you know, My favorite job to this day at the frozen yogurt shop, where I get to eat all the frozen yogurt at once. That's the best. Yeah, which was right next door to Subway, so I also got a job at Subway. So I had food taken care of, basically. And so I was able to work the hours, there to, to do that. Oh, well, everybody else wasn't working, was going out and partying, was doing all the things that most normal college kids did. And I was constantly asked to join and to do the things and to do this and that. As a kid, you don't say, no, I'm poor. I can't afford to do that, but he's paying for it. You keep that hidden, right? So it was more of a no, not interested. And I was told I was a snob quite a bit. I was going to ask, how did that make you feel? It was hard. Um, again, and I was, you know, I was okay with them thinking that about me, because I didn't want to share what actually was. Um, so I didn't really share all that much about what was going on. So, you know, even worse on top of that, was, uh, so my dad went to prison when I was in college. He was arrested and went to jail. And so I would rather write to him than go out and do all the things. And it further instilled in me that I wanted more and better. Right. I didn't want to repeat the habit. Right. So you took, you learned a lesson from that of all these kids are out partying and doing whatever, but that's not what I want. That's not what I want. That's not my lifestyle. It's not my lifestyle. And I, it was also, I knew I had nobody to fall back on if something happened. Um, the amount of kids doing things that I never had a desire to do or interest in doing any of these extracurricular activities was mind boggling to me. And then when you get to know them, it's like. Oh, their parents will take care of everything if something happens. Yeah. And I didn't have that. I was never going to have that. And so the only person to take care of me was me. And I had to learn that at a very early age. And I knew I wasn't going to repeat certain cycles and live that over anymore. I want to thank you for sharing that about your dad. Because I think every time somebody goes through a story, we don't share it. We just try to push through. And, yeah. Very few people know that. Yeah, we don't just air it to the world of like, oh, hey, there's something, something different about me. And this is why I am the way I am. So, me and you had this joke about our faces. Yeah. About the same face and we've both been judged and how, like, we're gonna beat that. People quit saying that. RBF face. Okay. Maybe some people are just held to themselves because they're going through something and maybe that's just the way they are and that's okay. So stop judging people. Exactly. Exactly. And I always say, I don't judge a person based on how they look or sound or anything else. I judge them based on their actions. And how I, they either treat me or how I observe them treating other people. So, I don't react to things. I sit there and take them in, and I'm quiet, and I'm reserved, and I observe, and I'm a very big observer of everything around me. And most of the time you won't know that that's what I'm doing. You'll think that I'm on my phone or not paying attention, when the entire time I'm paying attention to everything that's going on around me. I think that's an amazing quality because a lot of people just respond and react fast out of their mouth without thinking. Instead, you're like looking around the room. Just taking it all in and not just, not just shouting like, but you genuinely care and that says a lot about you. So you went through a lot. You've been through a lot. You worked your whole life to get through college, to get where you were. You're a runner. Tell us, can you tell me what you do now? What sparks you to do what you're doing now? So I still work two jobs. I've had an interest in law and politics and policy my entire life. My grandparents got me a book in third grade, Texas law and layman's language. Um, so I was, I was a nerd. I was one of those straight A students who, you know, read books and was, you know, always studying. School was not a difficult thing for me. And I, I probably took that for granted because I recognize how hard that is for some people and I don't think you have to have an education to be smart. Um, there are people who are highly intelligent who struggle with school. Um, school was 1 of those things that wasn't a challenge to me. I could read, obtain information. All the things, right? So I again, nothing to do where I grew up, but driving to town to the library, rent some library books and read. And that's what most of our childhood was either physical outdoor activities or reading. And so there were always books and that was when my grandparents got me that book, like, I was determined to go to law school. So I have a degree in politics and in photography. Right? And so I live in Austin, the capital of Texas where politics happens. so right out of college, I got a job for the Texas Senate. which was mind boggling to me because you needed a college degree for that. Yet the job only paid two thousand dollars a month who can live off of two thousand. I was like how in the World did I get myself in such huge debt for a job again? I didn't look I Where I came from, you didn't really have mentors or counselors who showed you anything. And I'm not talking bad about anybody because these are my friend's parents. These are people that I love and consider a family, but we weren't taught how to handle money, what college was about. Like, I didn't know that getting myself a political science degree and a reputable job meant my paycheck wasn't going to be anything. Um, you just had this drive to keep going, like the drive that this is what I'm going to do with my life. And so I worked that and I got a second job. so in politics, you have to dress a certain way. I think I remember reading in the handbook they gave us when I started, a woman should look like a woman, which I also was taken aback by, which I thought was very interesting wording. And then that stuck with me and I was like, okay, what's a woman supposed to look like? This is interesting. And I'm in Texas and I knew what that meant. I didn't have, okay. Those nice clothes. I didn't have them. So I got a job at the mall at a clothing store so I could afford those clothes to go to the other job. So after doing that and working in law offices and doing all the things I was like, this working for other people isn't my jam. I'm going to start a business. So I worked at a photography studio and all these like other extra jobs. I worked in a photography studio I worked in a I worked retail in a camera store so i'm familiar with working holidays. I'm all these things that People of a certain class take for granted is that these people are going to work and serve them and wait on them at these times. I've done all those things. I've waited table, you know, all, those jobs that a lot of people have zero experience with. I did them all. We're not, no one is too good for anything. That's what I feel like. Like the second you think you are, that's a problem. Yeah, there's, there's a job for everybody, right? Absolutely. And you did whatever you had to do. Yeah. I did what I had to do to survive, right? And so, I started my business and again, I worked it up to a full time salary equivalent to my day job. so I'm further along in my day job, and have worked my business up to be a full time employee. Similar thing. The only problem with a small business is insurance. Yes. All the fun things of owning your own business, right? And, um, if I've learned anything in the last seven years with my parents, cancer diagnosis. And again, I think this is why we bond so much because I'm your story too. And I know. How you can be living a normal life and all of a sudden an illness just stops everything in its tracks and nobody is immune to that. Nobody right. It can happen to anybody at any given time. Um, that is, that is one of the most powerful things is because everybody thinks that it will not happen to them. And so we live this life and I have this live for today in my background. And you don't know until it happens to you that your world can stop in a second and your whole life can change. We've talked about no one is immune to getting anything. Yes. So, do you mind digging into that a little bit? Yeah, so when my dad was diagnosed with cancer, I was very, again, I'm not a public person. I didn't put it out there. In fact, nobody knew about my dad's cancer other than close friends and, you know, people I actually talked to until after he was better. Except one blog post I made about my business on my business page because I assume nobody reads blog posts and I made this blog post. I had been, it was the first year I was, uh, voted best portrait photographer in Austin. Um, I had been published in the New York Times that year, for photography for pictures. So I did an end of the year blog post, you know, on the good and the bad, the good. I was published in the New York times, like incredible for blue bonnets, which is our state flower, which is like the thing I love the most. That is so incredible. Pictures from me and interviewed me and so I got, got my name out there for that. I was voted best portrait photographer in Austin. And so that's still running eight years later to this day. Um, and then I said, but all of that means nothing because my dad's fighting cancer. And yeah. It was, the year of my 40th birthday, and I was, I go and run marathons for my birthday, usually every year, and so I was in, I just finished running the Kauai Marathon, and I was in Maui, and I get a text from my sister, and she says, Hey, can I call you? I know you're on vacation, but it's important. It's about dad, and it's not good. And so I was like, yeah, so she called me and she told me dad has cancer. I'm like, okay. So when I got home, I immediately, you know, went, went. To South Texas went back home and my dad has a positive attitude about everything. He's one of those like, he's like everything could always be worse, right? He's got one of the best attitudes and so he was fine and I had a 40, a 40th birthday marathon scheduled for December and my birthday. And I was like, do I need to cancel my trip? And you know, when all this stuff stay home, he's like, no, no, no. You're not canceling anything for this. You go. And I was like, okay. So I'd gone back and forth home quite a bit between September and my birthday in December. And so I was home for Thanksgiving, which is two weeks before my birthday. Dad was fine. Everything else, my youngest sister lives in Europe and France. And so she was, I knew she was flying home and she would be there. So I. You know, and my other sister lives here. And so I knew I had family close by and everything was like, plan my trip, go on my trip and everything else. And I was on the plane. The plane had just landed and I turn on my phone and it was a message from my sister. Um, it's like, hey, dad's bedridden. And I was like, what? I was literally just home two weeks ago, and I have a picture of him. And in that moment, I thought that might be the last picture I ever had of him that I took when I was leaving the last time. And it got really, really bad, and the cancer had spread. And he was telling his oncologist all of this, and his oncologist wasn't listening, and was more concerned about his Corvette, apparently. And every time my dad would go in and tell him, I think something doesn't feel right. And And all his oncologist wanted to talk about was his fancy sports car and everything else. And so the whole time, the months prior when this happened, like, we let him handle everything. Um, and so at that moment, and when I got back from my, my race and everything else, my sisters and I stepped in and then started handling everything. Um, you know, got a new oncologist. We left his surgeon, which who found the cancer in the first place from a hernia that he had to have. And that's the whole reason we found it. Radiology tech is my cousin's wife. So we, my best friend is still in the medical system back home. And so I was using her. And so again, I didn't tell anybody except the people back home. My little sister's best friend's husband's an oncologist, or boyfriend at the time was one of the best oncologists. So we were pulling connections, everything we had, which is great about us. Yeah, it's absolutely connections. Um, and so we pulled all these connections and got him new doctors and. got everything turned around and his surgeon finally said, as bad as it's good, it is and it's going to be and the adjustments you're going to have to make. Um, from losing such a huge part of your call, if you're going to survive and knowing that was, was huge because I really did think I was going to lose my dad. And that was, uh, during that time I was pouring myself into my business and my work and everything else to distract myself. a business took off my business group. I got sick from stress. Oh yeah. Close. Close. Everybody's like, you're 40, you can't have shingles. I'm like, well, I do, clearly. They're like, well, you can't go around your dad. He's compromised. And you just can't be around him. And being told that was hard. And I was like, okay, well, and so all of that just was hard. My business began to thrive and flourish. Again, this was during COVID and everything else. So you were still running your business. As you got all this hard news to live in your own life. So, because you obviously have to pay your own bills, right? Right, of course. Yeah. And I help take care of and cover expenses for my parents still. I just, you know, I feel like any kid should, Oh yeah, absolutely. Do that for the parents, right? Um, so I knew that they didn't have much, they set me up for a better life. And so I was gonna, do everything I can for the rest of my life to. Take care of them. so still trying to do all the things to earn the income to help pay and help any way I can, with all of that. And so he had his final surgery the week, um, during, during COVID. and actually ended up having to take out his own stitches. His surgeon, I love his surgeon was incredible, was an old army surgeon. It's like, trust me, James, you can do that. It's like, I've done a lot worse. I put that bottle of tequila next to me, what I had to do. And he walked him through it because at that time, everything was still unknown. Right. And they didn't want an otherwise healthy. Person going back into the hospital and risk getting anything. Right. Right. Um, so he, and again, my dad's strong and crazy for this, but he did it. He took it out and things like the, started getting better. Right. I'll pill climb again. This is when my business started coming up. I was able to do all sorts of things in my business that I had been trying to do and everything in life was good. All of these things. And then my mom gets cancer. And so, oh, my goodness. Yeah. And so here I was rocking and rolling thinking life's good. And my mom's one of the strongest people like no, like, I, I don't know where I was not expecting this. There's no history of breast cancer in my family. There's no, None of this at all. And so I was like, huh, what? And I couldn't, I didn't have the capacity to do much of anything. Um, my mom is my world. And so I am the way I am because of my mom. And so I stopped my business. I stopped marketing. I had clients. I. I said, Hey, if you don't feel like I'm giving you what you thought you wanted, you can have a refund. Like, I refunded so many people, during that time and I was honest about it. I said, my mom has cancer and so many clients were so grateful. There were some who weren't. And we're very unhappy with me. And that was really hard. I'm a service provider, right? I provide the service photographer and for people, some of the comments I got were just not nice. And it made me stop re evaluating all the other things, right? Um, more valuable lessons. You can't always trade time for money. Yeah. Yeah. You were giving people your heart and being honest with them. And saying, I'll give you your money back when you clearly there's people out there who wouldn't do that. There are, and they still got pictures. They still got pictures. I didn't put together my end of the year gallery show for them. with all my clients, like that I'd done the year before and stuff like that. And because they weren't included in that, they were upset. I was literally sitting in the parking lot of where I was going to host this gala for my clients that I did at the end of the year and stuff like that. And I broke down crying. I was like, I can't do this. I did it with the help of my mom the year before. She was like huge. She's a huge inspiration in a lot of things. And she was so helpful with all of it and helping me do it all and stuff like that. And I was like, I can't do this. Like, I just don't have it in me to do it. I want to just stop everything. Yeah. She was kind of your support. Yeah, there for my mom and take care of my own health because I didn't want to get sick again And there were plenty of people who were super understanding And I'm beyond grateful for them. But like I said, there were some who weren't very nice And so again, lots of valuable lessons learned about people about life and about everything else And my mom is cancer free now, too. Both my parents are now cancer free. Yeah. So, where is that? That is a journey, and I want to say a couple things. You, your dad, and your mom, both have the determination, is what I'm hearing. So I'm not projecting on you. Your dad's like, I got this. I can pull up my own stitches. I don't need to go in there and get sick. And then your mom, who has supported you and what you love, your passion, she beat this. She did not allow this to, this dis ease to keep her down. That's incredible. So are you still doing pictures now? Does that still spark you? Is that still what lights your world up? Yes, it does. But also during that time, again, during COVID, when I got to teach more and everything else, I realized all of this is such second nature for me. I've been doing it for so long. and when people started asking me questions, I was like, Oh, that's like, so basic to me, that I'm like, Oh, people don't know this stuff. And so I actually enjoyed. I really enjoyed teaching and doing all those things. And so I narrowed down when I took pictures of like, I love high school seniors. That was my first love and will probably meet my forever love, um, and business professionals. So I work with a lot of women in business and I work with a lot of businesses to not always women. I do a lot of like law firms and, Headshots and business branding images and stuff like that. And I joke that like headshots are not the most exciting thing to put out there. Right. But every business professional needs them. and so that's what my, the majority of my business is now is high school seniors and businesses. Can I ask you a question? Do you, I just jumped into the question without waiting for you to respond. Sorry. No, you can't. Okay. Um, do you think that., I know from talking to you. I feel like you're very compassionate in that you are an amazing photographer because When you rattle off these things about lighting and posing I'm like, oh my goodness someone please teach me all this like to me That's like you're like, oh so basic. I'm like, no, no, no, no. No, that's why that's why you're here That's why you're an educator of these things But also, do you think that what you went through helped you be the photographer you are? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, anytime I have somebody in front of me, so I've lost clients, um, and it's personal to me when, when I get word from their family, like that they've passed, but thank you so much for the pictures. Those are the last pictures we have together as a family, or is this, or that. That means the world to me. Um, and I went through a lot of that, um, a couple years back where I lost my job. I worked with a lady who had terminal cancer. And she was incredible, an incredible marathon runner. Her friend came to the studio with her who was like, uh, was doing her final, um, ultra, uh, ultra, I think she was doing an ultra, but she'd done Ironman and like all these things. And these are women in their 50s and 60s. And I'm like blown away by them as a woman in my 40s. And so these are strong, incredible women. And to see them like start going, Through all these like degenerative things, they're grateful to have pictures of what they looked like before all of this. And I had another lady who, when we did her pictures, she didn't have cancer. A couple months after we did them, she lost all her hair. lost all this weight, lost all these, and I get a message from her like, thank you. I will never be that person I was again, and I'm grateful to have that stage of my life documented. Um, and everything, you know, took, took on a new, new meaning to me. So, and for high school seniors, for me, I couldn't afford senior portraits. I actually didn't go, I was on the journalism class and scheduled, All of this for our senior class. I skipped my time slot to go get them done. Cause I knew I couldn't, I knew we couldn't afford them. And on journalism and in your book, my teacher called my best friend, who's still one of my best friends to this day, and said, go get Jayma and bring her down here. She's going to do this. And so it was hard for me to take the pictures and know that I couldn't have them. I couldn't afford them. Um, yeah. And so, it was so hard for me. To do that, that seniors, I guess, because I couldn't have them done or couldn't afford to have them done or whatever, um, just has always, like, had a special place in my heart, because I want them all to have them and I recognize, too, that I'm a business and I have to make money, right? To stay in business and everything else. But that was a huge part of why I, I have, like, the soft spot for seniors, was because I couldn't afford them and so, um, That's so powerful. It might be my like, my love language. Yeah, I think it's incredible that, instead of like despising taking those pictures, you turn it into something powerful of This is joyful and I didn't get to have that moment that I wanted, but I didn't want to give that magic to you. I want to give that to you. And I don't think any senior I've ever worked with knows about any of this. Right. Like when I meet with clients, it's all about that. Like they don't know why I'm doing this. They don't know any of that. And to me, and of course, senior portraits back in my day versus what they are now are so different, right? I'm in front of this like staged bookshelf, you know, with, just very, very staged and stuff, right? And so when I work with all my clients, everybody's unique, everybody's different. Like, what do you want? I can give suggestions and stuff like that, but this is you. What, where are you at this stage? Like, as a high school senior, what are your hopes and dreams for the future? What are things you enjoy now? What are your favorite things to do? What are some things you don't enjoy doing? What's true to you at this stage? Because that stage will change. And so, you know, you'll, we change so much throughout the course of our lives. And as a kid, you don't realize that, right? Like, you think this is your whole world, and this is all it's ever going to be or whatever. so I want to know what's true to them at that stage and that point in their life. all the things that I didn't have the foresight to think about back then. Like I asked those questions of them and, and everything else. That's incredible. And it's, it's so powerful that you take the time to recognize, all that and give them that. Because I think a lot of times people just think they're pictures. I bring this outfit and I go, and you really take the time And that's kind of it reminds me of when you say I take the time to stop and reserve like I take the time when I just sit back and I just observe the room. It's because you really want to know about that person and about who they are. It's not just a hello. Hello. Let me take your picture and you're on to the next client. You truly connect and also why these ladies and why the connection of them passing away and them going through stories like this is so powerful to you. Like they reach back out to you because you don't reach back out to someone who took a picture of you and say, Hey, thank you. Unless they made an impact on your life. So you're impacting so many lives. That's what I wanted it to be again, going all the way back to my grandmother. Like, that's what I wanted it to be. I know you might not know it's an impact at that time, but I know it is and as, as when I do work with a lot of older women, and I think they know that now too. Right? And so. Again, every woman I know is for the most part afraid to get in front of the camera. Um, it's, it's like having eyes on you, right? Yeah. I don't like to be stared at. I don't like to be stared at. I don't like to be right. And so it's a very personal thing to do. When, when it boils down to it, right? And I'm a photographer, I have to have pictures of myself or whatever. And it's, you know, hard to take them of yourself. And I've hired other photographers and stuff like that. And there are other photographers that I'm just like begging them to work. Like I want it. What's your, you know, what's your process? What are we doing? And it's like, show up here. I'm like, okay, wait. And that's all I get from them. Um, I was like, okay, well, here I am. So what do I need to do? And they assume I know what to do because I'm a photographer. Like I can pose anybody in the world. I cannot pose myself. I'm like, I need some direction. I need some guidance. Right. And so I'm like, okay, well, this is a. Note on how I don't want to be, um, I meet with all my clients, whether in person or over zoom, depending on the situation, because I have some clients from out of state and everything else I meet with them before we ever get in front of in the studio or before they ever get behind my camera or in front of my camera. and get to know them. I have gone through closets to help people pick out outfits. I get to know their insecurities, what they don't like about themselves or, you know, this or that or whatever. Like, we get to know each other before they're ever in front of my camera. So by the time we get to the studio or wherever we're meeting, they're like, Jenna, like, like we're old friends. because I've already made the effort to like get to know them and what they want and all the things and everything else. And it makes it so much easier to be on the other side of the camera when you're with a friend versus when you're with somebody like, okay, sit there and smile. Like, it doesn't work that way. I want someone to come pick out my clothes and be like, if you stand like this, or if you flip your hair like this, or Because it's really uncomfortable when you're like, I don't know if I have on the right outfit. Is this look okay? Is this gonna I don't know the lighting tricks and all that stuff. And no one tells you those things. So I love that you do that and make it so comfortable. And so I it's never been about quantity to me. I'm not the busiest photographer. I'm not the Always posting on social media. Oh my gosh, I had 365 clients this year and I was so busy and blah, blah, blah. Like to me, it's about quality and give me fewer quality clients than just being busy and just putting stuff out there to put stuff out there. Like,, that never resonated with me. I don't need to be booked 365 days a year. I want to be booked by people who was harder in it. That says a lot about you and, you value their time and you want to feel the same in return. You want them to know how much you genuinely care about each person and a picture to you. From way back, from your grandma means the world to you today, and you want them to have that experience. I want them to have that for the people that love them, you know, because everybody's got better. You hope everybody has that right? You know, somebody to love them and everything else, to have to, to want those, those memories and stuff like that. And that's why, in this day and age, it's really hard for me, like, we're now dealing with the most photographed, documented generation. Ever. And there are no prints of them. Oh yeah, everything is, Everything's digital. Yeah, I don't even know the last time. Actually, I think at Christmas I went and printed some pictures to give to my family to put on their fridge because they don't, not everybody just stares at their phone and so it's like you see. And don't you want to see pictures of the things you love around you? Exactly. And so if, and it's happened, hard drives crash, computers crash, I, Facebook gets hacked, you're going to lose those. So I don't understand why you're so against having a print. And again, you encountered that a lot with women like, Oh, I don't want, I don't need a picture of me. Like, you might not think you need a picture of you, but you don't realize the impact that picture is going to have on a little girl. And so it's not, I'm not full of myself for having pictures of myself made. I'm leaving this legacy behind for somebody who will look at it one day and be like, Oh, I remember her telling me this, or, you know, X, Y, Z. Okay, you are so beautiful. Your story is so powerful, and your determination to get through everything you have and still be the person you are sitting here, the loving, genuine, just authentic person you are, not only do you take pictures, you guys, we could speak for hours. She is a runner. Yeah. You do incredible things. Yeah, I've slowed down in my old age, but running didn't get me. Okay. I didn't get an influencer gig, so. I'm gonna need you to tell them what you just did on your birthday when you say you slowed down. I, I went to the Big Island of Hawaii to run a marathon, the bird, the Hawaii Bird Conservation Marathon, running down the side of a volcano and volcano, through Volcano National Park, starting 4, 000 feet up in elevation and then, you know, down to sea level, so a negative 3, 700 foot drop running through, I don't know how many different climates, terrains, all the things, right? And it goes from cold up at the top to Your typical Hawaii heat and humidity at the bottom. And it was pure magic. It was, that sounds magical. And if that's slowing down, I can't like, that's huge for people. I'm like, can I just go run a couple of miles? And you're like, I ran downhill, uphill through this weather. Like it was nothing. I'm slowing down. Yeah. Oh, please celebrate yourself. you have so much to offer this world, and I want to thank you. can you tell the listeners where they can find you? Yeah, I am online anywhere with my name, Jema Pantel. Um, I have a very unique name, so everything is my name, JemaPantel. com, at Jema Pantel, YouTube Jema Pantel. My podcast is living the whole picture with Jema Pantel. Um, so if you Google Jema Pantel, you'll find me. Okay, she has all these things out here. She just told you where to find you and I will leave them in the show notes. But you also have things that will help listeners out as well. Yes, absolutely. So again, I published my first ebook. so picture this tips for, I say social media portraits because we're in that day and age where everybody wants to look good on social media, but these concepts apply to anybody looking to take good portraits of themselves or of others. So it can be for an individual or for a photographer. There are all the tips you Again, you don't need a fancy Equipment. You can do it with your smartphone, right? Lighting is the same no matter what. Good lighting is good lighting on a cell phone or on a camera. good posing is the same on a cell phone or a camera, right? But it also talks about, um, Oh, it gets a little bit about into social media and being authentic and connecting with your audience to, um, the fact that every platform online has different standards and by standards, I mean, crop ratios. Right? And so I touched on all of that in this in this book, um, you know, talking to and being authentic with your audience, things that play into that, like, you know, Your brand colors, your brand image, your brand voice, all of that, as well as like what you're lighting and you're posing and everything else. So that is a free download on my website, jamieplantell. com under photo resources. It's one of the easiest to find tabs on there. So you can go and download that for free. I just want to fly you to Kansas and have you come take some pictures of me. There's also, uh, and, um, and this is more geared towards women, but it's strike a pose. They are quick posing tips. It was a class that I taught in person. So I have like the PowerPoint that I put together for that. And so that's another free resource that I know a lot of women found very helpful. And it's your practical tips on, how to find your best angle, how to angle your, you know, all the things and stuff like that, what to do with the hands, all those things that everybody always asks about. So I have some. Quick and easy resources on that as well. I want to thank you so much for sharing your story, for letting me dig a little bit deep into what has sparked your life and your journey. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. I want to ask you one more question. If there's one thing listeners can take away from this. And go out there to find their inner spark or live that you have any suggestions for them. Yeah, be authentic, be yourself. Um, and don't be afraid to chase your goals and dreams. Right? And as little as you might think they are, like for me, having those comforts of having central AC. and heat and stuff like that, especially in Texas when it's 100 degrees in the summer. Like, those are your dreams. Own them. They're what makes you you. Your voice matters. And so don't be, don't be afraid to be you. Don't be afraid to be you. The world needs you. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much for having this conversation with me. Thank you for sharing this. Absolutely. Thank you for having me. All right, guys, I am blown away by this conversation. You guys need to go check her out. Not only did she share A deep connecting story of her life changing moments to what a picture has done and how it has changed her life and how it has sparked her to go live that dream. Because she is a woman filled with so much dedication and I can't encourage you guys enough just to go check out her page. take away the freebies she's offering. You guys, not everybody offers those things. Go listen to her podcast and go follow her. Thank you all for tuning in. Have a good day and let those sparks fly. Thank you for tuning in to another episode. I hope today's story inspired you to embrace your own journey of growth and change. Remember, transformation isn't always easy, but it's always worth it. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review. If you found something that sparked you in this episode and may spark a friend, I encourage you to go share it with them. If you have your own story you would like to share, I would love to hear it, so please reach out to me. Until next time, friends. Go have some fun, and let those sparks fly.