I grew up in the small town called Žďár nad Sázavou in the South of the Czech Republic, dreaming of traveling the world. I was never really sure what I wanted to do in life and how to figure it out. My only goal was to become successful, get enough money to live comfortably and have the freedom to decide what is next.

I remember that choosing a university was challenging as I couldn’t check all the boxes. I liked psychology and social sciences but going through severe illness with my closest family members as a kid discouraged me from being a psychologist. I was good at math and liked architecture, but I couldn’t draw well enough to become an architect.

I chose the University of Economics to gain knowledge on how to become a successful manager, without knowing exactly what I desired to manage. At the time, I misinterpreted success as having a great job title, when deep down I wanted to make an impact.

Importance of purpose-driven companies and happiness at work resonated with me in one of my management and leadership classes. That’s why I chose a career in Human Resources at first. I thought I could create work conditions that are aligned with employees’ needs and attract others to join such a company.

First, I started as a recruiter. I was excited to work on changing job descriptions to be more attractive, identifying and interviewing potential candidates, and looking for new ways to promote the company. But something felt off. I tried to shift my position into Learning and Development. When analyzing employees’ skills, I noticed a few people with great potential who tried to fit in without feeling fulfilled.

Not so long after I moved to Portugal, this observation started to resonate with me more and more. Leaving the comfort of my homeland made me see things newly. That’s how I ended up being a recruiter who didn’t match the job title. My journey of searching for a purpose was about to begin.

For a long time, I didn’t see clearly that I wasn’t as far from my purpose as I’d thought. I had to change my perspective to see what was there for me. I was only on the wrong side of the problem. As I dove into my high school photography passion, I got to be more creative again.

Slowly, I started to be more and more involved in branding photography, as I was truly excited to meet with digital nomads and entrepreneurs stopping by in Lisbon. Listening to the different paths they decided to take and their attempts to stand out on the market, made me realize that I had the solution for them.

During my corporate journey, I teamed up many times with the marketing department to work on employee branding campaigns. That’s how I learned about marketing communication and visual identity. The only thing I had to do was to move my focus from employer to “former candidates” - today’s personal brands.

From that point, things started to fall into place. I began to recognize my direction and learned as much as possible about personal branding photography and brand essentials. From there, I built my own brand called Creative By The Ocean.

It might sound like a happy ending but there were several big challenges on the way. Limiting beliefs like “I am not good enough” and “I need to learn more before offering my services.” started to pop up. I began comparing my work with others, and the lack of motivation chased me daily. But I kept showing up for myself even when I was about to give up. I got myself a coach and continued working on my mindset (and I still do). Because both mindset work and branding are continuous work.

I can see that my struggles and authentic approach to photography and branding resonate mostly with female entrepreneurs who want to build a brand they love. That takes me back to my brand purpose. You are not alone! Let’s share our knowledge together and create a safe community where women support women.