The cliff notes version of my Praxis capstone
unrelated image of my lunch today
I built a roadmap for twelve weeks of my life, and here’s how it went:
I’m Ani. An entrepreneur, creative fanatic, and business student. I’m currently wrapping up my final week in a business program called Praxis. There are three phases of the program; the first being quite rigid, the second being less so, and the third being incredibly fluid and self-driven. That self-initiated, individualistic last phase is named “the Capstone Phase,” and I’m going to share a bit about my personal journey through 12 weeks of tasks I assigned to myself.
As mentioned, I built a roadmap. Meaning, I didn’t just set goals and walk away, but broke each goal down into micro-goals and assignments each week. My broad goals fit into 3 categories: personal, professional, and career.
Personal Goals
I went into my capstone plan with three personal goals:
Use my professional camera in creative and personal ways
Find a workout routine that aligns with my lifestyle and body
Network more intentionally
Looking at these goals, they feel pretty specific, right? But they also feel highly immeasurable. So I held myself accountable to these three challenges:
Direct a creative shoot or intentionally capture real-life moments and blog about it every single week for 8 weeks
Sign up for a pilates membership for at least 8 weeks, and attend every week
Go to coffee with someone new every week for 4 weeks.
Personal Goal #1: Photography Challenge
This one went quite well! The first week was dedicated to preparation, so I only needed to actually produce for 7 weeks. I took one week off due to sickness, and the final week I committed to learning manual film photography— I don’t yet have the images back—but I have 5 projects I would love to share on here. I chose this as my first personal development project, because I truly love photography, my cameras are some of my prized possessions, and my gear is among my highest dollar investments. I could go on and on, and yet I realized I never pulled my camera out unless I was on my way to get paid. So, I picked it up every week, intentionally, during slow season. Here is what I created:
Prop styling my favorite low-tox products
Personal Goal #2: Pilates
I have danced with the idea of purchasing a pilates membership for years. I pushed back every time, feeling slightly guilty that I had a free gym membership that I could just suck it up and stick to. But in the end, I realized that was exactly the problem. It was free. I needed something that hurt if I didn’t wake up on time; something where I had skin ($) in the game that motivated me to make the most of every workout. So I signed up for the most expensive form of exercise I could think of: pilates. Kidding! But not really.
Pilates truly has transformed my core, focus, and intentionality when it comes to movement. I lift differently, I run differently, and any other training I do just looks different now. Pilates encourages functional, mindful, and targeted muscular activation. Not much to say here, but I love it! I’ve gone at least twice every week that I’ve been in town, and I have no plans of stopping post-capstone.
Personal Goal #3: Coffee Meetings
This goal played out in an interesting way. This was a commitment I set for the remaining 4 weeks of my capstone plan. All in all, I think I hit my goal to get coffee with someone every week, but it definitely wasn’t as intentional as I was planning. I’m fairly certain I was sick off-and-on for the initial two weeks, and by the time I got to the third and fourth, I already had meetings (unintentionally) on the calendar. Looking back, I probably could’ve gone without this goal, A) because I get coffee with someone nearly every week anyways, and B) I had so much happening, and this was possibly an unnecessary expectation to put on myself. That said, one of my meetings actually led to a potential job opportunity, so I’d be lying if I said I wish I hadn’t done this.
Professional Goal
My professional goal was to learn Adobe Photoshop. I wanted that skill under my belt both as a photographer and as a creative/digital marketing candidate. I feel significantly more competent navigating Photoshop, so I count that as a win, but I will say that this was the first one to go when my life got busy. I spend an astronomical amount of time in Lightroom Classic every week, so there came a point in time where I had to take a Photoshop hiatus for the health of my eyes. I will say, in the weeks I slacked, I made up for it in other photography education and coursework. In the end, I’m happy with the progress I’ve made getting familiar with Photoshop, but I am more so just thankful for the extra time I set aside for education.
Career Goal
Our last category of capstone goals is career. My career goal, ultimately, was to land a job and keep Ani Drew Photo on the side (for now). I found myself drawn to the idea of gaining official work experience under an employer before I considered going out on my own. I definitely feel like my job hunt was stunted by various factors, mostly out of my control, so I can’t quite measure “the process” with accuracy. That being said, I am excited to share that I am quite confident in a marketing opportunity I stumbled upon within my own network, courtesy of one of my coffee dates! I am currently pursuing a part-time offer for this summer, and hoping to transition to a full-time position later this fall. I’m stoked with the idea of being able to put a full 20 working hours into photography this summer, and I’m astonished with the timing of it all. I’m excited to share more about this when the time comes!
In hindsight…
The past 12 weeks are a blur to look back on. I remember so vividly the beginning of this final Capstone Phase, knowing nothing about what my life would look like post-graduation. I knew nothing about what my life would look like during the final 12 weeks. The only thing I knew is the goals I had, and the action steps I had assigned myself to take. Did I retain the utmost consistency? No. Could I have pushed through sickness and life circumstances to strive for a perfect 12 weeks? Probably. But that’s not real life. I get sick sometimes. I get overwhelmed. Sometimes I don’t manage my time well. I’m a freelancer; my work is inconsistent. Some days I overbook myself, socially. Some days it’s just more beneficial for me to rest than it is for me to push through. So, though the Praxis Capstone is meant to be challenging and rigorous and aimed to train up self-motivation, I feel no regret in the way mine unfolded. I pushed myself, but I was intuitive enough to know when I was running myself into the ground. And with that, it was no sweat off my back to skip a day or find an alternative opportunity to make progress. I grew! I learned! I networked! I had so much fun. What is left to desire?
