S2 E19: Taking Your Art More Seriously with Leonie Zaytoune

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Today we talk with Leonie Zaytoune, a Marrakech-based photographer.

Leonie and I met in 2019 on my last trip to Morocco and we immediately connected over our love of photography and outlook on life. After maintaining a long-distance relationship for 6 years with her now-husband, in March 2017 Leonie took the big leap: she quit her job teaching Spanish, left her home country, the Netherlands, behind, and became a photographer in Morocco.

In this episode, Leonie shares her journey to becoming a photographer. She discusses the idea of charging what we are worth, a common obstacle for many creative professionals when working with clients, and describes how living out your purpose can be a constant source of energy and inspiration.

I enjoyed talking to Leonie so much, and I hope you enjoy listening to this episode!

“In a conversation with a potential client, I feel like I have to explain and defend why I'm charging a certain amount of money for my services. Why am I trying to defend this? It is a lot of work. It's not just clicking a camera like you would with your iPhone. We invest a lot of time learning this. It's not just this one photo shoot I'm doing and then it's done. I spent days and days to give you those final results. And guess what? Those final results are also actual products that you can use for your benefits. Those are photos people use for their commercial purposes. All that is value.”

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What you’ll learn in this episode:

  • [06:52] Local initiatives helping the community in Marrakech to deal with the pandemic

  • [13:16] How Leonie chose to become a Spanish teacher and discovered Barcelona

  • [21:19] Leonie's path from a Spanish language teacher to a photographer

  • [25:52] Discovering each other’s countries and cultures in a long-distance relationship

  • [27:57] What moving to Marrakech and becoming a photographer looked like

  • [31:05] Treating photography as more than a hobby

  • [34:33] Leonie’s insight on charging clients what you’re worth

  • [42:07] Why creative work must be taken seriously

  • [55:53] Stepping into brilliance through flow and alignment with purpose

Featured on the show:

  • Check out Leonie’s website | leoniecaptures.com

  • Local community initiatives | Pikala Bikes | Amal Foods

  • Have a question for us? Submit your question here and we will answer it live in a dedicated episode at the end of the season!

  • Interested in travel writing or photography? Join the waitlist for our travel journalism masterclass, Storytellers In Action, in which we help womxn creators get a footing in the travel media space, dream big, work through our fears, and take action

  • Check out our membership community, The Circle, the place where brilliant womxn creators in travel media go to claim their dreams, get support, take action, and build their dream creative lives

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