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For as long as she can remember, Jessica Blair has had a passion for photography.
But turning her love of the lens into a career has proved challenging for Cavan City mother Monaghan.
She photographed weddings. She took family portraits. But the camera seemed to be calling her elsewhere.
Then, in 2015, her husband was diagnosed with cancer. Countless tests and trips to Toronto followed. In waiting rooms and chemotherapy wards, Blair meets and befriends cancer patients – some of whom are in end-of-life care.
Despite the palpable grief that darkened the corridors of the hospital, a light shone through.
They laughed together. They were walking the streets of Toronto at night.
Blair often found herself reaching for her phone to snap a photo – capturing the little, big moments of joy.
“What I learned is that they live because they die. They have to live in a way that we don’t see or experience,” Blair recalls. “They say, ‘I don’t want to sit here and wait. I want to go and experience life.”
For Blair it was a moment of clarity; realizing the power of the camera to immortalize loved ones even after they are gone.
Blair’s husband recovered and she set out to create a new venture: Follow Me Photography, a therapeutic photography service designed to capture and memorialize loved ones during their final stages of life.
Now Blair is one step closer to making his passion project a reality.
Blair is one of seven local entrepreneurs who received a $5,000 grant to support their start-up businesses after completing Peterborough’s Spring Starter Company Plus program and Kawarthas Economic Development’s Business Advisory Centre.
In May, Blair and 11 other small business owners began a five-week online business training course. Selected candidates participated in a series of virtual workshops conducted by experienced professionals.
Designed to provide participants with a variety of tools and real-world business know-how to fuel their startup ventures, the sessions covered a range of topics from digital marketing and brand building to cash flow calculations and long-term financial projections.
At the end of the course, participants were tasked with presenting a business plan and presentation. Out of a dozen entrants, Blair and five other area entrepreneurs were selected to receive the Ontario government micro-grants based on the strength of their proposals.
“(The course) actually started my business professionally. I’ve been trying to figure out how to start a photography business for years, but I couldn’t grasp the concept. This program introduced me to a business mindset. It gave me all the basic information I need to run a business now,” Blair said.
Blair says he plans to use the grant to start marketing his new venture. She wants to liaise with a variety of organisations, including hospice care centres, nursing homes, palliative care units and hospitals, to ensure that the photography service is run in a sensitive, responsible and compassionate way.
“It’s not only celebrating and honoring the person who is in the final phase of their life, but it also allows their loved ones to be a part of it after they’ve passed by being able to have those pictures to look back on.” That goes into the therapeutic part,” Blair said.
“It allows people to go through the grieving process in a healthy way; so that they can honor their loved ones after they have passed away. It’s really about accepting death.
The following companies received subsidies:
• Woola Halliday: The Flavor Fix Co., Peterborough
• Matt Anderson: Chemong City Greens, Peterborough
• Dave Bourgeois: Drumlin Cycle, Cavan Monaghan Town
• Julie Drain: Your friend Furever Professional Pet Services, Douro-Dummer Township
• Jenish Odigineyev: Odigski Media, Peterborough
• Lewis Park: East City Guitar Co., Peterborough
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