Today we’d like to introduce you to Margaret Waage.
Hi Margaret, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My friends gave me a camera and it turned out to be the most influential gift of my life. I started taking snapshots of my surroundings and found that photography gave me the superpower of observation and introspection.
I was the only one of six kids that went to college. My siblings chose work, marriage, and drugs as paths from childhood to adulthood. One sister died early from a lethal heroin overdose, passing away at age 24.
I studied the history of photography in community college and loved the craft of developing film and printing photos in the darkroom. I continued to study photojournalism and was intrigued by the idea of using the camera for capturing moments in time and to promote whatever the subject was whether it was people, a place, or things.
In my first few jobs, I worked as a commercial printer in New York City, which opened my eyes to greater opportunities within the photography industry. I printed works for various publications: ads for The New York Times, Macy’s photo restoration program, Architectural Digest, catalog work for Sotheby’s, and fine art printing for established photographers.
I ventured into freelance photo assisting work where I was responsible for setting up the equipment for large commercial photo shoots, loading the film cameras (before digital), and running film to the labs for processing.
After five years of freelance assisting work, I got a job as a technician for New York Newsday, a daily newspaper. It was during the next eleven years while working for Newsday that the industry saw dramatic changes consisting of a digital workflow versus a composing room. I worked as a beta tester for Adobe PhotoShop where instead of printing images to run in the newspaper, the photo technicians used MacIntosh workstations equipped with PhotoShop to scan negatives into the software to do all the photo editing. The edited photo with captioning information would get transmitted to the Scitex department (large-format printing) where the photos and text were positioned for output of the publication and printing of the finished newspaper.
I worked another eleven years for a digital signage company doing graphic design, motion graphics, digital asset and special projects management, video, and photography work.
I went back to school to earn a Master of Science degree in Interactive Media from Quinnipiac University, which I felt was relevant and very helpful to me with the job I had at that time.
After my son graduated from college and ventured out on his own, my husband and I relocated to Marietta, Georgia from Connecticut and have lived in Marietta since 2017.
I worked as a reporter for the Marietta Daily Journal’s Cherokee Tribune Newspaper covering two city municipalities (City Council, Planning & Zoning, Parks & Recreation, and Housing Authority meetings) and writing feature stories for magazines.
I’m currently working as a Social Media Marketing Specialist for a law firm and as a remote Social Media Manager for clients in Connecticut.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Anyone’s career path can be smooth or bumpy, depending on many factors. When the newspaper industry began laying people off, I was in that contingent in 1999. The entire editorial photo technician staff was offered buyout packages and let go. More subscribers were reading news online, therefore fewer newspaper subscriptions and every change in the business model impacts the whole cost of doing business.
Being unemployed always means having to pivot to find a new job.
The economy also has an impact on many industries, as we’ve all been witness to how COVID changed the framework of employment from onsite to remote to keep people safe. I’m sure people whose jobs require them to be on-site had it tough during this time.
Every person has to keep their eyes open to opportunities and sometimes make their own opportunities to succeed and even more importantly, to survive. I went back to school to up my skill set and to make myself more marketable, and though it was a struggle to be working full-time and going to school, I am still glad I did it because I like to learn!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an employee and also work as a freelancer. Doing both makes me proud to be able to use all my skills whether working for someone or creating my own work. For example, doing social media as a job function requires many creative qualifications. To be responsible for an entity’s brand and message means to understand who they are and what they want to accomplish.
As a social media producer, I am known for being able to communicate with the public (existing and potential clients) about products and purposes. I like being able to create original content that conveys a message, bearing in mind I’m always representing the company that hired me. Whether it’s a business-to-business or business-to-consumer approach, I always take into account what the social media user a.k.a. the consumer, or follower, would be interested in.
I’m also proud of being able to collaborate with clients to try different approaches. I think we (society) all are trying new things all the time, which makes our human experience both unique and different if that can be a thing!
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I like watching TED Talks because the presenters are from every walk of life. I think public speaking takes a lot of courage to do, especially when you’re talking about personal experiences. YouTube is also phenomenal in that you can put in any topic and find troves of tutorials on the subject.
LinkedIn, Coursera, Masterclass, and Udemy all offer courses on a range of topics.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://margaretwaage.com/home.html
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mwaage/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/margaretwaagephoto/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mwaage
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MargaretWaage/videos
- Other: https://vimeo.com/343228164
Image Credits
Margaret Waage Photography
