Flytographer HQ is always excited when someone from our global family of photographers travels to our home base in Victoria, Canada – we see their cities every day through the stunning galleries they produce for lucky customers, so it’s a real pleasure to show off our beautiful city to them. We recently hosted one of our long-time Flytographers from Prague, Eliška, and she got a taste not only of Victoria but also of start-up office life. Read all about it in her story below!
How did a photographer from Prague end up for a week at Flytographer HQ in Victoria?
For a long time, I had a need to experience a solo trip somewhere. As a practical-thinking girl, I always need a reason for the things I do. So this year, as I was about to turn 30, I said to myself that now is the time to do some serious adult things. So I packed my bags and moved to BC for three weeks. And while I was there, I for sure had to visit the Flytographer office!
The idea about going to visit Flytographer and meet all the amazing people working behind the scenes was born in autumn last year when Shay, one of Flytographer’s Shoot Concierges, was working and travelling around Europe. We met in Prague and had a great time together, so it was pretty clear we needed to meet again – and as soon as possible.
When I was buying the tickets in January, I had no idea what to expect from a solo trip. I was worried I would get bored by being alone and not able to share all the stories I gathered throughout the day. Little did I know how busy I was going to be in Vancouver, and then again in Victoria! This solo trip turned out to be the best time in my life and I will never regret the big step of going out from my comfort zone.
Another aim of this trip was gaining experience working in the Flytographer office. I have never worked in an office – all I have ever done for a living was photography. For the last 15 years, I have been behind my camera, but this was the very first year I was going crazy from being a freelancer. I desperately needed a daily routine and a collective of cool people around me. All this was delivered by the team at Flytographer!
As a photographer, I had no idea what was happening in between the booking stage and the delivery of photos at Flytographer, and how much work is hidden behind it all to get us the inquiries. As the founder and CEO, Nicole’s days seem to have like 40 hours. She’s all the time seeing some cool people or working on strategies. Having a chance to look inside the business model, how it works when we deliver photos, how busy each city is, and how the world is connected via one company based in a small town like Victoria was very inspiring. And I had even the privilege to test some new products with the development team!
When planning the trip, I had no idea it was going to be my 5th anniversary working for this amazing company. On April 3rd, it was my official 5th-year start date and we celebrated it with trivia night (which I am super bad at) and a cake. It just all seemed it was meant to be like this.
What was the best thing about this experience?
To see the faces and meet all the people in real life. To connect voices and personalities to those small pictures we are seeing in our emails. And have fun.
I joined Flytographer in 2015 when it was just three women in the office; now it is a powerful young company counting 20 people at HQ and still growing. I feel so proud to be part of this international family, because what Nicole created is not just a company. It is a community with people sharing a real passion for photography and travelling.
The trip to the office was very important for me and I feel part of my heart will be forever in BC. Thank you for having me. And all of you feel free to come and see me in Prague!
