The event

In 2011, something happened & made my life go out of its expected way.
Saturday April 30th, 2011 offered me the chance of my life.

On a family get-away weekend, we went horse-riding. I fell from the horse, breaking 2 of my vertebrae.

I remember very well that 1st thought crossing my mind.
It was about Christopher Reeve, the famous actor who played Superman in 1978.
He became totally paralyzed in 1995, being thrown from a horse during an equestrian competition.

So I tried to move my legs. They did move. I felt relief. A huge relief.

I remember joking with the rescuers, high on adrenaline.
And then the pain hit me hard.

A few days at the hospital, an orthopedic corset & here I was on a 6-month sick leave. Then, I came back to work… to finally quit my job a few months later.

The outcome

Unemployment offered me the free time I needed.
I had a strong feeling I would not go back to my previous kind of job.
Actually, things had to drastically change.
So I worked with a self-coaching book for 3 months.

12 weeks of intense work to know myself better, to understand my life decisions & to open up to new possibilities.

A major step was to define my gold (the things that I need in my professional life in order to be happy)…. and then to find a professional activity that has them all .

At the end of this deep & intense process, I had my dreamt life defined:
🎉 📸 to be a freelance photographer in Istanbul 📸 🎉

Then what?

Things didn’t happen over night.
I was stepping into the entrepreneurship life in a foreign country & build day by day, both my personal & professional life.

What a journey!

Thanks to my meaningful professional activity, my life is much more consistent with my personal values.
And THIS makes a huge difference.

”I create the visual heritage of the families I photograph”.

I’m also using knowledges from the part #1 of my life like marketing, communication, concept of ideal customer, strategy, social medias etc…
Yes, being an entrepreneur means you’re like a Swiss knife: all in one !
I’m very thankful to be part of various communities, all supportive & dynamic.

My 3 “most frequently asked questions”

“Did you know photography before ? “
I used my reflex camera like most people: in automatic mode during my travels.
So the answer is no, I didn’t know much about photography.
I studied all by myself, practiced a lot. And I still do study & practice!

One important thing is that I really loved the activity itself & some of my images made me happy.
Later, I discovered myself as a good pedagogue & photography teacher, most probably because I chose to figure things out by myself.


”How did Istanbul get into the picture? ”
I visited this wonderful city for the first time a few days before the accident…. No randomness here!
When thinking about the best places for my new life, Istanbul had loads of positive aspects: its light, its energy, its sceneries, its history, the Bosphorus…

My secret: during this 1st touristic trip, I met the man who is still now my husband.


”How this new life changed you ? ”
I think I know myself better. I know my strengths & my weaknesses. I acknowledge my values, my successes & my mistakes.

I also see the world around me as one. We all have much more in common than we think.
And I learnt to step away from my biased & privileged point of view & open up to other views & discussions.

If you want to interview me, please drop me a message!