Meet Elizabeth Kurpanek | Videographer at EMBR Films

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elizabeth Kurpanek and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elizabeth, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
Work life balance is always a tricky thing, especially when you’re self-employed. It’s so much easier to give it your all, all the time, work late nights, overbook, and cancel plans with friends. Over the years, I’ve just been in a hustle phase, and I thought this was what we were supposed to do. There’s such a toxic mentality around the hustle, but when you’re in the middle of it, it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like success, it feels like you’re on top of the world, hitting all your goals, and you keep yourself so busy, you don’t realize how burnt out you really are.

Covid was really that awakening for me. The world came to a complete stop, and so did my work, and I had to face the reality that I was no ok, I was burnt out, disassociating, and just failing to hold any sort of balance in life. It gave me a blank slate to start over, build habits, and create a life that I really wanted.

For me, that looked like prioritizing time outdoors, traveling, spending time with my dog, and getting back into the hobbies that brought me life. It wasn’t until two years later that I felt like I finally started finding what worked for me. I raised my prices. I basically doubled my rates during Covid which was a scary thing, but that allowed me to give more time and attention to each couple I worked with. I started creating a morning routine centered around my creativity, so I would write, listen to music, paint, or play piano. I also really prioritized spending time with my friends and developing my community, so at least the self-employed life would feel a little less lonely.

At this point, now 12 years into doing this job, I feel like I have a good grasp on how much work I can take on, and how to prioritize myself and the things that bring me life.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have always been creative, and knew fairly young that I would be in a creative field. The business side of things has been the learning curve though, but there’s so much information out there, so I was very quickly able to learn and adapt, especially when it came to social media marking. I think being in love with my work and my clients really has me in a place of joy with work, which I know a lot of people don’t get to say.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
For a week long trip in Colorado, I’d take my best friend out to Telluride for camping, off-roading, and brewery hopping! Colorado mountain towns also have some of the best green chili, so that would be a must! As cool as Denver is, I prefer to be out in nature, and that’s how I like to spend my vacations! We would definitely have to check out some waterfalls while we’re out there, and most likely climb all the via ferratas

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I think the person that deserves the most recognition would be my business coach Megan MacPhail. I spent 12 months in her mastermind, along with dozens of other creatives, stripping my business down to the bare bones, and building it up intentionally. It was one of the best things I could have done at that time. https://meganmacphail.com/

The other person that deserves recognition is my brand designer Kristy Black. She has one of the best processes for figuring out somebody’s brand, and such a creative and inspiring mind to make it more than just a logo. My experience with her was very emotional, but I came out the other side, not only as a more confident business owner, but as a person as well! https://kristyblackcreative.com/

Website: www.embrfilms.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embrfilmco/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMPSRcviQ9qE508_RjSqzuQ