Five years ago, Sionibha Kelly had a car accident in which she was unable to become a beautician after a titanium plate was inserted into her arm.
Knowing that one day she wanted to be her own boss, and despite setbacks as a result of her crash, the 23-year-old is thriving as a freelance photographer after asking The Prince’s Trust for help.
Speaking to Belfast Live, the Portadown woman said she found her passion after the accident and has not looked back since.
Sionibha said, “I was at Armagh Tech for beauty therapy and I had a car accident with my friends that broke my arm – all of my humorous bones were completely broken, creating the need for titanium plates and screws.
“It took me a couple of years to get used to using my arm again, but I had to give up my beautician career because there was too much pressure on my arm at the time.
“I couldn’t sit all day filing nails, doing massages or anything, so I decided to leave because I wasn’t sure what to do.”
Though she had to leave her life behind, her dream of running her own business never got out of her head.
“I’m a very creative person so I knew that whatever I wanted to do had to follow, so now is the better way to express my creativity through photography.
“Photography is something I loved to do at a young age – when I was about nine years old I got a video recorder for Christmas and that video camera was in my hand the whole time.
“It’s just something that has always fascinated me, and the lockdown made me know photography a lot more because I had the time,” she explained.
She was unable to continue her beauty career after breaking her arm in the accident
Sionibha continued, “During the lockdown, I came across The Prince’s Trust on Facebook and saw them taking a corporate course that learns how to start your own business so I did that and absolutely loved it.
“While I was on this course, the photography course became available and I met some great people and it was such a good experience.”
The Prince’s Trust has started new research on the impact of the pandemic on young people’s self-esteem and confidence in their future careers and professional skills.
22 percent of the young people surveyed feel confident about their professional future and 44 percent agree that in the wake of the pandemic they even lost confidence in their ability to “do the job for which they were trained. ”
After completing both of her courses, Sionibha decided to “bite the bullet” and venture into freelance photography with the newfound courage she gained over the past year.
“Every day is a day of study, but it’s definitely an adventure I’m looking forward to and I can’t thank The Prince’s Trust enough,” she said.
“The thing about photography is that everyone is their own type of photographer and there are no rules because you are in charge and you allow you to be different and create something unique.”
Her motto is “life through the lens” because the “different ways in which you can see the world through the camera is amazing”.
Her advice to anyone feeling lost in their career or taking the leap in their own interests is to do it because there are so many resources out there to help you make the leap.
“You have to do what you enjoy in life – makeup is something I enjoy and although I don’t have this career, I can still do it myself. I’ve always been interested in photography, so I have it took it that step further.
“It’s something I enjoy and I always learn, but it’s never a bad thing and it’s always so exciting and I just feel like I know you want to be your own boss but I don’t know how, look at what you love most and try to make a living from it. “
You can visit her wildlife photography page at SionibhaKelly Photography.
