Anna Zajac’s Chicago Studio Apartment

Why did you decide to follow a design job and move to Chicago after years of pursuing wedding photography?
After pursuing wedding photography for a couple of years, I became lazy and got stuck in a rut with my business. My heart wasn’t in the work that I was making anymore and it was clear that I was taking my established business for granted. This season really messed with me and I decided that I wanted to pursue a graphic design job and take a break from photography for a while. I submitted my design portfolio to a bunch of places and landed an internship at a branding and marketing agency called VSA Partners. To work at VSA meant that I had to move from Ohio to Chicago! I had never visited Chicago before, but accepted the internship anyways knowing that it would be a huge risk and adventure.

Taking that risk and moving to Chicago for the design internship, which turned into a full-time job, was one of the best things to ever happen to me. At VSA I worked with some of the most creative people I have ever met. Their standards for detail and design blew me away, but after 6 months of working my 9-5 job I realized how much of a gift my photography business was to me. I missed doing photo work and decided to do some side projects for fun.

Doing those side projects ended up bringing me paid photo work and when that happened I realized that pursuing photography was something I must do again full-time. I set a 1 year timeline for myself and worked like crazy to book enough work in order to leave my full-time job at VSA. It was a crazy year filled with unglamorous hard work, late nights and following through with all of those tiny business details. After a solid year of working like a crazy woman, I was thrilled to be on track with leaving my full-time job as a designer. That was about 3 months ago! At 24 years old, I know that I’m still really young and I feel so thankful to be chasing this creative work! The past year has been all about “living into” the dreams and passions that are so much a part of who I am.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to transition from their full-time job to independent work?
1. Embrace the hustle and witness the dreams becoming reality.
Working a full time job and doing a side hustle is a crazy amount of work but SO worth it. Set deadlines for yourself. Share your goals with others to give yourself accountability. Open a business bank account and start saving money! So many people talk about doing great things, but the truth is that 90% of those people aren’t willing to sacrifice what it takes to allow for their dreams to become reality. I’m always shocked when I meet girls who want to be a “wedding photographer” but they haven’t even started saving money to invest in their camera equipment yet. You’ve got to walk before you can run. In my experience, paying attention to all those unglamorous little details is what owning a business is all about. Sure there are a lot of rewarding moments being a business owner, but most of what I do is just self-motivated hard word and being creative with my time, money and resources.

2. Be professional. Celebrate those small wins.
Take every job seriously no matter how small or “cool.” My best learning has always come from photo jobs that were awkward or left me feeling unprofessional. And when things go well, I’ve learned to celebrate and treasure those small wins even if that means singing out loud in my apartment and saying some thankful prayers. I’ve recently gotten to work with a Chicago start up to create an image library for their website. It was my first time working with a start up, and it went super well. At the same time though, I know my background in design and my previous experiences working with wedding clients really helped me handle everything professionally and smoothly. Every job moves you forward to the next if you have the right mindset about it.

3. Show up, show up, show up! Keep making honest work. 
Nobody is going to know what you do unless you decide to do it and share it with the world! Be less concerned with how many people are seeing your work and be more concerned with how honest it is and how it moves you forward towards your goals. I think we all go through awkward periods of making things and we all go through seasons of taking our gifts and our business for granted. Those seasons are ok and necessary, but don’t stay in those places forever and quit! It is such a gift to create and collaborate and share your talents / ideas with others – let that point of view drive you and the work you produce.

What does a typical day look like for you?
I start my day by making coffee and then walking around my neighborhood with it. I work from home so it’s really good for me to wake up, get dressed and get out of my apartment for a bit. It’s almost like a fake commute. Then I come back to the studio and work at my desk. It can be hard to separate my work from my life since I work from home so I always try to have evening plans to get out for a bit even if it’s just running errands.

Tell us a bit about your neighborhood. 
Lincoln Square, Chicago is pretty quiet and full of families, but I love it’s quaint neighborhood vibes and breakfast places. I’m a big fan of the “underdog” and Lincoln Square is definitely one of those hidden gems.

What was your apartment hunt like? How did you decide on this space? 
I found my place on Craigslist in the middle of Chicago’s Polar vortex 2 years ago- memorable to say the least1 When I walked into the studio for the first time I just knew that it was the one- as cheesy as that sounds. The building I live in is old which gives my apartment some naturally great character – I love that it still has the original clawfoot bathtub in the bathroom and exposed sink in the kitchen. My closet is huge and so large that I keep my full-size bed in there! Having my bed in the closet makes my studio feel like a true one bedroom apartment. In the summer, I use my sofa bed to sleep on because of the great light, plus it stays a little cooler than my closet. It’s a little weird, but it works!

How would you describe your personal decorating style?
My personal decorating style is a mix of classic vintage and timeless newer pieces that still feel old. I love pairing darker masculine colors (like my charcoal and navy painted walls) to offset my more feminine possessions. I think that creates a really good vibe for me when I’m at home too.

Did you decorate on a budget? What are some of your favorite go to stores for furniture and decor?
Yes! Most of what I own is from garage sales around Ohio. I think there’s something so rewarding about curating unique pieces instead of buying everything entirely new. If I do purchase new things I love going to West Elm or small shops around Chicago like Fleur or Gather Home & Lifestyle.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
What an open ended question! Hospitality is my second gift and I want to use that more in the future with my creative and entrepreneurial background. Right now I host my place on Airbnb when I travel and absolutely love it! To be honest, I can see myself owning a bed and breakfast and still shooting weddings 5 years from now. I’d also just love to be a mama and run my business while doing that! Oh the beauty of the unknown…

Anna Zajac is The Everygirl…

Favorite way to begin the day?
Watering my plants and a morning walk.

Dream vacation.
Spending the whole fall season in Barcelona, Spain.

Guilty pleasure. 
Anything from Madewell. Swoon!

If you could have lunch with one woman, who would it be and what would you order?
I’ve been a fan of Olivia Rae Jame’s work for a while—she’s a wedding photographer living in Charleston and I think she is a total entrepreneur babe! If she was in Chicago, we’d go to The Publican and order cocktails and oysters and talk about being lady bosses.