ENGLISH EPISODE  Choosing to walk the creative path and navigating a career as a fashion photographer, wasn’t always in the cards for Alana Ocaño, this weeks guest on The Female Effect. Or at least, she thought so, until later in her young adulthood when she realised that this was her calling.  As a first generation American, of Nicaraguan and Mexican decent, Alana was raised cross-culturally between Mexico and San Diego, California in the US, where she met her now husband Andreas, that eventually brought her to moving to Copenhagen and seek out her passion for photography. During our discussion, Alana provides insights into forging a career in fashion photography and uncovering one's artistic path. She emphasises the importance of navigating a creative trajectory even when opting for a less conventional path, which, in her case, wasn't initially supported in her community. From an outsiders perspective, many industries can feel closed off and information can feel hard to obtain, which can lead to discouragement and disillusion. Alana advocates that this shouldn’t be the status-quo and that information gatekeeping isn’t beneficial, but only promoting an unhealthy and excluding culture in many industries. To counteract this, Alana has made it her mission to share her knowledge, insight and skills though a course in editorial and fashion photography - taking the participants through not only industry and technical know-how, but also addressing the very universal, but often silenced, emotional barriers such as imposter syndrome, comparison and fear of failure, to ultimately showcase more nuance and empower individuals to follow their urge.  In the episode Alana also opens up about her perspective on loneliness, being in a long-distance relationship, representation and community, finding purpose and learning to filter out opinions of others.  Her photographic aesthetic is soft, feminine and mysterious and she has implemented this visual style in projects for clients such as REMAIN and The Garment, and her work has been published in international magazines like VOGUE, Elle and L’officiel. Alana recently made the move to Paris, and her and her husband are looking to settle down in New York as a next step. I’m truly grateful that I was able to catch her in Copenhagen for an exchange before she headed off. I hope you feel as inspired by Alana as I do, xx Julie ----- Alana would like to “pass on the goodwill” to - I Wanna give a shoutout to all the women that are bold enough to go for their dreams.  Life hack: “Follow your instincts and don’t disregard your inner voice” Life lesson / saying to live by: “Leap and then the net will appear”: having the courage to take the leap, and then the next step will follow.  Bog: “A little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara  Podcast: “At Your Service” by Dua Lipa & Service 95  Keep up with Alana: Instagram: @alanaocano Webste: www.alanaocano.com  Alana’s “A Course on Editorials” sign up link: https://www.11thedit.com/a-course-on-editorials  Keep up with The Female Effect:  Instagram: @thefemaleeffect_ TikTok: @thefemaleeffect Artwork: Birgit Käsper Jingle // Sounddesign: Søren Haahr --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/julie-lou/message