My name is Heather Miele. I have lived and worked in New York
City for a little over 20 years. I met my love and husband here 13
years ago. We have two amazing children who are 7 and 9 years
old. I own and operate White Honey - a photography and
retouching studio which I started with my partners 7 years ago.
I am blessed to have grown up in the Midwest in Stillwater,
Oklahoma.
I always had the dream to move to New York so after graduating
from college in 1994 I moved to Manhattan. I was able to get a job
as a receptionist for a boutique Advertising Agency. This was the
beginning of my exposure to the creative part of the advertising
world. My next job was working for my Uncle as a sales
representative for his company that specialized in retouching for
the beauty and cosmetics industry.
My uncle became my mentor.
I learned so much from him and all the people I worked with there.
This made the decision to leave the company after 10 years
extremely hard. It was personal because it was family but it was
business because it was my career and livelihood. I struggled so
much with this decision and worked hard to do the right thing.
I moved on and eventually started White Honey. It has been a
tough but incredible journey.
I can’t wait to show this letter to my daughter and son one day.
--
Dear Heather,
Don’t take it personal! It’s just business. I know it’s difficult for you right now
because you are working hard and want to be appreciated and
acknowledged. I know you take pride in your work and feel what
you do is valuable and sometimes take it personal when you are
not getting the support you need. Unfortunately, there is not
always someone guiding you on the best ways to handle difficult
situations and there is not always a cheerleader to motivate you either.
There also might be people working against you for their own
reasons. So, if you feel angry, sad, or hopeless due to problems at
work remember not take it personal and look for real ways to
address those feelings. Look at the situation honestly and if you
are not performing then you need to take notice and do better. If
you are performing and your boss/counterparts do not see this
then you need to move on or come up with a practical plan to
address the problem.
Either way no tears allowed in the office
unless in the bathroom stall. Take the emotion out and don’t
react immediately. I think it will be better for you to grow and be
taken seriously if you can do this. It will enable you to stay calm in
many stressful events that will come up as you live your life and
navigate your career. Remember what your father said he
tells his team at work during a crisis: “This is when I need you to
be the most calm.”
Keep calm and don’t ever give up.
Love, your older self
--
Heather and I met a few years ago when we worked together on product retouching. It was my first time learning how to study color and texture from a digital perspective and she and her team were so kind in teaching me. She truly embodies the name of her company - sweet as pure honey. Some of my favorite memories of developing our beauty brand were the long hours spent eating takeout and talking about 'RGB' in her amazing downtown studio.