Are your androgens affecting your business?

I moved to New York City when I was 24 years old. I wore combat boots, smoked lots of cigarettes, and spent most of my time photographing rockstars. I was free of my religious southern upbringing and no one was around to tell me to ”wear something colorful!”

I loved it. I was feisty, fearless, feigning entitlement and a probably little bit of an a-hole if I’m being completely honest.

According to all of the books about hormones I’ve been reading lately, at that age I was likely at peak levels of estrogen and testosterone- the hormone that gives us all of our piss and vinegar (yes, for women, too.) As we age, those levels can drop significantly. We usually recognize these hormone fluctuations as declines in sex drive, slower metabolism and fatigue, but a decrease in testosterone can also present as difficulty concentrating, depression, and a lot less motivation to paint on a thick black cat eye and march your portfolio down to Rolling Stone magazine.

The good news: you can blame your hormones for pretty much everything after the age of 35! The better news: there are plenty of ways to get back your motivation, mood, and proclivity for risky business.

I usually reclaim my radiance with tapping, girl-ganging and dance parties, but it feels hopeful to be reading about ways that I might be able to bring my hormones back into a semblance of balance with diet and exercise as well.

Have you noticed a dip in your excitement about extending energy towards your business and/or relationships lately? I mean, economy, politics, and pandemics aside, you might just be getting older. It happens to all of us.

But that doesn’t mean you have to surrender to it or throw your hands in the air because there’s a new crop of younger talent that you “can’t keep up with.” No, honey.

Pull up a Spotify playlist and dance, go for a walk, call your ride-or-die, or hire a personal hype queen. You’re just getting started, hormones be damned!

Amy V. Cooper is a photography consultant, creative business mentor, marketing strategist, thought partner, and mindset coach with over 25 years of experience in the photography industry. She has worked as a photographer agent, advertising agency art buyer, and entertainment & magazine photo editor. She specializes in supporting artists to develop portfolios, branding, client lists, marketing and mindset strategies that honor their authentic creative journey. Amy is also certified in hypnosis and EFT tapping. She is top rated teacher on Udemy and the InsightTimer app, and a contributor to the A Photo Editor blog and Ask Stern Rep.