Post was not sent - check your email addresses! She is featured in a 1-minute vignette about South Africa called “Through The Lens” and has volunteered as a photojournalist with the Swedish Red Cross, World Hope International, and CHIEF, a Nigerian-based NGO promoting grassroots health development, HIV/AIDS awareness, and the empowerment of women. Based in Sweden. Her work has appeared in National Geographic Traveler, BBC, CNN, The Guardian, Travel + Leisure, New York Times, Travel Channel, Adventure.com Magazine, AFAR, Lonely Planet, and Fodor’s, among other publications. Born in Nigeria, Lola now calls Stockholm home, and as you might imagine, has clocked up some serious air miles along the way; her travels have taken her from the Seychelles to South Africa, to the spice markets of Istanbul and beyond. Pan left on the gallery below to view sample tearsheets. Some of my articles and photography have been syndicated on MSNBC, Slate, Yahoo, New York Daily News, Chicago Sun Times, Huffington Post, and Time Warner, and many more. Òun ni alatunse fún ilé iṣẹ́ Slow Travel Stockholm. Wishi, We all know the profound impact 2020 has had on us, We were back in Marrakech today strolling through. It was not what I felt I was put on this earth to do.”, To offset that feeling and bring some balance to her life, on the side of working full-time she started freelancing, building her portfolio as a writer and photographer. If you have other important responsibilities you’ve accumulated over the years, find ways of balancing them while trying to follow your dreams. Get rid of unnecessary responsibilities. Award-winning writer and photographer Lola (Akinmade) Åkerström has photographed and dispatched from 70+ countries for various publications.She is the 2018 Travel Photographer of the Year Bill Muster Award recipient.. Dreams really can come true! Based in Sweden. Award-winning writer, best-selling author, and photographer Lola Akinmade Åkerström has dispatched from 70-plus countries. You can’t move on in life if you are constantly looking back. Perhaps searching can help. Category 175: Photo Essay, Print She later received a Master’s in Information Systems from UMBC. Don’t expect everyone to be excited about your passion as you are. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Lola Akinmade Åkerström: The GeoTraveler Who Finally Found Her Niche, The Owens Group Training Development Solutions, LLC. You will meet it several times along the way when following your passion. Represented by National Geographic Creative, she's also the author of 'Lagom: The Swedish Secret of Living Well'. Life really is about committing 100% to moving to the next stage. With a Masters degree in Information Systems from the University of Maryland and a minor in geography. 10.5k Followers, 4,266 Following, 1,804 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström (@lolaakinmade) It was a now-or-never turning point. It was a now-or-never turning point. In addition to contributing to several travel books, I am the author of the following books – 2018 Lowell Thomas Award winner for best travel book, DUE NORTH, & bestselling LAGOM: Swedish Secret of Living Well available in 18 language editions. I didn’t live my life to please others.”, “When my first batch of photos were finally loaded under my name on National Geographic Creative, I called out to my husband to come see. Photo courtesy of Lola Åkerström. Brava! Lola Akinmade Åkerström | Visual Storyteller | Award-winning visual storyteller and bestselling author. Check out more Swedish summer food, lifestyle, nature, people, and landmark photos in my Öland image bank. Hard work will only get you so far and we truly can’t reach where we want to go in life without others. Slow Travel Stockholm is run and managed by award-winning travel writer and photographer Lola Akinmade Åkerström. She is working toward becoming an assignment photographer, to move over to what she refers to as “that list” of a select few talents. I graduated with a Masters (MSc) degree in Information Systems from the University of Maryland with a minor in Geography. Lola Akinmade’s photography and travel stories are often characterized by vitality and hope. My photography is represented by National Geographic Image Collection and Wonderful Machine. Photo credit: Lola Akinmade Åkerström This year Åkerström turned 40. We need tolet go and be truly vulnerable. Lola is also the editor of Slow Travel Stockholm, an online magazine dedicated to exploring Sweden’s capital city in depth. Born in Nigeria. She gave up a stable, well-paid career as a programmer to become a photojournalist but, with numerous writing and photography accolades under her belt, felt confident she was making the right choice. It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Educated in the United States. I buy two wool shawls — red and midnight blue — and hesitantly wrap one around my shoulders, craving a sense of connection. I rarely share photos of my husband here but I thought I’d share this one of him unleashing his inner (and outer) jock with a soccer ball. I own and run Geotraveler Media – a multimedia and travel consulting agency providing a spectrum of travel media-related services from writing, photography, and creative copywriting to web design, videos, and social media. Follow your heart. Before becoming my biggest fan and advocate now, my mother used to tell me: ‘If people ask you what you do and you say you are a photographer, remind them that you have an advanced degree as well! Lola (Akinmade) Åkerström is a Matador Network contributor. I have recently signed on to be represented by Craig Literary. She gave up a stable, well-paid career as a programmer to become a photojournalist but, with numerous writing and photography accolades under her belt, felt confident she was making the right choice. Here’s a link to my photography portfolio below. Lola Akinmade Åkerström: The GeoTraveler Who Finally Found Her Niche Posted on August 21, 2014 by career 2.0 8 Comments As a young girl, Lola Akinmade Åkerström had dreams, big dreams that wandered far from the traditional path she was expected to follow as a girl in her native Nigeria. I am the editor-in-chief of Slow Travel Stockholm – an editorial site which encourages travelers to explore Stockholm deeper and slowly, and was the photoblogger for Sweden’s official website. The final springboard for change came in 2009 when Akinmade Åkerström relocated to Sweden with her husband whom she met in 2006. Born in Nigeria. Akinmade Åkerström’s photography finds beauty in the mundane. “My main concern was having to start from scratch again and prove to people that I knew what the heck I was doing and talking about. I also worked as a field journalist on the web team during Eco-Challenge’s Expedition Race in Fiji and have volunteered as a photojournalist with the Swedish Red Cross and World Hope International, documenting their projects in countries such as Nicaragua, Sweden, and Cambodia, and C.H.I.E.F – an NGO based in Nigeria that promotes grassroots health development, HIV/AIDS awareness, and the empowerment of women. Lola (Akinmade) Åkerström is a Matador Network contributor. I graduated with a Masters (MSc) degree in Information Systems from the University of Maryland with a minor in … Reading it makes me happy, and inspired. You will meet it several times along the way when following your passion. The aim is to establish a repository of eclectic information about the city from a range of perspectives to encourage deeper, more varied exploration and promotion of small, locally-minded businesses and services. Either they said no or completely ignored my pitch. Stockholm-based Lola Akinmade Åkerström is an award-winning author, speaker and photographer. Dreams really can come true! An open letter from travel photographer, Lola Akinmade Åkerström. To help us all feel a bit closer while we’re physically apart, we’re sharing letters to and from those who made their adventures extra special. The final springboard for change came in 2009 when Akinmade Åkerström relocated to Sweden with her husband whom she met in 2006. A feisty executive fighting tokenism... There is a thin line between following your passions and being selfish. You’ve got to pause, reassess your life, relationships, and projects, and then take proactive steps towards decluttering your life so you can actually start focusing on what you really need to be doing. Lola Akinmade Åkerström, Multi-Award Winning Travel Photographer: B.W.I.E 10th Anniversary Shero Black Women in Europe Blog™ 10th Anniversary notes: I picked Lola as a Black Women in Europe Blog™ 10th Anniversary Shero not only because of her enormous photography talent (my Swede was impressed with her camera when he observed it draped around her neck … Learn to say no. written by Intrepid Travel April 21, 2020. Not a typical photo agency, National Geographic Creative actually seeks out and approaches photographers. ENFP-A Idealist. That this long held dream of being a National Geographic photographer could actually be unfolding before my eyes.”. Geotraveler Media - Lola Akinmade Åkerström is an award-winning Nigerian photographer and travel writer based in Stockholm, Sweden. Akinmade Åkerström’s Tips on Following Your Passion: Reblogged this on notes of an itinerant and commented: She is the editor-in-chief for Slow Travel Stockholm. I am a founding member of the NordicTB collective which brings together the top professional travel influencers and digital storytellers in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland. I would absolutely love you all to pick up a copy in support. Openingstijden 2020: … I am based in Stockholm, Sweden and available for assignments around the world. The Sweden-based freelancer shares her career journey with us. . Àwọn iṣẹ́ rẹ tí farahàn nínú National Geographic Traveler, BBC àti CNN. Lola Akinmade Åkerström went from working with computers to building a career in writing and photojournalism. Norske Noorwegen Reizen. She is represented by National Geographics and has worked all over the… Thanks for showing your experience! But mostly I wanted to work for National Geographic because I thought it would be a means to travel the world and document it like the vividly stirring images I was soaking up from the magazine’s pages.”. In Every I’ve been a fan of Lola Akinmade Åkerström for some time, glad to read this inspiring piece: Reblogged this on The Owens Group Training Development Solutions, LLC and commented: I love this, Lola. A word that g, This is the inspiration we all need as we step int, Making a gingerbread house for a good cause. Her work has appeared in National Geographic Traveler, Vogue, BBC, Fodors.com, and many more.Follow her photoblog at Sweden.se. She was able to stretch her vacation days while working fulltime to travel as far and wide as possible. We need their support and love to carry us through those last few steps. Sign up to receive a digest of the latest stories every Thursday. “I was never afraid of rejection because what was the worst that could happen? All content on this site is copyrighted and may not be redistributed without proper attribution. I still have many dreams for my career, but I’m grateful for my personal freedom and the opportunity to keep traveling. You can also find specific articles in my archives.For my commercial and marketing work, visit my agency website – Geotraveler Media. I was the 2018 Travel Photographer of the Year Bill Muster Award recipient. Copyright © 2021 Geotraveler's Niche - Lola Akinmade Åkerström. Her love of geography saw her through a “true grit” boarding school in Lagos, Nigeria, where as a student she experienced food rations by day and stayed up nights studying cities and their hinterlands via candlelight. She pushed aside dreams of working for the famous yellow-framed travel magazine, pursuing instead the practical field of information systems – a more “stable” choice in the eyes of at least her parents – at a local community college before transferring to the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). There is no denying it, Lola Akinmade Åkerström is a powerhouse of productivity. How you handle rejection will only build character and make you more tenacious and resilient in the pursuit of what you are meant to be doing.”, Love this piece! Author; Photographer; Clients; Agency; Academy; About; Article archives I specialized in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for 12+ years and my affinity for the geosciences and maps meant I was born to travel. For me, success is not about financial achievements or finally breaking into some high status clique, but it’s about having the flexibility to live life on my own terms and in a way that’s emotionally and spiritually fulfilling.”. But she knows it will take hard work and time and is constantly exploring and evolving her own personal style of “a human geographer who connects with people”. !’ Of course she was coming from a place of concern and now in hindsight, she knows it wasn’t necessary. Voorjaar in Stockholm, credits Lola Akinmade Åkerström. The Sweden-based freelancer shares her career journey with us. “Photography is a way I communicate and connect with others who seem so vastly different from me. They were choked by tears that this could finally be happening. Quote of the day: Do not fear rejection. For Lola Akinmade Åkerström, a keen eye for a capture and a passion for geography helped her sculpt this dream into a reality. Many thought I was just pursuing my ‘hobby’ and didn’t take me seriously even after I sold my condo and gave up the corporate life. On finishing school at 15, she moved to the US to stay with extended family. My photography and travel writing are often characterized by vibrancy and hope. We collaborate with travel brands and destinations to create innovative content and campaigns. As a young girl, Lola Akinmade Åkerström had dreams, big dreams that wandered far from the traditional path she was expected to follow as a girl in her native Nigeria. I have been recognized with multiple awards and nominations for my work, including a Pushcart Prize nomination and was honoured with a MIPAD 100 (Most Influential People of African Descent) Award within media and culture in 2018. She also created an umbrella company called Geotraveler Media to house all her activities, including web design and social media. I never let that dampen my spirit and just forged on.”. Sometimes leaping out in absolute faith regardless of the outcome. Her works have been featured in the National Geographic Traveler, BBC, and CNN, among other publications. Thanks for showing your experience! 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