Paul Cheney

Background

About Paul Cheney

Photography: At the age of 14, I became interested in photography, by the age of 15 I had built a darkroom, learned to develop my own film, prints etc and photographed my first wedding. I went on to photograph well over a thousand weddings all over the world, I won awards, photographed a President of the United States, and was the first photographer in Toronto to switch to a fully digital workflow at a time when everyone said,"that will never catch on". Print: I learned to make custom ICC profiles for making digital prints using a spectrophotometer and placed the Globe and Mail in the number 7 position in the world quality contest. The world quality contest rates the quality of newspapers around the world. I have made everything for clients from business cards to billboards. I wanted to learn more about letterpress so I purchased one on eBay, restored it, taught myself how to use it and decided to make a new business around it. Graphic Design: I learned the entire Adobe Suite and became Adobe Certified. I built an online store selling design templates and letterpress print products and generated 150k in revenue in the first year, I sold the business after 3 years. Painting: I had always enjoyed painting in oil, but after selling my design business I wanted something new to try. I decided to learn how to paint in watercolour. After a few years, I had a small gallery in Paris Ontario where I sold my artwork and taught painting classes. I was about to expand the painting class studio and do that full-time when the pandemic hit. Marketing and Advertising: I sold my home in Paris during the pandemic, the broker I worked with was fantastic but had very little exposure on the web. We started chatting, and two years later I took her from non-existent on the web to the first page on Google. I taught myself how to photograph and film homes and implemented a video marketing campaign featuring small businesses local to Paris. Finding Purpose: At some point, I think everyone is faced with finding purpose in their life. I wanted to do something with my giant pile of collective experiences that make a difference. In 2023 I applied to and was accepted to Catalyst+. A Canadian charity that empowers people in developing countries by teaching them the skills they need to succeed independently. I have been selected so far to teach digital marketing and web development. It is hard work, sometimes very hard, but it has been an incredible experience.