While working with a coach, I was asked to sit down and solidify my “why.” I quickly realized I had never given it much thought. I just knew that I love being creative and I love taking pictures. But it was so much more than that.

Whenever I am faced with a tragic loss, I tend to grieve and heal through work with my hands. I have a vivid memory of when I first found out that I lost my best friend’s parents at the age of 12 in a horrific tragedy. I had just come home from a trip to Florida. When my Mom told me what had happened, I went into the bathroom to wash the sand off of every shell that I brought home. It was all I could think to do. My school work, crafts, and writing allowed me reflective space to grieve when I needed to, but there was a quick escape to focus on tasks when the pain was too much to bear.

From this experience, I became an intense student in both my academics and activities. I learned how to sew in high school by making Civil War ball gowns, from the corset to the seemingly endless yards of skirt ruffles. I was part of every music group, president of the class, salutatorian, and went on to college to graduate Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s in Biology. I was sure the next big thing in my life was medical school, but life had other plans.

A few months after getting married, I went on the trip of a lifetime with my new husband to the Galapagos Islands, a biology nerd’s heaven. I bought a Nikon D90 off of a friend for the trip, my first DSLR, and this trip was the first time I took my camera out of “auto.” Over the course of the week-long trip I saw a dramatic change in my photos. I was immediately hooked over the freedom and creativity offered by learning how to use my equipment. A week after arriving home, we suddenly lost my husband’s mother and a few months after that my brother was killed in a car crash when he made the choice to drink and drive. With a biology degree, it might make sense to pursue nature photography, but the handful of pictures that I have of my loved ones at our wedding became the most valuable possessions in my home. I started a portrait business to provide the gift of everlasting memories to others.

"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed." - Booker T. Washington