02/13/2026
Five years ago… my life was HEAVY. 🥺
Shortly before, we were living in an apartment that felt smaller every month. My husband was working nonstop, exhausted, stretched thin, doing everything he could to keep us going. And me? I was drowning. Depressed. Feeling like I had completely LOST myself. I struggled so bad mentally... SO BAD. I remember thinking, what happened to my drive… my ambition… my spark? I knew, deep in my bones, that I had MORE in me.. but I couldn’t see a path forward yet. 🗾
My mom, grandparents and a few others helped us survive. And I will NEVER forget the day my pappy showed up with groceries. He set them down at my front door and didn’t say much.. but I wanted to disappear. I was grateful... yes... and absolutely gutted. Standing there staring at those bags, I remember thinking, THIS CANNOT BE IT. This cannot be how my story ends. 😭😭😭😭😭
Around that time, I had this idea in the back of my mind. I knew I wanted to do bo***ir. Something super small. Something for Valentine’s Day. I didn’t advertise it. I didn’t even feel like I had a real “reason” yet.. so I just held it close and waited.
And then, out of nowhere, a message popped up.
A client I had photographed a few times, someone I actually went to school with and was friends with... “Heyyy! Just curious if you’re doing bo***ir shoots this year.”
I remember staring at my phone like… how did she know? I hadn’t said anything to anyone. But that message felt like a tap on the shoulder. Like a THIS IS IT moment. A few messages later, I had dates. I had a hotel booked. I had my first yes. 🙌
At the time, I was still doing everything halfway. Shooting whatever came my way. Trying to convince myself I was fine. But bo***ir kept calling louder.
So, five years ago (yesterday), on my birthday, I purchased a guide. I didn't even have 1/4 of the money for it.... I remember paying with Afterpay AND Klarna for the 1/4 (deposit) because I was on the STRUGGLE BUS.
...And that decision changed everything. That was the moment I decided to stop messing around, stop keeping one foot in and one foot out, and go ALL IN. 🥳
I chose bo***ir.
And slowly… I started to come to life.
Now I look around this studio and sometimes I have to stop and breathe. Because this space was built by a woman who once felt broken. By a woman who once stood in an apartment doorway staring at groceries on the floor, wondering if she was failing at life. By the woman who was questioning getting out of bed every single day. The woman who hated life, truly. And now I get to witness women walk in guarded and walk out standing taller.. seeing themselves differently.. sometimes for the FIRST time. 🥹
Five years later, this isn’t JUST work to me.
It’s PROOF. Proof that rock bottom doesn’t get the final say. Proof that choosing yourself can change EVERYTHING. Proof that the girl who believed she was meant for more was right all along.
Here’s to FIVE YEARS of growth, grit, and finding my way back to myself. And here’s to every single woman who has been part of this journey.. I see you, I appreciate you, and I am so deeply grateful you’re here.
You’re stuck with me. 💗
Pic of me from my first studio the very moment I got the keys... I couldn't believe it and of course at my new studio (current)!!!
