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So here’s the biggest lessons I’m taking away from 2018.
Sometimes things are out of your control-but it still sucks. I admit that this year was super hard for me. Having three kids and one of them being just a year old [so basically her newborn to baby stage was all my 2018] and running a business alongside of all of it was tough stuff! So making time for friends was almost non-existent this year, which also means….my relationships suffered a little and this is very hard for me to accept. *Lesson learned: Sometimes things are out of our control. Sometimes some seasons require that you be the best that you can be and hope that the people who are supposed to be in your life can understand.
God will send you peers who understand. This year I worked with and grew strong relationships with some amazing people. They became really close friends. I would receive random text messages, phone calls, and invitations at just the right time and these little things would give me just enough umph to get through. *Lesson learned: You aren’t alone on your journey. And if you’re open to it….there are people that God will send your way in the weirdest seasons of life. They can become really really great friends.
I’m not happy alone. This industry of mine semi-teaches us to “hustle” alone. We are taught to close up and guard our secrets and our creative ventures. We fear someone catching on to what we are doing so we protect. But what we actually do is build walls. I open up my life, my creative journey quite often, but I must admit that there are fears that cross my mind far more than I want them to. But when I think of true joy…it revolves around inviting others into my process…CLOSELY! Lesson learned: Fear less…GIVE MORE. Collaborate more. Invest in others more. I want to pour myself out in 2019. I want to make myself available. It sounds scary and exhausting to even say that, but God knows that this is my heart. I don’t want to hold anything in. I don’t want to hold back. The HOW will come but for now, I know this is what I want 2019 to look like.
Now….I’d love to introduce you to some amazing people that I had the joy and privilege of working with or connecting closely with in 2018!
I had to title it “Pic.Tora” for two reasons. This year, my assistant Tora launched her own photography business which is titled Pic.Tora, but also because she’s my P.I.C. [partner in crime, photographer in crime]! She’s just the best. She’s been working with me for a few years now and we’ve traveled together creating the best moments for others.
I’ve been working with Andrea just as long as I have with Tora. They too have become really great friends and we’ve had some great adventures together! Andrea is a person I strongly believe in. She’s worked hard and she’s grown her business into something so beautiful. It’s inspiring to watch her go towards her dreams year after year and I’m honored to have had her come along so many great adventures with me this year!
My beautiful friend Marsha. We’ve built a relationship over time and this year we’ve had the opportunity to connect more and even dream together. She is constantly rooting for me and I’m constantly rooting for her! She’s a mom and a boss and I admire her greatly!
I took this photo of Margaux the first day she came to shadow me. I sort of smiled thinking that at this moment she didn’t know what I already knew….she didn’t need me at all! She already had it in her. To be AMAZING. Margaux this year taught me to take another level artistically. She didn’t even realize she inspired me. She was someone I met on instagram and we are now really great friends. I hope she makes all of her dreams a reality-because she can…and she definitely should!
This year, I had the joy of photographing Theresa and her husband. Honestly it was one of my highlight shoots…because they are truly a special couple and this woman….she’s pretty AMAZING. Theresa is like my big sister in this industry. I feel her love so much and I know she’s always watching out for me, believing in me, pushing me and rooting me on. She’s an incredible mother, wife, and entrepreneur and it’s just honestly so heartwarming to have someone like her looking out for me constantly!
This is Gwen [and her husband Mao :-)]. Gwen and I became friends over time and our journey of being pregnant around the same time brought us together. 2018 she transitioned into being a first time mom while running her successful photography business. We had some heart to hearts about life and about the struggle during this season, but we also shared a lot of joy together. I think we are both coming out of 2018 different…a good kind of different that is. She’s now shifting into new territories and I’m so excited watching her burst into this new artist in another level!
I seriously can’t say enough about these two. They made my 2018 brighter. I met them at the beginning of the year when we worked on a project together for the Brandwell Workshop and simply hit it off! They are compassionate, caring, talented people. They were a missing link to a vision I had for years and they arrived into my life right on time. Since then, not only have we worked together for my own projects but for others. Best of all, were the talks and the prayers sent back and forth in between! Photo Credit: Lexandev
Bri was also such a beautiful highlight of 2018! She found me through social media and before I knew it she had connected me to a few of her clients. My heart exploded that someone like her would trust me enough to refer me over to clients of hers. Together we created some beautiful collections this year and working with her was a total dream. Now we’ve had some heart to hearts as she became a first time mom this year! I’m so excited for everything that is coming her way for her company! She’s incredible to her couples and she deserves absolutely nothing but the very best!
Goodness..it’s incredible that it feels like I’ve known these ladies wayyyyy longer than I have! I’ve grown a really strong bond with these beautiful women because we’ve invested in one another’s growth! This year I did one of the biggest projects yet by guiding these ladies into a rebrand. Their belief in me is beyond what I can even put into words! I haven’t even had a chance to fully explain what we’ve done together, but I will really soon. In the midst of what we’ve created-we’ve had to go deep! It’s been raw and real because branding is like pulling layers and layers back! It’s almost like a crushing in order to rebuild and I’ve been there with these ladies in the midst of it all. They’ve let me into their world and sometimes that included sitting around their dinner table along with their family having lunch or dinner. When you have that kind of time with someone-you grow strong bonds.
JIMMY Z
Although he’s not in my “industry” of people I connected with this year, it would be simply unfair not to mention the man who has been with me through it all. For all the encouragement, for wiping away my tears, for believing in me, for putting up with my crazy ideas and loving me for them, for cheering me on and always being my biggest fan. For holding down the fort at home when I had out of town ventures and telling me that the kids were fine! For being the most amazing supporter, friend, lover, and father! We’ve promised each other that TOGETHER we build dreams and we raise our babies.
I know this may seem silly, but I have to mention myself, after all, I worked with myself MOST! This year I didn’t give up-although I wanted to like three different times. I believed in everything that God had set before me. I showed up EVERY SINGLE DAY and NIGHT. I gave my family my all and I gave my clients my all. Every office hour I invested and every photoshoot I arrived to…I was THERE. 110% there! I gave my all and I still hit some bumps along the road, but I didn’t quit and I didn’t give up and for that I can be extremely proud. I can walk away from 2018 happy that I sowed every seed I could sow. Photo Credit: Pic.Tora
I absolutely know that I am not naming every single person that touched my heart and life and influenced my journey in 2018. But I had to highlight these. Thank you all so very much. I hope I’ve been a blessing to you as you have been to me. I’m excited for 2019. I’m really uncertain about so many things…but I trust that the Lord is already there and that 2019 will be a great year for Jimmy and I TOGETHER. Hopefully you’ll start to see new ventures from me that revolve around my husband and my family. That would be a dream come true. Cheers to all the dreamers and all the believers…I hope that what you’re working hard for today will manifest tomorrow!
