My earliest memories are of enjoying life and being creative! Drawing, painting, making up plays and writing stories that turned into short films…Writing song lyrics and choreographing dances while being low key convinced my friend group would one day become a band (sigh…if only Tik Tok were around when I was younger!)

Regardless of what I was doing, it always centered around telling stories, being creative, and having as much fun as possible!

Art was my main focus for many years, while always having photography as a hobby to keep my creativity cross trained. I got my first point and shoot camera at 10, and used that thing till it was covered in some serious wear and tear!

It was liberating to be able to create images straight out of the camera! I could collaborate with friends and family in a way I couldn't with drawing and painting. It satisfied my desire to be with the people I love more often. I could create something that could be meaningful to those around me for years to come.

Welcome to 2010, my dudes:

Just gotta rip it off like a band-aid…prepare for some cringe…

Back in high school, when I rocked the Bieber bangs, I had a fab group of supportive friends who were just as bored as me.

We dressed up, did our make up, did some photoshoots, made movies, and did whatever silly things we could to enjoy our time outside of school and home. One friend in particular (Candace, pictured below) suggested I do her senior portraits. She said that if she got them done by me then our other friends would most likely, too. I trusted her, and my new path formed without even realizing it.

The next week, we loaded my car with 3 suitcases and duffle bags full of clothes, shoes, makeup, props, more makeup, and hair accessories.

We didn’t know where we were going in my 92’ chevy cavalier, but we knew we were gosh darn determined to find the best senior photo spots in Rochester NY.

Needless to say, we learned a lot! (Apparently you DON’T need 3 suitcases and duffle bags full of clothing, shoes, makeup, props, more makeup and hair accessories.) We also managed to take some stellar photos I still ADORE to this day. One of which is this photo:

We were relentlessly creative.

Without Candace, I don’t know how long it would of taken for me to get my photo biz up and running. With that, I owe her a lot! After her shoot, my other friends DID want photoshoots with me! I couldn’t believe that I had the ability to run a little photo biz, especially at 17 years old.

A few windy turny roads led me to San Francisco a couple years later.

A new friend then pointed me towards the online booking platform, Thumbtack, where I re-started my photography business. I was 19, completely broke, but had a fire to make it on my own in the most expensive city in the United States.

In my first day, I managed to score 3 shoots. I couldn’t believe it! I had 3 shoots in one very long Saturday. Really, really long Saturday...

A Friday night party I was invited to turned into a panic as I realized I had lost my camera battery for the next day. (Back when I only had one single battery. I carry about 8 now!) A great friend (Vanessa) let me borrow her camera so I had something to shoot with in the morning! However, there was still a party to attend...Wait. Did I mention that the first shoot I ever did in San Francisco was a surprise engagement shoot at 6am?

So I go to the party, stay over Vanessa’s house where I DIDN’T SLEEP(!!) went to my first shoot in California with her camera (and car because she’s great like that) at Baker Beach for a surprise engagement shoot where I pretended to be a random photographer on the beach. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone propose in front of me in my entire life I must add…

After that first surprise engagement shoot, I rushed over to the photography store, bought a replacement battery for my camera so I could use it for the next shoot, returned Vanessa’s car, then ran over to The Palace of Fine Arts for a TINDER photoshoot. Yes, a Tinder photoshoot for someone’s profile. And it went great! I would absolutely do it again! We had a fun time with multiple outfits and locations.

Once we got to Sutro Baths, I got a super random call. I was asked if I could photograph that night at a house party, starting at 10pm! What? Seriously?? ANOTHER shoot in the same day?

After the Tinder shoot, I got ready for the last shoot…I had no idea what I was walking into. Once I arrive, (after having the best uber ride I’ve ever had btw) I find it’s a pretty rad party, with PERFECTLY placed fire heat lamps that provided beautiful lighting. As well as an alcoholic ice slalom, if that’s what it’s called? (Insert shrug GIF here.)

After the nearly 72 (or most likely more) hours of being awake, I zonked out with a smile on my face, and knew I fell in love with photography - again.

And all of that led to where I am today! I believe that we are a culmination of our experiences that not only our personalities reflect, but our life’s purpose appears through. Each of these experiences helped me realize how much I love people and celebrating life. Events and weddings inspire once-in-a-lifetime moments, and I love being able to use my experience & techniques to capture personality, stories unfolding, and people just having a good ol’ time!

There’s something wonderful about making people smile with images, showing them how awesome they are, and being artistic in a meaningful and directly relatable way. Thanks for coming to my TED talk and I can’t wait to see ya on the other side of my camera super soon!

"Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don't just give up."

- Stephen Hawking