Ever since I was a little girl, I had always dreamed of doing something meaningful with my life. Something that impacted people in a positive way. To touch the hearts of those around me and uplift them and bring joy and happiness to their lives. Growing up, my friends and family could see that I was a natural caregiver, somebody who genuinely wanted to share their love with others. Since the age of 11 I kept myself busy after school babysitting for my neighborhood families. My parents would regularly tell me that I needed to slow down and maybe take a break from it, but I was determined to work hard and be there for the little kids and babies that needed to be looked after.
Fast forward into high school - my senior year. I am now going to school full time and nannying a family's 3 little girls, one of which was an infant. Everything about these girls filled my heart with joy! Each day I looked forward to spending time with them. I loved teaching them, playing with them, and nurturing them. But as all things in life do, this chapter was about to be closed as I was planning my departure for college.
I wanted to be a lot of things growing up. My first dream was to become an interior designer! Something about creating beautifully crafted homes with modern décor to come together perfectly and seamlessly struck a chord with me that led to a sort of obsession. My first 2 years of college started at Normandale Community College. I was always told by negative people that I would "never be this" or "never be that" or "you're no good at this, you should think about something else", but I refused to let anyone stand in my way. I completed my liberal arts degree and decided to start the Nursing Program at Bemidji State University. There was my natural caregiver instincts kicking in again! As I took on the Nursing Program at BSU, it just didn't bring me enough passion, or joy. As much as I wanted to continue through this program, I knew something was missing and decided to pursue a new path. I changed my degree to Psychology, and finished off my Bachelor's degree... right in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic...
I was a freshly graduated college student, who entered into a chaotic world that no one has ever seen before. Everyone was told to stay home, businesses shut down and the world seemed to be in a very uncertain place, as was I. I moved back home from college with my husband's (then fiancée) parent's. It wasn't long until we found a small apartment of our own, back where we grew up in Lakeville, MN. The world was still in a dark place, and finding a job was nearly impossible because of all the shut downs. Thankfully, my husbands parents owned food trucks and we were able to keep working for them amongst the uncertainties that plagued the world.
My love of photography started with an admiration for other people's work that I have seen throughout my life. The perfectly crafted sets, modern décor, squishy babies positioned ever so sweetly, that seemed to create timeless pictures that I could stare at for hours mesmerized me. I became obsessed with these gorgeous images and began to start dreaming of how I could create them myself. I didn't have much money to afford a camera, let alone the colossal amount of wraps, props, outfits, and lighting equipment that is required for it. My birthday was coming up soon, and I was hopeful that I might get a camera! And I did! My husband surprised me with a Canon camera for my birthday! It was a very inexpensive one, but it was a Canon camera nonetheless! I still remember his words as he chuckled "now, don't let this collect dust on the shelf". I began shooting any and every session I could, and my dream to become a professional newborn photographer sparked.
I faced numerous challenges through my first year doing photography. I had to rely on the money we made working the food trucks to slowly get new (used) equipment, outfits, and props. It seemed that every time we had a little extra money, we reinvested it back into growing our photography business. My husband has been my biggest supporter and has put countless hours of work into helping me grow my dream. Through every struggle, we have continued to fail, learn, reevaluate, change, find success and grow. It has been sort of a rinse and repeat of the whole process. The biggest challenge of growing this dream has been, well all of it. Financial, where to find the time between work, a place to do sessions (a studio), and how to grow an audience from absolutely nothing. All we had was 2 broke college graduates and a dream for our future.
Fast forward a couple years from then. We now have all of the professional equipment, wraps, props, backdrops, and sets we need. We have our first professional studio space in Burnsville, Minnesota that is absolutely GORGEOUS! We have grown, and continue to grow an audience that has come to love and trust my work. I am working with the most amazing families who have the cutest, squishiest little newborns that I get to take the sweetest pictures of! Our business has grown to a place we never even dreamed it could go! We are not done yet, we have a long ways to keep going. It has been an amazing journey full of joy, tears, ups, downs, frustrations, and accomplishments! My first dream of becoming an interior designer, my Psychology degree, and my caregiver nature, and my journey in life have all crafted me into who I was born to be, a professional Newborn Photographer in the Twin Cities of Minnesota.
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