Let’s rewind the clock back to graduation day. Mine was a sunny, spring day at Michigan State University. The birds were singing, flowers blooming… and then there was me frantically racing at the speed of light across campus! I Tokyo drifted into my parking spot, ran inside, and jumped directly into the moving line of fellow grads marching toward gratudation! Talk about going out with a bang!

My parents proudly cheered from the crowd when they called my name. I held back tears, exhaled to ease the adrenaline of my NASCAR entrance, and walked up on stage to accept my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography.

As soon as that rolled up parchment hit my hand, I distinctly remember thinking - now what?

It’s the ‘what’ that hit me first. What direction will I take? What kind of photographer will I become? I dabbled in senior photos first… not for me. Tried some studio work. Nope. Did a little family photography, but still felt like something was missing. Then, one unforgettable day in 2014, I photographed my first wedding as an assistant photographer and let me tell you - it lit my soul on FIRE! The flowers, the gowns, the sweet tears in dad’s eyes when he walked his daughter down the aisle… I knew right then that my ‘what’ was no longer in question. What I yearned to become was a wedding photographer!

Next I thought - but how?

How do I make this dream a reality? How do I take my skillset as a photographer and monetize it? I’ll be honest with you. The ‘how’ came down to a lot of research, paper pushing, and legal documentation. In my case I had to choose a unique business name (a daunting task in itself), file for an EIN, apply for an LLC, open a business bank account, and sync it all to a CRM. All to build the infrastructure to even open a business in the state of Michigan. Woof.

Now, how the heck do I book clients?! This is a topic I could talk all day about, so we’ll save that for another blog. For now I’ll just say I had to get serious about developing marketing and sales skills.

Now let’s fast forward to present day. This will be my eighth year breathing life into Light Garden Photography. Growing a business is hard work and takes grit and determination. It’s electrifying and exhausting all at once, but what keeps me going year after year is my ‘why’. Not my what, not my how - my why.

You know what they say, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”. So, why do I show up every morning to breathe life into this business? Or in layman’s terms - why am I a wedding photographer?

I’ll tell you in two words - financial freedom. Freedom being the key word here. Different than just a stacked bank account, right? I seek to build wealth and abundance of both money and time, so I can be fully present in the fleeting moments of life with my family, all in a way that’s fulfilling for my creative nature. Throughout my adventures searching for my life’s calling, there was one note that always rang true - I was put on this earth to create and the camera is my paintbrush.

Serving couples and families from this place of clarity and deep connection to my purpose sets me up to connect deeply with them and their photography needs. It’s because of this connection that I’m able to capture the true essence of people’s love, and reflect it back to them via luminous and joyful portraits.

For everyone that’s still with me, thank you! It’s my honor and pleasure to share this story not as a brag fest, but as a motivator that with clarity and dedication anything is possible.

So, I’ll leave you with this… if you’re ready to make big shifts in your life, make a hot cup of coffee, grab your journal, and answer me these three questions:

What does your dream life/career/business look like? (Dream BIG!)
How will you bring this dream/career/business to life? (Be specific in your steps to success)
Why did you decide to do what you do? (Get clear on your soul’s purpose behind it all)

Forever rooting for you,