Because I am Mom… For the mom’s

When I set off to go to Creative at Heart, I knew I would be changed!  I knew I would learn things and I knew I would make friends!  I knew I would come home with an increasingly long list of tasks to do and business “musts”;  but what I didn’t know was that I would come home with a totally different change of heart in my business!

What I didn’t anticipate was that I would leave with the heart of my business literally on my sleeve!

Creative helped me define the “stirrings” and ideas that had already been surfacing!  They helped me realize that all these thoughts and feelings I had been having and the stories that I had been sharing were all a part of my WHY!

Great businesses don’t just do something… great business start with something a story that brought them to what it is and why it is they do what they do and that is why we are drawn to great businesses!  That is why they survive!

This is our WHY… why we get up and love what we do every day!  Why no matter what happens in the world of business, for me, I will always continue to pick up my camera and document children and families!

My WHY and my story didn’t just begin with photography!

If you have been following me for a while, you know my story actually began when I became a mom!  It began when I had my son Linc and it truly began 5 weeks later when my perfect world of motherhood came crashing down and someone flicked off that light switch of motherhood bliss and post partum depression set in!  I shared that story in a long blog post series which you can read all about over here in where my real story begins…

I actually didn’t truly find my place with photography until I learned what it meant to truly need those photographs, what it meant to hold on to those photographs as physical reminders that life (no matter what is happening in life) is truly and absolutely beautiful for what it is!

I realized that those places and in those times and those moments where my story might not have been perfect or as put together as I thought it should have been was actually truly and amazingly breath taking in it’s own way!

During those times when my story was rough, I kept my camera working on over drive!  I would print off those pictures of our family playing in the mud, combing the beach for treasures or sitting and rocking in the quiet hours!  I would place them all around our house (some in frames or even just taped to the walls)!  I placed them where I could just walk by and see our lives reflected back to us and remember that everything we have is to be appreciated!

THIS is where I learned that even in the mess and even in the chaos… life is beautiful!  Life is breath taking when we laugh and smile!  It’s captivating when we embrace and savor the tender moments!

It is heart achingly lovely in those moments when it is still and that every day our real moments will always be better than those that are trying for perfection!

THIS is what my heart was trying to tell me a few evenings before I left for Creative at Heart, I just couldn’t find the words to express it!

So among a few hundred friends, during a speech about Branding with Bonnie from B is for Bonnie Designs as she was speaking about how our why unveils our authenticity and how our why connects us to our clients… I began to cry! Yep… in the front row, tears about branding!

I realized right there that I don’t love photography because of the beautiful images… I love photography because of the MOM’S !!!!  ( I do of course, also get excited about beautiful images)

I connect with it on such a deeper level because I want to show my mom’s who come to me what an amazing gift they have… what an amazing gift they are giving to their children… themselves!

I am a mom who needed to see for myself that I didn’t have to be perfect… I didn’t have to have the perfect schedule, the perfect snacks and the perfect activities to provide the perfect environment for my children!  I am a mom who didn’t have to BE perfect with the perfect hair and the perfect outfit and the perfect make up to provide the perfect LOVE for my child!  I just needed to be me… real and raw and ME!  And everyday when I walk in my house and see just me with no make up on in these beautifully candid images all around my house, I am validated that I can show Linc what an amazing love we have together full of adventure and fun and whimsy!

That is the gift I want to give to all the mom’s I can… Real moments, Raw moments that show them who they are is absolutely beautiful!

REAL IS BETTER THAN PERFECT!

It has become my tag line and it it something I truly live and breathe!

So what does this mean you might ask!!!

• I am inspired by moms!  I am inspired by YOU!  Real moms… every day moms!  Mom’s who wake up and aren’t able to shower all day long because you are too busy taking care of your children!  Mom’s who are able to work full time jobs and then come home and take care of their family and yet still find time to take care of themselves.. AMAZING!  I am just inspired by MOMS!
• Community for moms and women just needs to happen!  We are so much alike in some ways that we need to lift one another UP!  There is an enormous amount of pressure on us from all areas so we should be in a community with one another to support each other, say kind things to one another and love one another
• I believe our true beauty really comes from ability to unconditionally and selflessly love all the time!

 

Now that you know a little about me, my story and my why… here’s what you can expect…

You can expect me to always serve my mom’s 100 percent!  To always walk the walk of real is better than perfect!  You can expect me to want to understand YOUR story and find out your very own why behind your family and what your family believes in with all it’s heart!

You can expect me to provide you with an experience that will be FUN and playful!  You can expect images that will be real, endearing and raw!

More importantly mom’s… you can expect me to be all for you!