Equally daunting and rewarding, self portraiture has both intrigued and challenged me throughout the years. I have found the practice to hold limitless potential for creativity and expression, yet also cause a great deal of frustration. Still, I'm repeatedly drawn in by my excitement for the unexpected.

So you have been thinking about a sassy sexy boudoir session and you keep waiting for the right occasion. You're excited by the idea of it, but also SUPER nervous.

Let us dispel some common worries for you…

Alchemy in action is achievable! And so much magic and manifestation has occurred for me personally and professionally this year.

For a handful of years now my New Year’s practice has been to choose a word of the year. I’ve chosen words like Brave. Expansive. Dream.

In 2018 I started a new practice: The 365 Project. (Click to see 2018’s results.) An assignment for myself to shoot (at least) one photo everyday. It wound up being a beast of a creative and logistical endeavor - so much editing! - so when 2019 rolled around I took a year off.

January 2020, at my daughter’s urging, I picked the 365 Project back up. I thought it might be a challenge, but it couldn’t be any harder than my inaugural project, right?

As a small business owner, I’m not immune to hustle culture. Each year I’m told I need to book more clients. Post more content. Earn more money. Be grateful, yes. Be happy, please. But desire more. Do more. Be MORE.

I found myself thinking. “I am truly grateful for everything I have. Wait, I have enough.” And that led me to softly reclaim the perennial refrain:

“I am enough.”

In this podcast we listen to two very different stories of how Covid-19 played out in their lives and with their loved ones.

In this podcast we hear the voices of 17 people (plus my own) telling their stories of the pandemic world they live in. What are they doing? What are they thinking or feeling? What are they binge watching, eating, working on, what thing have they found that they do that has surprised them? Do you hear yourself in these voices?

How did Megan become a coach and a leader? How did she come up with the idea for Rockstar Camp? What were her motivations and what was the path that brought her here. I know that there is always interesting stories to hear when we ask about them. Her story is fascinating and insightful and a real inspiration for those who may still be wondering what they are going to do when they grow up. Sometimes the answers to what we want to do seem clear and then they aren’t. Then they seem clear again. Then they aren’t again. Life is funny that way. Cheers to discipline and perseverance and being scrappy! All of which Megan Jo talks about in this show.

How is your ‘new normal’ going? Mine is weird for sure. Some days are good, the sun is out, I get exercise, play with Charlie, make a delicious dinner and feel good and hopeful. Other days everything feels so heartbreakingly sad.

How is your inner critic treating you? Feeling like you "should" be creating-producing-enjoying-delivering-parenting-teaching-working-loving better? (Yeah I struggle with all that too)

Our voices are one of the things that connects us to each other. Sharing our stories helps us feel less alone. I realize that each of us is individually experiencing this time in our own unique way while collectively there are similarities. Record your story into a voice memo app or other recording device and send it to me!

We’re so confident you’ll love your gallery of images, that any professional portrait session* booked and paid for during the month of March will include an additional image at no cost to you!

(*No Saturday sessions offered. Valid on any professional portrait option - Headshot, Radiance, or Personal Branding - booked and paid for prior to April 1st. Please inquire with any questions.)

“The first headshots were so good and there was such a high level of trust after that first session, it was a no brainer to come back and get a wider variety of shots to use across our materials. We were not disappointed to say the least!”

Often when I talk to women about their stories it is only now in the looking back that we are able to see the lessons that we learned. This story is one of those. A time of deep learning, that when it was happening felt unbearable. Mary just had no idea how she could make it through all the grief she was sitting with at that fateful period of time in 2005. She speaks now with a voice of clarity and wisdom from all that she learned back then. The ways that it shaped her life moving forward and how she got to now - in a whole new life she would never have imagined then. 

In this podcast we listen to multiple voices from women telling their stories of vulnerability or power about their hair, how a hair cut changed their life, what other people thought about it, changes that came over time or abruptly, that impacted their life and how they felt about themselves.

What better for a family session than the cutest happiest ever toddler and Maine’s best bright foliage backdrop?!!? Groutfits!! Yup you read that right - this personal family inside joke turned into an idea they wanted to capture and keep. Because the family that laughs together, wins!!

What does it mean to truly listen to what another person says even when you know it will oppose your own beliefs? Especially when we are talking about belief systems. How do you learn from it? How does really listening change you?

More and more, I crave that intimacy. The raw, the real, the unrehearsed. I know I’m not alone in that desire. We spend so much time trying to achieve, accomplish, amass. We’re striving to meet standards - set by ourselves or society - and this often results in negative feelings. We judge ourselves harshly, we feel rushed and overwhelmed by life, and are often disconnected to our sense of self. The real work, I believe, in this lifetime, is to reconnect with our soul. To live from a place of integrity and hope.

Jessica is an amazingly loving happy person who also has Trichotillomania, which is a hair pulling disorder. She has battled it since she was 10 years old. Her anxiety and a belief that she would never be 'enough' was pervasive growing up and as she got older it led her to drinking to self medicate. Then there was a fateful night when her whole life was forever changed. She was drugged at a bar and kidnapped. She survived this horrible experience, but it left it's mark deeply on someone who already dealt with anxiety daily. Trying to come out from under the PTSD that she now had was an even bigger battle.

Jessica tells us a remarkable story about how she came to finally began to take her confidence and her life back through EMDR work, what the voices in your head tell you versus the truth that you have to keep telling yourself, and how every day she still works hard to believe the real truths about herself.

People are flooded with images everyday and they are making fast judgments about them. Do you want to make a statement that is clear and concise about who you are and what you stand for? Do you know how to do that? Portraiture is more than just posing and good lighting. I’m here to help you convey exactly the message you want to - and I’ll help you hone in on that message if you assistance with that, too.

In this episode you will hear what happens when we re-write our story. Elizabeth tells us about how she learned that she has the choice of choosing love over fear everyday.

Our stories can be healing if we allow ourselves to see that transformation can happen when we choose to rewrite our own stories and learn from them instead of continuing to let them hold us back. Not an easy task, but something that can change our life for the better!