COLLEGE DROPOUT WITH A CAMERA AND SOME BIG DREAMS

Hey there! Thank you for being here. I wanted to start these journal posts off with a little intro about myself so you can meet the author behind the posts that will follow.

I’m from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where I grew up with my parents and 3 older sisters, as well as 5 little boys I consider to be my younger brothers that I nannied for most of my young adult life.

some of the sisters

Growing up it was hard for me to feel like I fit in. I never enjoyed activities or sports, and Lord knows my mom tried to help me make friends and join activities, but I was pretty stubborn. I just never liked anything. I would always prefer to stay home and create something. Whether it be a dollhouse out of shoeboxes, or design outfits with paper cutouts, that was my happy place. When most of my friends would be at dance practice or soccer I was at home designing houses for my dolls and making new outfits for them.

Then one day when I was 14, my mom came home with this big shiny (wasn’t actually shiny, but to me it was) camera. She wanted to use it for capturing moments at home of the family. Unfortunately for her, and fortunately for me, she didn’t realize how complex it was to use and she couldn’t return it because the store had gone out of business. This sparked a new interest in me and immediately I was taking pictures of everything. Friends, decorations, my dogs, flowers in the yard, you name it, I was taking pictures of it. Little did I know that I was on a path towards my dream career.

Early on in my photography journey

When it came time for me to choose a college I never felt like there was a right decision. My dream school was Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, but I wasn’t about to spend $200,000 on a photography degree. I loved the idea of college, but it didn’t feel right for my career path. I felt very conflicted and I felt a ton of pressure to do the conventional college “thing” even though it didn’t feel right for me. So I chose to go to the local school that offered me a pretty big scholarship and give college a try. I liked my classes for the most part and I was doing well in school with all A’s. throughout high school I was lucky enough to work with some of the most successful wedding photographers in the state. so much i’ve learned about photography and running a business I accredit to them. so when it came time for me to decide what to do about college, I spoke with my mentors and decided to not worry about what society would think. I chose to do what my gut was telling me. I dropped out of college and pursued my photography career in the city I fell in love with.

the day I moved to nashville

I think “college dropout” always had such a negative connotation with it which is why I want to say, yes I dropped out of college and that’s okay!. I wish the world would stop putting so much pressure on teenagers into making such crucial life decisions. At age 17 or 18 you’re expected to know exactly what YOU’re going to do with the rest of your life And have enough confidence in that decision to then spend the next 30 years in debt from that decision you were rushed to make as a teenager. I think college is fantastic and a wise decision for a lot of people. However, I wish it wasn’t the only socially acceptable life path. there is not one path to success. And success can look different to a lot of people. success can be a stay at home mom with 5 children. success can be a multimillion dollar company led by a bachelor. Success can involve college and it can involve jumping straight into work after graduating high school. Success might look like taking a gap year and traveling. This is a good thing! Thank God for the variety of people and opinions and desires that we have. Without that life would be so dull.

I am blessed to have parents that supported me in my entrepreneurship, but I know it took them a little while to come around to the idea of me not getting a degree.

Eventually I just had to decide to do what I believed to be best for myself. And now to date I’ve done a little over 800 photoshoots all over the country and just had my most profitable year since I started this journey 7 short years ago. I still have A LOT of work to do in growing my business and learning as I go along, but I am so thankful for the confidence I had in taking the unconventional career path and for those that encouraged and supported me along the way to take the jump into doing photography full-time.