For a long time this was my personal blog. But you know what I love writing about more than my personal life (except everything)? Business.

So this blog is now a place where I will put down the lessons and struggles of building a creative business from the ground up. Please chime in along the way.

nice to meet you

A little history about me:

I was born and raised in the beautiful, rainy, and small town of Shelton, Washington along with my older brother and sister. I dropped out of high school after my junior year, got married when I was seventeen, and moved to Canada. After two years in an even smaller, more beautiful and rainy town called Port Alice, B.C., my husband and I got divorced and I moved back home.

I first became aware of my love for photography when I was fourteen. I would previsuize photos I wanted to take and would often make my friends pose for me. My mom bought me a Canon Rebel XT for my sixteenth birthday, and I drug that thing around with me to every concert, play, party, car trip... I was in love. I especially loved taking pictures of my niece and nephew, who were just toddlers at the time. It was those two who first sparked my interest in taking my photography to the next level.

After I moved to Canada I had a lot of free time on my hands and would spend hours (I mean like, A LOT of hours) researching how to use my camera, exposure, lighting, gear, and any tools that professionals had to offer. I started saving for the new gear I wanted, enrolled in an online course, and started shooting portraits of my friends and family.

After I moved home in September 2010, I met Charlie, who would soon become my best friend and the love of my life. Whenever I was shooting, he always wanted to shoot with my Rebel along side me, so one day I sat him down and taught him the basics of the camera and exposure. With that knowledge he took off and it was appearent to me that he was the business partner I had been needing all along. The area's I lacked in (posing, thinking outside of the box, being close and personal with my couples), Charlie exceled in. We started our business, Have Heart Photography, in July 2011 and haven't looked back yet.

You can view our photography work here.

Aside from photography I am also a student at Central Washington University, studying Business Administration. I am very passionate about the business side of things, and I plan to be an entreprenuer for the rest of my life ;)