08/17/2026
Some time this week my mind will inevitably wander back to this set of images and how inspired they make me 🍃🫐
I don’t tend to write long, sappy captions, but I feel like this one calls for it.
Late last year/early this year, I did an in-person mentorship with Grace Mae Photography | Family & Newborn | Bucks County PA to help me with my indoor work, and somewhere along the way I completely fell in love with storytelling photography. I felt like I was on a roll. My work was giving me so much joy, I felt like I was creating galleries I was genuinely proud of, and I was finally starting to see where I wanted my photography to go.
And then I got pregnant 🤯 *Cue 12 weeks of morning sickness*
I’m not going to pretend those 12 weeks didn’t affect me or my business, because they absolutely did. I felt mentally stuck. I didn’t feel inspired to put my work out there—or really put myself out there either. I started questioning where I wanted to go with photography and felt like I had lost a lot of the momentum I had worked so hard to build.
Then one day I was mindlessly scrolling on my phone and saw Dom post on her Instagram story that she was looking for a mentee to be part of an educational video in exchange for an in-person mentorship.
At first, I scrolled right past it because I have TERRIBLE luck with winning anything 😂 I literally thought, what are the odds she picks me?
And then I said f**k it—pardon my French—went back, and submitted my name. What did I have to lose?
Well, not to spoil the ending lol, but Dom chose me.
And I genuinely feel like it happened at exactly the time I needed it.
This was my second mentorship with Dom, and somehow, for the second time, she helped me find my groove again. I left feeling excited about photography, confident in what I was creating, and most importantly, clear about what I actually want.
And to any mom who owns a business and is currently in the thick of the early stages of motherhood, and you’re trying to build something of your own: it is still worth investing in yourself.
Thank you Grace Mae Photography | Family & Newborn | Bucks County PA for being what I needed and thank you Maddie | NJ Newborn + Family Photographer for modeling 🤍