![]() Hey y’all! Year after year I keep saying, THIS is the year that I am going to start blogging. The year comes and goes and the Blog stays, well unblogged, completely untouched and all the memories and funny moments left to be just that, memories. With that being said, THIS is the year! This is the first official blog post and what better topic than a get to know Ashlie post. I have taken many workshops and conferences that say remember that your about you really quite frankly is nothing about you and is everything about your client and what you can do for them. Personally, I say screw that because it’s not all about what I can give you but more so how we can click and jive as a team to create awesomeness! Truth be told I’ve had people not book me because of my personality and I am one hundred thousand percent okay with that. I will always be one hundred percent unapologetically ME. I’m guessing by this point you might be wondering okay, okay so what make you so different from every other joe blow with a camera. Well, quite frankly I am raw! I love unconditionally and wholeheartedly. Everything I do is done with passion, and more often than not, I often forget that it is usually a good idea to walk before I run. I am a free spirit personality, who loves nothing more than to have fun and look for ways I can help and give back. How can I leave the world a better place than when I arrived? I do this through my career, through photography! I specialize in three main areas but that’s not to say that I will not photograph other things. My three specialties are High School seniors, typically girls but not exclusively, Couples and Boudoir (men, women and couples). In an effort for you to better get to know me I am going to break each one of these down for you as to why I specialize in these areas. I’m willing to bet by the end of this you will feel like we have known each other for years. So for starters, High School seniors, boy that’s a good one. Well, that’s actually a crazy one! More often than not I get comments such as “Ugh, I don’t know how you do it. So much drama” “Teens these days are so disrespectful. Wouldn’t children be more fun?”, “How do you manage to stay sane working with that many teenage girls? So much drama, hormones, shallowness etc.”. Truth be told, I LOVE this age group!! I could never imagine a world where I did not work with this age group. I get to help shape the way these girls act and treat each other for years to come. Why do I have a passion for this? Because I’ve lived that life already. I’ve been the least popular girl, the one who was bullied for dressing differently. Mind you differently was dressing country in California. I was the tallest in my class so of course that was another negative thing in middle school. HELLO….super models are freaking tall as crap! However, at the preteen/teenage years they are not thinking about that so it wasn’t a factor that made me cool or popular. I was and still am a VERY outspoken person. This brought me the number three spot on a shooting hit list my freshman year of high school. Not a fun this to experience in anyway. To know that someone disliked me so much because I was different that they would rather see me dead is a thought that never leaves me. I was a cheerleader, STILL NOT POPULAR, ironic though because cheerleaders are the popular ones, right? Wrong, not every cheerleader is popular! Working with this age group I help the girls that I work with to realize that stereotyping is 99.9% of the time wrong! In the spring of 2018, I started signing 2018 seniors for my revamped VIP Team. It is a team that is designed to bring girls together from all different walks of life on one team without stereotyping. The first year was full of learning for sure but they helped me grow as a person. Come spring of 2019 we had our VIP Team for 2020 Senior’s and 2020 Junior Ambassadors and they all could come from different walks of life. We meet once a month for themed photo shoots, events and other fun things. I get to help mentor these girls as they work on the creation of the SAP Project. The SAP Project is a Suicide Awareness & Prevention Project created by these girls. It will be the legacy that we will keep going with the future ambassador and VIP teams. It shows them that while they are all from different walks of life they all have things in common; they all have their own struggles and triumphs. I am passionate about my girls because I get to watch them grow into young adults. I get to watch and help them grow, and when they leave, they always take a piece of my heart with them and forever have a special place in my heart. I love unconditionally and with all my being. I used to think of it as a fault because I would get emotionally invested, but then I realized it's not a downfall, it’s a strength that some may never know. A special ability to be able to connect with this age group on a different level because they don’t view me as THAT ADULT. I get to be a support system for some, a shoulder to lean on, a listening ear and a voice of reason. A safe place if they ever feel like, in our overwhelming world, they don’t have one to call their own. Basically, if I’m going off the workshops version of my about me being about what I can do for or offer you or your senior. The answer is most honestly answered by simply saying me, that’s what I have to offer you! My unwavering devotion to each of these kids I get to work with to know that they have someone in their corner, someone to adventure with, someone to support their dreams and goals, someone to push them to succeed, and someone to be a listening ear if they ever need it. It today’s world, it takes a village people, it takes a village and I am always honored when I get to be part of your village and have an impact on the life of your child. |
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