Maine & NH Wedding Photographer | I Built This Business While Raising Chaos
If you see me now running a full-time photography business, living my little life, hanging with my kids and driving them everywhere like a full-time unpaid Uber driver, you might think it all came together pretty smoothly.
Yeah… no.
This business was built in the middle of absolute chaos.
It Started With Late Nights and Zero Free Time
When I first started my business, I was still working full time in healthcare.
So my days looked like this:
Work my office gig
Come home, feed everyone, handle the chaos (if they were still awake)
When I was lucky, put the kids to bed
Open my laptop and start editing
Rinse and repeat. Every. Single. Day.
My youngest was 2. My oldest had just started kindergarten.
So it wasn’t just “busy”, it was survival mode.
I’d stay up way too late editing, then drag myself out of bed early to get everyone ready and out the door again.
Weekends? Weddings.
Days off? Didn’t exist.
I was working seven days a week and honestly couldn’t even tell you how many hours I was putting in. It was just… all of them.
My Husband Deserves a Medal
Real talk…there’s no way I could’ve done this without my husband.
He stepped in wherever I needed him, picked up the slack when I was buried in work, and never once made me feel like I was chasing something unrealistic.
He just backed me. Fully.
And when you’re building something from nothing while raising kids, that kind of support isn’t just helpful, it’s everything.
The First “Okay… This Might Actually Work” Moment
Around 2017, I was finally able to drop down to part-time at my healthcare job.
And I remember thinking, holy shit… I have actual days off with my kids.
After years of grinding nonstop, that felt huge.
I had more time with my boys, more time to focus on my business, and proof that this thing I’d been building late at night was actually working.
But I still couldn’t fully let go of my office job.
Because let’s be honest, that job was security.
A guaranteed paycheck. Health insurance. Stability.
Walking away from that? Terrifying. It was my safety blanket.
Then 2020 Came in Like a Wrecking Ball
And suddenly, staying didn’t feel safe anymore either.
Working in healthcare during COVID was intense. Stressful in a way that’s hard to explain unless you were in it.
At the same time, I was home trying to help my 5 and 8 year old “remote learn”… which, if you know, you know.
It was chaos on top of chaos.
And I hit a point where something had to give, because I couldn’t keep doing everything halfway.
My kids needed more from me. I needed more from me.
So I made the call.
I Quit My Job… At the Worst Possible Time
I left my healthcare job in the middle of a global pandemic.
As a wedding photographer.
Yeah. Great timing, right?
Weddings were canceling, rescheduling, disappearing left and right. There was zero certainty. No guarantees.
Just a whole lot of “figure it out.”
So that’s what I did.
2020 Was Rough… But It Lit a Fire
I’m not going to sugarcoat it… 2020 sucked.
But by the end of that year, something shifted.
I had booked enough to see that this could actually sustain us. That this wasn’t just a side hustle anymore. it was real.
And then 2021 came in and basically said, “yeah, you’ve got this.”
That was the year it all clicked.
Then at the end of 2022, I opened my studio.
That was amazing.
Now? It Looks Different (Still Chaotic, Just in a Better Way)
Some years are incredible. Some are just okay.
That’s the reality of running a business.
But I make a living doing something I genuinely love.
And I get to be there for my kids, who are now teenagers (send help).
I can show up. I can drive them where they need to go. I can be part of their lives in a way I couldn’t when I was stretched way too thin.
And honestly? That’s the whole point.
I Would Do It All Again
Even the exhausting nights.
Even the uncertainty.
Even the “what the hell am I doing” moments.
Because this business didn’t just give me a career, it gave me freedom. It gave me time. It gave me a life that actually feels like mine.
And yeah… it was built in chaos.
But it was worth every second of it.
