Growing up, I was a cheerleader. Like, by the time I graduated high school I had dedicated half of my life to it. It was the only thing I ever stuck with...until I started photography.

The first time I remember doing "photography" was on a family trip to St. Thomas, USVI, when I was in middle school. My dad and I woke up early one morning and walked around our little villa taking photos of everything - from flowers to iguanas to the beach. Ever since then, he has told me I had an "eye" for photography, but I never believed him.

Fast forward to high school. Before my sophomore year started, my brother and I transferred schools. Journalism was a requirement, and although I had already taken a journalism class the year prior, the credit didn't transfer over - so I had to take it again. At the time, I thought this was a bummer. Luckily for me, my new school offered a photojournalism class, and since I hated writing, I thought that would be a better fit for me.

Throughout that year, I did what I could to pass the class. I did the bare minimum on my photo assignments and played games on the computer instead of paying attention. But somehow, my teacher still saw something in me. She encouraged me to join the yearbook staff, and from there I was hooked. During my last two years of high school I cheered and I took pictures. If you ask anyone I went to school with, that's all I did (besides work, I did that a lot too).

Once I graduated, I moved to Lubbock for college and left my family, and photography, behind. But one day during my freshman year at Texas Tech, my friends and I decided to do a spur of the moment photoshoot at a place called Ransom Canyon. After that, I was addicted to taking pictures again, and was constantly asking friends and family members to model for me.

From there, my business was created and here we are five years later! Being a photographer has helped me in so many ways. Through this journey, I have had the opportunity to meet the coolest people. I've been featured on photography apps, won scholarships, and been on the news. It's been a wild ride, and I'm lucky to be able to do what I love every day.

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