Sometimes God brings opportunities into your life that you never imagined possible. In fact, it still feels a little crazy recapping this… I’m sitting here thinking, Did that seriously happen?! But let me back up a bit and explain the whole story first… ;)

I was in DR this summer for a missions trip for nine days — the entire time without wifi or access to my email. :) At the end of the trip, when I was able to log on, the emails started pouring in to my inbox from my nine days of inactivity. And that’s when something caught my eye… a message from a Stacey Hammarberg, inquiring about the possibility of me offering a mentoring session. And not just that… it was the sweetest, most encouraging and trusting email EVER.

You see, other photographers have poured into and invested in me throughout the years in ways I can’t even explain and I would not be where I am today without them. :) So when this opportunity to give back and do the same for someone else came up? I was THRILLED! It’s just amazing how opportunities like this were something I’d been praying for, and God brought the perfect person into my life to have the amazing privilege of personally investing in. What an honor!

Stacey and I met this past weekend at her cute home near Elizabethtown. Ever since her own wedding last year, she’s been digging into photography and has built an amazing foundation for her business so far! This mentoring session was just an opportunity for Stacey and I to sit down and talk about the ways she could propel her business forward. She could ask ANYTHING. Seriously, I’m an open book. We talked for hours and hours about marketing, branding, business management, client relations, lighting, wedding days… you NAME it! By the time we were through, she’d scribbled down NINE FULL PAGES of notes! Apparently I can talk! ;) Ha! After the mentoring portion of the afternoon was over, we headed out to shoot some new head shots for her! Then we came back in for a bit more to talk through my editing process where I SHOWED her step by step my workflow with her head shots we had just shot as the example. ;)

We dreamed about what Stacey Lynn Photography could look like in the coming years and wrote down specific goals and “action items” that she’ll be working on knocking off her to-do list in the next few weeks and months in order to be one step closer to those dreams! Whew! It was such an amazing day and I’m so excited for this girl and all that’s in store for her business!! Having the opportunity to help Stacey grow and expand her business was an amazing privilege for me. This girl has so much awaiting her and it was incredible to be a part of the next step of her business growth! Enjoy some of her head shots and have an amazing Thursday!!

Had to include this last little iPhone picture of the two of as at the end of the night. :) Xoxo!!