SO, this is a bit of a personal post. I was diagnosed with depression. I battled with the title, but SEO (search engine optimization) and I want people to find this post and be encouraged.

Ya’ll may or may not know, but I had 4 children pretty close together. My first was born in 2017, my second was born in 2019 and my twins were born in 2020. Needless to say that I was pretty busy as a stay at home mom, who was also running a business. But I tried to continue living my life the way I had been prior to having babies. I literally flew to Jamaica to photograph a wedding the month after my second baby was born. And I felt good. I nailed that wedding! And I had a great year, businesswise, leading up to the birth of my twins. But then the ish hit the fan.

Diagnosed With Depression

In the midst of lock down, raising four babies and other things, everything caught up with me. I had nothing left to give. I felt like I had no one to turn to because EVERYONE was going through it. I started thinking about heaven more and more, and became content with the idea of going there soon. That’s when I decided that I needed to talk to someone who could diagnose me and put me on meds, if needed. Sure enough, after talking with them, I received a diagnosis of depression. Thus being eligible for meds. And while this may be triggering for some, for me it was a relief because the weight that I had on me was becoming too difficult to bear.

I was so down! But looking back, my lowest point is when I began to propel with almost a vengeance. I invested a few grand in a business coach for weddings. It was through working with her that I decided to leave weddings behind and go strictly into branding. Go figure. I spent all of this money just to be like, nah…this isn’t for me anymore. Weddings were a huge time and mental commitment. Being at the venue shooting all day, the pressure of getting everything right, then culling and editing after the wedding? Cutting weddings freed me up immensely.

I also rediscovered my love for roller skating. I decided that I was going to finally learn to skate backwards. So I bought a pair of skates and became obsessed. I went from struggling to skate backwards, to doing all kinds of dance moves on skates. My love for skating helped me shed all of the weight that I had put on, plus condition and tone my body. Skating also became a type of therapy for me. An outlet where I had a singular focus. Getting the move right.

My mindset changed. I no longer felt like a victim, but a woman who was in complete control of how she maneuvered in this life. I knew that I was no longer capable of staying at home with the kids. The idea of homeschooling them made me gag every time I thought of it. So my oldest began school last July, and the three amigos started daycare the following October.

Before, I was running my business on fumes. Relying on the systems that I had in place to work for me. And they were helpful. But I’ve reclaimed my time. I’m back. With a vengeance. I’ve joined a mastermind strictly for brand photographers. Being in this environment has helped to rekindle the fire that I had at the start of me going full time with personal brand photography. I’m on fire!

So if you’ve wondered where I’ve been for the past year, I’ve been getting my life. I’ve been making changes. I’ve been taking out the trash. I’ve been organizing. I’ve been learning about who I am as a mompreneur of four who has a propensity toward depressive episodes. I’ve been planting seeds in my garden. And most importantly, I’ve been discovering my purpose which is, my reason to live.

Now, here is the obligatory tag line for SEO purposes. Click here to learn about how I can help you reignite that fire in your business.

Thanks for reading this oh so personal post until the end. XOXO