About me
How did a shy, self-conscious and somewhat scatty teenager end up a full-time business owner who helps other businesswomen SHOW UP for themselves, their customers and stop from hiding behind their brands ?
I wasn't always like this
If you've met me at any point in the last decade, you may think of me as outgoing, authentic, friendly and vibrant.
But the truth is that as soon as I was old enough to be aware of what other people thought of me, I worried about it.
This anxiety manifested itself in lots of ways, including people-pleasing and body confidence issues that I'm still working my way through today.
However, I think I've managed to turn that into a bit of a superpower. But I'll come back to that.
Let's rewind
My Story
01.
I wanted to be a vet when I was really young, then when I realised I couldn't put animals down, I thought primary teaching was the path for me.
02.
As I moved through high school, I lost the desire to teach and decided that I wanted to help people with their mental health, so I applied to do Psychology at Glasgow uni.
03.
What no one told me though, was that a psychology degree wouldn't really qualify me to do jack sh*t. I'd have to study for potentially another 5+ years (if I even got in) to get a doctorate. I was done with studying... or so I thought.
04.
A year later I was back on the teaching bandwagon and got my PDGE in primary education. However, my probationary year didn't go to plan and I ended up out of the career path that I was sure was for me.
05.
I started taking pictures with my new DSLR as I moved around some education and childcare-related jobs. I realised that all my joy was coming from photography and that my 'job' was sucking the life out of me.
So I took the leap
With the support of my wonderful husband, I decided to do photography full time and turn my passion into a business
I was asked by a friend very early on in my journey to photograph a small wedding in Glasgow City Chambers.
This scared the bejesus out of me but it gave me the wedding bug and I officially became a "Wedding Photographer" even though it felt weird saying it at the time.
Then, when the opportunity presented itself to work halfway across the world, we grabbed it!
In 2017 we moved to Dubai!
In Dubai, Weddings seemed a little more difficult to break into. So I started attending business networking events.
I quickly realised that the amazing women I met at these events were hiding behind their logos and products, and were terrified of putting their faces out there in anything other than a quick selfie on their stories.
And so, My 'Image Collective' Brand Packages were born
I made it my mission to help businesswomen get comfortable on camera and feel confident sharing professional images with the world.
I was incredibly lucky to build up a wonderful client base of incredible women who loved my work.
For just over 5 years, we lived an amazing life in Dubai.
We made great friends, travelled, worked hard and enjoyed everything the city has to offer.
But eventually...
It was time to go home
Since coming back to the UK in 2023, I've managed to build great connections and find amazing clients who value my expertise and love what I do.
Now
In addition to working with fab people and businesses all over Scotland, I'm incredibly lucky to be able to travel around the world doing what I love.
Female Fusion, the networking group I joined in it's infancy in Dubai, has now expanded globally and so I travel to London every 2 months to shoot their events.
I travel back to Dubai 2x per year to work with all my loyal clients who invest in their brand photos regularly.
I've also had the pleasure of shooting business retreats in Mykonos and Tuscany.
What about the superpower?
That's right. Remember I mentioned that being a shy, anxious teen with body confidence issues and people-pleasing tendencies helped me develop a superpower?
Well, I truly believe that starting out in life:
being fearful of what others thought
but then growing into:
someone who has lived a full life, travelled, met a huge variety of people and worked with hundreds of women
has given me a unique perspective that helps me really understand my clients. I want to know the things you worry about so that I can take those worries away. I want to make you feel your best because I know how much it sucks when you don't. Truly, I want to show you the amazing person that everyone else sees, because life is too short to hide.
If I've learned anything in life, it's that joy and happiness are paramount. So I try to bring a little bit of that with me wherever I go.
