08/07/2026
Backstory! In 2014 my first studio lease was up and I needed a new space so I moved into a new studio right around the corner… and I was VERY pregnant! At the time I was working corporate America as a recruiter for Shelter Insurance and still doing photography… also full-time… also very pregnant. When my daughter Lucy was born was right around the time I also lost my first studio lease due to the rent being triple at renewal and I just couldn’t do it. So I moved into a smaller space that was still so much more expensive - almost double what I was paying. I needed a plan!
At the time boutiques were really just becoming a big thing and I knew that I wanted to stay home with my daughter… so I could no longer travel for my corporate job! I told my husband when we secured a new space that I wanted to open up a boutique alongside my photography studio to supplement the income that I would be losing from leaving corporate America. And that’s just what I did… I started a boutique! I started a boutique AND ran my photography studio in less than 700 sq ft 🤯!
I used all my photography props inside that little store .. as jewelry displays, as storage, as racks - we used my chairs for racks on the wall… all kinds of fun things. It was a really tiny space but it was so cute. Oh how that boutique absolutely took off!
I ended up having to move into a new location within a year because we were SO busy… and all along I took my studio to my new location and continued to run my studio alongside it. My studio was in the back of my storefront for almost 6 years before I sold my bouquet but kept the building (time for a longer story, but I actually ended up buying the building that my original storefront was in and it included the building next-door)!
After selling my bouquet I kept my photography studio in the same building that I had my last location for Lucy couture (which ended up being literally right next-door from my original location).
Then when God opened more doors and we bought our farm, I was fortunate enough to build my dream studio there too.
I remember back in 2014 when my daughter was born all I wanted to do was do photography full-time and be home for every single thing with her. I prayed about it so much … and over the last 12 years My life has taken a lot of turns and lead me right where I am.
I opened up the boutique, fell in love with jewelry and clothing pretty quickly and since then, I’ve sold my boutique, moved my photography studio, opened up another clothing boutique and sold it, and now back into reselling jewelry … all still alongside continuing my nearly 2 decade photography career! It’s been such a fun ride and I’ve loved every second of it. I never imagine that nearly 20 years after I started my studio I would finally have an answered prayer that I prayed 12 years ago. I get to stay home with my kids, do photography, and dabble in reselling jewelry and clothing along the side. I absolutely love this life that God’s giving me. And all praise be to Christ Jesus for answering all of my prayers from so long ago!
So when I saw this bracelet, that’s nearly 10 to 11 years old… with the tags on it that I personally put on there, it was just so nostalgic!
That bracelet hung from a bicycle that was hanging from the ceiling in MY boutique / studio (our jewelry display). The very bicycle that I used for so many photography shoots (that is now a yard ornament in my parents yard)!
Sometimes when little things like this happen it’s like a little wink and nod to the life that I’ve built! So fun to see things come full circle
