Welcome to Faith Harbour Photography's official rebrand!

Getting to know my story..

Now that we are in the full swing of the new year, it is time to reintroduce myself and let you know about all the fantastic, new and exciting things that FHP has in store for you in 2023!

Where it all began....

I didn't always know that I was going to be a photographer, in fact I was in college to do something completely different. Most of my high school years were spent prepping for the career I thought I wanted, Pharmacist. I love science and math and my mom was working at a pharmacy for most of the time I was in school. It was something that I knew was a good career, something that paid well, but I never realized until about 5 years ago, that it wasn't really my dream.

It was 2014 when I graduated high school, I had decided to go to a technical college to get my core classes done and then hopefully apply to pharmacy school once I had all the credits I needed. My now husband and I had been together already for 3 years before we moved to Madison together, we were on our own and things were seeming to go smoothly as I headed off to college. The years went by, (it took me about 4 to finish all the classes I needed.) Things got harder in school, the classes workloads were heavy, Organic chemistry, calculus, and a few others. I had started working at a pharmacy as a tech to get the expierience that I needed to be a pharmacist. This is when things started to get pretty dark for me.

I didn't know until I started to fall into a bad spot that for a long time I had been suffering with anxiety and depression. There were signs that I had been going through this for awhile, but I never really took notice until my last year of college when I applied to pharmacy school. I started spending a lot of time alone, ignoring loved ones, getting angry and overeating. I would come home from work and school and just cry about how hard it was. I wasn't happy, and I was starting to figure out that something needed to change. I got into pharmacy school, at the school I wanted to go to! I passed my entrance exam, nailed the interview, I thought I was excited. I ended up having to retake a class because I failed it while struggling with my depression. I needed this class to be able to continue on to pharmacy school. I started to realize while I was retaking this class, that my heart just wasn't in it anymore.

My breaking point

As I continued to push on through this chemistry class that I needed to be able to attend pharmacy school, things just kept getting harder in my life. I was starting to hate working at the pharmacy, the people were rude, the hours sucked and it was a lot of work that really didn't bring me any joy. My husband was also going through some health issues at the time so it was hard for me to concetrate on anything that wasn't him. My anxiety was so high all the time, I started going to the doctor and doing therapy sessions, but I still didn't feel like I was 100% myself.

When I realized the second time that I was not going to pass this class I had to take some time to rethink. Not only was I not going to pass this class, but I was realizing that I didn't really want to pass it. I didn't want to go to pharmacy school anymore. Being a pharmacist, was not the dream I wanted. It was the dream I thought I wanted because of the ideas that had been put in my head by my parents, society and whoever else I listened to when it came to planning for the future. I sat down with my husband and ultimately decided that this wasn't the career that I wanted to spend the rest of my life on. I needed to do something that made me happy, something that I would enjoy.

I ended up dropping out of pharmacy school before I even started, telling them that it just wasn't what I wanted to pursue anymore. I took a semester off, really did some thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. I still didn't really have a clue after this semester off, so I just decided to get a quick associate's degree in Business management, since I knew that no matter what I did, that would be a decent degree to have under my belt. My husband and I went through some more hardships, he was still sick, he wasn't able to work much, and we were about to lose our roommates. During this time we decided it would be best for us to move back to my hometown and back in with my parents. It wasn't ideal in the slightest, but I am forever grateful that they offered us a place that we could stay while we tried to figure our lives out.

My husband and I got married in 2019, I still worked at a pharmacy and I was commuting to Madison everyday for it. Some unforseen circumstances happened after we returned from our honeymoon and I ended up losing that job. Things weren't going great, I was still trying to figure out what I was going to do. I then started working for my local Kwik Trip in early 2020, my anxiety and depression at an all time high. I didn't know what I was doing with my life and I constantly felt like I was going backwards in my life. I wasn't anywhere near where I wanted to be at 24 years old. I started to think about what kinds of things I loved to do, what made me happy, what I could pursue as a career. Photography had always been something that I had enjoyed, I already had a nice camera because I loved taking travel and landscape photos already. I started to think, maybe this is something that I could do....and the rest is history!

Where I am now...

Now in 2023 I have grown my business so far beyond what I had ever imagined I would do in less than 3 years. And for a lot of that I have Kwik Trip to thank.

When I started at KT in 2020 I was lost, depressed, angry and a lot of other emotions. I didn't enjoy it there, it made me anxious, I felt like I was just going through the motions for so long. Then finally one day my attitude changed. I got on the right medication(after about 4 tries), changed my outlook on life and really started to buckle down on starting my photography business. I had my first paid session in late 2020! I know that all the Wisconsinites out there reading this blog understand what Kwik Trip means to a lot of the midwest, and I'm sure plenty of the employees would agree with me when I say that this company changed my life.

And not just because it is an amazing company to work for, with amazing benefits and amazing food ;)

But also because of the team at my store. My leader was so helpful with me when I started my business, they were flexible, encouraging and supportive. She pushed me not only to strive at Kwik Trip, but in my photography as well. I never thought when I started working there, that I would ever grow in the company to become any sort of leader, but I have since been promoted twice in the 3 years that I have worked there. I have grown as a person and as a business owner, all thanks to the love and support that I have recieved from working at KT. My coworkers are like a 2nd family and I can thank one of them for being one of the first weddings that I did on my own.

Now in 2023 I have shot 6 weddings, have 8 more booked for this year and I am continuing to rock this photography business thing!

What the future holds(My mission)

My business continues to grow in more ways than I ever could have imagined. I am so excited for everything that my future holds, and can't wait to go on many many more adventures as a photographer. Most important of all I hope to continue to serve all of my clients as much as I can and give them the ultimate photography experience. My biggest goal is to create lasting memories and give my clients amazing images that they can cherish for the rest of their lives. I love, love. Creating the magical moments that are captured with my photography is one of the most rewarding things that I have done in my entire life. I can't wait to continue to share my journey with you and to bring you along for the ride in all the adventures I have planned for this year.

Coming in 2023:

New website look

Styled shoots

Contests

Wedding content

And much much more!!!

This is me! <3

Thanks to my amazing hubby for taking these awesome images of me <3