I met Layne recently when she reached out for me to photograph the author headshot for her book cover (literally, the coolest thing ever). After we had had her session and were at our final meeting where we went over her photographs together, she mentioned that one of the things she connected with me about before we even met was the Inspired Chicago feature series. I'm always ridiculously happy to hear that a creative woman in Chicago feels like the series resonates with them, but to have an author tell me that my interview series was good almost made me faint - it's like sending a contract to a lawyer and them telling you you did a good job…
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There's been a short hiatus for the Inspired Chicago Feature Series over the last few months - I've taken time to think about how the feature highlights Chicago's entrepreneurial women, ways I can improve and widen the access to women who want to be interviewed, and how the feature will look going on from here. I'm happy to say not a whole lot has changed except for feeling a bit more clarity about Inspired Chicago - and what's better than clarity for creative entrepreneurs? What a way to bring back the feature than with this amazing interview with Leigh of Indigo & Violet Studio…
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If I could describe to you my dream photography session as an angsty teenager in Indiana, this would be it. When Layne first reached out to me about photographing her author headshots I just about lost my mind - Layne is an author and her debut book is a feminist psychological thriller set in the Chicago theater scene. I mean, seriously - could she be anymore kickass? We connected immediately over our love of moody portraits, our senses of humor and our shared love of the Chicago creative boss babe scene…
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For the past few weeks I've been working with the incredible Local Eclectic, an online jewelry store that features indie designers and is based in Chicago. I love getting to work with brands and businesses that have focuses that align with my own and they certainly do that - Local Eclectic works with emerging indie designers that pour their hearts into their work, providing gorgeous, small-run pieces that are well made and accessible…
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I met Hanna for the first time at Maison Parisienne (no, I don't know how to pronounce that) for coffee and immediately knew I liked her - she's one of those thoughtful people where you can see the cogs turning continuously in her head when she speaks to you, listening to your words and making connections that are wildly helpful and unique. She's seriously so smart and genuine...
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Nothing screams daughter of the year like a handmade gift you created for your mom, amiright? Well lucky for me I happened to be photographing an incredible, handmade dreamcatcher crafting event at Indigo & Violet Studio for The Glossary on the day I went home to visit my mom for her birthday. Stars aligned for this, y'all. Not only was this event a great coincidence in terms of birthday present gifting, it was also a super fun and creative way...
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I walked over to the middle of the cafeteria-style room to find Kat hidden behind bushels of flowers that she had brought for the styled shoot with my good friend Alisha who I was assisting that day. I bent down and started smelling the flowers and got to talking with the amazing woman behind the flower farm (yeah, it's a thing) in Illinois, called Wilrett Flower Co. If y'all aren't aware...
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Big arching antique windows overlooking River North set the mood for the location of Creative Women's Co. Chicago Retreat at the Freehand Hotel. A handful of laughing women were putting together swag bags full of goodies from local creatives to give the women coming in from out of town for the retreat. I was lucky enough to spend the weekend with those incredible women - seminars filled with talks about setting boundaries in your life and business by Heather Vickery of Vickery & Co., calligraphy sessions to learn how to express emotion through words led by...
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If you've seen The Office (which I have like 10 times) then you might remember the episode where Michael is meeting his replacement manager, Deangelo, at a bar. They end up sitting together talking for almost an hour and wondering where the person they're supposed to meet is, only to then realize they're meeting each other. Meeting Maya of Preoccupied Bride kinda started out like that...
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