April 1st began a series that will allow me to be transparent about the people that have influenced my personal and professional growth.  When I look at where I have achieved success, I can honestly say that I never did it alone.  There was always someone there that believed in me, motivated me, encouraged me, or pushed me to continue.  This series is dedicated to those people!

“If you admire somebody, you should go ahead and tell them. People never get the flowers while they can still smell them.” ― Kanye West

DAY 11: LACOYA HEGGIE (HELLO LOVE EVENTS)

It’s amazing how God has placed certain people in my life to help me grow- professionally and spiritually.  I don’t even know where to begin with my relationship with Lacoya Heggie of Hello Love Events.  This is the one individual that has seen so much transformation in my life over the past few years and the one that encouraged me to move forward with “Watermarks on my Soul” after I talked myself out of doing it several times.

Being totally transparent right now, many people don’t know that I have a very introverted side.  I love being around friends and family but I also love decompressing alone in quiet places.  It’s in these quiet times that I hear best from God, so I make no apologies for this side.  Sometimes I wish I knew why I was this way, but with Lacoya I don’t have to explain.  She truly gets me.  At networking events or places where I don’t know people, I try and put myself in Lacoya’s shoes.  She’s very outgoing and has become my sounding board for life.  She is one of the few people that I talk to daily!  We talk about business, we talk about life and we talk about how to better our walk with Christ.  I have a few people that I can be totally open with and Lacoya is one.

When it comes to my photography business, Lacoya is the first person I seek feedback from, which is crazy because she is not a photographer she’s an event planner, but over the years she has developed a true appreciation for photography.  Lacoya is the one person that will scream from the rooftops on my behalf but she will also tell me privately if she didn’t like something about my work, which forces me to improve because I know she is watching.

Lacoya rebranded her business recently and I was there for each step of the process seeing pieces of the process.  I was so extremely proud of her launch of Hello Love Events because she is just as passionate about event planning and design that I am about photography and sometimes it’s hard to make others understand.

Lacoya and I met a few years ago when we were working out together (*cough cough- where have you been Lacoya?).  During this time she was an excited bride-to-be and she asked if I would be her wedding photographer. That meant the world to me that she trusted me with a very important day in her life.  Her wedding was another one that my dad shot with me and as my dad and I drove to Georgia for her day, my dad made the comment “You’re very nice to drive this far for her” and I responded “She is my friend and I would have been here regardless”.

A year and a half ago, Lacoya planned and executed a large scale styled shoot at a local wedding venue and asked me to be the featured photographer.  Because of her, my work has been featured on numerous wedding blogs and print publications. Thank you so much for some awesome exposure, Lacoya!  Below are a few images from that shoot.

For my brides that are in need of a wedding planner, Lacoya (Hello Love Events) is one of the first people I would recommend because she has a talented eye that can bring anyone’s vision to life.  Lacoya, I’m am looking forward to working with you on your next big project!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening to my wild ideas, for helping me bring my shoot ideas to life, for taking care of my brides, for challenging me to be a better person and photographer, for not always telling me what I want to hear, for being so bubbly every time we chat and for keeping a positive outlook when people were not always on your side.  I can’t wait to see where God takes you and your business!  Love you to infinity!!!!

• Watermarks on my Soul : The Why
• Watermarks on my Soul : Day 1 – My Parents
• Watermarks on my Soul : Day 2- Rae Images
• Watermarks on my Soul : Day 3 – Quad and Keisha Smith
• Watermarks on my Soul: Day 4- Laura Huntley Photography
• Watermarks on my Soul: Day 5- Mark Baskin
• Watermarks on my Soul: Day 6 – Andre Dalton
• Watermarks on my Soul: Day 7 – Leroy Walker, Jr.
• Watermarks on my Soul: Day 8 – The Champions
• Watermarks on my Soul: Day 9- The Woolfolks
• Watermarks on my Soul: Day 10- Abby Grace