How We Went From Colleagues, to Best Friends, and now Business Partners
Colleagues
I still remember the day I met Brittany – It was a June day in 2021. I just moved to Indianapolis, IN from Louisville, KY with our former company. What I knew about her immediately was that she was a hardworking, go-getting kind of lady. She was client focused and needed to understand the operational reason as to why we were doing something. She also had very little to say, which honestly looking back is so funny as she is the one who knows all of my secrets, who I laugh with, and gets to see me at my best and my worst.
I walked into our break room one day and saw that Brittany was going through what looked to be a photo gallery. Being the unrelenting leader that I was in that season, desperate for connection, I asked entirely too many questions and realized that I had a connection point.
Skip three months to September, and Brittany was promoted. If you have never been in retail, let me tell you that some days people are just mean. Brittany had a day where everyone was just unfriendly, and at the end of the evening I scooped her up. Some days you just need to cry and this was definitely that evening. As we were walking to our cars Brittany’s tears on my shirt, a small, soft baby rabbit hopped right in front of us. We screamed, “BUNNY!” at the same time and both laughed. If you ask me, that was the start of our friendship.
Best Friends
In April of the following year, I had to leave my job due to a newly developed condition. I needed some time to heal and let my brain calm down from everything that it had experienced. Of everyone I worked with, Brittany was the one person who would reach out. We would go to lunch, grab dinner or a drink, and once she even came to my house (which at the time was a 30 minute drive) to help me walk my two German Shepherds.
We met by chance, but our friendship flourished through intentionality, conversations, and time together. We learned how much we both loved having creative endeavors, specifically with cameras – I loved film photography and videography, and Brittany reminded me of my love for my DSLR. One day in Summer 2022, Brittany asked if I wanted to second shoot a wedding with her. She took me under her wing, let me be creative, and we honestly had the best time getting to see the world through each other’s lens – literally and figuratively.
Business Partners
Over the last year, we just needed friend time and creative time – so we gathered the troops (Brittany’s little sisters) and started doing little shoots to practice in our spare time. With both of us looking to do other things, we started talking about dreams. I am such a dreamer. To be honest, my dreams can actually be quite overwhelming, but Brittany heard me. And I personally think that the dream I was speaking of, sold her back the dream she once had – to be a wedding photographer. My heart burst open the day I received a text that said, “How serious are you about the photography thing? If you are in, so am I.”
Here we are sitting on the balcony of my apartment with Thor and Frieda, planning and thinking through how we can serve you – our future clients! The truth is, we are already so grateful and thankful for how you have come into our lives and what you have given us.
You gave us our dream life – getting to work together and make memories while capturing all the sweet moments that pass away too quickly. Our promise is to always hold that gratitude, remember where we came from, and to thank you for allowing us the honor and joy of doing our dream job.
XOXO,
Michelle And Brittany (who is sitting across from me)