I opened the email and was immediately skeptical.  What in the world would the Wall Street Journal want with me?  This had to be a scam.  But my curiosity was peaked.

There was a telephone number at the bottom of the email and so I thought, “I will just call it and see if it is official.”  The voicemail picks up and sure enough the voice on the other end of the phone sounded legit.  And she said…WALL STREET JOURNAL.

So I left a message.

I was freaking out, trying not to get too excited because I didn’t want to get my hopes up. And then she calls back.

Sure enough, it was official and she really did want to talk to me about Senior Portrait Photography.  I tried to keep cool, answer her questions and give her as much information as I could.  But inside I was screaming!  I was beyond excited.

Like I have mentioned before, I wanted to be a journalist.  My dream was to write for a magazine.  So when a legitimate news source called, I was over the moon.  This was a dream come true.

Elizabeth Holmes of the Wall Street Journal interviewed me about senior portraits.  She asked the difference in what seniors do now versus years ago.  We joked about the super cool laser beam backdrops that we both had, talked about how senior portraits are different throughout the country and talked about Seniorologie.

I told her a little about my personal business and a little about Seniorologie.  I told her how Seniorologie is a resource for senior portrait photography for other photographers who want to learn about this genre of the photography industry.  I told her all about the blog, the tour and more.

She asked about some seniors that I had photographed who might be interested in being interviewed.  I immediately thought of two of my seniors who also strive to be journalists.  Gianna and Kelli both have told me how they would love to be in the field of Journalism so they were the perfect two to interview for the piece.  Elizabeth asked me for photos of the girls and I quickly sent them to her.

Then I waited.  Apparently, with feature articles, the writer does the research and writes the story and then they wait to see if it is picked to run in the paper.  I was crossing my fingers, holding my breath and hoping that this story would be chosen.

And then I got the call.  It was the end of day one of The Senirologie Tour California and it really couldn’t have come at a better time.  I had been dying to share this with someone, anyone and to be able to share it with the attendees of the Tour was perfect.  I am not usually one to share stuff about me.  I am better promoting others but this, I couldn’t wait to share.  This I wanted to shout from the rooftops!

I WAS GOING TO BE IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL!!  It was a dream come true!

I asked the hotel to send a copy of the next day’s paper and couldn’t wait to see it sitting on my doorstep.  I screamed when I saw it and I brought to tears.

This is not to brag or say look at me, even though I am proud, but rather to inspire you guys to never give up on your goals or dreams.  I had given up the idea of being published in a national paper a long time ago.  I never really worked in the Journalism field after college so I just didn’t think it would be possible.   My path has taken me in many directions and photographer was not necessarily a path I thought I would go.  But this path has given me so much!

Being a photographer has not only allowed me to be an artist and capture images that document a special time in seniors’ lives, but it has also given me a Journalism career.  I get to write on this blog every single day and I love it.  Photography has given me the chance to get to know other photographers, help readers of Seniorologie, give photographers a platform to teach and help others and much, much more.

And now it has given me my dream of being published in a national, award-winning publication.  And I couldn’t be happier that it was about Senior Portrait Photography!

Keep dreaming and keep working hard because you just never know where your path will take you or what is just around the corner!

To read the full article, which features other great photographers from across the country, click here.  There is also a slideshow and video online.  Big Thanks to the Wall Street Journal and Elizabeth Holmes for including me in this article!!