this year has been a CRAZY whirlwind of travels and opportunities, but one of the highlights so far for me has definitely been attending the united 2014 photography conference in santa barbara california and then road-tripping with 2 of my best friends to las vegas for another week of photography-goodness at wppi this past february/march! (jeeze, where did the time go! seems like it was just last month!).  i remember attending both conferences 2 years ago before i was even a “photographer”, thinking that one day i would love to be up on stage sharing what i have learned along the way, and i was SO honored that this year i was able to speak at both united and wppi. pretty cool feeling to be able to check that off of the list, and i already can’t wait until next year! at united one of my best friends jackie gannon (jacilyn m, photographer) and i got to talk on specialism and how it has rocked our world since specializing our businesses. to give you an idea, jackies words are loud, daring and impulsive, mixed with my spontaneous, sunkissed and enchanted we are quite the pair… 😉

after united ended in santa barbara we had one day to recover, so naturally jackie, jeremy and i pulled an all nighter in the hotel pool taking in the most incredible rainstorm… and then made a spontaneous trip to disneyland the next day, ha!. more on that crazy story here… but the following day the 3 of us roadtripped to vegas! one of my favorite things about this lifestyle is that i get to go on adventures with people i love and there is never any shortage of laughter. we sang and danced and photographed eachother all the way to nevada… some of my favorite memories with some of my favorite people… so grateful!

 

thanks to jeremy kester for the next few photographs… so fun to make some impromptu roadside stops for photoshoots on our way to vegas!yup. dancing on the car. why not? 🙂

the craziness of wppi started the minute we pulled into vegas, and throughout the week i was so blessed to get to speak 4 different times… WHAT! so crazy! i was a nervous wreck every time before the talks started, but as soon as we got up on stage i seemed to forget about being nervous all together which i was super grateful for! thank goodness for good friends who tried to keep me calm all week while prepping for each presentation haha!! the first day we were there, jackie and i got to sit on jeff jochum’s panel talking about specialism.. such a cool experience. (and naturally we had to sneak our way onto the conference floor somehow because we lost our badges… so that kept me distracted from how nervous i was haha ;))

the next day, jackie and i got to sit on a panel with jeremy kester, we talked about what it means to be a shoot and share photographer, and answered questions on different ways that others can think about implimenting this new type of business thinking!

the next day, jackie and i were on the shoot and share stage on the tradeshow floor, talking about specialism again and answering peoples questions about what it means to specialize and how shoot and share is all about serving our clients. we loved getting to meet so many people and talk about something that we are both so passionate about. thank’s to shoot & share for having us, their booth was absolutely INCREDIBLE! we were so excited to get to be a part of it!

on the last day of wppi i got to sit on another platform panel, and this time i was sitting with the incredible mike larson, matt kennedy and katelyn james. i felt SO crazy honored to have been asked to sit up on stage with people who i admire so much in the industry. we found out that morning that we were going to be in the BIG auditorium room, and it was so cool to see all of the people there!! we shared different pricing structures, and answered questions about how we all run our businesses and why we do the things we do. it was such an amazing way to end off “conference season”, and i was so grateful for all of the wonderful people who offered support the whole week throughout all of the talks.

i just loved hanging out and meeting new friends every day, so fun. i’m pretty sure we never went to bed before 5am for 10 days straight, and i have never been more motivated after getting home! we put this fun video together of our crazy adventures and roadtrip dance parties… if you want to start your weekend off with a laugh, definitely check it out by clicking here 🙂

…and with that, i am spending today PACKING to head BACK to Vegas with miss jackie gannon TOMORROW!! i am going to be helping her out at a wedding there, and soakin in some much needed sunshine!! let the adventures begin!!

(thanks again to jeremy kester for the below photo, right after the last presentation at wppi! one of my favorites!)