Appreciate the greenness of your own grass.
That’s my motto, at least. Because people, life is good. My life is good and my grass is green. I bet yours is, too.
Pleased to meet you — I’m Molly. This is me (Over there on the left. Hi.), receiving yet another degree I won’t use. At this point, I just like to hang them on my wall.
On the other hand, it’s that degree in my hands right there that taught me that I needed to start my own business—that I needed to be a photographer. I was a little over one (very unhappy) year into my Journalism Master’s program when I enrolled in a photojournalism class. It wasn’t my first photography course; I’d always loved it. I mean, photos are great — who doesn’t like pictures?
The problem was that I loved taking photos, but I also loved to write—in fact, I’d been writing all my life. It’s what I was best at; it’s all I’d ever done; it’s all I expected to do. But I’d tried marketing writing, and that wasn’t for me. I’d tried fiction and non-fiction writing, and those weren’t for me. And I was trying journalism, and that wasn’t for me, either. And then I took photojournalism and started photographing people. All kinds of people. Happy people. Sad people. Mayoral people. People in love. Just people.
Hello, career change!
I followed through with the degree anyway, because I’m 1) a perfectionist (4.0!) and 2) not good at quitting things. I was published on the front page of the Boston Globe, I was a travel writer for AAA, I interned for NPR. And as soon as I was done with all of it, I dropped my notepad and started my business.
That was five years ago! And now here I am! And here you are! So, I must be doing something right, right? Right!
Now, onto some random, and perhaps immaterial, bulleted facts about me:
- I’m a photographer and a writer. I just couldn’t give up writing completely.
- I’m 30! A good age.
- I live with my husband, Glen, and our lazy cat, Sherman (a.k.a. Sherm, Shermie, ShermBoat, ShermBo and Fatso), in a mid-century modern Eichler home.
- In total, I have three degrees (two BAs; one MA), none of which has a darned thing to do with photography. My parents love this. (I should say they love my photography, too!)
- I used to eat ice cream every day of my life—I’m cutting back! (Well, trying.)
- I’m a vegetarian-leaning-vegan. No meat for me, thanks!
- I’m originally from California, but love took me to Connecticut. Love in Connecticut was good. Snow in Connecticut, however, was less good. Eventually we made our way back west. :)
- I love to cook, and I do it quite well. Want to come over for dinner?
- Oh, wait, I take that invitation back. Remember that house I mentioned? It’s in a constant state of disrepair + remodel. As of this writing, the contents of my garage are in my living room. Call me in six months. ;)
- I find bad customer service to be the World’s Biggest Turnoff. You can imagine how this motivates me to treat my own clients.
- I started learning the piano in early 2013.
- My toes are always cold. Glen wishes this were not the case because I prefer his warm feet to socks.
- I don’t really swear. Hence, I have a LARGE cache of rather adorable euphemisms by which to express my emotions.
- I have no drama in my life, so I supplement with bad (non-reality) TV shows.
- I have a HUGE bookmarks folder of DIY projects that I will never, ever complete. (Who doesn’t?)
- I have lived in five countries: The USA, Canada, France, England and Scotland. (Je parle français. Un petit peut. Très petit.)
- I wear SPF 100+ sunscreen every. single. day. No exceptions.
- I used to do financial marketing. Consequently, I know a lot about the credit union industry!
- When I was 13 I wanted to be a veterinarian. I contacted all of my local animal hospitals and found one that would let me volunteer once a week. I loved it. I drew blood and ran tests and watched surgeries. And then they made me put a dog to sleep (they wanted me to know every aspect), after which I no longer wanted to be a veterinarian. However, I adopted a cat while working there and raised him since he was one day old. His name was Chester and he lived to be 17 (he died in 2012). He was very stupid. I have a thing for stupid cats. All cats, really.
- I want to go back to school for something technical like math, or engineering, or computer science or medicine. I told you, I like to hang degrees on my wall!
- I am inspired by laughter, love, human connection, the human condition, and smart people.
So! That’s me. Who are you? Can I take your picture?