all roads lead to... the stadium?
In the spring of 2025, my life got flip turned upside down. Relocating to another state is not for the faint of heart, but doing it with 6 horses, 5 dogs, 32 cows and one very angry cat is not recommended. But hindsight is 20/20 and now I found myself in the state of Oklahoma. I didn't know a single soul, had no job and frankly, no direction in my life.
One day, after a having a tiny mental breakdown, my husband finally said "instead of doing something you have to do and calling it a job, why don't you figure out what you want to do and call it a life?" or something along those lines. So that's when the hard part started. I had to do some soul searching and figure out which of my passions to pursue. Now, if you know anyone with ADHD, you know this is not an easy task. I have had MANY passions in my life- crocheting, stained glass, learning the violin, house plants, ect...- but there has only been two constants throughout my adult life. EMS and sports.
Way back in 2016, when I met my husband, I was in school to become and EMT. My father was a first responder and I don't remember a time I didn't want to be either on a firetruck or an ambulance. Well life happened and I was never able to pursue that career but the want-to never dissipated. So, by the end of the day, I was enrolled in a class to start soon and had a much better outlook on my future. Now, my full time job is riding an ambulance and saving the day. There is something truly humbling about being trusted to be the person someone calls on their absolute worst day, but I am so happy to be there for them.
That brings us to the other passion of mine. Sports have been such a huge part of my life since I was tiny. There is a photo floating around of me wrapped up in a swaddle, only a few days old, still in the hospital and my dad and I are watching my first Dolphins game. Growing up in the South, football was a huge part of life and though I tried my hand at it, my heart was always on the diamond. My dad says he knew it was all over for me when he caught me crying happy tears the first time my t-ball team won a game (even though they didn't keep score, at 7 years old, I sure did).
I LOVE being able to express my creative side through photo. I can't paint or draw to save my life, but this is the artform I fell in love with. My photography over the years had evolved, just like I did and I felt now was as good a time as any to make another change. I fell down a rabbit hole doing all the research I could find about the best way to get into sports photography. Most articles suggest going to college for a marketing degree but honestly, who has time for that? So I did the next best thing... I sent a random email straight out of the blue to the Marketing Director of the local MILB team and ya know what he said? "Sure, why not"? Okay, maybe not word for word, but essentially, he handed me a media pass and never looked back.
Though this side of my business is still in infancy, I cannot explain the feeling of being in the dugout and capturing the raw emotions that come with playing this sport at such a high level. I get to be there for every walkoff home run, every bottom of the 9th, down by one, two on, two out situation, every heartbreaking error, and every unfathomable catch.
