Only a few months into my photography business, I took a risk and booked my first ever photography workshop. I had no idea what I was getting into, but I did know that I loved Hope Taylor and the business that she built at a very young age. This workshop took me to Virginia where I learned shooting techniques and how to build my business from Hope herself. While I learned so much and had an amazing time while doing so, the thing that I was most impactful were the ladies that I met along the way. Over the last year, these incredible ladies have become some of my closest friends and biggest encouragers. When Hope announced that she was putting together an alumni retreat, I immediately registered. I didn’t care where it was or how I was going to get there, I needed to go!

I arrived in Charleston about 6 hours before we were scheduled to be at the house, so I made my way to Kings St. where I made myself at home in a Starbucks. We arrived at the most beautiful home in the heart of Downtown Charleston where I was reunited with the most incredible ladies in the world. Hope welcomed us with the cutest gift boxes from Along Came a Box and we kicked off the trip with dinner at Poogan’s Porch! It wasn’t long before the cameras were out, because who doesn’t want to take photos in front of rainbow colored buildings?!

Day 1

Our first full day began with breakfast and coffee from the cutest little bakery, Wildflour Pastry. We all gathered our notebooks and laptops for a few hours of discussion about becoming an educator in our industry. As someone who has taught classes for years, this was a hot topic for me. Hope gave us some incredible pointers and it motivated me even more to keep moving in the direction I’m going!

After our discussion, we packed our beach bags and made our way to Folly Beach! We enjoyed lunch at the Lost Dog Cafe and had a blast taking photos under the pier. Being in a swimsuit isn’t my favorite thing, especially when there are TWENTY cameras pointing at you, but let me tell ya, these ladies made me feel like a million bucks!

Before we made our way to dinner at Poogan’s Smokehouse, a few of us got dressed and made our way to Rainbow Row – the iconic row of rainbow buildings in Downtown Charleston.

We wrapped up our busy day with some good girl talk. It amazes me how close I feel to these women, even though we are scattered all over the country. We talked about hardships, dreams and fears. There was encouragement, laughs and a whole lot of much needed tears.

The next day started with more discussion about building our brands to be a platform for eductions. We then got dressed up, explored Charleston a little more, and then enjoyed lunch at The Oyster House. After lunch, we made our way to the Magnolia Planation for headshots and a mini session with Hope and Drew! We painted with Blakely Made, ate pizza from Monza Charleston and indulged on cookies from King Street Cookies! 

 

So many adventures were packed into just a few short days, but this trip was exactly what my heart needed. Until we meet again, ladies. Can’t wait to see you in OBX next year!

PS: thank you Hope for the new headshots! 🙂

Thank you, ladies, for bringing so much light into my life! I love each one of you!

The Ladies:

Melynda Kellee Photography, Chelsey Lux Photography, Abby Waller Photography, Ryan Shedrick Photography, Quianna Marie Photography, Destinee Stark Photography, Brooke Michelle Photography, Brittany Marie Photo, Emily Moore Boutique Photo Editing, Katie Hauburger Photography, Courtney Abernathy Photography, Kaci Layne Photography, Marla Thach Photography, Amy Allmand Photography, Laylee Emadi Photography, Devin Lee Johnson, Kelly Pullman Photography, Laura Quintero Photography, and of course, Hope Taylor Photography.