I’ve wanted to be a photographer ever since I picked up my friend’s Canon PowerShot A610 for the first time when I was 11 years old. I was instantly hooked. Naturally, I went out and bought myself the exact same camera—and pretty much never put it down.

From that point on, I knew photography was something I wanted to pursue. I spent my high school years saving every penny I could toward my first DSLR, but on graduation day, my Grandpa surprised me with his old Nikon D70. I was in love. I started by photographing my friends, then friends of friends, and before I knew it, word started to spread.

My business really grew from there—through word of mouth, a whole lot of experimenting, and countless hours teaching myself everything I could about photography. I spent my time learning different shooting techniques, figuring out Photoshop, and watching more YouTube tutorials than I could ever count.

Eventually, I bought my first domain name and started building my own website—which has probably been redesigned a million times since then.

Wanting to take my photography even further, I attended Georgian College for Digital Photography and Imaging. Along the way, I met some incredibly talented photographers who I had the chance to learn and grow alongside, many of whom I’m lucky to still grow with today.

What started with an 11-year-old girl and a little Canon PowerShot somehow turned into a career I genuinely love—and I still get that same excitement when I pick up my camera today.