The Back Story

As a little kid I would pretend to be a singer on broadway, teacher or flight attendant (depending on the time of day), write poetry and short stories, take pictures with my dad’s Pentax, dress up my Sunshine Care Bear and watch cartoons. Not much has changed really.

I started taking piano lessons at the age of five and studied to be a classically trained opera singer, later double-majoring in music and literature. After a few years of living as a “struggling artist” and getting a divorce (another story for another time) in my 20s, I decided to try my hand in business and opened a yoga wellness center with my yoga teacher. Three years of that and I discovered that I had a knack for something else other than singing— business and decided to learn more. I got an MBA at Duke University with a concentration in finance and worked as a digital marketing strategist at a top management consulting firm in New York. All the while, I had been keeping depression, anxiety, eating disorders, abusive relationships at bay (and had been doing so since college). Though I was in meetings with C-level Fortune 500 execs and looked successful on paper, my depression was only getting worse. Doctors said I had a chemical imbalance. Therapists tried talking me through childhood memories while bosses said that I just needed better goal-setting.

But after hitting rock bottom with suicidal depression, I realized what was the underlying cause of all my anguish: it was regret. When I gave up on being an opera singer there was a part of me that had given up on myself. In August 2015, after coming home alone from the hospital, I decided to face my regret once and for all. No more laying on the bathroom floor crying with razor in hand. Instead, I wrote my two-week notice, sold all my things and began a sojourn to find my creative voice again.

Fast-forward to today, still on that journey, I have built a successful creative media production studio based in New York, Triangleflash Studio. I launched the global photography movement called the EYESEEYOU Project in 2017, which has been to 5 continents and 16 countries. My work has appeared in The New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, Business Insider, AdWeek to name a few. I’m a featured artist on the creator’s network ello.co, and my list of clients includes The UN Habitats, TEDx, Inscape, The Assemblage and Invisible Technologies, When We Band Together and many others whose missions are in service of helping one another.

Is this list how I define myself as a successful artist? No, I look at how rich my life is— all the beautiful conversations, experiences, relationships, and lessons I’ve learned along this journey.

If I could summarize all the lessons I’ve learned throughout this creative process it’s simple: SHOW-UP and SHARE. Those are the two values that guide me daily.

I want to encourage every single artist out there to keep showing-up because that’s where the magic is, and to keep sharing because the world needs the magic that only you can bring. Perhaps that’s why I’ve been called the artist’s artist. If you need some creative professional/ business advice or just need some inspiration, you know where to show-up. I’ll be sharing here ✌️.

My greatest accomplishment to date, though, is waking up today. Today I woke up knowing that I am surrounded by and am contributing to a collective of courageous creatives around the world, and that includes you boo.

HUGS,

ME 🙆🏻‍♀️