Documenting

I want to share 2 photos that make me happy. I've been taking pictures so long I don't even realize I'm doing it sometimes. It's automatic.

This allows me to share moments big and small. Being attuned to moments unfolding is what made these images possible.

My friend Meridith Grundei stepped up in the friend department in a big way last summer when we were hit with my husband's health challenges. I became the sole money earner unexpectedly for the unforeseen future. I had always been freelancing and scaling toward running my own company, but was moving slowly. I was in no way at the point of making the sort of money needed to survive supporting 5 people in NYC. But now I had no choice, which sometimes is what you need. Mentally I wasn’t clear how I would step up and floundered in whether to scale the business or just focus on looking for a corporate job.

Meridith invited me to networking events and showed me the world of online networking. It was on one of these outings in NYC, walking from the Javits Center to just south of Bryant Park, when I accompanied her to pick up her credentials at Amazon for the first time. As you walk in you see a dreamlike visual of clean lines, free of clutter with the bright Amazon logo straight ahead. Meridith is physically small. Amazon is giant. The visual story unfolded right before my eyes.

Meridith is a public speaking coach and as a solopreneur and puts in the time - a lot of it - to make it look easy. Securing the Amazon work, I believe, is a key moment in her career timeline. I am glad I was there to document a significant moment that could easily be forgotten as her success grows. Meridith is “Yes, and”-ing her way to more opportunities, helping us all be more engaged in meetings by guiding people to be better speakers. It is a privilege to bear witness to her professional growth, and to call her my friend.