All the things I read about Daybreaker before going to cover the company's launch in D.C. for Spright left me with a ton of questions.
An event company... that only does early morning events? At nightclubs? During the week? With yoga and no booze? And they're crowded? With people paying to party before 9 A.M.?
Surely, there's catch.
Yet I was wrong. That's really all there is to Daybreaker. There isn't a hidden agenda or catch.
As soon as I entered the venue with my camera, the space was filled with eager Yogis, bending it out with vinyasa lead by Grip the Mat.
After stretching out, people stayed to dance and socialize while enjoying tasty treats and a variety of performers and entertainers.
There were even live musicians thrown into the dance party mix!
Maybe it's the simplicity of a Daybreaker's event that makes it so unique and appealing. Maybe for some people, waking up early, doing yoga, then moving their bodies to dance music and strobe lights while fueling up with coffee and juice is a way to jumpstart their day.
One things for sure, it sure is the total opposite of a typical Wednesday morning.
Looking back, it seems like forever ago that I was in Missouri shooting stories for the USO. But no matter how long ago it was (or feels like it was) it's certainly a USO trip worth blogging about!
After a wonderful weekend working in NYC back at the end of May, I headed back to DC for a hot sec (literally, less than 20 hours) and jetted off to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for a week of shooting.
The last time I was in Missouri was for the NCAA A-10 Softball Championships back when I was in college, and I didn't really get to see much of the area since I was playing softball, so I was glad to head back to the area to explore a little bit more.
Anyway, after landing in St. Louis, I drove two hours out to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, which is an Army base where a lot of soldiers go through basic training.
During my trip, I shot a number of stories, including a story about long-time volunteer, Henry, and covered the USO's special Caregivers Seminar, which provides support for those taking care of wounded, ill and injured service members. Although all the stories I worked on in Missouri were (and ARE STILL!) important, the highlight of my trip, hands down, was shooting a special video story about Bandit the USO Comfort Dog (sorry Henry!).
Now, I don't want to give too much away (I'll write more about this story when the video is done), but in a nutshell, Bandit is an awesome Great Dane therapy dog who spends his days putting smiles on people's faces. I got to spend a day with him, and let me tell you, it was AWESOME seeing all the big difference just one dog can make in people's lives.
Here's some more snaps from my day of shooting with Bandit and his mom, Kelly.
Although my trip to Missouri was jammed packed, it was really, really awesome. I can't wait to keep working on other USO projects so I can finally push out some of the video stories from my Missouri trip.
I forgot how much I loved traveling for work. Seeing new places, meeting new people, being out of the office -- it's one of the many things that makes my job at the USO so wonderful.
But until last week, for nearly half of 2015, I hadn't had the opportunity to travel beyond the DC metro area to report a story since 2014. Needless to say, when my boss asked me if I could hit the road for a week to capture stories in NYC and Fort Leonard Wood, MO, I was more than ready to pack my bags and get back into the field.
I started off my marathon work travel week in NYC, where, in addition to capture a video story and writing a blog about OTMD, the adult leg of the USO Operation That's My Dress program, I got to spend time with my friend Tara, who I met playing softball at GW.
In addition to hanging out with her and her fiance on Friday night, the Saturday before I had to work, we wandered around Brooklyn for a bit, which I had never done before.
I even got to introduce Tara to another one of my close friends who lives in NYC during dinner on Saturday evening, which made me really happy.
Sidenote; I'm a big believer that, if my work schedule allows it, I should always try to squeeze in time to grab dinner or a drink with friends, colleagues or acquaintances who live in the area I'm visiting. It really makes work trips seem like much more than a plane trip and another night in a hotel room, savvy?
Anyway, back to the weekend. On Sunday, after a wonderful first half of the weekend with friends, I put on my working shoes on and headed the USO's launch of OTMD, the adult leg of the USO Operation That's My Dress program. Basically OTMD, along with its sister program, provides women in the military and military spouses a special day of pampering and fashion where they get to select and take home a FREE designer gown of their choice. Think Sherri Hill, Ralph Lauren and Ann Taylor -- for FREE! How cool is that?
To give you a better idea of what the program is all about, take a look at the video I shot and put together about the day. It'll put things into perspective.
Anyway, after shooting the video and having a ball at OTMD, I headed back to Penn Station to travel back to Washington, D.C. so I could jump on the next leg of my travel week adventure...
Before I started working for the USO, I never would have known that May is military appreciation month. Or what a challenge coin is. Or what PCSing means.
It's funny how a new job can open up a completely different world in an instant, isn't it?
The past few months I haven't been traveling as much for work -- BUT -- I've had the wonderful task of telling many small, everyday stories about the impact the USO makes on the lives of active-duty military personnel and their family members.
Take this little story, about a military spouse who was stranded in the Chicago airport overnight with no where to go. Thanks to the USO, she had a safe, free place to spend the night and relax while she waited for her flight the next day.
“After all that had happened that weekend, it was awesome to walk in, see friendly faces that helped me and made me feel safe."
There was this touching experience, where a worried military spouse was given peace of mind about her teenage daughter, who was traveling alone and stuck in the airport, thanks the USO.
“I can’t explain it, except to say, I am crying (again) thinking how
relieved I was knowing she felt safe. Knowing she was safe.”
Even this simple story, about a young military spouse and her baby daughter, who were able to relax during and unexpected layover, thanks to the USO, can't help but make you smile.
“I was blown away at how welcoming they were to my family.”
Sometimes, I just can't believe that I work at such an amazing organization that's committed to making these kinds of moments for military families around the world. It's stories like these -- these tiny, small, everyday moments -- that make me realize just how awesome the USO really is improving the daily lives of the people who sacrifice so much for all of us.
Last Friday, when I was stuck at home battling the worst sinus infection of the century (boo!), my fun little piece about DC's [solidcore] -- and its fab CEO/founder Anne Mahlum -- went live on Spright, and I couldn't be happier with the result.
See, I've been wanting to do a story about [solidcore] since the days of Fiterazzi.
Back when I lived near Union Station, I would always walk by the [solidcore] studio near Mass Ave, and would see people popping in and out of the studio drenched in sweat and smiles, and wondered what the workout was all about.
What was that weird machine they used?
Why did everyone say this was the hardest workout ever?
And what was with all the brackets in the branding materials and signage?!?
After a little bit of Googling, and reading about Anne's professional and fitness journey, I knew that the [solidcore] story, and Anne's story, was something that needed to be shared with the larger Spright community.
After getting the go-ahead from my awesome Spright editor, I reached out to the [solidcore] team, set up a time to talk to Anne, take photos of the Cathedral Commons studio and learn about how [solidcore] came to be. I even got to take a class and try out [solidcore] for myself (sidenote, I'm hooked!).
I won't spoil too much of my Spright story here (you should really go read it!), but I thought I would post a little teaser of the piece to spark your interest:
As she walks up and down the blue-light-lined walls of a [solidcore]
studio near the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, counting down the
final few seconds of Thursday’s 6:30 p.m. session with Diplo’s “Express
Yourself” blaring through the air, it’s clear to see that the
[solidcore] founder and CEO is comfortable with being in charge.
An
entrepreneur and athlete at heart, Anne has spent the greater part of
the past decade spearheading different ventures with an athletic twist.
Back in 2007, before starting [solidcore], Anne built her leadership
and entrepreneurial skills by founding the non-profit organization Back on My Feet, which uses the sport of running to empower homeless people to make lasting changes in their lives.
After five years of working as Back on My Feet’s CEO and helping the
organization expand to 11 U.S. cities, the North Dakota native decided,
in 2013, to bring a different vision to life and launched [solidcore].
Oh spring! Full of flowers, sun and ... pollen. Yuck.
This is the first year I've come down with a serious case of the pollen-induced sniffles, and it is NOT fun. Netti pot, here I come!
Anyway, I realized yesterday that I never shared one of my recent Spright articles with you guys. I had been working on this story, featuring the founder of Bani Bands Headbands, since the days of Fiterazzi, but it got put on the backburner with the merger and general life business.
I was a little worried it would never run, but thankfully, the awesome staff at Spright thought it was worth a little attention!
I won't give away too much here, but here's a sneak peak of the story to get you started:
Like many innovators before her, Renee Hanson became a fitness fashion entrepreneur in order to solve a problem.
After years of searching for athletic apparel that to fit her 5’11”
frame properly, the veteran and former volleyball player grew tired of
the lack of technical garments available for taller women and decided to
address the issue herself. In 2008, after beefing up her sewing skills
and business plan, Renee created Vertical Athletics, a special athletic
apparel line designed exclusively with the taller female athlete in
mind.
However, shortly after launching Vertical Athletics, Renee stumbled
upon a second athletic apparel problem that would inspire her to create
her even more popular headband company, Bani Bands.
If there's one thing I've learned from my recent slew of family and portrait sessions is that taking posed pictures of babies (not candid, candid is easy!) is a lot harder than it looks.
While adults understand when to look at the camera, when to
smile and how to take directions, little babies -- as adorable as they are -- require a bit more
attention.
Plus, sometimes, matter what you do, you just might not have what it takes to make the little one smile, which is hard to accept as a perfectionist-type photographer.
Maybe it's because I don't have kids of my own yet, or maybe it's because I just don't photograph babies enough, but at times I find taking photos of babies age two and under harder than covering even the busiest of events!
All that being said, I did have a really awesome experience capturing photos of the Maki family, who has a little one, at the Rosedale Conservancy in Washington, DC a few weeks ago.
Not only was their family so wonderful to work with, but their little one was absolutely adorable!
While I definately think that these photos aren't award winning family pictures, you know, they aren't bad by any means and there are some cute ones in the mix.
Maybe I'm too hard on myself... or not hard enough.
All I can say is that I'm still getting better, and I'm lucky to have had the opportunity to practice taking pictures of little cuties!
