Last May, in honour of Mother’s Day, I held a contest titled ‘for the love of moms’… I asked people to nominate a deserving mama whom they thought would love a free portrait experience. There were many touching nominations: husbands nominating their wives, kids nominating their moms, a few self-nominations (AMEN!), sisters nominating each other, and - as was the case with the winning nom - girlfriends heaping love on their besties!
It was sooo hard to choose (which is why I decided to offer a free mini session to every woman nominated… man, moms are out there KILLIN’ IT! 👊), alas what’s a contest without a winner?! Drummmrooolllll please…
the winner was the
* oh-so-beautiful-from-the-inside out *
JILL! ✨
Her close friend Kyla had seen my post about the contest and quickly sent in a nomination saying, in part, “She can see the calm in the storm and the good in situations when others cannot. She is the most fun, it’s so contagious being around her and feeling her energy.”
In thinking of words that might start to describe Jill ‘effervescent’ is the one that first comes to mind. She’s quick witted, has an easy laugh, and has energy that rivals the Energizer bunny!
Reading Jill’s ‘resume’ would humble most… she’s an engaged wife + mom, stalwart friend, volunteer, realtor, AND she + her husband recently realized their dream of opening a neighbourhood coffee shop called Social Grounds, which they describe as “Incorporating many of our favourite things, Social Grounds offers Coffee, Ice Cream, Yoga, DIY Arts & Crafts Workshops and all things Social.” On top of all this, Jill is also learning to manage an MS diagnosis. Her upbeat demeanour and can-do attitude are inspiring and surely a blessing to everyone in her midst.
With the desire to always offer my clients the session that will be most empowering to them; I’d asked Jill what type of portraiture would be most meaningful to her at this stage in her life… her answer was to have business portraits that she could use in her various endeavours. Given Social Grounds was about to open we also took advantage of our time in studio to get some shots together with her husband and business partner.
If you’re in the Oakridge area go give this new biz some love - on ig as @socialgroundsyyc - and please join me in celebrating this amazing woman + mom by clicking ‘like’ and commenting… never underestimate the buoy we provide one another by the simple act of - in unison - saying ‘you’re amazing!’