Q: Please tell us a bit about yourself and your family.
I grew up in Churchville and live in Holland now, so I didn’t go too far. Thankfully my family is still close by. I have a brother in Newtown and my parents still live in Churchville. My husband and I both attended West Chester University but didn’t meet until we both graduated, ironically. We have been in Holland now for 20 some years. We have three children Quinn, Trey, and Graeme. They are where the “QTG” in my branding for “QTG Photography” comes from.
Q: Please tell us about your current, past, or future career.
I graduated from West Chester with a fine arts degree. I did some photography in high school and college but I had no idea what I was really doing with a fine arts degree. I ended up going to work for my family business which was executive recruiting. I worked there until I had my second child and then decided to be a stay at home mom. When I had my third child I was just so obsessed with my babies and taking pictures of them. My friends started taking notice of my pictures and asked me to take pictures of their kids. Before I knew it I was buying an expensive camera and charging a couple of friends just to pay for the camera. Now here I am in my 16th year still taking pictures and buying cameras!
I started doing mostly family portraits then as my kids grew up my camera sort of followed their lives. So we started with little kid portraits and grew into taking pictures of their sporting events and stuff like that. Now I am a portrait photographer. I take family portraits, headshots, and sport portraits. The sports part of my business actually took off during the pandemic. Parents were looking for a way to celebrate their seniors who were missing out on so much. So I was able to take these individual pictures and celebrate these kids in a special way.
I am willing to travel about an hour radius for pictures. Anything outside of an hour is still doable, but I charge a travel fee. I do prefer to shoot highschoolers though so that keeps me a bit more local. I shoot for just about every sport at Council Rock South, St. Joes Prep and Holy Ghost Prep. I also photograph a lot of other local high school teams as well. I love shooting high school sport portraits because once a student gets to high school they are usually very invested in their sport. The families are very invested so it makes it more personal and fun.
Q: What do you love most about what you do?
It is funny, when I was younger I wanted to be a teacher and I have found my favorite part of my job is getting to work with students. I feel like I get the best of both worlds. I love getting to work with teenagers. They are so much fun!
Q: What is a “Must do” for someone visiting our community?
We are pretty bad about knowing where to take people when they come. If someone was visiting we would probably try to go to the beach or something for a day trip. Our go to restaurants though are: 59 Almshouse, Isaac Newtons, and Vinces. We go out to eat a fair bit because I do not like to cook. I love that we can go to these local places and get to know the people in our community.
Q: What is your favorite place you have traveled and where do you want to go next?
My whole family loves Colorado. If we were ever going to move one day that would be top of my list. I am honestly such a homebody so there are not many places on my bucket list. For me I would rather travel to see my kids. If I was going on a vacation for me though it would be somewhere beachy for sure.
Q: What is one of your favorite movies? TV shows?
My family always makes fun of me because all I watch is channel 6 ABC. Whatever is on channel 6 I am happy with. I do love a good 20/20 and Shark tank also.
Q: What advice would you give to people?
Be nice!
Q: What is something on your bucket list?
I would love to own a vacation home somewhere.
Q: What is your favorite band or music genre?
I am solid Christmas music from November 1st to December 26th though. I could probably listen to Christmas music all year honestly.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
I will probably, and hopefully, be doing the same stuff I am doing now, maybe just busier. I love my job so much! As a photographer my business has busy seasons and slow seasons. I would love within the next 5-8 years if I could find some sort of consistency in my business. I am not sure how, but that is my goal.
Q: What is something interesting that even your friends or family may not know about you?
I can’t cook, but most of them know that. I love using power tools and building things.
Q: What is your favorite holiday and why?
Over the last few years Thanksgiving has become the holiday where all 5 of us are home together, so of course that is special to me. We always go to my parent’s house for Thanksgiving. It’s special because it is not about gifts, it’s just about everyone being together.
Q: Who inspires you to be better?
My kids for sure! My dad also inspires me from a business standpoint. He has run his own business for years and he is probably the smartest person I know.
Q: What is one or two of your favorite smells?
Fabric softener and gasoline. So weird I know!
Q: What words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
Laughter and love
Q: Where can people find you or your business?
