I met up with Jessica Walter at the McDaniel College campus. Jessica is Jessica Walter Consulting, LLC (https://leadingperspectives.org/), and she reached out with the purpose of creating a new collection of portraits for her professional life.
Jessica is a business book author (see her book at the end, you may purchase it on Amazon), speaker, and advisor who uses behavioral science to help leaders solve culture, engagement, and communication challenges by teaching them an energizing and emotionally healthy style of leadership. She’s also the creator of the Energizing Leadership System.
This photo shoot I remember quite well… it was one of my first photo sessions after becoming a Mom. And I was on the breast-feeding clock.
We had such a blast – Jessica and I hit it off RIGHT away. Her kind review of her experience hit the nail on the head… it “felt like I was hanging out with a friend I’ve known for years”. After we finished up, Jessica invited me out to dinner. I WISH I COULD HAVE SAID YES! But my milk had come in and built up and I knew I needed to get home.
Today, nearly two years later, we reconnected sort of out-of-the-blue. In response to one of my email newsletters, Jessica shared words with me that spoke the world, and I just had to share them exactly as she wrote:
“Thank you so much for using your unique and exceptional talent as a photographer to capture the personality and brand I wanted to convey as an author. There were many days when I was sitting at the computer wearing sweats with my hair in a messy bun and feeling like the words and concepts just weren’t coming… and if I should actually keep going. But there was something about being able to look at the photos you captured that reminded me of who I was. Or, more importantly, who I knew I needed to be to bring such an important message to the world. Thank you for being part of this journey and for bringing me countless moments of confidence when I needed them the most.”
I think many professionals, especially leaders, feel this Impostor Syndrome, or something to that effect. And to know that a set of polished professional portraits illustrated her in a way that kept her drive up means so much to me as a working photographer. I am grateful to have been Jessica’s photographer.
And bonus… two years later, we also found ourselves on a hike together at Hashawha Environmental Center, and I expect we will be doing that again soon. #ladiesinleadership
Click below to check out Jessica’s book online!
