Catching Up With The Mama /// Personal Update

Featured Image: Meagan Gibson Photography

Catching up with the mama…

Its been awhile since I wrote a personal update about what has been going on in my world so I thought I would take the time now to tell you all about the past year and half, in a highlight overview. Then I’ll devuldge what I have been up to as of late and what the near future holds for me.

Back in 2015 when I went back to work…

I went back to work in August of 2015 to my previous job in Commercial Real Estate at a major bank. Since this was a job I previously held, I thought this was going to work out. Feed income into my blog, offset our one income finances and force myself to get out of the home and out of depression. What I didn’t expect was how difficult it would be to find child care.

Daycare blows boats.

Having your child in daycare has its good things (as I mentioned here in this blog post) but as I quickly learned, it definitely has its disadvantages. As of today, Gentry has been in 3 different “preschools” and has been with 7 different “teachers”. In the past year and a half, I have dealt with:

• Teachers not watching my son: bit 4 times in 2 days by two different kids only to have no phone calls to me about this. Instead, I was told in passing while walking in the hall by one of the administration associates. 
• I have dealt with a random odd shaped bruise with no explanation and a decline on my request to see video coverage of what transpired that day. 
• I have been through a school being on the news because one of their teachers molested students with no notification from the school; I had to find out by watching the news. 
• My husband has walked into his classroom while the teacher was screaming at Gentry. 
• He also walked in on Gentry being secluded from the class “on time out” because he was swinging his coat around after being told not to. 
• My close friend Julia witnessed first hand with me while coming to pick Gentry one day of a teacher screaming at children in the hallways.

How are parents supposed to go to work when it is so difficult to find adequate childcare?

I didn’t anticipate it to be so difficult to go back to work after having a child. I just thought, well lots of people do it, my situation is no exception. Time and time again I learn more and more that this parenting thing is hardly black and white or whatever is good for others isn’t the same for you or your child. I also am learning more and more about how my child is anything but a “normal” easy-going child… and that is okay. My expectations of what MY child was going to be like is humbly inaccurate and I am learning that daily.

Working out of home mom to WAHM

I have been a SAHM. I have been a “Working out of the home Mom” and now… I am adding to my repertoire WAHM. As of today, I turned in my resignation to my employer and as of May 15th, 2017 I will no longer be in Corporate America. When I quit my first time after Gentry was born, I was a nervous wreck. How will we SURVIVE on one income? Will I be able to make sacrifices? But this time around, I have an odd sense of calmness which to me. I feel like I “cracked the code” in relation to my career path and this calmness that is washing over me, just solidifies the choice. Instead of having those nervous thoughts as I did before, I just have thoughts of “ok, I need to do this this that and that and this and oh yeah that too.” I feel READY and PREPARED. Having my husband on board also helps this transition. I feel as though he has made a big shift in the way he views what Blogging and Photography is over the past month or so. For those of you that don’t know Mitchell personally, he is 100% engineer. If there can’t be a rational, drawn out perfect plan on the table, it doesn’t fly. So being the creative butterfly that I am, it is sometimes difficult to understand where he is coming from and visa versa.

What the heck will you be doing Bre.?

What will I not be doing you mean? 😀 I am a multi-passionate creative and one thing is for sure, I am no longer trying to fit into a box of what people think a creative should be like: “focus on one thing and get really good at THAT.” Something I have tried to do my whole life and its taken me 33 years to realize, I cannot fit within that mindset. Last year, I told some of my close friends about this crazy idea I had – something nobody is currently doing and makes no sense to more than half of everyone I meet. Rather than call me crazy, I was encouraged by my close friends. I hung onto this idea and turned it into reality in February of this year.

The Idea: Collaborative Photoshoots

I wanted a fun and relaxed event that blended all of my passions, my experiences and talents into one concept. I am a helper by nature, a passionate connector of people with a desire to create something massive. Enter #CatchMeAtLuxe events.

Blending industries I’ve had the chance to work within:  Beauty (Modeling & Make-up Artistry) Photography, Event Planning, Sales, Corporate America and Blogging. These #CatchMeLuxe events are photoshoots at local trendy locations where Bloggers, Photographers and Brands all collaborate sharing one common main goal: high quality content curation for maximum social media exposure.

My first #CatchMeAtLuxe shoot took place on April 23, 2017 and we are still in the middle of the tail end of the process. Even though this event isn’t even complete yet, I am already in the process of working on THREE other shoot-outs slated for Q3 and Q4 of this year. I received such a warm response from this event that I have a waitlist that is rapidly growing. I was able to work with SO many talented photographers, bloggers, and brands that I’m over here all giddy waiting for the next one. I was also able to bring into the first collaboration, Marriott Hotels boutique brand MOXY. I am looking forward to additional shoot-outs at hotels, high-end model homes and new hotspots nationwide.

Blogging + Photography

I’m looking forward to being able to have more time to blog now. I will be Blogging full-time with not one but TWO blogs. YUP you read that right! I am starting a new blog with Mitchell which will be launching this summer (sign up below to be notified when it launches!)

Then on this Sentimental Mama blog, I have been keeping a long list on my notepad of ideas I want to write about and its going to feel SO GOOD to finally get them out of my head and onto this blog. I have also decided to convert this blog from a “Mom Blog” over to a “Lifestyle Blog” which is pretty exciting. As Gentry is growing and my views and life has etched a new chapter, I feel its only right that my blog conform to that as well. Some topics I will be covering soon:

• A wrap up of my #FreeBresBoobies topic
• Depression, Zoloft and weight gain for my postpartum health series
• Finally getting back to my Balance series I was working on before I went back to work
• I will begin a marriage series in June on behalf of our 5 year anniversary
• Sentimental posts from other Moms
• Motherhood stories
• Book reviews
• Features of other Influencers to follow
• Travel, Vacations, Outings, Attractions & Hotels
• Minimalist Home Decor
• Cleaning Mama
• Easy thrifting
• Foodie Life
• How to Blog
• Social Media Help
• Event curation
• Collaborations with new exciting brands
• Ladies “behind the brand”
• Photography sessions

…and speaking of photography, I am currently in the process of finalizing my new pricing for photography sessions. I have yet to market myself as a “photographer” but I have realized that this needs to change. I am looking forward to offering lifestyle unposed sessions with a focus on children and Moms with the occasional Blogger lifestyle session thrown into the mix.

Signed, sealed, delivered…

I am looking forward to this new chapter; becoming a full-blown entrepreneur and I am definitely looking forward to seeing my son more. As I think of ending this blog post, I keep humming the Stevie Wonders song. A common thread throughout my multi-passionate ideas is helping, being here, connecting others… I want to be THERE for others in many different ways. Lucky for me, I have figured out how to do just that. Signed, sealed, delivered, I’m Yours.

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