I believe that the best stories are the ones that are true, told with energy, genuineness, humor and a little bit of poetry. I am a documentary family photographer and mother to a toddler. Also having been an elementary school speech therapist means I am extremely observant and patient, acutely aware of mischief, and constantly dealing with situations bursting with hilarity, chaos and sticky hands & hugs. This photography business came from an intersection of so many different aspects of my life – my love for traveling and subsequently, being invited into peoples’ homes; my fascination with National Geographic stories; my research into my grandparents’ immigration history; my interest in all things behind-the-scenes. When I discovered family documentary photography, it’s like all these pieces clicked from these seemingly disconnected sources and allowed me to do everything simultaneously – live alongside people in a day in their life; create heirlooms for families so that grandchildren wouldn’t have to work so hard to know where they came from; to make personal documentaries for people who might never appear in National Geographic but have still lived a life worth living.To me, documenting the everyday in this way is like receiving permission to draw stories out of strangers, and to create family photographs reflecting life itself: a series of interactions that make up the totality of a human life, much more than the words that make up a story, the cascade of moments making up your day that deserve to be documented, and the sense of "home" and the love that surrounds you daily. I think our world has been very loud about how we/our children should be (act/look/behave), and through my experience shooting 200+ families, I have found that the perfection that the family portrait strives for is typically attained after a sweaty stressfest. If you are looking for an alternative, I believe that family photojournalism is all about authenticity and unreluctant vulnerability, and being able to remember how you felt (exasperated, relieved, joyful, expectant, or like you love your kids so fiercely you feel like your heart is going to burst) instead of how you wanted to look (sorry Pinterest!). When not photographing families and small businesses, you can find me trying to Konmari my tiny house, chasing my toddler, being a first class navigator to my husband on a family road trip, or looking for local gems in pockets of Los Angeles.