Figuring out who Katie Nesbitt is has been a huge part of this past year as well as a big part of developing my business and coming up with a vision for my brand. I’m one of those people that has always felt out of place and really struggled to find myself. I have spent most of my life wondering where I belong and what I’m supposed to be doing. Becoming a photographer has given me purpose though, and has forced me to examine exactly who I am and what makes me tick. And more importantly to accept it and get along with it. The hardest part has been not just learning to love myself, but to be at peace with who I am and to OWN it.

I got Jasmine Star’s magazine, EXPOSED in the mail this week and have been devouring it ever since. Some of it I have already read on her blog, but it was still perfect for me to read right now. Jasmine is so positive and vulnerable with her own story. Her attitude is infectious and her story is so easy to relate to. When she talks about wanting to quit, I know exactly where she’s coming from because I feel that way all the time. When she talks about passion and wanting it more than anything, I know that feeling too because that’s what keeps me going. And somehow on a day when I am feeling totally down in the dumps about myself and wondering how I will ever make it as a photographer, I can look at her blog and there is something totally positive and uplifting to inspire me. She is kind of like my Oprah. Is that weird? Yeah, it probably is. Reading Jasmine’s magazine has inspired me that much more to focus on myself, my brand, and my craft and know that there is nothing better I can provide to my clients other than myself. There are tens of  thousands of photographers all over the country, but there is only one Katie Nesbitt. There is nothing that I can do to set myself apart except to just be Katie. It sounds totally weird to say this out loud (you know what I mean) but Jasmine has almost given me the permission to accept myself and be okay with just being me. I am so grateful to Jasmine, a woman who does not even know I exist, for giving me the courage to GO THERE with myself.