So, it’s easy when you work for yourself in a creative industry to get crazy swamped with to-do lists (which believe me, they are NEVER ENDING), networking, updating your social media channels, relying to emails that need replied to, getting rid of the ones that are simply trying to sell you something, trying to remember why the hell this whole working for yourself thing ever sounded like a good idea in the first place, Oh crap, I’ve got to stop at the grocery store, then it’s digging through your bag to find the grocery list that you left on the counter, so don’t forget any of that, answering the phone call inquires that you are constantly praying come in, oh my gosh, did I leave the curling iron on this morning when I walked out of the bathroom kind of crazy. (see how fast that happened?)

Meet Maddie. #khalifestylephotography #columbusohio Share on X

And us crazies that choose to do this, ultimately, we wouldn’t have it any other way. I saw a meme that totally nailed it once… Entrepreneurs, crazy people who would rather work 100 hour weeks for themselves so they don’t have to work 40 hours a week for someone else.

YESSSSSSSSSS. There is SO much truth in that.

The Rising Tide Society, founded by the really wonderful Natalie Franke, is an organization dedicated to bringing creative entrepreneurs together in the name of community over competition, and helps us all remember, when we forget, that while we all do work for ourselves, we are not in this alone, though it does sometimes feel that way.

Enter Maddie.

 

She and I did not actually meet through the Rising Tide Society rather through a photographer who is a mutual friend late last year.

We met on the set of a fashion shoot that Staley Munroe (who by the way, is one of the best women I’ve ever met, and is PHENOMENAL behind the camera, in front of it, her talent constantly blows me away.) was running.

Maddie is the most intuitive hair and makeup artist I’ve ever worked with, and I cannot recommend her highly enough. Seriously, she’s one of  my preferred vendors.

She can do any look you could ever want, knows everything that there is to know about skincare, makeup, how peoples skin chemistry effect thier makeup, and SO. MUCH. MORE.

It was one of those moments where you meet someone, and you know that you’ve known each other before. That oh, well there are you are, moment.

Since then, Maddie and I have collaborated on a few projects, with many more in the works, and she is soooo patient with me when I call her with a crazy idea and is always willing to get in front of the camera for me.

More important than all of that though, is the fact that even though we come from completely different angles of the creative entrepreneur, we just get it. We can sit and work, and bounce ideas off of each other, and just enjoy the company of another person who’s jumping through so many of the same hoops, even if it’s in different ways.

These are a few of my favorites, but let me tell you, there will be SO many more to come.