oozing pride

This week something huge happened 'within my life' and by that, I mean big news within my world.  This may seem a bit odd or selfish that I'm touting it's 'my' news to share, but my belief is that when you love and respect someone so much, as a friend, you need to shout their greatest accomplishments from the rooftops.  (note for future reference: my rooftop is this blog)

I want you to ask yourself, "how many people do I know (whether they are friends, family, co-workers or acquaintences) that have quit their day job and took a financial risk to do what they REALLY want?"

how many?

One of my best friends quit his day-job on Monday to follow his heart and his most passionate hobbie.  Photography.   And now, he is officially going to make a career out of it.  To let you know how much this means to me, well...I'm sitting here with tears streaming down my face.   Liam and I have been friends since high school, we've lived together, I was the MC at his wedding and he is my brother.  I've seen him live through the very worst moments to some of his greatest highs in life.  Liam struggled for so many years trying different careers and no matter how good or bad the job was, he always brought his incredible, vibrant, unique charm to it all - from being a bank teller in Eastern Passage, NS to being an RMT giving free massages to everyone but his wife (long story).   

Years ago, Liam started to play around with his dads old camera, from my memory it was mostly a fluky interest of happenstance (I could be wrong on that one).  But like most things with Liam, he brought magic to something most people (read: me) take years to learn and craft. Many people take courses on photography, read manuals and dabble in it forever.   But the thing you need to know about Liam is that he is SO FUN.  And when he took photos he had always had fun.  He didn't overthink it or stress about learning the ropes.  And all the while he was having fun over the last numbers of years, so many people liked what they saw and gave the 'unprofessional' a 'professional' chance.  From brides, to pregnant moms to small business owners.   While Liam worked in the pharma industry over the last 5+ years, this interest and focus became much more serious.  In true Liam fashion, he took a website course to create his own (amazing) website.  He talked to me about the importance of creating a logo, and he got himself a sweet-ass logo.  With weddings booked well into the Fall of 2010, Liam handed in his resignation letter this week.  He did what he wanted to do for years - he said goodbye to the man.

Liam, I am so proud of you.  And Marse, I admire your love and compromise while much of this happened after the wedding and the arrival of sweet Lola.   When I grow up I want to be equal parts of the both of you.

And to you, my friends on the world wide web, I'd like to introduce you to Applehead Studio.

www.appleheadstudio.com