Katie Lumsden shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Katie, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: When was the last time you felt true joy?
I am a (relatively) new mom to a 5 month old daughter, so I feel true joy quite often! I am so blessed to be able to stay home during the week and watch her while my husband works, and then photograph weddings on the weekends while my husband is home. Just yesterday, my daughter figured out how to roll over for the first time and I caught it on camera! It was truly a joyous moment for me!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi, I’m Katie. When I first started my career, I never -pun intended- ”pictured” myself as a wedding photographer. I used to work in the animal care field, as a zookeeper, wildlife rehabilitator, and animal rescue worker. I spent my days raising lions, feeding baby birds, and helping abandoned pets find loving homes.
I started to take pictures of our rescue dogs and cats in order to help them get more attention from adopters and (hopefully) find loving homes. My husband bought me my first camera to help out and I fell in love with photography. I spent my free time taking pet portraits, portraits for people, and eventually found my way to wedding photography. After shadowing my first wedding, I knew this was the job for me! Capturing beautiful moments in other’s lives was what really set my heart ablaze and I’m so thankful to have found wedding photography as my career! And don’t worry, I still spend my free time photographing adoptable animals for the same shelter I worked at.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
My entire life changed the moment I first stuck my foot in the stirrup and swung my leg over to sit on the back of a horse. I was 10 years old and, to be honest, I’d never felt powerful (and tall!) in my entire life. Pony rides turned into lessons, which turned into horse ownership, which turned into 17 wonderful years with my horse Spirit (and still going strong!). I firmly believe this love of horses led me to my career in animal care, which led me into my career as a wedding photographer. Life is so funny sometimes!
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I wish I could convince my younger self to not be so afraid of what other people think. To follow my own voice and march to the beat of my own drum and what fills my heart with joy.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
I would for sure say yes. The things you don’t see with the public version of Katie is hardships and trials that I’m going through. Everyone goes through tough patches! Everyone has hardships in their lives and I personally don’t choose to share every detail of my private life on my social platform. I know some people do, and that’s totally okay, but it’s not how I want to handle my social presence. But the me you see on my website and my social media, is still very much me!
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What will you regret not doing?
There are quite a few things I’ll regret not doing! I wish I had studied abroad in college. I wish I found my love of learning Japanese earlier and I wish I was farther along in fluency right now! I wish I found my career earlier and that I’m farther along than I am now. I wish I could adopt literally every single cat that I see at literally every shelter. Unfortunately, I can’t go back in time, I can only move forward, and I don’t have the space for 500 cats. I can’t live every possibility and every wish, and that’s okay! I’m so glad with where I’m at now!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thelilaclionphotography.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelilaclionphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelilaclionphotography/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-lilac-lion-photography-charlotte
- Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thelilaclionphotography/
