07/08/2026
last night, i was driving home after an event and thinking about what the night meant to me. i looked a lot like this. a giant puddle of mush.
i built stoked on the belief that if you do what you love, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.
and i still believe that. the last almost-4-years prove it to be true.
but somewhere along the way, my love for the work started getting tangled up with my desire to be better.
because i care so much, i can lose sight of the fact that i’m already doing the thing i prayed to do.
i’m always studying.
always noticing what could be stronger.
always watching people i admire and editors i dream of my work looking like.
always seeing the gap between where i am and where i want to be.
and sometimes, that hunger to grow makes me feel behind instead of grateful or simply happy to be doing what i’m doing.
because i don’t want to just be good at this.
i want to be great.
i want to make work that moves people.
i want to build something that actually matters.
but tonight reminded me that the point was never to arrive at some imaginary finish line where i finally feel “good enough.”
the point was to love the work while i’m still growing in it.
tonight, i got to stand in a room full of people having the absolute time of their lives and capture it.
not force it.
not manufacture it.
not try to make something look meaningful.
just witness it.
the laughter.
the movement.
the joy.
the little moments that would have disappeared if no one had been there to catch them.
and then people started saying things about the way i work and the stories they’ve watched me tell.
they talked about my videos.
how much they moved them.
how the emotion came through.
how they could feel the room, the people, the heart of it all.
how i’m able to capture more than just what happened,
but what it meant.
they talked about the way i move through a room.
how i notice what others may overlook.
how i catch the small, sacred pieces of a moment before they disappear.
how i’m able to make people feel something in a way not everyone can.
and honestly, hearing people talk about my work like that means more than they’ll ever kno
because when you spend so much time in your own head, picking apart every little thing you could have done better, it’s easy to forget that other people are seeing the heart behind it.
and to have someone else see it,
really see it,
is one of the greatest compliments of all.
because that’s all i’ve ever wanted.
not just to make pretty videos.
not just to get the shot.
not just to create content that fills a square online.
but to make people feel something.
to connect with them in some way.
to tell the truth of a moment.
to bottle up the joy in the room.
to capture the parts people may not even realize they’ll want to remember one day.
and tonight, i remembered.
this is why i started.
this is why i work so hard.
this is why i care so much.
this is why i stay up late, obsess over the details, study the craft, and pour so much of myself into this business.
because getting to tell stories for people is not lost on me.
getting trusted with someone’s business, their brand, their people, their moments,
it is not small to me.
last night reignited something in me.
i was just grateful to be there.
fully alive.
camera in hand.
heart full.
doing the thing i prayed for.
and maybe that’s the part that makes me ache with gratitude the most.
that this business was never random.
i wholeheartedly believe the Lord tailor-made stoked work out just for me.
i cannot imagine a more “me” thing to get to do with my life.
to walk into a room and look for the feeling.
to notice the little things.
to catch the joy before it disappears.
to tell stories that help people see the beauty in what they’ve built.
to create something with my hands and my heart and somehow call it work.
i don’t think i could have dreamed up a better way to make a living if i tried.
and tonight reminded me of that.
how lucky i am.
how honored i am.
how deeply grateful i am that this is what i get to do.
not just for fun.
not on the side.
not every now and then.
but as my actual life.
as my job.
this is how i get to make a living (!!!!!!!)
as the thing that pays our bills and fills my soul and keeps stretching me into who i’m becoming.
and maybe that’s the whole point.
not that it never feels like work.
but that every now and then, God is kind enough to remind you that the work itself is the gift.
and maybe the best work is born from that place.
not from pressure.
not from proving.
not from chasing some version of good enough.
but from love.
from being fully present.
from caring deeply.
from getting to do the thing your heart was made to do.
thank you to every person who has believed in me, trusted me, and been along for the ride as i build the dream.
www.hellostoked.com
