Meet Annika.
She won this photoshoot through a contest I held a while back for all my newsletter subscribers (if you’re not yet a subscriber, subscribe at the bottom of this page).
Annika also happens to be a good friend of mine whom I’ve known for half of my life.
In addition to that she is a nutritionist who is just about to graduate as a nutritional therapist.
Annika’s first degree is in marketing and she was doing marketing for around 8 years until recently when she decided to make the move towards a full-time focus on nutrition.
Some years back Annika discovered how much she had started to care about what exactly went in her mouth and the unavoidable consequences they have not only on our physical, but our mental and emotional health as well. She found herself so immersed in the world of nutrition that she decided to take a step further and began studying it.
Annika the superwoman
I’m telling you, this woman is a real-life superwoman.
Yes, she is.
Not only did she go to school while still working full-time in her marketing position, she also took care of her young son (and gave time to her marriage, friendships and family in addition to her own health).
I’m not entirely sure how she was able to manage it all, but so she did and now she’s nearly done with her school. One more step and she’ll officially be a nutritional therapist.
She’s making a huge change in her life right now, transferring from full-time marketing coordinator to full-time nutritionist.
It’s a scary time but anything worth something will always bring up different levels of fear.
I, for one, am immensely proud of her for taking this step and for believing in herself. She’s going to do so great in her new position and will change so many people’s lives.
If you’re interested in taking care of yourself through nutrition, you should be sure to check out her business Soulfood Nutrition and ‘like’ her page on Facebook.
—
Thank you for reading and caring! I would love to hear from you though, what are the things you would like to do if you had no fear? Comment below!
Until next time lovelies,
xoxo Erika
Not to mention their unwavering forgiveness – you accidentally step on their tail, they meow in protest and you kneel down to apologize and there they are, already purring, as if the tail-stepping never happened. Seriously! How amazing is this species.
I love the idea of a home – creating a space that caters specifically to your personal lifestyle. I love walking into people’s homes and getting a glimpse into the person, their lifestyle and values. Because that’s what I feel homes are at their best – a reflection and an extension of the person living there. This is why it is so intimate to have someone allow me into their space to photograph it – something I don’t take lightly. After all, this is the space where we let our guard down, where we come to unwind, where we run to if we’ve had a bad day.
And I love portraits. For me, there are photographs of people and then there are portraits. Portraits take in everything; the location, the light, the shadows, the angle, the expression, the colors, the clothes, the environment – everything. All of those things come together to tell a story. Most of the time, the most unexpected, unplanned, unposed photographs are the ones that go the deepest. They are the ones that express something real, something raw, something worth telling. Those moments can’t be fabricated, they come from time spent with the person. They come as trust is built between the subject and the photographer.
Traveling is another life-long passion of mine. There is no better way to get a well-rounded education than traveling. Not only do you get a glimpse into the world other people live in but you also find connection points to your own existence and every time, in every country, with all cultures, you realize that when all of these external factors are stripped, we are all exactly the same. We fundamentally operate from the same needs and wants and desires. We all want to be loved and accepted, to have freedom, safety, food and a roof over our heads.
As you spend more time with me, you will come to notice that I am a woman of contrasts. As much as I love nature and all things natural, both in general and in photography, I also love the absolute and pure control I have over everything when working in a studio. The above studio photographs were for an auction house where I got to spend time with objects from the past. These objects have been touched by and traveled with many people throughout the years. I imagine all the things they have seen and heard, all the stories they would tell if they could speak. It’s precisely those stories that blow life into these still objects and precisely why I love photographing them.
