The moment that changed everything arrived in April 2016. I brushed the edge of life and found a place of profound peace where love felt infinite and connection was undeniable. That clarity became a compass: help others transform pain into purpose.

The seeds were already growing. In 2015 I began researching self-harm to understand my own struggles and created Pain Versus Strength, a social documentary honoring survivor stories and pairing scar portraits with images that embodied resilience. Through the lens I learned to process emotion, see patterns, and return to the present. Photography stopped being a craft. It became a lifeline.

My path blends creativity and faith. Earlier studies in Toltec Wisdom and Christianity gave me language for intentional living. Later I added practical tools that dismantled limiting beliefs and aligned actions with values. But what stayed constant was this: healing deepens when we can see our inner world clearly and hold it with compassion.

Through all of this, I realized I’d developed a modality. Photography wasn’t just my lifeline. It was becoming a path I could walk with others. When I was ordained in July 2018 by Midge Miller in a tranquil chapel nestled within the Huron National Forest in Glennie, Michigan, it affirmed what I’d already lived and continue to live.

That is why Optimal Mindset exists. Photography is my wayshower. Images reveal what words sometimes can’t. Together we capture your light, expose hidden patterns, develop your truth, and focus on self-acceptance in photography’s sacred space. I have witnessed again and again that when we can see ourselves more clearly, we can choose differently. Peace grows. Purpose follows.

Through my own healing journey, I discovered that trauma lives in the body and in how we see ourselves. Photography bypasses the thinking mind and shows you what’s actually true about you, beneath the story you’ve been telling. I know this works because I’ve lived it.

If this resonates, you’re welcome to explore the Exposure Series and, when you’re ready, continue with Focus Sessions to keep momentum. I’m honored to walk beside you.

I understand self-harm because I’ve walked through it myself. That understanding became the foundation for everything I do now.

In my final year studying photography, I created two bodies of work. One was technically beautiful: HDR images of the Lansing Capitol Building, meticulously processed in black and white, printed on fine art paper. I was proud of them. I still am.

The second project came from necessity. I wanted to understand self-harm through the lens of others’ stories—to create something with meaning, not just ambition. But finding willing participants was heartbreaking. People who carried that pain didn’t trust that being seen would be healing rather than exploitative. Over two and a half months, I faced setback after setback. Not enough models. An expensive light broke. A battery pack exploded. At one point, I quit. My fallback was the Capitol images.

But then something shifted.

The next morning, I was in drawing class, and I had made my peace with giving up on my project.  When someone sat next to me instead of their usual seat. When they took off their coat, I saw their beautiful scars. I spent the entire class working up the courage to ask them about being a part of my project. When class ended, I walked up to them, introduced myself, and began explaining my project. Before I could even finish my question, they said yes to helping with it!

I was divinely guided to finish that project. The universe responded within hours. It brought me exactly what I needed to finish the project strong.

Through that experience, I learned something that transformed how I see self-harm: when emotions become too big, too painful, or too numb to name, our bodies find a way to speak what our minds cannot yet say. Self-harm is a reaction to something deeper. It’s normal. It’s human. And it can be transformed.

Photography taught me that healing isn’t about erasing the past. It’s about witnessing it, understanding it, and choosing to move forward. 

Trigger notice: This film contains images of scars and discussions of self-harm. Viewer discretion advised.