Life Update - Summer 2019
My guy Kai, 21 months old
My-oh-my how this year is flying by…
Summer is my favorite season. I love the abundance of sunshine that extends our daylight hours into the late evening and give way to the beautiful cotton candy colored sunsets that highlight our stunning mountains here in the PNW. -The Summer sunsets have this way of making all my sunset shoots extra dreamy this time of year and I can’t get enough of it!
The other night, Jimmy were finally sitting outside on our back patio enjoying our new fire table that we bought as our wedding anniversary gift to each other. We were going over all the plans we have for the rest of the Summer which made me start to think how fast this year is flying by – especially the last few months. It’s been a whirlwind of events and change…major change in the Palacol-Connell house as a matter of fact! With that said, I’d thought I’d take a sec to give you an update on what all has been going on so far and what’s to come this last half of 2019.
Kalyx Group
In January my business partner, Kalisa Jenne-Fraser, and I officially launched Kalyx Group – a digital marketing and branding consulting agency for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Kalyx Group was founded in 2016 and much like any business it’s taken a few years for the two of us to get it off the ground. In February we ran a free 14-day Instagram challenge for small business owners who needed help with getting better engagement and increasing their following on the platform. Since then we’ve been working privately with some local businesses to help improve their overall social media and brand strategy. It’s been super rewarding watching our guidance in action and seeing our small business clients grow!
Spring Mini Sessions at Pine Creek Farms & Nursery
In April I partnered with the lovely owners of Pine Creek Farms & Nursery in Monroe to host Spring Mini Sessions in their beautiful greenhouse. Owners Gwen and Paul Sayers were wonderful to work with. They really put a lot of thought into the Spring colors that they could help bring into the greenhouse to make it extra special for my sessions. -And the diffused natural light was a photographer’s dream to shoot in! It’s been a goal of mine for 2019 to provide exclusive location experiences to my clients and Pine Creek exceeded my expectations! They offer quality products and even have an event rental space. I strongly encourage you to go check them out and support local when you get a chance!
Cannon Beach Vacation
In May we did our annual vacation down to Cannon Beach. We’re beach vacationers all the way and nothing beats Cannon Beach in the PNW area. Jimmy and I started going down there back in 2014 as a celebration of our 1st wedding anniversary and have made it a yearly retreat ever since. We typically stay at the Inn at Cannon Beach, a cozy little Inn located on the south side of Haystack Rock a block up from the beach, but this year we decided to try the Surfsand Resort which is located mid-town and is a beachfront property. It was hard not to stay our beloved Inn that has provided us with such fond memories over the years, but the Surfsand was amazing family-wise. We splurged on a 1-bedroom oceanfront suite and it was worth every penny. At night we could put Kai down in the bedroom and close the door and still enjoy the rest of the room and oceanfront view. The hotel also offered an indoor pool which was great for the few days it was drizzly on the Coast. Aside from the hotel and little beach town of Cannon Beach, we took a drive down to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and did their self-guided tour which was fun and spent a day in Seaside too. It was a laid- back trip and we enjoyed the time together. Plus Suki got to join us!
American Flowers Week
Over the past couple of years, I’ve been building relationships within the local flower farmer and florist community. Though my journey within this lovely community I was connected to Debra Prinzing, the founder of the Slow Flowers Movement. Slow Flowers connects consumers with local, seasonal and sustainable grown flowers and puts a human face of the flower farmer and floral designer behind each bouquet or centerpiece. I’ve been working with Debra on seasonal branding shoots for Slow Flowers for a year now and when she asked if I was available to help capture the kickoff of the 2019 American Slow Flowers week celebration at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market I was quick to jump on the opportunity!
Plus, I was included in the celebration as I collaborated with Debra and Seattle Florist, Tammy Myers of First and Bloom and Seattle Flower Farmer, Amy Brown, of Laughing Goat Flower Farm on a styled photo shoot to represent Washington state in celebration of American Flowers Week. The shoot highlighted a stunning Native American quilt made of flowers. Most of the exquisite florals were freshly picked the day of the shoot from Laughing Goat Flower Farm where the shoot took place, with some additional flowers being donated by the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market. Our work from this shoot was featured in the June issue of Florist Review Magazine. I’m sure proud of our small team’s effort and it was awe-inspiring to see my work in a printed publication!
Top left to right: Debra Prinzing, founder of Slow Flowers, kicks off the 2019 American Slow Flowers Week at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market, delicious American themed cookies by Must Love Frosting, group of talented Seattle florists who helped to create signage and the floral curtain pictured celebrating. Bottom left to right: Tammy Myers putting the finishing touches on the Native American inspired quilt using the stunning floral from Laughing Goat Flower Farm, published article and images in Florist Review Magazine, and the finished quilt.
I Left My Corporate Job!
Gah – It’s still a little surreal to me and hasn’t completely sunken in yet that I left the security of my nine to five job! If you didn’t know this about me, I’ve been building a corporate marketing career for the past 12 years and was most recently a marketing consultant for Microsoft.com. As my contract for my consulting work was coming to and end on June 27th 2019, I decided it was time to put all of my heart and hustle into the work I love most with Missy Palacol Photography and Kalyx Group. In late 2017 I replaced my wedding photography services with brand photography services. By doing this, it has allowed me to utilize my marketing and branding knowledge and help businesses, entrepreneurs, and individual professionals visually tell their brand story – something I’m super passionate about! And of course, I get to utilize my marketing and brand background through my work with Kalyx Group too. It’s a win-win for me and I can’t wait to see where this entrepreneurship journey leads me to.
Guest Speaking at the 2019 Slow Flowers Summit, MN
Just two days after I ended my corporate gig in June, I got on a plane to Twin Cities, MN to talk about brand photography to a room filled with 150 flower farmers and florists at the 2019 Slow Flowers Summit. The Summit was a three day event where I not only was a guest speaker, but the event photographer too. Over the three days there were flower farm tours, a stunning farm-to-table dinner on a flower farm, floral demonstrations, and last but not least the informative summit it self.
One of my goals for 2019 was to be seen and heard, and well, I was definitely seen and heard at the Summit! I’ll be honest though; I was so nervous when I got up on that stage. I don’t know why, but I was. I could talk about all things brand photography in my sleep, but for whatever reason, my nerves got to me those first few minutes up on the stage. None-the-less, it was an amazing experience that gave me momentum and confidence to jump start my new career as a full-time business owner.
Kalisa joined me as a speaker as well on behalf of Kalyx Group to talk about branding and what makes you unique. We shared stage time with social media manager and owner of Fetching Social, Niesha Blancas, who provided insight and tips on how to improve you reach and engage with your following. The three of us held a successful panel and it was awesome to see first hand how well-received our talks were in person with so many attendees approaching us during the Summit cocktail hour asking us to go deeper.
Top left to right: Flower farm tour at Blue Sky Flower Farm, MN, Farm-to-table dinner at Green Earth Growers, Hydrangea dress display by Bailey Nurseries. Middle left to right: Slow Flowers Summit at Paikka, 2019 Speakers, Keynote speaker, Terri Mcenany, of Bailey Nurseries, prepping for her presentation.
So yeah, it’s been a busy year so far! What’s to come the rest of 2019, you ask? Here’s few things that I’m working on and looking forward to;
1. Senior & Summer Sunset Sessions (Aug – Sept)
2. Re-branding and refreshing my website and photography services
3. Completing a video editing course – I’m working on adding short video to my branding services!
4. Speaking with the Seattle area Flower Power Group (Aug)
5. Taking Kai on his first trip to Disneyland (Aug)
6. Fall & Holiday Mini Photo Sessions (Oct – Nov) P.S. Sign up for my mailing list to be the first to sign up for this year’s events
7. Co-writing an article with Kalisa for the October issue of Florist Review Magazine on branding and brand photography
And before I put an official close to this life update, I want to be sure to give a BIG thanks to YOU! I continually feel your support. You have encouraged me from the very get-go of this wild entrepreneurship ride and if it wasn’t for you, I likely wouldn’t have felt as empowered to take this huge leap away from the financial security of my 9-5 job. I am forever grateful and truly appreciate you taking the time to not only support me but connect with me.
Here’s to a beautiful summer!
xo, Missy