she comes to the shore

My beautiful model, local Wilmington actress, Tamica Katzmann. 

Dress created by the absolutely talented Katie Props-Allen.

Shot on location at Fort Fisher, North Carolina.

Pure Life | an interview with Victoria Chavez

If you are ever in downtown Wilmington, one of the places you'd visit would be the Cotton Exchange, a historic site made up of several buildings that at one time had been one of the largest exporters of cotton here on the east coast.  Now, its buildings house several different businesses ranging anywhere from gift shops, art galleries, restaurants, and more.  One of these businesses happens to be Pure Life, a health food store and juice bar owned and operated by Victoria Chavez.  I met Victoria nearly three years ago, when our family first moved the Cape Fear area.  At the time, her shop was a bit smaller, and located in another building.  Today, her storefront sits right on North Front Street, gaining a lot of traffic from passerbys, as well as, college students anxious to drink down one of her popular bubble teas.  Unlike many of the other health food stores in town, Victoria offers more than just herbal teas, vitamins, gluten-free and organic items, she also has her own line of health and beauty products.  Everything from shampoos, soaps, ointments, and even a line of baby products she named after her little girl, Emilia.  I wanted to learn more about Victoria and her business, and I was so pleased that this amazing and inspiring woman agreed to sit down and share her story with me.

Originally from Bronx, New York, Victoria got her start in the health food business at the age of sixteen, working for a local health food store in West New York, New Jersey.  Before this time, she already had quite a good grasp of herbology, owing a lot of what she knows about it from her maternal grandmother, a woman of Taíno Indian decent from Puerto Rico.  Victoria recalls the memory of how she landed her job at the health food store.  She was in the process of graduating two years early from high school with honors, working part-time for a local hospital in their youth clinic, all during an extremely difficult time in her life.  "I really needed a job so that I could find my own place. Every day, I would pass by this health food store.  They had a HELP WANTED sign in their window so every day I would go in and ask 'Are you guys hiring?' And every time the answer was 'No.'  So one day, I went in and asked again and when the lady told me 'no', I said 'So if you're not hiring, why do you have a HELP WANTED sign in your window?!"  Her persistence paid off.  The woman took her upstairs to speak with the store owner.  The owner, Richard, underestimating her capabilities due to her young age, had made Victoria an offer.  She would have two weeks to learn about every single vitamin they carried: their properties, scientific names, and health benefits.  If she passed the test, she would be hired on.  Seeing the unfairness of the near impossible task, the owner's mother secretly assisted Victoria by giving her tips on how to remember all the information she needed to know about each vitamin.  Needless to say, when the two weeks were up, Victoria passed his test with flying colors.  She was hired.  And for nearly 3 years, she would work there, learning as much as she could about running a business, from bookkeeping, product knowledge and customer service.  She happily and gratefully recalls everyone who took their time to teach her the skills she needed to be successful.  "Nelly, the woman I kept pestering about the job, was such a huge blessing to me.  She taught me how to balance things like checkbooks, and how to save money.  And, Richard!  He has been one of the biggest blessings in my life.  I owe a lot to him."

After turning nineteen, Victoria moved on to work as an accountant for companies up and down the east coast.  "I made a lot money doing it, but I hated it.  I hated my job."  In 2000, she moved to North Carolina.  Here, she had worked several different types of jobs ranging from accounting and even to social work, trying to find a career that best suited her.  A few years later, in 2007, between her savings and an inheritance, she managed to gain quite a bit of capital to start her own business.  "I had this money and I thought, 'What am I going to do with it?'  I was thinking about opening a coffee shop, a clothing store, but I didn't like any of those options.  Then I started thinking about what makes me really and entirely happy.  And that's how Pure Life came along.  I remembered that the happiest years of my life were when I was working in the health food store.  I enjoy being with people and helping people, and seeing their faces light up when I do."

Since its humble beginnings six years ago, Pure Life continues to grow.  With the addition of a juice bar, Victoria has been able to provide even more to her customers by offering healthy drinks made with organic fruits and vegetables.  Within the next few years, Victoria plans to further her already extensive knowledge of homeopathic remedies by attending a school for natural medicine.  In the meantime, she happily continues to assist her clientele by providing natural, holistic alternatives for any ailment or need.  One of her most popular items happens to be the Miracle Skin Relief ointment.  Based on one of her grandmother's original recipes, this handmade ointment, made up of several different oils and herbs, has been used to relieve many skin irritations such as rash, burns, as well as, psoriasis and eczema.  It can also be used as a moisturizer, and with frequent use, has also helped minimize scarring from burns to acne.  Personally, I can tell you that this product works AND it smells wonderful!

 When asked what advice she had for individuals who desire to make healthier changes to their diet, but feel that it is too costly, she answers, "Start slow.  If you feel that it's too expensive to buy organic, it's true, it's expensive, just stop buying junk food.  You save money that way.  Replace the junk food with something healthier, like more fruits and vegetables."  Victoria also encourages people to consider growing produce in their own yards, or in a community garden.  However, if gardening is something that you're not quite ready to pursue, try making a point to start purchasing foods locally grown from a farmer's market.  She also suggests that folks should spend their funds buying more food to make at home versus the cost of eating out.  "This way, instead of eating for just one meal, you would have several days worth."  It all makes complete sense.  "People need to realize that eating healthier is possible, you just have to think differently about how you spend your money."


The difference people will feel when walking into her store versus some of the larger health food markets is that she takes the time to get to know her clients.  "When our customers come in to our store, especially the ones that do come in frequently, we know about their dog, about their kids, we know their medical history, we know about what supplements they're taking, and what they're not taking.  We pretty much know what's going on in their lives because we work with them one-on-one.  We build relationships.  We don't see them as just a customer, we see them as family.  We make each visit about you, and not about how much you're spending.  Whether you're spending a dollar or three hundred dollars, you'll be treated the same way because you're my customer.  You become a part of Pure Life."

Victoria is a smart, beautiful, and vibrant young lady, shaped greatly by her life experiences.  She has managed to find a way to balance the task of running a small, yet growing business, as well as raising a beautiful baby girl.  Her energy, enthusiasm, and determination has brought her the happiness she enjoys today.  She gives thanks for who she is, and where she has come in life to her faith in God, and to her wonderful family, specifically to her husband who always encouraged her creativity and the pursuit of her dreams; and also to her grandmother who has been her greatest inspiration and spiritual leader.  Full of the kind of wisdom that one would expect from someone much older than herself, I can truly say that Victoria is a modern day Medicine Woman, and I am truly grateful and honored to have spent this time getting to know her.   

To view and purchase some of Victoria's products, visit her website at www.purelifeorganic.com.  

it's all about the people

Several years ago, during one of the many day trips Alex and I would embark on, we drove into a small town called Fayetteville, in Lincoln County, Tennessee.  Fayetteville is about an hour south of Nashville, and just north of Huntsville, Alabama.  Back then, folks walking around with cameras strapped around their necks was not something you saw everyday in Fayetteville's town square.  So, it should have been no surprise when a few of the locals, who took note of our picture taking, came out to see what we were about.  First, it was the hairdresser from Dawn's who shouted out to us from across the street, "What ya'll doin'?" between drags on her cigarette.  We met and talked with Shirley, sharing with her the project we had in mind of driving around Tennessee, capturing the little nuances that made the smaller, and some more obscure, towns so interesting.  At some point in our conversation, an apparent client of Shirley's came out to see whether or not she had had any intentions of coming back to the task of getting her hair done.  "I'm on a smoke break," was the answer she gave, followed by a sly grin and a wink.  It was fun watching the two of them out there in front of the salon, their camaraderie  apparent in the way they joked with each other, that I had to ask if they would allow me to take their photo.  "Aww, well, I don't know," they said.  "Oh please c'mon, this is hilarious!"  Shirley says, "Okay, well hang on a second," and she rushes back into the salon only to return with a cordless phone and a bottle of hair product.  She shoves the bottle into her client's hand, only for her to reply, "And what am I supposed to do with this?"  The above photo was the result of their playful exchange.  

Later on, we were pulled into a little antique shop just a few doors down.  The owner was anxious  to share some local history and gave a few suggestions as to other places to visit.  It was such a pleasure to be able to converse with complete strangers who were all so willing to welcome us to their town.  There were other places we visited.  Some of them much less jovial, like the time we strolled into Petersburg on our way back to Nashville from Fayetteville.  The sign you saw upon entering the city limits was shot so many times with bullets that it resembled a green cheese grater.  The "square" was nothing more than a few buildings standing on four different sides, most of them empty.  One of the buildings that was occupied belonged to a retired couple from Michigan who shared their story of how they came to Petersburg and the struggles they faced being the "Damn Yankees" in this tiny southern town.  It's amazing the people you meet and the stories you'll hear.    

These conversations are what I truly love about photography.  It really became all about the people I met, and not so much about the landscape.  My camera became a key that helped unlock doors, allowing me that chance to connect with others.  And I truly miss that.  We never did get to fully invest time into our Tennessee project like we had hoped as a job promotion prompted me to make a move to Kentucky.  However, the desire to venture into new places, and to meet new faces still remains.  This gypsy is getting restless again.  

popping in

My good friend, actor Langley McArol.

Friends, there is much going on in my neck of the woods at the moment.  With that being, I am working on some things that I hope will bring this blog back to life!  The above photos are of my good friend, Langley, an actor and all-around nice (occasionally grumpy) guy.  Ha!  

Have a beautiful week ahead!  And for those of you watching the Super Bowl at the moment, I hope your team wins.  ;D

.the village smithy stands.

There, in a town called Lebanon, not too awfully far from Nashville, a little historical village sits.  Made up of a collection of old cabins and tiny shops, all donated by various patrons, it's a special place we call Fiddlers Grove.  In that village, one of the more active spots you'd see there is the blacksmith shop.  On my last trip back there, I popped in to say hello to some of the wonderful men my Grandfather called friends and fellow smithies.  It was a beautiful day, the kind of Spring day when folks can open up their doors and let the fresh air in.  In this case, the door might've been pushed wide open to let the smoke out!  As I peeked in, the guys at the Fiddlers Grove Blacksmith Association (or FGBA) were busy chatting away with one another, working on projects, stoking flames in their coal forges and pounding away at the anvil.  Immediately, I felt at ease there.  

Amongst them, was Bret Hampton, a member of FGBA for 7 years, whose day job consists of working mostly with marble and granite, showed us a project he was working on.  Using an old piece of wrought iron a few kids from his neighborhood found, and three railroad spikes, Bret was in the process of making a rustic coat rack.  Since I had my camera with me, I thought I'd take a few photos.

I honestly was mesmerized by the whole thing.  Unfortunately, I couldn't stay long enough to see the whole piece completed.  With "metal art" running through my veins, I seriously could see myself picking up the trade, which delighted my Uncle Vince of course who proceeded to set aside tools and supplies for me.  So, I asked Bret, who also helps with instruction there at Fiddlers Grove, "If I was someone who wanted to take up blacksmithing, specifically here in Middle Tennessee, what would I do?"  First, he told me that I should look into ABANA, the Artist Blacksmith Association of North America.  Then, after finding some papers for me that gave both the history and specifics of FGBA, he mentioned that once a person joins the association ($50 per year, which includes both the annual dues and costs of materials) you can sign up to take the Green Coal Class, a beginner's course that introduces one to the basics of blacksmithing, which takes place every Tuesday from 7PM to 9PM.  There is also an advanced class that takes place on Friday evenings, also from 7PM to 9PM.  There is no charge for the class, however, students must come prepared with the basic tools.  A list of these tools are available for those who are interested.  

So for anyone who may want to delve into the ancient art of blacksmithing and happen to be in the Middle Tennessee area, contact instructors Danny Parsons at (615) 444-4431 or Broadus Weatherall at (615) 773-4436 for more information.  Also, the famous Wilson County Fair is only a few months away, and these guys will be in full demonstration mode throughout that week so be sure to stop by!