Where do I even begin with the amazing girl that came into my life late last summer?!

I’ll try not to get too emo and make you all uncomfortable, but the fact is Kensi is a gift straight from God. Truly! She came into my life right when I needed her and has been the epitome of a God-send ever since.

Kensi reached out to me last year interested in learning more about photography and doing some mentoring. She quickly learned the ropes and while I love having her at shoots and weddings, she has been a game-changer helping with the back end of my business. She is incredibly organized, detailed, and methodical, and always has fantastic ideas. Not to mention her talented creative eye!

Kensi has been managing much of my social media (she’s the Pinterest queen), helping input clients into my client management system, starting client workflows and automations, helping with email and blog management, and assisting at shoots.

If you’ve been at any of my commercial shoots as a model, Kensi is also is the mastermind behind the spreadsheets that keep us sane. She manages the inventory, organizes the shot list, and creates the order/call times for our models so I know what I’m shooting and when.

At this point if you’re saying, ‘Is Kensi a unicon!?’ the answer is yes. Yes she is.

Kensi was kind enough to sit down for a little Q&A, and I’m so excited for you all to officially meet her!

Maddie: Tell us about where you’re from and how you ended up in Sioux Falls.

Kensi: I was born and raised in Sioux Falls and returned here after school. My husband, Mitch, and I love it here and have a lot of family around here as well.

Maddie: You know I love your family. Talk about them!

Kensi: Mitch and I are high school sweethearts. We actually grew up on the same street for a while and went to the same school since we were young, but we didn’t start dating until high school. We both went to Dordt College, and now we have been married for almost two and a half years.

I am the youngest of 4 girls in my family! My dad was a bit out numbered, but not anymore now that we have all added spouses to the mix. Family is a huge thing to Mitch and me, and we spend a lot of time with them as my parents and two of my sisters live in Sioux Falls as well (as does some of Mitch’s family). My sisters and I have become really close as we have grown up and hit adulthood, and now we are stepping into the stages of having babies, which is so fun to experience together!

Maddie: Tell me your story of how we met.

Kensi: Last fall, I reached out to Maddie looking for some mentoring as I wanted to dive a little more into photography. I was hoping Maddie would let me tag along to weddings and photo sessions so I could observe, ask questions, and just learn more from experiencing it all first hand. Maddie graciously allowed me to shadow her and assist at some shoots and weddings, and in return I was able to help her out around the office. That all led to getting to know each other more, and from there it continued into a working relationship (and an amazing friendship!!).

Maddie: Why did you want to work with me? (Yes I asked this! I’m the worst. And she puts up with me!)

Kensi: When I first saw Maddie’s work on Instagram, I loved her style. I related to it and thought she did amazing work (which she does). I will admit I stalked her page for a while and just from doing that, I could tell she would be someone awesome to work with. I checked out her website and again was drawn in by her style – of her photos and her business. I reached out a little while later, and once I had officially met her, I knew it would be an amazing opportunity.

Maddie: You are so incredibly organized and Type A, which is amazing because it allows me to really dream and think ahead to some fun new projects. Can you talk a little bit about your personality and the things you enjoy doing that feed into you being so organized?

Kensi: I have always loved being organized. Growing up, I would find myself playing office or administrative assistant. I would make print outs and forms to fill out and keep track of information for whatever business I was running that day.

I always thought I was going to study something in the business field where I could use those skills and interests. But in high school, I actually ended up falling in love with working with kids and studied that in college. After school, I worked with kids for a little while, but I found myself wanting to explore some of my creative interests, which had also developed over the many years.

Working with Maddie has been such a blessing in that I get to combine my love of creativity, photography, and business. (I’m also going to add that her love of kids is AMAZING because 1) my kiddos are around a lot and she just rolls with it. They love her! And 2) Kensi is the biggest help with shoots that have lots of kiddos.)

In my day to day life, I like to stay organized, but the pile of clothes on my floor would make you think otherwise about me!

Maddie: What’s your favorite part of your job?

Kensi: I am able to explore and use many of my interests and skills in working with Maddie. I enjoy simple office tasks, but I also get to learn more about photography and other business aspects.

I have found that Maddie and I just relate in so many ways, which makes working with her so amazing. When we get a little distracted (which of course hardly ever happens…) (yes, NEVER, we NEVER have any fun conversations… 😉 ), I find us having chats over simple life stuff like our favorite essential oils or clothes, to deep stuff like mental health and motherhood. To be able to call your boss “your friend” is truly something special. (Right back at you, sister <3)

Maddie: What’s been your favorite day on the job since starting?

Kensi: Just chatting about any and everything is my favorite part of working together. But I have also enjoyed helping her at a few weddings, which has been a ton of fun and great experience for me. I also enjoy helping with commercial shoots, specifically one for a baby clothing company as my love of kids and photography overlap!

Maddie: What are you excited about for 2019? Business, personal, whatever!

My husband and I are due with our first baby in June, so we are SO excited for a little boy to be joining our family shortly! I also am excited to continue growing in all business aspects – I do a little bit of my own photography, as well as run a lifestyle blog with my sister. I am excited to see where those lead me this year, as well as continuing my role as Maddie’s assistant.

Overall, I am so excited to step into the role of motherhood, and continue growing in my work, faith, and life!

Can you blame me for how much I love this girl!?

You can also follow Kensi on Instagram at her personal account or her joint blog account. I always love following what she shares and seeing how she uses her gifts!