Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Elizabeth Nichols.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I remember taking pictures as a preteen. I explored with my friends all the time and our adventures were really inspiring to me. I hated my home town in North Carolina growing up, but whenever we went exploring, I felt more sane and complete because we discovered so many hidden gems. I was as young as 14 when I started dressing up my friends with a mesh of pieces that were abstract together. We would venture out, primarily to abandoned buildings, and as we explored, I’d pose them amongst the debris and rubble. I never enjoyed candid photos as much as I did posed. Even at 14, I preferred my models cutting dynamic shapes with their bodies because it added to my abstract vision of reality. After all, that’s what photography is, right? It’s the photographers perception of reality and this quickly led me to appreciate different aspects of life (i.e. the way that sunsets kiss people’s skin in a special way or how composition can warp your vision so drastically). It was and still is, quite fascinating to me on how much you can manipulate reality just by using a camera.
At this point, though, I didn’t have a name for the hobby. I had no clue that photography was even a career choice, let alone an entire industry of Fierce, Dedicated individuals. It wasn’t until I was 20 that I realized this. I met a fashion photographer who is actually a talent agencies photographer. He surprisingly liked my crappy, inexperienced work and this sparked a wonderful friendship. Within a month of our friendship, he told me about his experiences and goals within the industry and I was astounded. I had never heard of the opportunities he was creating for himself within his craft and this made me feel like something was missing within myself. His passion for his art made me realize that I wasn’t doing as much as I could be doing within my own art. I’ll never forget this moment, either. I didn’t just cry, but I sobbed because my heart felt so heavy knowing how much more I could be doing with my photography. I began taking photography more seriously. He became like a mentor to me and was always a sturdy resource for me to learn from. YouTube tutorials saturated my free time and more stylized photo shoots happen.
Photography was merely a fierce hobby at this time, but it was a hobby that I dedicated a lot of time too. I was actually enrolled in a university for Interior Design on a full ride bachelors degree scholarship. Interior Design is a very intense field with heavy workloads in college. It was so difficult to maintain decent grades while keeping up with my photography and two jobs. It was so difficult, in fact, that I didn’t make the cut in one of my classes. I made a C- in drafting, which I had to get a C in. This postponed my graduation by a year based off of the how a program was set up. The moment I received that grade, I sighed and randomly thought to myself “I hate drafting. I can’t go through that again. Why don’t I just go to art school?” I wasn’t meaning it seriously but as soon as I thought it, a light bulb went off. I thought “Wait. Why don’t I just go to art school?”
At this point, I treated photography like a full-time job. I drove 3 hours a couple times a week to do photoshoots and spent so many hours learning things on YouTube. Out of curiosity, I started looking up art schools. It wasn’t a very serious thought at this point just because I did have a free bachelors degree in the bag at that university. I thought it’d be silly to let go of free schooling but let me tell you: I found SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). I had always heard good things about that school so once I hit their website, I looked at the photography class curriculum. As I was reading through the class descriptions, I started crying. They were all things I cared about. I hated drafting. I didn’t LOVE the interior design and by no means was I passionate about it. If I was crying just by looking at art classes, I knew I had to give up my scholarship.
So, I did.
Within my last semester at my old university, I applied to SCAD and got accepted with two scholarships. I was going to attend the Atlanta campus and was scheduled to move there in July of 2017, but when I’m passionate and set my heart to something, I go all out. My last semester ended in May and I knew that I could really take advantage of my last two months in NC before I moved to Georgia. I got my tax return and once school ended, I quit both of my jobs. I was going to solely focus on photography and attempt freelancing.
It was a surreal time of my life filled with much growth. I learned so much about my style and where exactly I wanted to take my photography career. I experimented with a lot of different concepts and created some of my very best and worst work to date. During this time, I traveled to NYC for the very first time to test with an agency, worked with my first designer, fell in love with studio shoots, and even got hired as the company photographer for a mineral company. I traveled a minimum of an hour and a half one way, 6 days a week during June. All for photography. I didn’t mind it one bit. I preferred it. It was a beautiful period where I was introduced to individuals that were just as dedicated as I was. It was perfect.
I moved to Atlanta as planned in July and realized that this was the time to step up my game. I had never lived in a city before and there are an incredible amount of talented people in Atlanta. I practiced even more and dedicated even more time to YouTube tutorials. I immediately reached out to agencies for testing and before school even started, I nailed an internship with BMG Models. I was dedicated to learning as much about the industry that I could. School was perfect – I had never felt so at home with a group of people.
I had battled anorexia and bulimic tendencies for several years prior to Atlanta, but once I moved and committed myself to the industry, my mental state turned to shit. Anorexia and bulimia came to the forefront of my life. I didn’t battle it- all I cared about was still just my photography and schooling. I went so hard with it all that by the beginning of my second semester, the disorder got so bad that I had to get help. This was February of this year. I took online classes so I could come to be with my parents during the summer while I sought the right help. My eating disorder truly warped me in a way that makes me appreciate the models I work with even more. I’m incredibly passionate about my career, so I can’t possibly understand how devastating it must feel to have your career based off your appearance. It’s maddening and this was the darkest time of my life. I stopped caring about photography because I became so engulfed in the disorder, even.
I’ve been in recovery since April and I’m well on my way. I’m the strongest version of myself yet and am so proud of the woman I’m growing into. Once I started reestablishing my mental health again, photography once again took the forefront. This time, more wisely though. My career goals are only amplified by becoming a highly established name in the fashion community. This obviously includes my photography, but now also includes speaking out against eating disorders- especially within the fashion world. This just leads me to the present, where I’m fiercely tackling those goals.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My biggest issue was the eating disorder. It warped me so badly where I couldn’t care about maintaining finances, grades, or much of anything except how skinny I was. From my relationship, friendships, internship, job, school- every aspect of my life went to crap because I was so focused on my body. I wish I was exaggerating, but those are the things they don’t tell you in middle school health class.
I have several pieces of advice:
1. Remind yourself often of why you started on your journey because that original passion can fuel you in your darkest times. You do this for a reason. Own that.
2. It’s okay to feel weak. Just make sure that when you can’t remember the reasons why you love yourself, surround yourself with only the people that can.
3. Understand that the best growth comes from your darkest of moments and that the purest form of love comes from the deepest hatred. Smile at the negativity. It’s only there to help you.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with your business – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I’m a fashion photographer! I suppose someone could identify my photos based off of the quirky posing and angles I shoot from. I prefer models to cut dynamic shapes with their bodies and that’s a lot of the positive feedback I get.
As a brand, though, I’d have to say that I’m most known for my openness in my recovery. Even when it got terrible and I was supposed to go to a clinic, I kept my IG following very up-to-date about everything I was going through. Considering that my connections are mainly in the fashion world with other creatives growing in that industry, I find it very important, to be honest about it all. I know there’s plenty of other people fighting their own battles with food and I’ve had plenty of model friends break down in front of me regarding their own disorders. Educating the public about it all has become a mission and one of my proudest accomplishments.
I think it’s kind of interesting because, in my own recovery, I’ve found a love in fitness that parallels my photography. I’m actually working on getting my certification for personal training. I can see that as something that sets me apart because I’m pursuing a career in both the fashion and fitness industry. Both have a very different “ideal” type of beauty so it’s been incredibly fun meshing the two.
Who have you been inspired by?
Most YouTubers I follow are my main sources of inspiration. Their transparency, transformations in their own lives, and all around knowledge have always kept me on my toes. Whether that’s in the photography, fitness/nutrition or lifestyle realm, I go to YouTube if I’m in need of a boost.
(some examples but not limited too)
Whitney Simmons – fitness
Brittany Dawn – fitness
MissFitAndNerdy (is her YouTube name) – super in-depth health facts
Lindsay Adkinson – lifestyle and motivation
Jessica Kobeissi – fashion photographer
Contact Info:
- Email: sarahhelizabethn@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahelizabethnichols/ & https://www.instagram.com/sarahelizabethn_fitness/
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
