What Happened When a Room Full of Women Said Yes to Themselves
There are some nights you know will stay with you forever.
The first annual Wicked Wise Women Gala was one of those nights.
From the moment women began arriving at the Northeastland Hotel, there was a feeling in the air that was hard to put into words — something tender, powerful, and deeply alive. It wasn’t just an event. It was a room full of women choosing themselves. Choosing joy. Choosing connection. Choosing to be part of something that felt bigger than any one portrait, any one table, any one moment.
And that, to me, is the heart of Wicked Wise Women.
This project has always been about more than photography. It’s about creating space for women to be seen in their fullness — not only for how they look, but for who they are, what they’ve survived, what they carry, and what they’re still becoming. It’s about the beauty of women gathering together and remembering that softness is not weakness, that confidence can be reclaimed, and that there is something sacred about being witnessed with kindness.
The gala gave all of that a place to breathe.
There were beautiful dresses and warm hugs, laughter and tears, and that unmistakable energy that happens when women start sharing their stories honestly. That kind of room changes you. It reminds you that healing is not always quiet. Sometimes it looks like showing up. Sometimes it looks like dressing up. Sometimes it looks like sitting beside another woman and realizing you’re not the only one who has had to find her way back to herself.
One of the most meaningful parts of the evening was knowing that the event supported the Hope and Justice Project, an organization doing important work for survivors of domestic abuse right here in Aroostook County. That connection gave the night even more depth. The gala wasn’t just about celebration — it was about impact. It was about using this project to give something back. It was about turning beauty into purpose.
That matters to me.
Because when I photograph women, I’m never just trying to make them look pretty. I’m trying to help them feel what has always been true: that they are worthy of being celebrated exactly as they are. That they do not need to earn the right to take up space. That they deserve to be pampered, to be honored, and to have their beauty reflected back to them in a way that feels real and lasting.
That’s what Wicked Wise Women is built on.
And standing in that ballroom, surrounded by women who understood the heart of it, I felt overwhelmed in the best possible way. Grateful. Emotional. Inspired. There is nothing quite like watching a dream become something tangible — something that other women can feel in their own bodies and hearts.
The gala may have been one evening, but the feeling it created will last far longer than that.
It will live on in the women who attended.
It will live on in the portraits we created.
It will live on in the support raised for survivors.
And it will live on in every woman who sees this project and decides, maybe this is for me too.
Because that is the invitation of Wicked Wise Women.
Not perfection.
Not performance.
Just presence.
Just truth.
Just the courage to say yes to yourself.
And if you’re reading this and wondering whether there is still room for you in a story like this, I want to tell you clearly: there is.
Your beauty, your way.
Your story, your way.
Your healing, your way.
That’s where the magic begins.
