A 2025 Gratitude Note
This year hit different. Since I started Photobooth by HK in 2023, I felt the itch that I had to go big or go home. But life is not always that simple and I was scared! The past three months, I’ve been doing my photobooth full time, and honestly it still doesn’t feel real. But it does feel sooooo right. So many beautiful moments have unfolded the second I chose to trust myself — closing some doors, flinging others wide open, and letting possibility be bigger than fear. One of my favorite quotes is, “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” This line has followed me through so many seasons of life, and it’s meant different things to me at different times — but the heart of it stays the same: you can’t let fear be the thing that stops you. Not from dreaming. Not from growing. Not from stepping into the version of yourself you’ve always hoped you’d become.
Being my own boss was always the far-off dream. The “maybe one day” dream. The “I’ll get there eventually” dream. I never thought it would happen this soon, in this way, or with this much support behind me. This wasn’t just a year of events. It was a year of courage. A year of saying yes before I felt ready. A year of trusting that the work I love loves me back.
And none of this would be possible with out the support of my parents. They planted this idea in my head, helped me lug my equipment around Kansas City, learned alongside me, and I know they would do it all over again. The best part of it is that they always have believed in me well before I could even fathom starting a business. And for that I am forever grateful. I am so lucky to have the support system that allows me to take chances in life. That’s something I’ll spend the rest of my life being grateful for.
I’m ending 2025 with a full heart, tired feet, a camera roll full of strangers-turned-friends, and the wild realization that I am actually living the dream younger me was scared to admit out loud.
If 2025 was the leap, 2026 is the landing — steady, grateful, and ready for whatever’s next.
Let’s keep this party going!
HK
