Meet the Board | Irene
hello!
Hello, I’m Irene!
I am the owner of Irene's Photos & Design. I am originally from Muskegon, Michigan. After graduating from high school, I started college, and realized I wasn’t ready, so I joined the Navy. My first duty station was Shore Duty in Hawaii .....WHAT!!! I can remember being so shocked when everyone else was sent to ships.
I arrived in June and met my husband Ace in September. I served 4 years, we married and were stationed in Hawaii for 8 years. Then in 1997, the BIG transfer to WASHINGTON happened. We had never been and were ready for a big adventure.
We fell in love with Washington. We bought our first home in Port Orchard and our boys attended South Kitsap all 12 years. In 2007, Ace retired from the Navy and we decided to stay and make Washington our HOME.
I was now ready for college so I attended The Art Institute of Seattle and studied Graphic Design, although I loved photography I didn’t pursue it-- a little voice in my head told me ‘You are not good at photography, you can’t make a living at it, it is very competitive and you know nothing about owning a business so don’t even think about it.’ I stood in my way for a long time. I worked at Kitsap Sun and the Tacoma New Tribune as a Graphic Artist designing website ads before being laid off.
I wanted to pursue photography and thought ‘Shut up little voice, I’m gonna do this!!! I’m going to teach myself to be a better photographer and if I book one session a month I’ll be happy.’ Eight years later photography is the heart of our business. I have a photo session of some sort every other day, I lease over 2000 sq. ft on the corner of Bay Street and we continue to exceed our numbers year after year.
Had you told me I would be where I am today, in 2012 I would have NEVER believed it. Never let anyone tell you, you can’t, not even yourself! What I love most about all of this is it has become OUR business, Ace and I built it together. He is my biggest supporter and I would not be doing this without him. It’s something we both enjoy doing together. To us it’s not work -- it is FUN!