Back to the GRIND.
2021
Editorial portraits
In my last personal blog, I talked a bit about the transition from new mom to working mom and figuring out work/life balance during a global pandemic. This particular job was my first editorial shoot following the never-ending COVID lockdown…thus getting me back to the “grind” of photography that I love.
When I was contacted to photograph Thomas Fields, Houston entrepreneur and CEO/owner of GRIND Basketball, I was super excited to get out of the house and exercise my creative side again, shooting both portraits and action shots of Thomas for Inside Bauer Magazine. On top of that, I looked forward to reconnecting with Thomas and hearing more about the GRIND story. I had been following Thomas’s business since 2016, when I heard about it at an event I photographed.
When I first met Thomas, he was a college kid with a really awesome product - the world’s first portable and affordable shooting (rebounding) machine. I chatted with him briefly as I photographed the Bayou Startup Showcase, where he and other Houston college student entrepreneurs were pitching their business startups, then later we connected on LinkedIn. Fast forward a few years…I was scrolling LinkedIn and noticed that Thomas would be pitching GRIND on Shark Tank. What an opportunity! Thomas ended up partnering with Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran, and since then GRIND has been thriving!
So last summer I met Thomas at a park in the Houston Heights, where he grew up. He brought his shooting machine, shared his story and we made these images. A few of these images were made directly from art direction I was supplied (images 2, 5 and 7, specifically). And a few were made in the moment as I saw opportunities. When Thomas was changing from one T-shirt to another for a different look, I made the first image (and my favorite) on this blog. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to photograph that tattoo across his back. I love the story the whole image (and the tattoo) tells. And I love how this collection of images captures his personality, the basketball lifestyle and the business he has built from the ground up.
One Sunday at church, our pastor talked about how all of the hardships we go through in life help us build a resume so that we can be lion chasers…people who don’t run away from a scary situation but those who face the problem and fight it head on. Thomas is a lion chaser. He had setbacks in high school…torn ACLs multiple times that kept him from pursuing his dream of being an NBA ball player. Instead of running away from basketball, he found a way turn his love of the game and pursuit of success into an opportunity for himself and future ball players. I look forward to watching GRIND Basketball grow and seeing how Thomas inspires change through his business.
