09/19/2026
This past week was a pretty big milestone for me. (Jennifer)
As most of you know, we’ve had our media company for almost 18 years now. We do all sorts of media-related things, but my biggest contributions to the business, although certainly not exclusively, are photography and social media management. Naturally, our own marketing is usually last on the “to-do” list because … well. We tired.
Ten years ago this week, I sat down with Gwinnett County Communications to talk about growing social media, specifically for Animal Welfare. They wanted professional photography and more marketing, and I was thrilled to step in for a few months to help establish a process, create a plan, and get things moving.
Well.
I’m still doing it.
In those ten years, I’ve seen 6 Directors, including the interim folks (God love ’em), and I’ve lost count of how many staff members have come and gone. There are still a handful of people there who were there when I started, and I admire them more than I could appropriately convey in words.
There have been a LOT of changes over the years, but one thing has remained remarkably constant: the never-ending flow of homeless pets coming through those doors and and the level of human depravity I’ve witnessed.
But here’s the flip side of that.
In 10 years, I have yet to see a staff person do this job for the wrong reasons. Disney has done dog catchers a tremendous disservice.
The people who work in animal welfare LOVE animals. They invest in them. They pour themselves into them. They celebrate the victories, carry the losses, and somehow keep showing up every day to do it all over again. Seriously, I could never do the job…
I’ve learned an entirely ridiculous amount about dog and cat behavior. I can now tell when I need to move immediately and when I should totally let the staff handle it. 😂
My staff teammates over the years have been epic. I owe every single good photo to their handling of each animal, their patience and ability to keep me from getting tackled, bitten, climbed, peed on, or otherwise humbled on a weekly basis.
Anyway, I could write a book about the last ten years, but I’ll refrain.
The photography is obviously my favorite part. But the writing has stretched me too. Brittany, who has worked alongside me for several years now, and I have written somewhere in the neighborhood of 25,000+ social posts — writing 4–10 posts a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
I’ve photographed just shy of 20,000 animals to date.
Twenty. Thousand.
That is a LOT of wet noses.
A LOT of floppy ears.
A LOT of fur.
And an absolutely ridiculous number of photos of dogs looking directly at me like I am personally responsible to make them smile… Gosh. I used to use hotdogs - now beggin’ strips are my go-to.
You never know when a client will decide to pivot, but for the past ten years, it has been an absolute privilege to work with Gwinnett.
I’m incredibly grateful for the people who have trusted me, the staff who have worked alongside me, the animals who have tolerated my camera and me saying “sit for mommy” 20 thousand times, and the opportunity to tell their stories.
You can always go like or follow the page and see all the sweet pets I’ve gotten to meet! Gwinnett Animal Shelter
Enjoy some through the years - from my first photo to some from last month… From taking photos anywhere we could, to a little studio in the back... I hope they make you smile as much as I did.
