Sharon Wunder joined The Photo Managers in January of 2021 with excitement and dreams of success. She loved engaging in daily chats about business planning ideas and, like many, organized her photo library as her initial training. Yet during that time, she started experiencing health issues, and she was scared. The story below is in her words and her vision for a scholarship as a way of giving back.
I was grateful and inspired to have a new set of very cool “virtual” friends that seemed to get me, kindness that was not forced. This WAS refreshing and unique. And the support offered by our CEO, Cathi Nelson, was unheard of. Professionalism. Ethics. Education. Something you did not run across every day anymore.
Cathi made it feel safe to go grab those dreams. Anything could be possible in this new field that had not been fully built yet, A Blue Ocean for sure. As a creative - I was excited to be a part of building my empire. Building my community such as this one.
Finally, I’d found my home. Then came the diagnosis. Brain cancer. And not just any kind - stage 4 “incurable” Glioblastoma. The most aggressive incurable cancer is also served up without a plan to release the disease. Terminal. Tears. Fears.
Fast forward to today - I am choosing no more chemo, no more choices that drain my energy, no more surgeries. I know my life is fleeting fast. I feel it in my body. I understand that surgery does not stop tumor growth. I understand doctors will do anything to try and give me more time, but I refuse to live in a hospital. I want to live out the good days I’m being offered.
My goal is to leave a gifteach year , something magical. Something that gives back and can keep on giving. I’m so very grateful that I now have my legacy photo library set up for my future generations to enjoy and to be able to find efficiently to set up my celebration of life slide show and to help my kids remember the good times I was there for them in their childhood.
Application
The goal of this Impact scholarship is to identify,then community crowdfund $3000 professional Photo Manager annually each conference year with a passion for working with clients who are experiencing a chronic illness such as cancer or Alzheimer’s or have experienced the death of a child, friend, or family member. The project can be in progress or completed. The desired outcome is a creative Legacy Project, for example, a memorial slideshow, a photo collection that has been organized, scanned, backed up, and made accessible, a photo book, or a compilation of letters and speaks to the soul of your clients.
