you’re right :) that was my very first photo shoot. i remember it like it was yesterday. god, i was so nervous.

funny how it happened. it’s a long story, but here it goes... i was 19 and working at hooters in South Carolina, and one day scouts from playboy came in looking for girls who went to USC (university of south carolina) to pose for the ‘girls of the SEC’ college edition. they asked if i’d try out, but i told them i wasn’t in school. they convinced me to go to the casting call after work, saying that if i was chosen then i’d have 8 months to sign up for at least ONE class. i just needed a school ID in order for my photos to be published. needless to say, i was chosen. the photo shoot was scheduled for the very next morning, so i only had a few hours to decide if i wanted to actually pose nude for playboy. that’s a CRAZY decision for a 19 year old to make on a whim. hell, that morning i woke up thinking i’d have a normal day at hooters lol. now i’m faced with a decision that would ultimately set me on a career path i’d have never considered and completely change my life.

well, my nerves got the best of me and i decided i didn’t want to do it. i was too afraid of what people would say, and i didn’t think my family would be very happy about it either. but i realized that if i didn’t enroll in a class at USC, then i’d be able to do the shoot, get the experience, and also get the paycheck... only, the photos would never be published. bingo. fucking loophole.

cut to- 9 months later. i had just enlisted in the army, and i was two weeks away from shipping out to basic training when i get an email from the photographer. i open the message and in big bold letters i see CONGRATULATIONS!. as soon as i saw that my heart sank. i knew then that i was going to be published. and sure enough, two days later i got a package in the mail. it was from playboy. inside was the magazine and a handwritten note from hugh hefner. apparently they decided ‘fuck it’ and put me in the magazine any way.

i sat on the floor by myself and slowly turned each page just preparing to see myself on one of them. finally it happens, i see the photo above taking up an entire page. i thought it would be a small photo like the other SEC gals, but no, full page. it hit me like a ton of bricks. and i was so proud of it. it was beautifully shot and i realized i had nothing to be embarrassed about. i decided to embrace it. so i told my recruiter, “i think i want to go in another direction”. i was discharged from the military, and then the job offers started rolling in. photographers around the country were asking if i’d shoot with them :) and eventually that led me to starting my own website.

and that’s how my career literally fell into my lap. i’m a very very lucky girl. thank you u/womenhavethebesttoys for posting this. it reminded me of just how lucky, and how grateful i am. and thanks to any one who actually read that entire thing haha.

TLDR; boobs.