Dolly’s comments about her shoot:

People are often very confused when they meet me. At first glance, they see a 12 year old girl who has clearly been separated from her parents at the airport. Upon closer inspection, they realize that instead they’re speaking to a cheery 18 year old girl who knows exactly what gate she’s going to, where her connecting flight is, where baggage claim is, which carousel is associated with her flight, and how she’s getting to her destination after arriving. Upon even closer inspection, they learn that this cheery 18 year old girl runs her own business and is at the airport on business. This cheery 18 year old girl knows how to do corporate taxes, handle staff, juggle meetings, and invest.

I’ve always been extremely independent. By age 7 I was cooking dinner for my six member family and was regularly walking a mile to the grocery store with my parents’ debit card and a wagon in tow to purchase food. By age 16, I’d already started looking into investing and starting my own business. I had 7 college credits by the time I graduated high school (with a near perfect GPA), a full time minimum wage job, and my own business as a wellness coach. Needless to say, I never got much sleep. That, however, didn’t bother me much because I knew I was spending my time doing something that would benefit me greatly in the future; if nothing else, I would at least have some additional life experience when it was all said and done.