Case Study // Commercial Partnership

South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity

What started as a single event became a standing partnership — built on reliable delivery, professional presence, and work that earns repeat business.

The First Call

In November 2025, Scott Wild from South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity reached out about photographing their second annual Veterans Build. We connected the very next day, and even though it landed during one of the busiest weeks of my year, I made it work — because the mission mattered, and because showing up when it’s hard is the whole job. It was the start of my commercial event work, and Habitat’s trust is what launched it. That decision is where this partnership began.

Earning the Relationship

That first build taught me what commercial work actually demands: clear communication, meeting expectations on delivery, and taking direction so the client gets exactly what they need — not just what I think looks good. I treated their feedback as the standard. The Pacific Northwest threw mud and constant rain at us after the first day, but the conditions only added grit and authenticity to the images — and toughing it out alongside the staff and volunteers built something more durable than a single gallery. It built trust, and trust is what gets you the second call.

The Women Build

In May 2026, Habitat brought me back to handle their flagship event — an intensive, 8-day Women Build production. An eight-day production on an active construction site doesn’t survive on creative energy. It survives on systems. Every day followed the same discipline: end-of-day ingest, strict tagging, and a full edited gallery delivered ahead of schedule, so Habitat’s team could post while volunteer energy and public attention were at their peak — not weeks later when the moment had cooled. In total, 812 final images were delivered across the build.

I also documented the on-site teams from every regional sponsor who sent crews into the field:

• Peak Credit Union
• Swire Coca-Cola
• Forma Construction
• Lucky Eagle Casino and Hotel
• Our Community Credit Union (OURCU)
• Johnson, Stone & Pagano, P.S.
• BECU
• Harbor Foods
• OlyFed
• Navigate Financial

That gave Habitat targeted assets to recognize the partners who made the build possible, and gave each of those businesses authentic, high-impact imagery of their own crews in the field.

The Result

What began as a single event is now a standing relationship. In under a year, it’s grown to four engagements: the Veterans Build that started it, the eight-day Women Build, an upcoming summer Gala, and a round of complimentary headshots to deepen the partnership further. The work keeps earning the next project.