Haymakers for Hope Training

Photographing weddings and photographing families is something that brings me joy. There’s something about capturing moments of emotion and joy that fuels my creative passion. So whenever I have an opportunity to photograph personal transformation, dedication, and women tapping into their own power, I am thrilled to participate. So any time I have an opportunity to partner with Haymakers for Hope to photograph their events and their fighters, I am happy to do so.

Haymakers for Hope is a charity like no other charity, giving men and women a chance to fight back against cancer. As they share on their website, “We give everyday men and women the chance to fight back against this terrible disease by training for, and competing in charity boxing events to raise money and awareness.” In their eight years of hard work, their fighters and their donors have raised over 10.5 million dollars for cancer research.

Fighting Cancer with Haymakers for Hope

I have had the privilege of working with Haymakers for Hope to provide photography for a few years now. In fact, this past fall I was asked to photograph their event, Belles of the Brawl. Seeing the strength and courage of the everyday men and women who push themselves to new levels of strength and courage is an incredible thing to witness. I began documenting the training journey of the fighters as they prepare for fight night to gain more insight into who they are and what drives them.

It has been so inspiring to witness fighters Colleen Shouldice and Vanessa Baca as they train for the big night. I’ve seen their speed, focus, strength and overall confidence grow so much over the last few months. More than anything, it’s a privilege to help tell their stories as they push past what they thought was possible, and prove to themselves they can do whatever they set their minds to.

Photographing two Training Journeys

Colleen and Vanessa have spent the last four months training for Haymakers for Hope. Fight night is on May 15 at House of Blues Boston.

Colleen is training out of Nolan Bros Boxing in Waltham, MA. She is a Project Engineer during the day, and is driven to succeed in every aspect of her life. I had the opportunity to speak with her parents about how dedicated Colleen has always been to doing her absolute best and diving head first into new challenges. She played on an elite hockey team her senior year of high school. It required her to live away from home, and she still managed to be top of her class in academics. Colleen wanted to take her drive and passion for competition and use it to bring awareness and funding to an amazing cause.

Vanessa’s focus and dedication is amazing to watch. Vanessa is fighting for her mom: her ultimate inspiration. When she was a teenager, she witnessed her mother fighting cancer and getting up, ready for the next round and never missing a beat in life. She has always been there for her kids, and Vanessa wanted to be there for people who are strong like her mom, and to raise money for research to conquer cancer so one day, hopefully, people won’t have to fight anymore.

Both women are so grateful for their amazing families, and cite them as their number one support system that keeps them going. The outpouring of support from friends, family and colleagues has allowed them to raise over $30k combined!! 

Both Vanessa and Colleen have put in incredible effort into training, and no matter the outcome, they are both champions because they have conquered this amazing feat. It’s been such a pleasure and privilege to document this journey and I can’t wait to see the big fight this week.