Name: Laurel Dailey
Company: self-employed
Position: Ms. Director Of Important Affairs
Current location: Long Beach, CA
Hometown: Keizer, Oregon
1. What do you do on a day-to-day basis? I’m a freelance photographer, so a large portion of my day us usually spent with my camera or my computer, and a lesser portion of that day is spent with girl scout cookies and Hulu. But I won’t say what percentage.
2. What do you enjoy most about your job? Freeeedom. I’m able to make my own schedule. If I want to play hooky and take a trip somewhere, I can. But mostly, what I get most excited about is the fact that I’m able to make a living doing what I love most in the world.
3. What are some clothing or accessories you can’t live without? Vintage Oxfords worn in all the right places, a leopard print scarf I picked up in Kenya, orange blossom perfume, a chambray button-up shirt, sunglasses - I go crazy without them, but especially my Wayfarers or aviators, my Alex + Chloe inverted diamond ring - a gift from my parents, a leather jacket, a perfect military green jersey maxi dress I got at Target last year (wear it ALL THE TIME), American Apparel oversized tanks, Pierre Hardy for Gap wooden/leather platforms. Do girl scout cookies count as accessories?
4. If you could do anything other than what you are doing, what would that be? I’d probably be a writer, or a professional bum, both of which are skills I’m currently cultivating.
5. If you could live anywhere other than where you live, where would that be? Despite not growing up here, I’ve always been a California girl at heart. But I’d love to live in France or Italy someday, and I could see myself getting pretty comfy in Portland. Though there’s a part of me that would love to spend a few months living with the crazies and old fogies in Key West.
6. Do you own any Quail? If so, what is your favorite item? Oh hell yes I do. The one piece I come back to constantly is the simone tee (I think that’s what it’s called - the off-white tee with the girl’s face printed on the front). I have literally worn that thing to DEATH. But there’s also a mint-green babydoll dress from a few seasons back that’s still in heavy rotation in my closet. In fact, right now I’m wearing the ruffle-necked bodysuit.
7. What is the most inspiring thing someone has ever told you? My dad wrote this in a letter to me last year when I was deciding if I wanted to quit my job to pursue photography full time: “I believe that if you truly want to succeed (and many people do not want it badly enough to make it happen), then you must never settle, never give up, never coast, never just accept what is.”
8. What is your favorite feature on yourself? And why? I am quite enamored with my freckles. They’re only on my face, and I just adore them. I hope they never disappear. I like that I can go without makeup and my skin is like, “Yeah, that’s cool. You’re cool without all that stuff on.”
9. What is something most people don’t know about you? Before I became a photographer, I wanted to be an animator for Disney. I’d watch The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast (and all the others), remote in hand, and pause at all my favorite parts. Then I’d draw whatever was on screen. Sometimes it would take half an hour to pause the VHS on the EXACT frame I wanted to draw. This, of course, drove my sister insane - since we usually watched those movies together. When my parents wanted to punish me, they’d forbid me from drawing. This was TORTUROUS, of course.
10. Attach a photo of yourself.
More about Laurel:
www.laureldailey.com
http://floatfasthummingbird.blogspot.com/
