For the month of June, we have chosen to highlight the amazing Maddie Broderick. Maddie recently moved acrossed seas to live in France with her soon to be husband. She has an eye for photography and is always capturing the most beautiful scenes that she has created within her home. We love following along with her adventures and are completely in awe of the sweet & talented woman she is!
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF...
I’m Maddie, a lifestyle + brand photographer currently living in the South of France! I’m originally from a small town in Pennsylvania, where I started my photography business at 16 years old! In the Fall of 2018, I sold my house and all of my belongings and moved to my dream city, San Diego. It was one of my favorite years of my life and most definitely the move I needed to prepare me for what was next. That summer, I crashed my younger brother’s solo tour of Europe + met him in Paris for 10 days. We ended up in the South of France by wild change of plans, and the host of the Airbnb I booked last minute ended up becoming my now fiancé. CRAZY! After a million plane rides back and forth between SoCal + France, I’m now living here in Provence with my almost husband (who is French) and we will be getting married this July! My life has been a beautiful whirlwind and I’ve learned to lean into the curves and changes along the way, because they can be really magical.
HOW DID YOU START YOUR BRAND? BOTH AS AN INSTAGRAM INFLUENCER + PHOTOGRAPHER?
I’ve always had an interest in photography and the arts, and was lucky to have a really amazing internship when I was 15 years old. I started shooting weddings + families + basically any person who would let me take their photo! At 18, I got really serious with my business and the brand connections just started flowing naturally. That same year, I visited a friend in Switzerland and posted about my favorite chocolate candy on Twitter (lol) — and the brand reached out to me and asked if they could send me chocolate to photograph. I was so excited! A few weeks later, I received the most massive package from Switzerland with pounds of Swiss chocolate. It was the first time I realized you could receive free product just for taking photos! After that, it kind of just grew as I did!
IF YOU HAD TO GIVE THIS CHAPTER OF YOUR LIFE A TITLE, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?
I love this question!! I think I’d title this chapter, “An Airbnb Love Story in the South of France”. If you would have told me that I’d buy a last minute ticket to Paris 5 days before my flight and explore France with my younger brother — and then take a train down to the South of France, where I’d get the keys to my Airbnb and meet my future husband, a FRENCH BOY, I’d NEVER believe you, hahaha. It’s been the best surprise of my life and I really do feel like it’s something out of a movie. I couldn’t have written this myself if I had tried.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT LIVING IN FRANCE AND WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE WANTING TO MAKE AN INTERNATIONAL MOVE?
Oh man, so many things! I think for me personally, because my fiancé is French, it’s been really cool for me to see his world. To dive into the culture, the food, the different behaviors and manners, the language!! I’m having an opportunity to expand my mindset and to learn a new language, and while it can be really hard at times, I’m constantly reminding myself that it’s such an incredible blessing. My best advice for someone wanting to move abroad would be: Do it. And if you’re scared, do it scared. Life is so short and to have an experience like this, is something that will stretch you and help you grow in ways you never felt capable of before. You’ll lose and find yourself and it’ll be hard and amazing and crazy and beautiful.
WHO IS YOUR BIGGEST INSPIRATION AND WHY?
I don’t think my inspiration is always a “who”. I find a lot of my inspiration on the daily, in things I see or hear or experience. The way light dances with its shadows…a plant swaying in the wind, an interaction with lovers on the street…a photo I see that makes me want to know the story…a new recipe, music, I mean the list goes on! I think if I allowed my inspiration to only come from a certain person, eventually I’d feel dried up. Inspiration for me is something that is constantly evolving and while I could ramble off a million people I admire creatively, I know there’d be a million more I couldn’t name who have accidentally inspired me, too.
Instagram: @maddiebroderick
Website: madelinebroderick.com
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