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OKERBLOM OFFERS MATERNITY-FOCUSED PHOTOGRAPHY
Preston Hollow woman’s business celebrates 20th anniversary
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Jayme Okerblom never guarantees parents a particular pose but instead lets the babies lead her to the best shots. To get a maternity shoot focused on a woman’s unique nine-month experience, Jayme Okerblom begins with a consultation focused on lifestyle, tastes, and dreams for the session.
(PHOTOS: JAYME OKERBLOM/MIETTE PHOTOGRAPHY)
By Katie Kelton
Special Contributor
Clients call Jayme Okerblom of Miette Photography a “baby whisperer.”
She moves slowly, humming or cooing while she photographs to help her tiny subjects feel calm and protected.
“Babies have a natural way of curling up and getting comfortable,” she explained. “The baby will always tell me in his or her own way what they want to do, and I just have to watch and wait for it.”
Her one-year album plans use a series of shoots to “tell the story of all of those first-year milestones in images.”
Okerblom trained with a neonatal intensive care unit nurse to safely handle babies as young as 5 days old. That’s one example of how the D Magazine “Best Family Photographer in Dallas” nominee has sought to perfect her focus on mothers and babies during 20-plus years in business.
With moms, she references her journey of motherhood. Okerblom has a 17-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter.
“To be pregnant is to be extremely vulnerable and also, specifically feminine and powerful,” she said.
With children, she references her childlike spirit.
“I’m so good at relating to kids because I am playful and fun, and I can still act like a kid with them just as I do with my own children,” she said.
The self-dubbed “artsy kid,” seldom without a paintbrush or pencil in hand, relished an art class in second grade. Every school art contest thereafter featured her work.
“From that point on, I just viewed myself as an artist,” Okerblom said.
In college, she picked up a camera and began collecting memories as she traveled far and frequently in her 20s.
She approaches photography with a painter’s eye, drawing inspiration from modern art books, galleries, and the Dallas Museum of Art. Depicting faces rather than landscapes has always been her niche.
“I would rather take a picture of somebody working in a beautiful rice paddy than just the beautiful rice paddy,” she said. “It’s the people who are interesting to me.”
Okerblom launched her career as a web designer. Photography was a side hustle, but friends and friends of friends would ask her to photograph their children, and when she left her dot-com job, those newborn shoots paid the bills.
Her business, birthed in the tiny living room of her 700-square-foot first apartment, now serves more than 24 North Texas communities from her luxury boutique portrait studio at 3439 Northaven Road.
“I thought, I’ll do this while I’m still looking for my real job, you know?” she said. “I just never went back to work.”
SNAPSHOT
Miette Photography 3439 Northaven Road. miettephotography.com
St. Mark’s Ninja Warrior Christian Youst competing in Season 13
By Norishka Pachot
People Newspapers
Christian Youst has dreamed of competing on American Ninja Warrior since he was 8.
He and his dad would watch it all the time and later began training at Iron Sports Ninja Warrior Gym in Houston before moving to Dallas.
“Ninja has become a big part of my life,” the 16-year-old St. Mark’s School of Texas student said. “I like competing and showing people the skills. It’s cool that there’s a TV show for the sport that I like to do.”
Now Youst is among those on TV. For the first time, the age limit to compete was lowered to 15, allowing him to join Season 13. His speed helped him make it through the first obstacle course and the semifinals. What’s next? Las Vegas, where athletes will chase the top prize of $1 million.
His next episode will air between late August and early September, his publicist said.
“I was very nervous the first few days,” the teen said. “But it’s game mode once you’re doing it.”
Youst was first seen competing in 2018. With American Ninja Warrior Junior, he made it through the seeding rounds and the knockout round, advancing to the finals of the first season.
“First time I went on set on Ninja Warrior Junior, I was very nervous,” Youst said. “There was a lot of pressure, but I wanted to do well,”
During the finals, he lost to winner Vance Walker. But Youst did not give up. He kept training, working on various skills. He competed in multiple courses, including the Ninja Event at the State Games of America, where he won gold in 2019, plus the Iron
I was very nervous the first few days. But
it’s game mode Sports Competition and Ultimate Ninja once you’re Athlete Competition. doing it. Youst is Texas’ two-time male Ninja Warrior State Champion, one-time NaChristian Youst tional Champion, and UNAA’s World
Christian Youst relies on his speed and training to advance in Season 13 of NBC’s American
Ninja Warrior. Check it out at nbc.com/american-ninja-warrior. (PHOTO: ELIZABETH MORRIS/NBC)
Our youngest graduated from college in May. Within days she was celebrating on vacation with family and friends. But, just as her feet exited the jet bridge after the flight home, we informed our sweetness MICHELE VALDEZ that, as an adult, it was time to punch a clock. An expression she had never heard.
Within days, our Jeff Bezos wannabe had a job with benefits.
After four kids, we wondered if we had finally said something that took? Our other daughters had toyed with us for years. We thought they were defiant, but now we realize that in extending the fun of their post-graduate years, they had outsmarted us. But, this little worker bee was a quick study.
A few days later, she left us flat-footed when she decided that it was also time to live on her own. What? Leave the comforts of home, where we make her breakfast and fold and color-coordinate her laundry? There was only one conclusion: We are amazing parents. We felt like Simon had hit the Golden Buzzer on America’s Got Talent for our performance as Mom and Dad.
Preparations were made for our fledgling businesswoman’s first day on the job and new apartment. We shopped for furniture and a professional wardrobe; think Sheryl Sandberg meets Elle Woods. I was sure she would be CEO within a matter of months. My only concern was why her independence cost us so much?
Receipt of her first paycheck yielded a few questions. “Who’s FICA? What’s a 401K? Isn’t Social Security just for old people?”
I began a full tutorial on adult financial issues. Somewhere between diagraming her health savings account and warning her about taxes on cell phones, the conversation went off the rails.
“Wait, I have to pay for my contact lenses, phone, and car insurance?”
I yelled for my husband as I sweated in anticipation of the next question. “Did my sisters have to pay that when they graduated from college?” I panicked. The answer was “No,” but every kid is different, and we learned a lot since raising her sisters, and ... just like that, I caved.
By the time my husband arrived, I had agreed that she only had to pay for what she thought was fair. He was mad, and I felt stupid. Had our precious baby been briefed by her sisters?
At that moment, I knew we had been outsmarted again.
Michele Valdez, a slightly compulsive, mildly angry feminist, has four demanding adult children, an enthusiastic black lab, and a patient husband.
S ELL IN G PR E MI ER UR BAN N EI G HBORHOOD S
Meet the experts in Park Cities & Preston Hollow.
SOLD
FOR SALE
2300 Wolf #16BC 4 Bed | 3.5 Bath | 5,427 SqFt O ered for $5,100,000 Sanders Avrea & Ani Nosnik
FOR SALE
5335 Meaders Lane 6 Bed | 6.2 Bath | 12,612 SqFt O ered for $9,750,000 Terri Cox & Kyle Crews
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4618 Crooked Lane 5 Bed | 5.1 Bath | 6,675 SqFt O ered for $3,298,000 Moriah Lovett & Robin Webster
O ered for $2,050,000 Sanders Avrea & Kyle Crews Sanders Avrea & Kyle Crews
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2555 N Pearl #902 2 Bed | 2.1 Bath | 2,365 SqFt
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3505 Crescent Ave Private Sale
Not intended as solicitation of properties currently listed with another broker. Information contained herein is believed to be correct but not
prior sale or withdrawal without notice.
IF/THEN Ambassador provides STEM example for girls
SEEING ORANGE
What: Lyda Hill Philanthropies’ #IfThenSheCan – The Exhibit
When: The exhibit, which opened May 15, runs through Oct. 24.
Where: NorthPark Center – Look in the CenterPark Garden and the hallway between Breadwinners and La Duni.
Details: The full-size 3-D printed statues of the IF/THEN® Ambassadors include QR codes visitors can scan to access audio and video about each of these remarkable female STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) innovators.
Online: https://ifthenexhibit.org/
By Emilea McCutchan
People Newspapers
Perhaps more girls will become doctors after visiting NorthPark Center and viewing an orange statue of Dr. Nina Niu Sanford.
“I think having realistic role models is always the most important,” said Sanford, a radiation oncologist who lived near Highland Park before moving to Preston Hollow this summer. Dr. Nina Niu Sanford visits a 3-D printed statue of herself. (PHOTO: COURTESY NINA NIU SANFORD) The
life-sized figures of female innovators in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
are on display at NorthPark Center. (PHOTO: JAMES EDWARD PHOTOGRAPHY)
Inspired by her mother, Sanford pursued medicine, becoming among the 30% of women in her field and one of the 125 American Association for The Advancement of Science (AAAS) IF/THEN® Ambassadors. The ambassadors are female STEM innovators chosen to encourage more girls to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers.
Lyda Hill Philanthropies’ #IfThenSheCan – The Exhibit showcases the ambassadors by depicting them in life-sized, 3-D printed statues outfitted in gear typical of their jobs. Their careers range from the CEO of a gaming company to a fashion designer.
Sanford is excited to serve as a role model to young girls.
“I believe I am in a position that allows me to change the status quo,” she said. “It is important for my daughters to have strong and diverse female role models who instill in them the confidence and independence to succeed. If we want girls to pursue careers in medicine, then we need both women and men to support them.”
Also, it is essential to have a realistic perspective on what the career entails, something she said she was grateful to get from watching her mom, who was a doctor in China.
After immigrating to the United States, Sanford witnessed first-hand the dedication medicine requires and how rewarding the field is as her mom retrained to become a licensed physician here.
For North Texans interested in exploring a career in the medical field, she recommends the STARS (Science Teacher Access to Resources at Southwestern) Program.
“It is where they [high school students] get paired with a mentor, a physician, and they get to be involved with research,” Sanford said.
UT Southwestern Medical Center launched the program in 1991 and has served more than 20,000 teachers and an estimated 90,000 students in 4,000 North Texas schools, according to utsouthwestern.edu.
Sanford has earned many accolades in her career, such as being named a Dedman Family Scholar in Clinical Care, but also faced challenges.
Sometimes systems in place — such as no maternity leave and meeting schedules that conflict with school pick up and drop off times — can work against female practitioners, she said.
Her advice: Don’t compare yourself to others.
“There’s always someone you perceive is doing more, doing things better, and doing things at a faster rate,” Sanford said. “Let you define yourself, and let you define your personal goals. Stop with the comparison trap as early as possible because it is very damaging.”
Coming to an Old Preston Hollow Estate Near You Designers ready Kips Bay Decorator Show House for September opening
Manhattan, Palm Beach, and Old Preston Hollow – what do these areas have in common? How about the ability to attract top interior designers for annual Kips Bay Decorator Show House events?
“We’re excited to return this year to Dallas’ Old Preston Hollow, which will act as the backdrop for the raising of essential funding for New York City’s youth,” said James Druckman, board president of the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. “We’re eager to unveil what our top-notch group of designers has in store for the extraordinary space this September.”
The club’s top fundraiser began in 1973. For nearly half a century, decorators have transformed a luxury Manhattan home into an elegant exhibition of fine furnishings, art, and technology and, along the way, raised more than $25 million.
The program expanded four years ago to include a satellite house in Palm Springs and last year one in Dallas.
This year’s Dallas home, a classic Georgian estate, boasts 11,259 square feet of living space on 1.44 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds. The mansion,
We’re thrilled to re-imagined by noted architect host the Kips Bay Cole Smith, has Decorator Show six bedrooms, seven bathHouse Dallas rooms, two half again this year. baths, a dramatic foyer, multiDan Quintero ple living areas, a breakfast room, two full kitchens, a sunroom, a wine cellar, a theater, and a pool. “We’re thrilled to host the Kips Bay Decorator Show House Dallas again this year, to continue raising critical funding for our kids and community, as well as provide an unforgettable opportunity for the Dallas area,” said club executive director Dan Quintero. The Dallas show house, led by chairs Jan Showers, Jean Lui, Chad Dorsey, and Steele Marcoux, and vice-chairs Trish Sheats and Laura Lee Falconer, will also benefit Dwell with Dignity, a nonprofit agency dedicated to creating soothing, inspiring homes for families struggling with homelessness and poverty. – Staff report CHECK IT OUT
What: Kips Bay Decorator Show House Dallas
When: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sept. 24Oct. 24
Where: 5138 Deloache Ave.
Tickets: $40 (starting at $250 for opening day)
