Morgan Converse shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Morgan, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Something that’s been bringing me a great deal of joy outside of work is volunteering with our local PRIDE committee. As a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community (hi! pan here!), this work is deeply personal and incredibly meaningful to me. In past years, our local PRIDE events were organized by the Human Rights Commission. After a period of pause, a small group of us came together and realized how vital it was to bring PRIDE back, even if it meant building everything from the ground up. So that’s exactly what we did and are doing!
We’re a grassroots team of volunteers, driven by purpose, not recognition. And while it’s been a tremendous amount of work especially during my busiest season the reward is immeasurable. We all believe in the power of PRIDE, and how crucial it is, especially right now.
For me, I’m constantly striving to make my younger self proud and this work, creating a space where others in the LGBTQIA+ community can feel seen, safe, and celebrated, is one powerful way to do that. I often think about how much it would have meant to me as a child to see something like this, to know that I wasn’t alone. This is community. This is love. And this is queer joy.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Morgan Converse, Self-Love Advocate, isn’t just here to take your photo, she’s here to help you see yourself.
Through portraits, branding + empowerment sessions, she creates space for self-love, joy, and your unique magic.
Photography has given me so much more than I ever could have imagined. What started as a thoughtful gift in 2017, a camera, soon became the spark that lit a fire within me. At the time, I was craving more than routine; I needed purpose. As I began offering free “acts of kindness” photo sessions, I realized I wasn’t just taking pictures – I was helping people see themselves, often for the first time, in a more compassionate and loving way.
It became clear very quickly: this wasn’t just a hobby. It was a calling.
That realization led me to a bold choice, to leave the full-time job I had dedicated nearly a decade to. Because while photography is the tool, my true passion is self-love. Through the lens, I found a way to help others reconnect with their bodies, their stories, and their light. My mission is simple, but deeply personal: to inspire others to love themselves as fully and fiercely as I’ve learned to love myself.
From that vision, Converse Candids Photography was born.
But my purpose extends far beyond the camera. I show up for my community in every way I can whether that’s mentoring students through the Mower County CEO Program, teaching photography classes in partnership with the Hormel Nature Center, or speaking to nearly 100 young girls each year through an organization called More Than Pink about self-love and body confidence.
I’ve spoken at local schools about the power of words, the importance of embracing our differences, and what it means to truly love yourself. And recently, I found a new source of joy and connection: joining our local PRIDE committee. Helping to create a safe, inclusive, and joyful PRIDE event has been one of the most meaningful efforts I’ve been part of. Our goal is to become a nonprofit that can consistently offer safe spaces, resources, and ongoing support to our queer community. It’s grassroots, it’s a labor of love, and it’s deeply needed.
Everything I do, whether behind the camera, on a stage, or in the heart of my community comes from the same place: a desire to pour the love I’ve learned to cultivate within myself back into the world around me.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
The child version of me was fighting battles no one could see. She didn’t know her worth, didn’t believe she had any, and couldn’t imagine a life where that might change. I struggled deeply with trauma, depression, anxiety, ADHD – you name it. I felt powerless, like I was carrying burdens that were never mine to begin with.
I didn’t know I was worthy of love, kindness, or respect.
I had no idea that those three things started with the way I talked about myself and too myself.
But something began to shift in my late teens and early twenties. That self-critical voice in my head, I realized it was my voice, which meant I had the power to change it. Slowly, I learned to rewrite the narrative. I began letting go of the experiences, relationships, and labels that made me feel unworthy. And somewhere along the way, I realized: I am worthy. I am powerful. I am a god damn queen and I deserve to take up space exactly as I am.
That shift in mindset is something so many people never find. But I did. And it changed everything.
Now, it’s the heartbeat of my work. Through my photography business, my mission is simple: to help people, especially those who’ve forgotten their light , see the spark that’s always been there. Maybe, just maybe, I can be the mirror that helps someone see their worth isn’t something they need to search for. It was never in other people, or trends, or society’s standards.
It’s been within them all along – we already had the self love magic inside us, we just didn’t nurture it.
My hope is that through each session, each new person I meet, I can remind someone that they alone hold the power to define their worth. That they are magic. That they are enough. That they deserve to be seen – fully, freely, and unapologetically.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
Growing up, I was afraid to take up space. I was the artsy kid, the emo kid – the one who felt everything deeply, yet often felt trapped in a world that didn’t quite make sense to me. I was surrounded by people I didn’t relate to, and it left me feeling like I had to shrink myself just to get by.
The best way I can describe it is this: when I have a “normal” hair color, it feels like I’m trying to fit into a space I was never meant to belong in. It’s like wearing a version of myself that isn’t mine.
But somewhere along the way, that changed. I started to recognize my worth. I began to understand that I was meant to take up space and not just quietly, but boldly. The funky clothes, the tattoos, the blue hair, those aren’t just style choices, they’re apart of me. I realized I could feel comfortable in my fat body without apology. There are no rules. No one gets to decide how I feel about myself because that power belongs to me.
And once I claimed that power, everything shifted.
I still face self-doubt from time to time. I still hesitate when new opportunities arise. But I’ve learned to do the scary things anyway to take the leaps, to show up fully because without risk, there’s no growth.
Life is short, but it’s also far too long to spend it standing in your own way. I don’t want to look back one day and realize I missed out because of fear. I want to live in a way that honors who I am and reminds others they can do the same.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
One of the biggest lies we’re told especially as creatives, is that our worth depends on how many likes, follows, or trends we can chase. That to be successful, we need to fit into someone else’s idea of what art or value looks like.
But the truth is, being an artist means showing up as your full, authentic self and creating the kind of work that you feel called to make. It’s not about copying what’s popular or gaining quick validation online. It’s about being so unapologetically you, taking up space with your voice, your story, your vision – loudly that the right people can find you. It’s about shining your light so brightly that those who resonate with it can connect, collaborate, and create alongside you.
That’s the heart of it: being an artist means leading with passion and truth, not perfection or popularity. And yes, that can be incredibly hard especially in a world that constantly feeds us comparison and self-doubt. There’s often an inner battle between you and your art, or between your creativity and the noise of everyone else’s success.
But here’s the reality: your art is not meant to be for everyone. And it’s not supposed to be.
Your job is to protect your self-worth, to nurture it relentlessly, and to pour love into yourself until it overflows – so that your creativity reaches the people who genuinely need what you offer.
In a world that tells us to shrink, to conform, to quiet our uniqueness being an artist makes you a creative rebel. And that, in itself, is a powerful and necessary act.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What will you regret not doing?
I will never regret being myself even when I didn’t fit in.
I will never regret being too loud or too much for spaces I didn’t fit into.
It’s as simple as that.
You will never ever regret being yourself.
You will never ever regret loving yourself.
You will never ever regret taking care of yourself.
You will never ever regret talking kindly to yourself.
You will never ever regret asking for help for yourself.
Do the weird thing, take up space, be too much.
You will spend more time regretting not being yourself then you did if you just took up space.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.conversecandids.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conversecandids/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/conversecandids
- Other: https://linktr.ee/conversecandids
Image Credits
Main photo by Copper & Coal Photography
All others by me
