My boss babe tab is officially open! Nobody has the honor of being my first BB other than my Babe in crime, Denisse Benitez knowns as Thugnanny.
Flipping through my Instagram all I could remember is how my eyes slowly started lusting over a photo well composed with a girl in a red cloak in the dead of winter. Who is this amazing photographer? Blushing at every compliment, humble and as grounded as Earth itself, I thought it would be a great idea to work with The Thugnanny. And there it was, a perfect shot. I was right to work with her. Every frame is perfection. Perfect enough that Vogue Italia picks her work to publish a few times a year. Is she a live nanny? Is she just a photographer? What about her that truly grabs by the heart? It’s time I sat with her, no shoots, no work, no meetings, just a sit down to finally dig beneath her grounds to share the girl behind the hustle.
PS: we tried to be really serious through this amidst our A.D.D.
JG: How old were you when you first held a camera? What inspired you to coninue from there?
DB: I honestly don’t remember how old I was. I got a camera for christmas for a couple years in a row (I kept losing it). What really inspired me was being able to create. Till this day that’s my favorite part.
JG: That’s amazing. It must be the most rewarding part! You’re climbing your way to the top and a lot of bloggers and models inquire to want to work with your talent! Tell me about your humble beginning.
DB: Thank you! It’s continuously an amazing and pleasantly surprising experience. I started shadowing one of my mentors Mario Peña back in like 2010. He’d let me go to photo sessions with him. He’d take me to art galleries all over the city. That exposure really set the foundation for me to do my own thing.
I started out by begging my friends to let me take terrible, over filtered photos of them.. Years later.. well here we are
JG: That’s great! I think a lot of other aspiring photographers look up to you because of your humility as well! I know I do. Tell us a little bit about your 9-5!
DB: Thank you! That’s so kind of you to say. Recently I’ve gotten a lot of inquires for mentorships and things like that. It’s a mind blowing thing and a humbling thing too. It’s great.
So my 9-5 is more of like a 3-6:30 haha. I am a nanny for the BEST nanny family in the entire world. If you follow my instagram you’ll see that my nanny life is the best life. I make mac and cheese and do homework. Oh and lately we’ve been having tons of dance parties.
JG: We love your nanny pictures on Instagram! It’s always a party! Does this conflict with your photography career? I bet balance plays a huge role.
DB: Man, that’s an excellent question. Um, hmm.. okay so it depends. Because I don’t work that many nanny hours it doesn’t really conflict. I usually shoot in the mornings which works out perfectly. I also have Friday’s off which is a godsend. The cool thing about my job is that my bosses really support my photography career. So if I need a day off or whatever it is, they really go out of their way to work with me.
JG: You’re very lucky to have a job that acts as a second family. People would kill for that.I know boss babes like you run on tights schedules, especially that I would know this! lol. So last question: In the 2 months that we have been each other’s residents, what can you say you have learned ?
DB: Thank you! I constantly wonder what I did in life to land a gig like this. People think I’m exaggerating or making it up, but I really have an amazing job.
Wow, yes my calendar is my BFF4LYF. I’ve learned a plethora of things and I could sit here until tomorrow telling you about them. One of the most important and effective things I have learned is precision.
I’ve always had that chill spot where I know that if I don’t get it right, I can do it again. Unlike a wedding or a party or something. Working with deadlines and commercial photography has really taught me how to get it right the first time. How to pay more attention to detail and how to really go outside of the box creatively without losing the commercial aspect of the work.
I’ve also learned that I really like your food. Especially Tapsilog.
With her nanny life, her clients, shooting before her job, getting published on Vogue Italia and working with bloggers and tons of brands while dealing with her favorite person ever: ME, Thugnanny is definitely a BOSS BABE.
[ She hates pictures , so I used her favorite shoot of ours as her photos. *insert annoyed face.*]