Photographer Nicole Bissey discusses following her dream, two Kansas Cities and more in this week’s Pitch questionnaire

Name: Nicole Bissey

Occupation: Photographer

Hometown: Moberly, Missouri

Current neighborhood: Downtown Kansas City

What I do: I work 14-hour days shooting weddings and editing photos. I take road trips and travel for work a lot. I go to Costco way too much. I hang out with my roommate’s cats. I binge-watch Netflix while editing. I am a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteer for the children’s services division in Jackson County.

What’s your addiction? Grilled cheese, for sure.

What’s your game? Galaga!

What’s your drink? Coconut water. It is not gross! Try it!

Where’s dinner? Lately, the Flying Saucer. They have this amazing prosciutto and arugula pizza that I’m obsessed with.

What’s on your KC postcard? Donna’s Dress Shop!

Finish this sentence: “Kansas City got it right when …” They made Sly James mayor. Seriously, that guy is so involved.

“Kansas City screwed up when …” They put their city in two states but named it after one state. Will I ever get to go to a concert — or the World Series — in KC without hearing, “What’s up, Kansas?”

“Kansas City needs …” To pay their artists better!

“In five years, I’ll be …” 30. Holy crap.

“I always laugh at …” Dad jokes.

“I’ve been known to binge-watch …” Modern Family.

“I can’t stop listening to …” “Paris” by Magic Man.

“I just read …” I am reading The Catcher in the Rye for the first time. Somehow it slipped through the cracks in high school, and I’ve never read it.

The best advice I ever got: I went to a workshop for photography in the spring of 2013. The photographer who ran the workshop told me, “If you don’t like what you are doing, you might as well take a chance and do what you love. If it doesn’t work, you can always go back to being miserable.” I came home, broke up with my boyfriend, moved to my own place, quit my crappy corporate photography job, and went full time with my business. Two years later and all the ramen noodles were worth it.

Worst advice: In high school, I told my very first boss I wanted to be a photographer or graphic designer. He took me to lunch at McDonald’s and told me that if I ever tried to be a designer or anything arts-related, I would end up 
serving him hamburgers instead. Haters gonna hate.

My sidekick: My roommate’s cat Jude.

My dating triumph/tragedy: I once dated a guy who gave me a Valentine’s Day card with a letter in it that he had copied down from the Internet. When I called him out on it, he told me that he did write it, and it was a crazy coincidence. According to him, he didn’t lie to me because “I changed one word and I copied it with my actual hand, so technically I didn’t lie about writing it.” Boys.

My brush with fame: I photographed the host of a sports show, and my arm was on ESPN for approximately a second and a half.

My 140-character soapbox: I absolutely hate it when people wallow in sadness or self-pity and change nothing. If you want more and you can’t have it yet, work for it. You can’t expect everything to fall into your lap. You have to work and you have to know that only you can truly determine where your life goes. You will have a stupid boss that you have to smile around even when you want to choke them. You will have to work the day after Christmas. Maybe even on Christmas. But eventually, all those crappy things you had to do will give you enough experience to end up where you want to be. And it’s so, so worth it.

What was the last thing you had to apologize for? Eating the last Cadbury egg.

Who’s sorry now? Not me! I have a sugar rush.

My recent triumph: This year, my goal was to book one destination wedding. I ended up booking one in Chicago, one in New Orleans and two in Mexico.