Meet Colleen Brent | Photographer & Nanny Manager

We had the good fortune of connecting with Colleen Brent and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Colleen, can you tell us about a book that has had a meaningful impact on you?
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson absolutely changed my life. While waiting for a train departure in London, I was wandering the shops in the terminal and went into a bookstore where I stumbled upon this title. Honestly, the title is what grabbed my attention, but I was also returning to a job that I hated and gave a lot of f*cks about, but had an employer who was making my life miserable. There’s part of me that probably grabbed the book so that my employer could see it in the house we were sharing and raise an eyebrow (I can’t be mature all the time, okay?), but once I started reading it I was fully hooked in. Everything Mark Manson was writing resonated with me and I approached a paragraph that says “Be kind to yourself. If the negatives of the work outweigh the positives of the money, don’t do it. If someone is using their power to bully or harass you, don’t stand for it. If you hate your job, and can get away with walking out on your lunch break, walk out on your lunch break. And never go back.”

And that my friends, is the story of how I quit my job in Scotland and never went back and my life has been infinitely better because of it. So yeah, I guess you can say this book had a pretty large impact on me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My career has been in two industries: music and childcare. Not exactly two things you think of going together. I started as a nanny to support myself as I chased my dream of being a touring concert photographer. Any time a tour would end, I would return to my nanny kids and enjoy every second with them while also dreaming of the next tour. Touring came to an abrupt stop for me in 2017 and, while I would never have said this at the time, it was truly for the best. I had moved from Atlanta, GA to Austin, TX for what I thought was a promising music industry move, and instead became much more full-time nanny than I had ever intended because, surprise, Austin is expensive, y’all! I continued photographing shows here and there, but really dove into child care and learning my new city. Photography had pretty much taken a backseat when I got an offer to move to Denver, CO as a nanny and 8 weeks after that move the world shut down due to Covid. It was in that moment that I was extremely thankful I had a secondary career as I witnessed friend after friend in the music industry lose their jobs and struggle with what to do next. Now, two years later, I’m still nannying full-time for a wonderful family here in Colorado while also working on a second bachelor’s degree to eventually move to working with children in hospitals, at the same time as that, photography has slowly worked it’s way back into my life and I just started as a photographer for Prelude Press. I’m one show back into my career, covering Andy Grammer in Colorado Springs, but with that show came a huge wave of relief and a reminder that I’m not meant to do just one thing, I’m meant to beautifully weave passions together. So for now, that’s what I do! Nothing of this road has been easy, but one foot in front of the other can take you to beautiful, beautiful places.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Dream week in Colorado. First, breakfast at Denver Biscuit Co is always a must. I enjoy taking friends to Stanley Market because it’s a fun area with cute little shops to check out. I recently moved to Littleton and enjoy checking out all of the breweries, shops, and restaurants on Main Street in downtown Littleton. I got my friend hooked on tattoos, so we’d probably go get a new one at Think Tank South. Post tattoo beers at Coal Mine Ave Brewing Company because the beers are great and their patio is a dog park and my dog thinks it’s the best. If we were in Denver proper I’d suggest a fun time at Meow Wolf and then venturing to Dairy Block – specifically Run for the Roses. After a few days in the city we would 100% head toward the mountains. In the winter, I love to take my friends snowboarding. Recently we took a trip to Copper Mountain and stayed at their on-property hotel, Element 29, it was a dream, but the remainder of the seasons boast ample opportunities for breathtaking hikes – preferably to one ended with a lake or waterfall. Now that I’ve planned this all out…who’s coming to visit?!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
You can’t actually expect me to pick ONE person, right? I owe a million shoutouts to my family for always supporting me no matter how insane the idea or the dream. I have had so many beautiful friendships from The Color Morale, Vans Warped Tour, I Am Second, and beyond that I owe my thanks to. And let’s be real, I owe WORLDS of thanks to my therapist(s) I’ve had over the years. Jason and Ryan, without you both, I would be a shell of the human that I am. While all of the people mentioned prior to these two men have been sounding boards and have love and encouraged me, Jason and Ryan have helped me in ways only therapists can. When I couldn’t see that my family cared, they reminded me, when it felt like the world was too big and I wasn’t enough, they reminded me I am, and when daunting life changes lurked around the corners, at various times in life, either Jason or Ryan have helped me turn on the light and see that the monster around the corner was really a small dog barking loudly and well worth embracing.

Website: https://preludepress.com/?s=colleen+brent

Instagram: instagram.com/sightsoundphoto

Twitter: twitter.com/sightsoundphoto

Other: I recently started writing and photographing for Prelude Press – An independent music outlet focused on discovering and sharing the best emerging artists and diving deeper with the ones you already love – you can check them out on instagram, instagram.com/preludepress

Image Credits
Sights of Sound Photography