075: Cathi Nelson | APPO Org

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Cathi Nelson fell in love with photography as the photo editor of her high school yearbook. She soon found herself working two jobs to save enough money to buy her first professional camera. From the day of that first purchase, Cathi became the photo historian of her family and friends.

Years later, after her adopted son was placed in her arms, Cathi developed a passion for creating life book photo albums that she used to tell his personal story and how he came to be part of their family. She soon found herself sharing this passion with others and ultimately she built a profitable business out of teaching others to create life book photo albums of their own.

By 2007, Cathi noticed a change as consumers shifted to digital photography; she found herself helping people not only with their printed photos, but with their growing digital collections as well. Recognizing that this problem was only going to accelerate, she founded the Association of Personal Photo Organizers; a community dedicated to serving the needs of its members through training, support, and collaboration with industry partners.

APPO has also played a key role in establishing a code of ethics that sets high standards for the rapidly growing life photo industry.

In addition to being the CEO of APPO, Cathi is a sought-after speaker and author of Photo Organizing Made Easy. She remains firmly rooted in her vision to empower others to use visual storytelling as a means of preserving and sharing their personal life journeys.