BELLEVILLE, Ill. — By day JaVonda Winters is a social worker for the East St. Louis School District 189. But by night, she’s running her own business.
"I'm a professional senior photographer,” said Winters. "I'm also a natural crafter."
In what should be her busy season, Winters said work had been a little slow due to the coronavirus. Her son, like many others, missed out on his 8th-grade graduation, so Winters and her husband brainstormed ways they could uplift his spirits.
"Pictures that I took of him, for his birthday or his basketball season, I took those pictures and started creating some stuff,” Winters said.
After finding some inspiration in a few crafting groups on Facebook, Winters came up with a basketball filled with pictures and words, before she knew it, everyone wanted one.
"I made a Kobe ball for my son and I posted it in on social media and people were just you know, hey I need that for my graduate or my senior," Winters said.
So now once Winters is done being a mom and social worker by day, she spends the evenings putting her love into these mini-projects which she said can take anywhere from two to four hours.
"It starts with the photos, trying to configure these photos on a ball, what words or additional words I'm going to apply or put with these photos and then I apply them,” she said.
What started out as a basketball design has quickly turned into footballs, yard signs, t-shirts and so on.
Winters said requests have been coming in by the boatload, and she's grateful to have something to keep her own business afloat, but she said this isn't about her or the money.
"Again, it's just about uplifting these kids and what we could do to uplift them so I'm just trying to do my part," she said.
Winters said if her clients have a vision, she can help bring it to life. For more information on her work, you can visit her on Facebook at JoMonique Photography. Instagram, JoMonique_Photog or send her a text message at 618-593-1148.