What a difference a day (and 7 years) makes. I hate before pictures. I really, really do.

I hate before pictures. I really, really do. This one, however, doesn’t bug me. This was me in 2007. This was a photo that was taken of me on the set of Bravo's Shear Genius season 1. At this time in my life, I was actively doing Bikram yoga and leading a pretty healthy lifestyle. I felt good, and I was cool with what I saw back when I looked in the mirror. I think I was 33, maybe 34 years old.

This is me in 2018.

I’ll never forget getting this picture sent to me from a fellow stylist and work friend named Jennifer. I remember her saying, “I got the most epic photo of you.”

When I saw this photo, yeah, it was epic all right. But not in a good way. I couldn’t believe that this was me and that this was my life. Fuck, what have I done? Who is this guy? I guess they say a picture is worth a thousand words. I hated looking at this photo. I’m cool with it now because this photo is now my new before.

In 2022, my family and I went to Northern AZ for a while and stayed in our RV. That’s when my wife captured this photo of me and our son Marco.

I like this photo much better. It says more about who I am. The Shear Genius photo, I feel, also captured who I was, especially at that specific time in my life. The picture of me I hated? That’s not who I was but who I became. Think about that.

This one was taken for our book cover photo shoot back in June of this year by my friend Christi.

I like it. It captures who I am and who I aspire to be. This photo has a lot in common with the Shear Genius one. It’s taken right before a life-changing event. As my first autobiography “Deconstructed: Kill the Thing That’s Killing You” is reaching the finish line, I’m okay knowing that this is the guy who the book will be about.

Before my friend and co-writer Lori Lynn and I started working on this project almost 3 years ago, I had already begun the biggest transformation of my mental and physical well-being. I adapted new daily habits, quit making excuses, and to put it bluntly, I quit being a lazy, self-entitled POS.

Unfiltered photos never lie. But filtered ones do. Love the skin you’re in? I say f that. If you want change, it’s gonna be way harder once you have accepted your own defeat. Change is hard, especially when you’re older. But you know what’s harder? Regret. Let that sink in. The only ones that are truly paying any attention are the ones that love or hate us the most. Ciao for now ❤️

B