Meet Malon Cokley

We were lucky to catch up with Malon Cokley recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Malon, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

My optimism comes from witnessing many blessings within my life and the lives of others.
There wo sayings that I live by, to which one of I’ll say at least once a day; they are, “Let go and let God.” and “Everything happens for a reason”. Here and there I would say “Everything happens for a reason.” throughout my life, whenever something went bad or there’s an unforeseen turn of event and it seems out of my control. However, in 2015, there was accident that completely changed my outlook on even the smallest inconvenience.

On December2, 2015 I was preparing to leave for school to take my Psychology final exam when my mom called me to ask if I could grab her wallet off of her bed and bring it to her before I go to class, so naturally I said yes. As time got away from me I started rushing to leave the house. As I got to my vestibule, I groaned after realizing I have to go BACK upstairs to get my mom’s wallet. When I got upstairs, it was like a scene from a television where my actions along with my internal commentary made the situation surreal. As I reached for the wallet on the bed, simultaneously I heard a loud crash outside and thought to myself “Wow! There goes another accident.”, because there had been multiple accidents in the neighborhood a couple of days prior. So, I go back downstairs, grab my backpack, open my front door and to my surprise my neighbor was standing there and quickly said “You’re not going to like this. He stepped aside to reveal my car, my very own first car in shambles! Totaled! Of course I was hurt, angry and sad, but when everything leveled out, the smoke cleared and the rain stopped falling, I realized that “Everything happens for a reason”. Albeit a trivial inconvenience to me at the time, if my mother hadn’t asked me to bring her wallet, and if I hadn’t remembered the time that I did to grab it I would have been in the car at the moment my car was crushed.

After that incident nearly 10 years ago, now I don’t squawk when I get stuck at a long red light, get angry if I get a flat tire, or get frustrated if I can’t find my key when I need to leave. In all of these inconveniences, I know its God keeping me safe and out of the line of danger. There have been plenty of incident after that one, but Dec. 2, 2015 is where it all began, that’s where my optimism comes from, my life being saved by a wallet.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m a foodie, a traveler and above all I’m a photographer. In 2013 I started my photography business with the name “Little Munchkin’s Photography by Malon”, where I chose the name from the nickname my late father called me “Little Munchkin” and my intended focus were children portraits. However, I found myself doing more weddings, headshots and model portraits. So in 2022, I rebranded my name to MaDeCo Photography.
My favorite pictures to take are of nature landscapes and family portraits. To me the most special thing about what I do, is the fact that I take my pictures with love. I didn’t take classes or was professionally taught however my love for photography can been seen through the simplest of photos. And even though I know how to, when I do portraits I always tell my clients that I don’t use photoshop because I love capturing the natural beauty that is within.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Looking back, three things that I believe were most impactful in my journey was my patience and understanding that nothing happens overnight and you have to put in the time, my commitment to figuring out how I can improve myself and investing money into my business, and most importantly, my commitment to and trust in God, because he has brought me this far.
Some advice that I have for those who are early in there journey is to network and sell yourself before you sell your product.
What I mean by that is, you should talk about yourself in your journey, talk about your passion for whatever it is that you are doing or selling, then talk about your product of service. I have found that people will invest in the person before anything, especially during the early stages of your business. I know sometimes it can be hard to talk about yourself to other people but, it should never be hard to talk about the thing that you love. And when they see your passion, that’s when they are usually sold.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

When I feel overwhelmed I take what I call a “self health” day or a “Yes, and…” day. My “self health day” is a day with pre-planned activities that I enjoy doing, for me to do by myself and is typically and overnight trip to New York/ New Jersey. My “Yes, and…” days are days where I only say yes to myself to whatever it is I think of in the moment, alone. If I want an ice cream sundae and cake at 9AM I have it, if I feel like driving down 95 without stopping, I do it. Whenever I have these days nine times out ten I find some sort of inspiration, so it always sort of reset my mind and I’m able to come back and tackle what ever the problem may be at hand because when I’m by myself I have the opportunity to focus on my mind.
Now, I’m not saying hop on a MegaBus and head to New York, but maybe take a day… or two to do something that brings you joy, by yourself. Being by yourself is important because you get the chance to do self reflection without any distractions and you may find a solution.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madecophotography?igsh=MWRlODhiZDFvaHRpZw==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/JEaJnMhgUqK2V5oR/?mibextid=LQQJ4d