Meet Allison Scavo

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Allison Scavo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Allison below.

Allison , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

The Appalachian roots run deep in my family. Every member on both sides before me has had to fight their way out of survival mode. There are generations of intelligent strategists who never gave up.
My paternal great-grandma had to learn to drive a truck at the age of 13 to support her parents through the Great Depression. Working with grown men her whole life passed down a lot of generational wisdom to me.
Additionally, my maternal grandma, who lived in a rural area with no resources, had to bury three of her children due to starvation because the family’s single income from the coal mine couldn’t support them. In desperation, she birthed my mother alone in a kitchen who was raised to be healthy and loved. Despite my grandma’s hardships she was the kindest woman I’ve ever met. She never gave up on loving what she did have. These are just a few examples of how my family has taught me time and time again that moving forward only means better things are coming.
Their resilience was nothing shy of inspirational, but it also taught me how powerful of a motivator spite can be. Being born to hillbillies who owned the trailer park, I was teased before I was born and damn near every day since. There is no better motivator for growth than hearing what people really think of you. Proving people wrong by climbing to the top is a humbling experience, especially when you got your start at the societal bottom.
When I was 16 I was living in my own apartment and read a lot of books to pass the time. I read a biography on Marilyn Monroe and realized that our stories closely mimic one another. We both had unstable childhoods filled with repeated trauma. She was used, abused, self-sabotaging, and as she grew older began begging to be seen as opposed to desired yet consistently let down by those she thought loved her. I have pondered from a young age that had she have been born in a time where women had more rights if she would have reacted differently. Since I had the opportunity, I did.
There are so many examples of strength, perseverance, self-discipline, and success from our ancestors and those before us. I pull from that energy on a daily basis.
“Inspiration is hard to come by. You have to take it where you find it.” Bob Dylan

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Scavo’s Photos is a photography company on paper, but in reality I do so much more. Interviews, concert reviews, album reviews, and album art are my main focus. I photograph all kind of various events or celebrations including weddings, family, maternity, holiday, headshots, and so much more, but I specialize in concerts and festivals for one reason.
A few years ago I was in the darkest spot of my adult life. In and out of domestic violence shelters, having to move without notice because I was being harassed, numerous court dates – basically having to prove repeatedly that I was a victim and needed help. I didn’t think I was going to be around much longer, and I made that known. One of my friends asked me to hang on long enough for one local open jam session that night. I did, and by the end of the night I was crying happy tears. It was as if I had walked through the barrier of depression. I went to another show and before I knew it I was friends with the band. Over mimosas a dummer mentioned the band needed new photos and I remembered I had a camera that was literally collecting dust. I shot their show, then their friend’s, and so on. Within three months I was working with Bob Weir, Slash, and within 4 months I was working with Snoop Dogg. It just kept growing and evolving and I’m still following that momentum. Music, this business, literally saved my life. I now capture some of the happiest moments of someone’s life. I couldn’t have written a better glow-up.
“The sun is up, the sky is blue. It’s beautiful and so are you” – The Beatles

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Being resourceful, determined, and self-disciplined helped me get where I am. My biggest piece of advice is to look deep within yourself and ask what is holding you back. What’s the best that could happen? Go for that. You will be talked about, talked down to, given the runaround, and run into barricades blocking you from achieving your goal. Expect this. Run through those barriers. Use your resources, Google everything, and don’t forget the end goal. If you don’t have an end goal keep hanging around the people who want you to succeed the most, you’ll achieve greatness.
“In life, there will be roadblocks, but we will overcome them” – Tupac Shakur

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

Aside from owning a business, I am also an Assistant Principal at a high school. I preach this ’til I’m blue in the face: I strongly believe that we should harness our strengths and focus on creating greatness. Building on weaknesses takes someone from okay to good, but if you’re already good at something why not become great at it? I wouldn’t assign an art teacher to teach advanced trigonometry so why shouldn’t we expect the same out of ourselves? Pushing yourself is guaranteed to build character, but you already have character and I want to see it shine. If you can draw I want you to perfect your style – only you can create that. If you can sing I never want you to stop – only you can make that tune sound like that. If you can count please do my taxes – the last time I tried I was audited. Seriously though, if you are good at something, go all in. Build that strength and you will build confidence.
“I’ve had confidence in myself all along. It was just a matter of getting the pieces back in place” – Dale Earnhardt

Contact Info:

• Website: https://scavosphotos.com
• Instagram: scavosphotos
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/scavosphotos

Image Credits

Thumbnail: Black Moon Media, LLC
Images of Allison and all musicians: Scavo’s Photos