Meet & Greet | Casey Cole
Hello all!
I am Casey Cole, your Communications & Media Director here at Episcopal Church of the Redeemer. I want to share a little bit of my life with y’all and how I ended up where I am today.
I was raised in Powhatan, VA where my family has a beef cattle farm. My aunt would take me on the atv to check the pastures to make sure none of the cows escaped. My favorite part of our trips is when we find the mamas with their new calfs.
My “home” church is St. Luke’s. I was always one of the angels in the Christmas pageant and always climbed on the walls of the cemetery to find the hidden eggs on Easter. St. Luke’s introduced my sister and me to Camp Chanco where I visited for six summers.
Growing up I was always interested in art (and math oddly enough). When my sister started photography classes in high school, she would come home and share with me all of the neat things she learned. We both were particularly interested in film. My mom would get film cameras at yard sales for us to play around with.
After school I cheered at PHS and danced competitively at Premiere Dance Studio. Both allowed me to travel and compete in different cities up and down the east coast. In the summer, I had the time of my life at Chanco on the James where I spent six years being a camper. My favorite part? Finding shark teeth and kayaking & sailing on the James River.
2012 / Initiation
Once I graduated high school, I went to VCU where I earned my Bachelors in Fine Arts in Photography & Film with a concentration in Photography. While at VCU in 2017, I started working with Chanco on the James as their media specialist. This internship evolved over the years into a creative marketing position. Here are a couple of my favorite photos I have taken at Chanco.
I was at VCU in 2015 through 2019. During that time I worked for the student run newspaper, The Commonwealth Times, I was service chair for my sorority Alpha Omicron Pi, I founded a student-run dance club, and I cheered for the basketball team. Cheering for VCU was an amazing experience. I was able to travel to massive arenas and see hundreds of games court side.
Since I graduated, I have started my own company, Casey Lee, LLC. I photograph families, portraits, events, and more. This past summer my sister and I started a business together photographing proposals, engagement sessions, & weddings. I am happy to be able to continue my passion I had as a child into my career.
I was at Chanco working on a video for the capitol campaign when I met Robert+ (view said video). He mentioned he was looking for someone to do what I do for Chanco for Redeemer. Within the week I was at my first staff meeting! Even though I have only been at Redeemer during Covid, my favorite part of this job is photographing events. I will always cherish the photos of me growing up at St. Luke’s, I am so happy I can provide that to another family. I have two big goals while working as Communications & Media Director. The first is to create an archive of all that goes on at Redeemer; from Baptisms to Flower Guild arrangements, to confirmations, and all else that happens. The other goal is to inform the parish (and all followers on social media) of the meaning behind all that we celebrate. I think we get caught up in the celebration oftentimes we forget what it is all about. With the help of Robert+ and Grace+, I want to remind and educate everyone why we do what we do.
In January of 2021, I began working at St. Luke’s as their Creative Director. I am very excited to spread out into the Diocese and continue working with parishes on updates to communication and documentation. My goal is to be the Creative Director of Chanco on the James (a position that does not exist, yet).
Outside of work, I like to hang out with my dog, Benny. I adopted him from Goochland Animal Shelter in January of 2019. He is a suspected Pointer/Walker mix. He likes to run fast, chase rabbits, eat fish, and snuggle in the middle of the bed.
I hope you have enjoyed learning a little bit about my life. If you have photos to add to the website (old weddings, baptisms, anything else), please email me at casey@redeemermidlothian.org.
Casey Cole
Communications & Media Director
