by April Sullivan
Kayla Jones is a tall beautiful woman with a brilliant smile. Someone you might think would take the spotlight when she steps into a room. But instead, she quickly slides into the background, usually behind her camera, taking photos with her watchful eye, or she turns her attention to others, listening intently and with care, and providing wisdom and resources in her role as a Veteran advocate. Kayla is modest and a little bit shy, but she is working on that.
Kayla spends her days working full-time at the Wise County Veteran Service Office as the Assistant Veteran Service Officer. In the evenings and weekends she runs her photography business, Kayla's Unique Eye, LLC. And, if that wasn't enough, she is also Events Chair of the Wise County Chamber of Commerce, Fundraising Chair for the Area Business Women's Network, Commander of local chapter 70 of the Disabled American Veterans, and First Junior Vice of Disabled American Veterans Department of Texas where she recently helped create a Women's Coalition and Women's Committee.
In 1999, Kayla enlisted in the Army. An injury cut her military career short. She had a hard time dealing with that and had to adapt and learn from it. It became part of her story and God's plan for her.
She attended Wade College in Dallas in 2002 and graduated with an Associate of Arts in Graphic Design in 2004. She then attended the University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio with a plan to get a BFA. Instead, after taking a photography class, she fell in love with the medium and left school to start her own photo business.
Her business has been steadily growing since then. She focuses on weddings, families, non-profit events, and marketing and branding photos for businesses. She received a Texas Women's University Women Veteran Grant, which she has used to help grow her photography business. This includes publishing books, the first of which is called "Unique Visions," a coffee table book, the first in a series of five.
Her new book entitled Her Powerful Voice is coming out in January of 2024. Kayla admits it was hard for her to write a personal book, but she is glad she did. It focuses on the struggles of a businesswoman juggling home life, business, motherhood, and confidence. All things Kayla has lots of experience in!
Kayla is a mom of three children, plus guardian of her younger brother. She recently hired a Marketing Director for the business and is launching a new website kaylasuniqueeye.com, which should be live by the time this article is published. So check it out!
We chose Kayla Jones as our November 2023 Artist of the Month because she is passionate about working with veterans and her local community, and she is a talented artist. We are excited to see what she does next. For now, you can see one of her photos in our current Distinguished Artist Veteran exhibition at Bihl Haus in San Antonio from November 18th to December 16th and meet her at the opening reception on Saturday, November 18th from 6-9 PM.