I was thrilled when Kayla Harrison, 2 time Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo and MMA Fighter, asked me to photograph her for her book cover! Kayla is incredibly strong and powerful but she is also soft and welcoming. I wanted this cover photo to convey these feelings.

As a child, Kayla was sexually abused, but now in her book titled, Fighting Back: What an Olympic Champion's Story Can Teach Us about Recognizing and Preventing Child Sexual Abuse - and Helping Kids Recover, she is tackling the issue of sexual abuse, proving that overcoming these childhood challenges is possible. To learn more about how Kayla journey, you can pick up the book here.

Kayla will make her MMA debut today, June 21 at a Professional Fighters League in Chicago. You can watch live on NBCSN or PFL Facebook. Go Kayla!!!

Behinds the scenes

Big thanks to Hope Gaetani, Corey Dinopoulos & Jim Mattus for being my photo assistants.