Sometimes I have to pinch myself when I think about what the Gray Malin brand has become in just the past few years. I started off selling my prints at a flea market in L.A., and now here I am with a whole range of fun printed products from apronsto iPhone cases and a team of people who help make the brand everything that it is. But that also means that instead of meeting my customers face-to-face, there’s a little more mystery about the man behind the camera. I always love sharing little snippets of my life on Snapchat, but there are still a few things even my most devoted followers may not know about me. Since one of the goals of this blog is to give you a behind-the-scenes peek into everything at Gray Malin, I thought I’d start with fivefun facts about myself. Check them out below…
1. The first country I ever visited was the Netherlands.
The very first foreign country I visited was the Netherlands. I was 19 years old and my alma mater, Emerson College has a study abroad program in a small town about two hours from Amsterdam. A former alumnus donated a 15th century castle with two moats (and swans!) to the school, and each semester 80 students get to spend three months in this glorious location. From the second I first landed at Schippol Airport, I knew the travel bug had bit me. Before I flew back at the end of the semester, I visited to eight different countries in Europe all while snapping black-and-white film imagery on my 35mm camera. Below are a few of these early images: 
2. I'm a big Queen Latifah fan.
Living in L.A., celebrity sightings aren’t exactly a rare occurrence. So especially after almost a decade of living here, I’m not usually one to get super star-struck. The one exception to that: Queen Latifah! I could hardly control my excitement when I met her recently. Her film Last Holiday is my favorite movie ever (If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a major favor and watch it—tonight!). My 30th birthday party was even Last Holiday-themed. I kid you not. We went all out and had a Queen Latifah ice sculpture, mobile massage chairs (since there is a hilarious massage scene in the movie), and we asked guests to come in Apres Ski-inspired apparel.
3. My husband and I are college sweethearts.
My husband Jeff and I are college sweethearts. We met when I was 20 years old and Jeff was 23 during the Boston Marathon. We weren’t running it, but we were both having fun cheering on the runners in a small park, and that’s where we randomly met one another. The rest is pretty much history!
4. My real first name is Peter.
Gray is actually my middle name. My legal first name is Peter, but I’ve been called Gray my entire life. My dad’s name is Peter too, so instead of having me go by Jr. or anything like that, my family has always called me Gray.
5. I wake up at the crack of dawn.
I’m the definition of a morning person. I’m usually up by 5:30am at the latest and I like to start my day with a workout. I’ll push myself to go to boot camp or the gym even when I don’t feel like it. And then around 7am I eat breakfast and start answering emails. When you spend so much of your time traveling between different time zones and dealing with jetlag, getting up early isn’t a huge deal anymore.
There you have it! What other questions do you have for me? Maybe I’ll share a few more fun facts in a later post. And in the meantime, if you want more little peeks into my life when I’m not working, you can follow my @graymalinpersonal account on Instagram.