Meet Simone Cardoso, 24-year-old Singer, Songwriter, and Vocal Instructor. Simone has been singing for as long as she can remember. Her parents noticed her natural ability at such a young age and enrolled her in private singing lessons at Christine’s Studio of Performing Arts.

She was the studio’s very first vocal student and during her time there she grew tremendously. During her 6th grade year, she was cast as Annie in the New Bedford High School performance which was a huge accomplishment for her. Simone continued to pursue theater until her freshman year of high school, when she joined the girl group, Varsity Girls.

Simone performed, recorded and grew as an artist during her high school career, as the Varsity Girls became extremely popular. During her senior year, she began focusing on college, as the group started to slow down and eventually disbanded. Simone went to Salve Regina where she received her Bachelors in Music Education.

Her time at Salve really opened one of the most important doors for Simone, her passion for songwriting. Until this point, she had only performed songs written by others and now she was crafting her own ideas and emotions into her music. This has fueled her drive to push her solo career and work with other artists, helping them craft their own sounds. Simone is currently set to release her EP by the Fall.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com. Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.

Meet Marissa Gill, 31-year-old Physical Therapist and Managing Partner at Bay State Physical Therapy. Growing up, Marissa knew that she wanted to get into a profession where she could help others. During an internship with a physical therapist in high school, she knew that it was the job for her.

After graduating from New Bedford High School, she began attending Northeastern’s Physical therapy program. She received her Doctorate after six and half years of school. She began working for Bay State shortly after graduating and has been with them ever since.

She enjoys the field because she’s able to help people get back to a healthy and functional place after an injury. Since being with Bay State, she has worked at several of their locations, but has recently partnered to open her own location at Healthtrax in Dartmouth. She’s worked all over the state and has been passionate about bringing her own practice into the Greater New Bedford area. Marissa and her team have also volunteered their time to help out at local road races and events.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com. Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.

Meet Jill Fearons, 46-year-old director and founder of the Friends of Jack Foundation. Jill spent most of her professional life as a school teacher but as her family started growing, she stayed home to take care of the children.

Their fifth son, Jack, was born with a rare defeat in the brain stem, Chari Malformation, which caused him to randomly stop breathing. He was admitted in to Boston Children’s Hospital Outpatient program and that cause Jill to need to stay in Boston with him at all times. After seeing what her family endured during Jacks difficult time, she vowed to help other families that may not have had the resources she did. This started as an annual fundraiser, which went to fund Southcoast Pediatrics , helping families like her own.

As the years passed and the foundation formed, she began raising funds to start small initiatives through the Friends of Jack Foundation. One of those is the Teddy bear program, which ensures that any child who is triaged in an emergency room in the Southcoast, enters into social services, or visits a family member at the house of corrections, gets a teddy bear to help soften their visit. She also has the Super Hero Program, which gives kids a mask and a cape when they go into surgery, as it was something that helped Hack be brave. They’ve also partnered with Fun 107 and WBSM the Food for Tots campaign and is currently working to help start a program that would give those moving around in the foster program duffle bags, instead of the black trash bags there children are given.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com. Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.

Meet Hannah Mattos, 21 year-old-student and Boston Celtics Cheerleader. Hannah spent her entire life dancing and when she got to high school, her parents recommended that she join the cheerleading squad, to be involved in activities in school. Against her wishes, she joined and since then hasn’t looked back.

After high school, she was approached by her high school cheer choreographer, who is also the head coach of the Celtics cheer squad. He told her that she would be a good fit and should try out. During her freshman year at Umass, she tried out but didn’t make the team due to being too young.

She decided then that she would just try out each year until she was considered old enough and was taken on at the age of 19, making her the youngest cheerleader. She will be coming up on her 3rd season this year, barring she makes it through tryouts.

Not only is she representing cheerleading on such a large platform but also starting as the head coach of the Fairhaven High School program. Working alongside her high school cheer partner, she will have the chance to pass on everything she’s learned to the next generation.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com. Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.

Meet Bethany Fernandes, 21-year old videographer and co-owner of The Well. Bethany first became interested in film during her freshman year of high school, but only because she enjoyed acting. By the beginning of her sophomore year, she was ready to give up on the class but her new teacher gave the class a new perspective to film making and it made her fall in love.

By the end of that school year, Bethany had worked with a team of students to win a New England Student Emmy with their music video. Encouraged and inspired by this, she set off to film her own video her junior year, which won her another New England Student Emmy while she was still in high school, but recently won a National Student Emmy.

During her senior year, she put together her legacy project, which was a commercial for the school. The commercial went on to win two New England Student Emmy’s, for Bethany’s writing and videography. With so much already accomplished, she knew it only made sense that she go to school for film.

In the fall of 2016, Bethany began studying film at Quinnipiac College in Connecticut. She quickly realized that there wasn’t much more she would learn in film school to do the work she wanted to after and switched her major to marketing. She knew with the right marketing knowledge and the vast amount of educational material online, she’d be able to open her own branding and marketing business. This led her to open The Well with high school classmate, Erick Sa, focusing wedding and commercial videography.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com. Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.

Meet Tabitha Pimental, 29-year-old owner of Dance Clinic and Salon manager at Style Makers Salon. Tabitha had been involved in the world of dance since she was 3 years old. She danced at Jan Estrella’s School of Dance where she fell in love with the art.

Just before entering high school, Tabitha had the opportunity to perform in The Nutcracker at the Zeiterian Theater. It was during this production that she had found her second passion, which would becoming hair dressing. She was so intrigued by how the hair dresser for the play not only transformed her and her friends, but made them feel great about themselves.

As a freshman at Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech, she enrolled in Cosmetology and never looked back. She completed her time there and interviewed with the owner of Styler Maker’s Salon and has been with them ever since. Tabitha has focused on her craft over the last 11 years, but during that time she knew she needed to find a way to make time for dance.

Tabitha’s dream of owning her dance studio came to life after passing her childhood school and seeing the building for lease. She knew what she must do and immediately began the process of opening her studio. In 2015, she opened Dance Clinic and since then her enrollment has quadrupled and added a second studio space for the expanded classes. Tabitha’s passion for dance transcends the art, as she knows her work helps keep the youth she works with out of trouble and focused on achieving their goals, which is one of the reasons she was nominated as a South Coast Emerging Leader in 2018.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com. Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.

Meet Andrew Rapoza, 21-year-old student and baseball player. As a child, Andrew was always involved in sports. From bat boy for his older brother to winning championships himself, he knew that he had a future in sports if he took it seriously.

Throughout his time at New Bedford High School, Andrew focused most of his efforts in his football career. By his senior year, he had even earned several different scholarship offers from schools across the country. His direction shifted though, suffering his 4th major concussion during one of the final games of his senior year.

Unsure of how his future would play out, he followed his second passion for baseball and walked onto the team at Barry University, located in Miami, Florida. Having to prove himself, he played 40 of the 50 season games and finished with a .305, opening him up to scholarships to return and play the following year.

Andrew, now entering his senior year as captain of the team, waits in prospect for the 2019 MLB Draft or his upcoming season to make one more try towards the regional championship. Andrew also plays for the New Bedford Bay Sox Collegiate team while he his off during the summer.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com. Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.

Meet Aleisea Guzman, 23-year-old Designer and Sculptor. Aleisea got involved in the world of art as a child, attending the Art Mobile that traveled to Satellite Village homes where she lived. Watching her father play video games, as well as playing her own, it inspired her to go to school for software development.

After high school, she began attending Umass Dartmouth, focusing on a degree in Computer Science. Realizing that she wasn’t so interested in the coding aspect of game creation, but the character and model development, she switched her major to Animation and Game Arts, with a concentration in sculpture. She enjoyed taking extra sculpture classes, as it was an escape from computer work, allowing her to mold and shape her work with her own hands.

As she has just graduated, she is looking to her future and has hopes to continue to contribute to the local art community. She has also helped local street artists, such as Meaggsy and TomBob in commissioned works throughout the city.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com. Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.

Meet Cody Carmo, 26-year-old Graphic Designer and Co-Owner of Longevity Co. Clothing. Cody had always been interested in art and creating as a child, but didn’t think it could be a career path until his senior year in high school. He applied to the Johnson and Wales Graphic Design program in the hopes of pursuing a creative career.

It was during his freshman year that his interest in screen printing was born. He bought a small machine and started burning screens for t-shirt ideas in his dorm shower. After a bit of trial and error, he took his ideas to a local screen printer and the early identity of Longevity Co. started to form. Joining up with Ethan Franklin and Paulo Duarte, over the next few years Cody was able to use social media marketing and the community they created to expand the reach of their clothing brand worldwide.

All while working several day jobs as a graphic designer, currently at Poyant Signs, Cody would work with his team to formulate new ideas for their upcoming lines. Since launch, they have not only sold clothing world-wide but been able to work with large names in the streetwear fashion world, such as Bloody Osiris, who worked closely with Kanye West on his YZY brand. Their hope is to continue to make waves in the streetwear world and grow their brand into a worldwide community.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com. Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.

Meet Matthew “That Salt” Gwozdz, a security officer at Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech and owner of That Salt. As a child and teenager, Matt had always been involved in sports and felt as though he was never the best at any one of them, but always had a way to build camaraderie amongst his team. He would always bring a positive attitude and encourage his teammates, making him interested in getting into coaching and training.

After high school, he took some time off from school to really figure this out for himself. He spent his time training professional fighters and those who just wanted to get in shape. While also running his own candle business, he pursued and received his Bachelors in Science, with a focus in Physical Education.

With the impending market crash, he knew he had to get out of his candle business while he still could and therefore he joined the security team at GNBVT. He enjoys his position at the school, as it allows him to work with students who need direction and a positive influence, helping them realize their full potential. Still driven by an entrepreneurial heart, he continued to find ways to create new businesses once the market started to correct itself.

Having eaten clean for many years, Matt began getting sick of bland chicken and steak and found a gift from his brother and sister-in-law one-night cooking. This container of homemade Brazilian seasoning salt sparked the idea of That Salt into life. After working with his family to perfect the recipe they launched, That Salt, with a social media campaign focused on encouragement and providing one positive tip to their community each day.

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Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com. Follow Colton on Instagram: https://instagram.com/simmonscolton

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.