Latest / Healthy, Period. / Ep 32: Embracing Your Femineity with Courtney Hunt

Transcript

Ep 32: Embracing Your Femineity with Courtney Hunt · Healthy, Period.

0:02
SPEAKER_00: Hey, hey, welcome back to Healthy Period.
0:04
SPEAKER_00: I'm Coach Kate, and I'm so excited to have you guys here today because this is the first time I'm having a special guest on the pod.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: And so Courtney is here with us today.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: Hey guys.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: So Courtney, if you know a little bit about what's happened in my life over the last couple of weeks, Courtney is a wonderful lady that I met in Colorado when I went on that retreat.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: And she does boudoir shoots.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: I hope I said that right because I've always screwed that word up.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, she's a boudoir photographer.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: And I wanted to have her on the pod because when it comes to women and our confidence and our self-belief and just who are we in the core?
0:48
SPEAKER_00: I feel like Courtney does a fantastic job of bringing that out.
0:52
SPEAKER_00: And we're just going to talk about it today.
0:55
SPEAKER_00: We're just going to have some girl time.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: And I'm really excited for you guys to listen.
0:59
SPEAKER_00: So, Courtney, I'll let you kind of take it away, introduce yourself, how you got into boudoir, all that kind of stuff.
1:05
SPEAKER_00: And then we'll just ask some questions.
1:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that sounds great.
1:09
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for letting me invade your podcast and uh talk about the whole boudoir experience.
1:16
SPEAKER_02: Um I loved getting to meet you in Colorado, so I'm very excited to be here.
1:20
SPEAKER_02: Um and you totally nailed the pronunciation.
1:22
SPEAKER_02: That was perfect.
1:23
SPEAKER_02: I know it's hard, it's a French word, but um yeah, so I my name is Courtney.
1:29
SPEAKER_02: I am the owner and photographer of Wild and Dusk Boudoir photography in Omaha.
1:34
SPEAKER_02: Um just a little backstory.
1:37
SPEAKER_02: I grew up in a town of like 375 people, like middle of nowhere, um, and knew that something creative like is what I was meant to do.
1:47
SPEAKER_02: Like I hate math, I hate science, like doesn't make sense to me.
1:51
SPEAKER_02: So for me, something creative was like just kind of in my genes, in my soul.
1:57
SPEAKER_02: And so I left my tiny town um in Nebraska to live in Nashville for um about 12 years, and that's where I went to photography school and I had um kind of this wide range of like experiencing everything from like what weddings, headshots, babies, um, and a little bit of tinkering with boudoir, but it wasn't until like I moved back to Nebraska and like in 2024, I really, really narrowed down my niche to be boudoir specific.
2:30
SPEAKER_02: Um, and it has absolutely changed my life, my business, and I've been doing it now full-time for a year and a half.
2:37
SPEAKER_02: Oh, yay! That's fun.
2:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, before we recorded this podcast, guys, sorry to break it to you, but Courtney gave me a tour of the studio because obviously I'm in New York and she's in Nebraska, so I'd never seen her studio before.
2:52
SPEAKER_00: And at some point, we're gonna have to get pictures of the studio up for everybody to see because you did a fantastic job.
2:59
unknown: Thank you.
3:00
SPEAKER_01: It's beautiful.
3:01
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
3:02
SPEAKER_02: I I do I love it here.
3:03
SPEAKER_02: Um, it's been kind of a dream of mine to yeah, be able to support myself doing this full-time and have the freedom to make it look how I want, style how I want.
3:15
SPEAKER_02: Um, it's it's been amazing.
3:17
SPEAKER_02: And I like it feels like a whirlwind that's happened, but I really am blessed to make this my full-time job.
3:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love that.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I am gonna hit you with a question that I did not prepare you for.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
3:32
SPEAKER_00: Before I jump in, because I have so many questions.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: If you know me personally, you know that boudoir photo shoot probably isn't like the first thing on the list that you think of when you think of me.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: So my question for you, Courtney, is like, what is your vision?
3:49
SPEAKER_00: What do you see for yourself and this business and these women that you work with over the next like five to 10 years?
3:57
SPEAKER_02: So originally I was very content with just like having just very one-on-one impactful experiences with people.
4:04
SPEAKER_02: And um, the more I've done it, the more like positive, you know, feedback that I've gotten.
4:10
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, oh, like we could, we could scale this.
4:12
SPEAKER_02: This could be this could be something much bigger.
4:15
SPEAKER_02: And so um I would love to in like this next year bring on a second shooter to help just like meet the demand and get more people in the studio to experience what a boudoir shoot is like, and then eventually like scale it to maybe even opening up a second studio in another location, probably local first, and then I'll make it out to New York.
4:38
SPEAKER_02: I will.
4:41
SPEAKER_02: That's kind of the the short and mid kind of long-term goals that I have right now.
4:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
4:46
SPEAKER_02: Amazing.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, I love it.
4:48
SPEAKER_00: So you said something in there that's gonna transition us to my like very first question because, like I said, boudoir and Kate haven't really gone together in the past.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: And this is like new for me, and I'm and for everybody listening, the only person that's gonna be allowed to do my boudoir shoe is Courtney.
5:09
SPEAKER_00: So we're just gonna throw that out there that if you ever see a shoe of mine, you know it's Courtney's work.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: But my immediate thought is always like it's lingerie, sexy photos, like more of a stigma to it.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: But it's after having so many conversations with you about it, there's so much depth to what you do and what comes out of these sessions and the women that you work with.
5:34
SPEAKER_00: So why don't you describe like the deep, intimate work that you do and how it's just way more impactful than just like lingerie and sexy photos?
5:44
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that is kind of what everyone thinks when they first think of boudoir, is it's sexy pictures.
5:49
SPEAKER_02: Um, while there is a little bit of truth to that, it is also so much more.
5:53
SPEAKER_02: It's about like connecting with yourself on a deeper level and seeing yourself differently or in a way that you maybe haven't seen in a while.
6:01
SPEAKER_02: Um a lot of times people do boudoir photos as a gift for their partner, but it's also a really great gift for yourself.
6:09
SPEAKER_02: I can't tell you how many times women have come in and been like, oh, this is for you know my husband's birthday, or like we, you know, we're getting married, and they come in and they're like, okay, well, this started out as a gift for them, but being able to just unplug and focus on myself for a few hours, um, being pampered in the studio, like we do your hair and makeup, and we just like it's girl talk.
6:31
SPEAKER_02: We gab in the studio, we kind of get into some some deep stuff, and we kind of like we also keep it fun and light.
6:38
SPEAKER_02: Like it's kind of just a moment to reconnect from yourself and like not think about the world outside and all of the external pressures of society, honestly.
6:50
SPEAKER_02: Um and what I also love about the experience that we have here in the studio is that we don't have to be butt naked and in skimpy lingerie if that's not who you are, like that, and that's fine because this experience is supposed to be something that gives you confidence.
7:10
SPEAKER_02: And if you feel really confident and sexy in a slouchy sweater and thigh-high socks, awesome.
7:17
SPEAKER_02: We can make that sexy, we can do a lot.
7:20
SPEAKER_02: Um, if you want to wear a button up over your laundry, if you're subconscious, like or self-conscious about like your stomach or your arms, like I hear that all the time.
7:31
SPEAKER_02: And it's just we're really, really hard on ourselves.
7:36
SPEAKER_02: We're really self-critical.
7:37
SPEAKER_02: We're our own worst critics.
7:39
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes just taking a step back and letting somebody else look at you and appreciate you and show you what they see in a totally foreign environment, a whole different lens, can be really, really life-changing.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: When we had talked about it, you had mentioned your like the first couple of snaps that you do for someone and you turn the camera around immediately, especially if someone's feeling a little self-conscious and you have to build that trust factor because you don't know, like you're not shooting your best friend all the time.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: Like you don't know these women.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: And we're really quick to point out what the heck is wrong with us all the time.
8:19
SPEAKER_00: Like every woman I talk to, probably every woman that walks in your door, is well, this is wrong.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: I need to cover it, or whatever it is.
8:27
SPEAKER_00: So, your perspective behind the camera, what do you see that women often can't see in themselves?
8:35
SPEAKER_02: It's really just, I think it helps having a little bit of a step back because I am a total, like a lot of times I am a quote unquote, like a total stranger.
8:44
SPEAKER_02: Like, yes, we do talk beforehand, they do get constant contact before the session, but um, we've never met in person.
8:53
SPEAKER_02: And so sometimes, you know how sometimes it's easier to talk to like a total stranger about like what is going through your life because there's no judgment, they have no context, they don't know what's going on.
9:02
SPEAKER_02: I think it's kind of like that for this kind of work.
9:05
SPEAKER_02: And um, I have experience now where I can look at any woman, any body, any size, any height.
9:13
SPEAKER_02: Um, and we can find very, very flattering angles lighting.
9:19
SPEAKER_02: And again, it's not some who who walks around um eight hours a day in lingerie in dark dramatic lighting, like all the time?
9:29
SPEAKER_02: Nobody, nobody.
9:30
SPEAKER_02: Um, so again, it's kind of it's all about the experience, and um it is it's just it's a it's perspective and it's showing you something that like you don't see.
9:41
SPEAKER_02: Like I've had girls come in that are like, I've never seen my butt so much, and it actually looks really good.
9:46
SPEAKER_02: Um that's amazing when we're like have the the TV on and we're flipping through their photos.
9:52
SPEAKER_02: Like, I I've had girls that yeah, they just say like, I've never seen my butt so much, it actually looks a lot better than I thought.
9:57
SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, but it's stuff like that.
10:00
SPEAKER_02: Um it is it's one of my favorite things when like we were saying, you know, we're we're in it, we're maybe one one outfit, first outfit, first set in like five five snaps of the camera.
10:15
SPEAKER_02: I love immediately kind of just showing the girls like turn the camera around, look at the back, and like look at what we've already done.
10:24
SPEAKER_02: And I get so many women that are just like they're speechless, or like their jaw drops, or they're like, that's me.
10:32
SPEAKER_02: It's like, yeah, I haven't even put, I haven't touched this.
10:34
SPEAKER_02: This is raw footage, like it hasn't been edited, it hasn't been nothing.
10:38
SPEAKER_02: And their face lights up, and I've had some women kind of give an emotional response.
10:45
SPEAKER_02: Like, some people started tearing up, and I'm like, oh no, we can't do that.
10:47
SPEAKER_02: We just your makeup is done.
10:49
SPEAKER_02: We can't we still have an hour to go.
10:52
SPEAKER_02: Um so just like showing just the unfiltered, like this is this is what you look like, this is who you are, like, and just seeing the raw reactions, it it's it sounds so cheesy, but it does.
11:07
SPEAKER_02: It fuels my fire, and it's why I love doing more.
11:11
SPEAKER_00: Well, one of the reasons why I wanted you on the podcast is because with the work that I do, oftentimes the women are coming with me with or coming to me with a hormone issue, but it's they can't lose weight.
11:23
SPEAKER_00: So they go get all this testing.
11:25
SPEAKER_00: Why can't I lose weight?
11:26
SPEAKER_00: Why do I feel like garbage?
11:27
SPEAKER_00: And then it's like there is a weight loss goal component, there is a body physique goal component.
11:33
SPEAKER_00: I'm not beautiful until I'm not pretty until, or unless, right?
11:38
SPEAKER_00: We have those but statements.
11:41
SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, I feel good most of the time, but right.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: And so being in your world, where it's like you said, any body type, any height, any anyone that walks into your studio is going to feel loved, appreciated, beautiful, like wonderful.
12:02
SPEAKER_00: Because also we get to slow down.
12:05
SPEAKER_00: Like, how often, if you are my client and you're listening to this, you're gonna get hit real quick in the gut.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: Like, how often do I tell you to slow the freak down and appreciate what your body can do for you?
12:20
SPEAKER_00: Like, what, like, what can your body do for you?
12:23
SPEAKER_00: And we look in the mirror at home.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: My lighting is not bougie at home.
12:28
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
12:29
SPEAKER_00: Like, but if I stepped into the studio, the perspective I have of myself, the strength I have, all these other things.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: Also, I can't imagine how hard it is to like, I can't wait to do my shoe, honestly.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: Like, this is jazzing me up because it's gonna be hard for me.
12:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
12:45
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be hard for me to be in that vulnerable state.
12:50
SPEAKER_00: Because here's another question like, women have to be caring so much when they come to see you, whether it's fear or self-criticism, or they've been chronic dieting for years and they're just they have these stories around their body image, or they have body image dysmorphia.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: I can't imagine like how many women walk into your place with this like body image dysmorphia when and just like you said, societal pressure.
13:15
SPEAKER_00: And when someone comes in carrying those things, can you notice it right away?
13:21
SPEAKER_00: Can you is there something easy?
13:23
SPEAKER_00: Like, how do you help them settle?
13:26
SPEAKER_02: I think like one, it is very easy to see, like it's kind of like the the energy that you walk in with.
13:32
SPEAKER_02: Like one, it's I it is nerve-wracking to come to someone that you don't know all that well and um be basically stripped down to like your bare essentials.
13:48
SPEAKER_02: Like, it's no wonder that women are so nervous and stressed out all the time because we are constantly being told you're not skinny enough, you're not tall enough, you're too much, you're too little, you're too hairy, your butthole needs bleached.
14:01
SPEAKER_02: Uh like yeah, it's no wonder we are a nervous wreck when doing something like this, because there's so much judgment coming from us all the time.
14:09
SPEAKER_02: And I make it a point that when you come into the studio, whenever we whenever we talk, whether it's even just like our initial like consultation, like this is a judgment-free zone.
14:20
SPEAKER_02: Everyone has a complicated relationship with their body, even if it's healthy or if you're in shape, or um you're young, like, or like even when if like let's say quote unquote, you have the perfect physique, like there are still insecurities that we all have.
14:37
SPEAKER_02: And we are coming into this space to just again see ourselves different.
14:45
SPEAKER_02: And the the women who come in, especially that have like stretch marks or scarring, or they've got an autoimmune uh disease that that has suddenly been diagnosed.
14:59
SPEAKER_02: Um, some women who have experienced sexual trauma, like it can be very, very heavy.
15:07
SPEAKER_02: And I try my best to keep an open line of communication and let them know like they're seen, they're appreciated, they they are beautiful no matter what they have gone through.
15:18
SPEAKER_02: And kind of tying back to what I had mentioned earlier, like we can be as conservative or and like covered and modest, or we can be as risque and spicy as you want.
15:27
SPEAKER_02: This is all about what makes you feel good.
15:30
SPEAKER_02: And I also tell the women when we come in, I have a little spiel and a little speech that I have that I go into like every time.
15:38
SPEAKER_02: And it is um right before we start taking pictures, is that you are 100% in control of our shoot today.
15:45
SPEAKER_02: Um, if you are at all at all at any point uncomfortable, or if you are not feeling good about a pose that we have you in, if you like anything at all, like you can tell me, we'll pivot.
15:58
SPEAKER_02: It's not a big deal.
15:59
SPEAKER_02: Um, I always ask as well, like, are you okay with me moving your hair, adjusting bra straps, like moving your like because I the last thing I would want to do especially is unexpectedly trigger somebody and make this whole experience just exponentially more stressful and like give them any kind of icky feelings.
16:24
SPEAKER_02: Like it is super important to me that they are comfortable in every single aspect of their shoot.
16:29
SPEAKER_02: Right.
16:30
SPEAKER_02: Um and so it's and I think also that's kind of what makes me a little different from other photographers.
16:37
SPEAKER_02: There is like, yes, like the ultimate goal is to give you sexy pictures, but also the ultimate goal is to make sure that you are comfortable and feel powerful the entire time from start to finish.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: Well, right, because when you get your photos, if you had, like you said, that icky feeling and you get your photos back, you're just gonna be remembered, like you're just gonna remember that feeling.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: But if there is a like, I see you, oh, you're uncomfortable.
17:01
SPEAKER_00: All right, let's let's pivot, let's move this around.
17:03
SPEAKER_00: Like, we don't, it's fine.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to be that serious.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: Nobody's dying.
17:08
SPEAKER_00: I say this all the time with my girls, and just like, if nobody's dying, it's not that serious.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: So, like the I'm gonna relate it back to health really fast.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: Is like, if can you go for a 20-minute walk?
17:22
SPEAKER_00: Like, can you do something that's going to fill your cup?
17:25
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to take a whole day to go to the spa and like do all these crazy, like spend all this money to have the like relaxing mom day, whatever you want to call it.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: That's not self-like, it's a form of self-care, but we really need to be able to learn how to pivot.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: If you're uncomfortable in a situation, if you don't feel good, if you're in the gym and a movement I've given you is kind of wonky and you're not sure, we pivot until I can give you some feedback on that movement, right?
18:00
SPEAKER_00: And in your situation, it's like that's a vulnerable state to be in.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: But I also think it's really good.
18:07
SPEAKER_00: It it's a character builder in a safe environment.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: Like I've completely seeing this in a whole new way.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: It's so beautiful and wonderful.
18:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, one question I have for you, because this is something that I have struggled with in the past, and I kind of do a fake it till you make it in this area.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: So, why do you think so many women struggle to believe they are beautiful, even when the people who love them tell them that they are?
18:38
SPEAKER_00: Like my husband, bless his soul, compliments me all of the time.
18:43
SPEAKER_00: And then I turn around and I joke, I'm like, dude, I look like a gremlin today.
18:47
SPEAKER_00: Like, what are you talking about?
18:49
SPEAKER_00: So, like, and yes, it's a joke.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: And yes, I know that he's being serious, and I like kind of I make a joke out of it, but like, there's gotta be so many women out there that just don't like like me, fake it till they make it.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: Like, you think I am very, very confident.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: Like, I come across that way because of what I do for work and how I help people.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: But when Mike looks at me and tells me how beautiful I am, sometimes it's really hard to receive.
19:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
19:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think that's something that every woman can relate to, every single one of us.
19:25
SPEAKER_02: And I mean, you think that a lot of these confident women walk around feeling like uh they have no cares in the world, like they they never have any moments of doubt.
19:38
SPEAKER_02: I think that that's absolutely unrealistic.
19:40
SPEAKER_02: Like everyone is gonna have insecurities, and I think it's just like anything else you have to practice.
19:51
SPEAKER_02: Like it things get easier the more you do it, the more you practice.
19:55
SPEAKER_02: And it starts with like these tiny little shifts, I think, in your brain and how you think about things.
20:01
SPEAKER_02: Um, just even little, little baby steps, like looking at yourself in the mirror, and instead of immediately thinking like I look like hot garbage today.
20:09
SPEAKER_02: Like just a little tweak of instead of, oh, I look like hot garbage, like I got out of bed today.
20:17
SPEAKER_02: Like I'm about to go run and do some errands.
20:19
SPEAKER_02: My body can do that.
20:21
SPEAKER_02: Like it's at least at least I can it's it's just it's so hard because it's very easy for that uh internal critic, that little gremlin, that monster to just overtake us.
20:34
SPEAKER_02: But right, I do think it's like things get easier the more you do it.
20:39
SPEAKER_02: And it it just is gonna take it, doesn't need to be a big swooping change, it needs to be tiny little baby manageable steps.
20:45
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: Um and the first time you tell that little gremlin, like, hey, shut up, like I'm gonna put on this cute outfit, or even if it's not a cute outfit, it's an outfit you don't feel good, right?
20:56
SPEAKER_00: If you're one of the girls listening that has an autoimmune issue, or you know, your hat your endometriosis, whatever it is, if you're listening and you're oftentimes feeling not good, and you have very rare feeling good days, on those days that you don't feel good and you can put on clothes that like maybe you don't feel like a hot piece of ass, but maybe you feel like, all right, like I feel good, like this is fine, like I'm gonna go, my body is gonna allow me to go for a walk today, or my body is like I can go to work today, whatever it is, like you were saying.
21:30
SPEAKER_00: But we're all we all have that little gremlin that we need to tell it to pipe down.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: Like, because something that I think Julia said this in Colorado was that like emotions last 90 seconds.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: So, like when you have that first initial reaction with yourself in the mirror at home, and you feel, like you said, hot garbage, is that reality or is that your perception of reality?
22:00
SPEAKER_00: And it that's a learned behavior.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: You've taught yourself to tell yourself that you look like hot garbage.
22:08
SPEAKER_00: And now every day when you wake up and you put on an outfit, like when you walk into the studio, you're gonna think you look like hot garbage because you've been telling yourself that.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
22:18
SPEAKER_00: But if we can, like you said, these little baby switches of all right, like I don't, I don't even know.
22:25
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm gonna put on the cutest gym outfit that I have today.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: Like, look good, lift good.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: Like, you gotta look good, you gotta lift good, right?
22:34
SPEAKER_00: Uh, that's one of like one of my sayings is it's very unless I feel like so awful, like I'll put on cute shorts and an oversized t-shirt and I'll be comfortable in my skin to go to the gym and be able to do anything to do.
22:49
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going in skin tight clothes all the time.
22:53
SPEAKER_00: But if I feel like it, I will.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: But it's like you have to be able to not talk down to yourself.
23:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
23:02
SPEAKER_02: I also think that part of it is that we just are constantly, we have this expectation of ourselves all the time.
23:10
SPEAKER_02: And again, leading into the critic thing, but um like you need to be able to, I think, take a step back and like we just we yeah.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: I can okay, so for all the listeners, I can see Courtney's face and I know exactly what she's trying to say without saying it.
23:36
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
23:39
SPEAKER_02: It's so it's so heartbreaking and it's so frustrating when you see people, especially people that you care about, or like you have relationships with, and they just they have such a hard time believing that they are deserving of something, like an experience like this, or that they have to compensate to be worthy of someone or some like, or it's just it it puts me in a spiral too, where I'm just like, but just you're so great.
24:10
SPEAKER_00: Like, can you can you not explain like yeah, like I just want to grab you by the shoulders and shake you, yes, yes, and I just yeah, it's hard.
24:21
SPEAKER_02: It's like and I'm a very like empathetic person, and I I totally understand that some battles are really, really, really hard, and I will never be able to understand a lot of things that so many women go through, but like I just coming from a total stranger, like you can you can do you can do the hard things, you can, you can.
24:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: One thing I want to actually talk about in segue into when we were prepping for this podcast, we had talked uh last week about how one client uh she came to you, she's lost a bunch of weight, wants to come back, or like had something going on.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: I can you explain this experience of like, because she came in and the way that she left was completely different than when she came in, and now she's had a life transformation and now she's coming back.
25:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, can you explain that for the people on the pod?
25:18
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
25:18
SPEAKER_02: So years ago, before I had really even specifically niched down into boudoir, um, a girl had reached out to me and she wanted to do this just like a little photo shoot for herself.
25:30
SPEAKER_02: Um, and she, you know, she was a bigger girl, but she was had the like this super fun, like retro, um, like empowering like photo shoot that she really wanted to do.
25:40
SPEAKER_02: I loved it.
25:41
SPEAKER_02: And so we got together, did her shoot.
25:45
SPEAKER_02: We had such a good time.
25:46
SPEAKER_02: And at the end of that, she was like, I would actually love to do a boudoir shoot one day.
25:51
SPEAKER_02: And she was like, and I'm coming to you when it happens.
25:53
SPEAKER_02: She's like, I have big plans, I'm gonna be making a lot of big changes.
25:56
SPEAKER_02: She's like going through, she was gonna do um a gastric bypass, and she was gonna like make this big massive changes into her life.
26:03
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, Yes, absolutely.
26:05
SPEAKER_02: I love that for you.
26:06
SPEAKER_02: At the time, I was like, I probably will never see her again.
26:09
SPEAKER_02: Like, she's just being very nice.
26:11
SPEAKER_02: But um, and then a couple of years later, at like she's been following me on like social media and like Instagram, and she'll comment here and there on posts that I've got, but she did, she went through she went through this crazy transformation.
26:25
SPEAKER_02: She works her butt off in the gym, she um looks absolutely amazing, she's so healthy now.
26:33
SPEAKER_02: And she came back to me to do a boudoir shoot, and like, oh my gosh, the whole experience was amazing.
26:41
SPEAKER_02: It was so great to like reconnect with her.
26:43
SPEAKER_02: And like, even though she's done the shoot before, yes, like you still come in nervous, and also like when you go through a huge transformation like that, you still have the body dysmorph the body dysmorphia of it all.
26:54
SPEAKER_02: And um, she's like, I know I'm in good hands, I know I am.
26:58
SPEAKER_02: We've done this before, but I'm still very nervous because it was still a very different type of shoot.
27:02
SPEAKER_02: And we came in, did the hair and makeup, we did the shoot, and she left like walking on air.
27:12
SPEAKER_02: Like she's like, this feels I mean, she's like, I'm coming back for another one.
27:15
SPEAKER_02: And so I'm like, Oh, I'll see you in another couple years after your boob job.
27:18
SPEAKER_02: Like, oh yeah, she was gonna have yeah, yeah.
27:23
SPEAKER_02: That's fine.
27:24
SPEAKER_02: So I love I love being somebody that people can come back to and that they trust.
27:28
SPEAKER_02: And I have a couple of repeat clients, and the the energy that they bring when they come back, it's like it they still they they still are giving off this confident energy.
27:41
SPEAKER_02: Like they I've had people tell me like this has been life-changing.
27:45
SPEAKER_02: Like, I've never seen myself as I had another client.
27:50
SPEAKER_02: Um, we reconnected a little while ago, and she was like, I've never seen myself as like a like super sexual person.
27:57
SPEAKER_02: She was like, I don't wear a lot of makeup on a day-to-day basis.
28:03
SPEAKER_02: Like I grew up, you know, like in the Midwest tomboy, like she's like, I'm never really, I don't own lingerie.
28:10
SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't, it's never something like that's familiar.
28:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
28:14
SPEAKER_02: And um, we've done her shoot, and she was like, I left, and it was like I was a whole different person.
28:20
SPEAKER_02: She's like, I felt absolutely amazing.
28:22
SPEAKER_02: And she went out that night with her friends, and um just what she's so funny.
28:30
SPEAKER_02: She was like singing my praises to everybody who listened.
28:32
SPEAKER_02: She's like, You guys, this changed everything.
28:34
SPEAKER_02: And it's it just makes me so happy knowing that I have that kind of an impact, you know, and just spending a couple hours with these girls, you know.
28:42
SPEAKER_00: I think it's so cool.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: So here going into that from like that literal life change in just that one hour moment.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: How how do you tell women, or like, is there a way that you tell women to take this feeling with them, the permission, the confidence, the freedom, and carry it into their life after the shoot?
29:04
SPEAKER_00: Like, is there a little thing that you say, or how do you do that?
29:09
SPEAKER_02: It's it's not I it's kind of funny.
29:12
SPEAKER_02: I don't have like a a send you off, like now go take on the world with speech.
29:18
SPEAKER_02: I think they just truly it just truly lives in their body after this, yeah.
29:25
SPEAKER_02: Um, which is so it's so freaking cool.
29:28
SPEAKER_02: Um especially after like the shoot itself, and then they come back a couple weeks later for their ordering appointment where they see on the big screen their pictures.
29:37
SPEAKER_02: Um, I had another gal come in and she was sitting on the couch, jaw on the floor, and I'm like, How are you feeling?
29:46
SPEAKER_02: And she's like, I'm I'm a goddess.
29:48
SPEAKER_02: Why is everyone not looking at me all of the time?
29:54
SPEAKER_02: I love that.
29:56
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, it's not even like it's any advice or anything I say, I think it is just that transformative of an experience that it just stays with them.
30:06
SPEAKER_02: And I don't know if every boudoir photographer has that same experience.
30:12
SPEAKER_02: I think a lot of them do.
30:14
SPEAKER_02: Um but it it's my it's it's so cheesy, it's so magical.
30:20
SPEAKER_02: It's magical to see it.
30:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I feel like, and another reason why I wanted you here is because that magical transformation of confidence and like self-love and worthiness, like that's a lot of the things that we work on in my coaching programs.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: Is it's not, I'm not just giving you a food plan and a workout plan and calling it a day.
30:44
SPEAKER_00: It's we really have to learn how to trust ourselves and be confident in ourselves in our decisions and be good with what our body can do for us before it changes, right?
30:54
SPEAKER_00: Give our body a safe space to be.
30:57
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I just think maybe I have to give a boudoir shoot with you as a like homework assignment for all the girls because I would love that.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: It's just like I like there's women typically are looking for a magical moment, a magical supplement, a magical quick fix to feel better at any point in time, or there when I get through the crazy holiday season, then I will start putting myself first.
31:28
SPEAKER_00: When baseball is over, because I've got three boys under 12 playing baseball right now.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: When that's over, I'll do something for me.
31:36
SPEAKER_00: And it's like, girl, no, like in the chaos, can you take one hour, whether it's to do a boudoir shoot, whether it is to go just gallivant in the mountain, whether like go have coffee with a girlfriend and really deeply connect.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: Like when we were in Colorado, I don't think I've deeply connected with women like that in so long.
31:57
SPEAKER_00: Oh no.
31:58
SPEAKER_00: And I came home, yes, it was a retreat, and there was a very specific reason why we were all there.
32:04
SPEAKER_00: But I that was a I was in the middle of opening up a business for my husband and found the 10 minutes to go to Colorado and connect with women and come home refreshed, renewed.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: And I was able to finish up that project in such a better energy.
32:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
32:22
SPEAKER_00: So, like when you can, whether it's to again to go do a shoot, whether it is to go for a walk, whether it's to, I don't know, do something for an hour because you're mom, you're a hustler career woman, you're a badass.
32:35
SPEAKER_00: And whatever hat you wear, you need the hour to like revitalize your soul and go back to your life, knowing that your cup is filled and you can overflow into the people around you.
32:50
SPEAKER_00: Because if you're confident and you know that you are incredible and valuable and loved, you're only going to spill it out into everyone else around you.
33:00
SPEAKER_02: Oh, absolutely.
33:01
SPEAKER_02: I 1000% agree with that.
33:03
SPEAKER_02: And something else that I like to tell the girls, especially if they're kind of like on the fence about doing a shoot and doing something, any anything like this.
33:11
SPEAKER_02: Um, because it is a lot of like, when I lose 20 pounds, when the kids get older, when I'm in better shape, when I have more money, when I'm finally confident enough to do this, like okay, yes, all of that.
33:24
SPEAKER_02: But also, um, what happens if you don't?
33:29
SPEAKER_02: You know, you're not allowed to have beautiful pictures of yourself, you're not allowed to have this moment where you can connect with yourself and see yourself in a way you've never seen before, or maybe just haven't in a really long time.
33:39
SPEAKER_02: That's such a silly excuse to not.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: It sounds like I'm flying to Nebraska very soon.
33:45
SPEAKER_02: I have a room for you.
33:48
SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, I'm looking at the time and I want to make sure that we I mean, we could do this all day.
33:54
SPEAKER_00: I have two questions left.
33:59
SPEAKER_00: One, what is something you wish every woman knew before she ever stepped in front of your camera?
34:08
SPEAKER_02: I would say you are enough.
34:14
SPEAKER_02: You do not need to you do not need to word I'm looking for you don't need to give yourself permission.
34:31
SPEAKER_02: Like you can do it, you can do hard things, and like you also when coming to like more specifically, you don't need to know how to pose, you don't need to know what you're doing.
34:47
SPEAKER_02: That's my job.
34:48
SPEAKER_02: I just need you to show up and embrace the experience.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: I think that's perfect.
34:55
SPEAKER_00: You yeah, you definitely sold me.
34:58
SPEAKER_00: All right, last one.
35:00
SPEAKER_00: I want you to finish this sentence.
35:03
SPEAKER_00: Okay, the version of you that you are waiting to become.
35:10
SPEAKER_00: She's probably already there.
35:12
SPEAKER_02: Oh, I love that.
35:14
SPEAKER_02: He's like, she's there.
35:15
SPEAKER_02: It's you just have to see yourself in a different lens.
35:25
SPEAKER_02: You have to see yourself in a different perspective.
35:32
SPEAKER_02: She's there.
35:34
SPEAKER_02: She can do the things, she can do hard things, she can be this person that she wants to be.
35:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you just gotta go find it.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: Whether she's been, you know, pushed down because there's so many other obligations, whether your perspective has just been blinders on and you're you can't open your heart up to other things, right?
35:56
SPEAKER_00: I love that perspective because we are so our like we are so taught to just like this is the way, this is what I have to do, these are my obligations, this is the right way to do things, right?
36:09
SPEAKER_00: I always use this, it's a stupid example, but I'm gonna use it, right?
36:12
SPEAKER_00: So my husband and I get married, and we go to the grocery store and we want orange juice.
36:18
SPEAKER_00: So the right orange juice is for me, is the orange juice that my mom bought growing up.
36:24
SPEAKER_00: Like it was the only brand of orange juice that you buy.
36:27
SPEAKER_00: Well, my husband drank different orange juice.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: So we're at the store and we're like, no, I like this one.
36:32
SPEAKER_00: No, I like this one.
36:33
SPEAKER_00: And there was no, like, we had to have a perspective.
36:35
SPEAKER_00: It's such a dumb example, but it's like you, my perspective of what the right orange juice was is my mom's perspective.
36:45
SPEAKER_00: And it's like, I need to be open to other people's perspectives, or what is my perspective?
36:51
SPEAKER_00: What is the voice?
36:52
SPEAKER_00: Here's another good one.
36:54
SPEAKER_00: When you're speaking over yourself, whose voice is that?
37:00
SPEAKER_00: Because love my dad, my dad is one of my best friends.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: I hope my parents don't listen to this.
37:05
SPEAKER_00: Love my dad, but my dad's one of my best friends.
37:07
SPEAKER_00: But for a long time, the the thing that was spoken over me was you can't do your hobby as a career.
37:15
SPEAKER_00: You have to go find a real big girl job.
37:19
SPEAKER_00: And I mean, obviously I've defied that.
37:22
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, dad.
37:22
SPEAKER_00: Like I know you're proud of me now, but 23-year-old Kate was really, really hurt by that.
37:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
37:28
SPEAKER_00: And I was, I think it took me so long to really just jump into what I knew I was called to do on this earth because I always told myself I couldn't do my hobby and I couldn't be successful doing my hobby.
37:45
SPEAKER_00: But then when my therapist was like, whose voice is that?
37:49
SPEAKER_00: And I realized it wasn't mine, everything unlocked.
37:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
37:55
SPEAKER_00: And I feel like when you walk in, even like for the girls who are listening to me right now that are gonna go and see you for a shoot, when you're starting to like feel insecure and not valuable and you're like getting a little scared.
38:09
SPEAKER_00: Whose voice is that?
38:11
SPEAKER_00: Whose voice is telling you that you're not worthy enough of doing something amazing and fun and sacred for yourself?
38:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
38:19
SPEAKER_00: Right?
38:20
SPEAKER_00: I think so good.
38:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
38:22
SPEAKER_02: I love that.
38:23
SPEAKER_02: So good.
38:24
SPEAKER_02: Okay, such a good thing to think about.
38:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think it's just it just changes the it changed the game for me in every area of my life when negative, when that like little gremlin was starting to tell me anything negative.
38:37
SPEAKER_00: Who is the voice of the gremlin?
38:39
SPEAKER_00: One day it might be my dad, for example.
38:42
SPEAKER_00: One day it might be my sister, one day it might be this girl from high school who doesn't even like me.
38:48
SPEAKER_00: Right?
38:48
SPEAKER_00: Like it doesn't, that's that's their voice, that's their opinion.
38:53
SPEAKER_00: It's not me and what I hold true and valuable for myself.
38:59
SPEAKER_00: So, for all the listeners here, I'm so excited that you jumped on the pod today.
39:06
SPEAKER_00: I think this is great.
39:08
SPEAKER_00: I want every woman to listen to this and share it with your friends.
39:12
SPEAKER_00: But I want to end with this saying quote that I put together.
39:18
SPEAKER_00: For all the women listening, maybe your confidence is not about waking up every day and loving every single thing about yourself.
39:26
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's about refusing to abandon yourself on the days that you don't.
39:31
SPEAKER_00: Maybe beauty is not something you have to earn through a certain body, age, size, outfit, or version of perfection.
39:38
SPEAKER_00: And like Courtney said, maybe it's already present in the way you love, in the way you show up, in the way you survive, in the way you take up space, and the way you bring your unique energy into the world.
39:51
SPEAKER_00: So that is it for this pod.
39:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure Courtney will be back, but that is uh you will be back.
40:00
SPEAKER_00: All right.
40:00
SPEAKER_00: Well, guys, we will see you in the next one.
40:04
SPEAKER_00: Bye.
40:05
SPEAKER_00: Bye.