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Selling the Unseen: Growing a Risque Brand and Empowering Women to Own Their Story · Serious Lady Business

• LESLIE YOUNGBLOOD (00:03) Hey there, I'm Leslie Youngblood and this is Serious Lady Business, the podcast where we get real about what it takes to build a business as a woman today. From late night Google searches and client curveballs to the wins that make it all worth it, I'm talking about the stuff no one puts in the highlight reel. Each week, I'm bringing you honest conversations, lessons learned and stories from women who are out here doing the work. Messy, meaningful and unapologetically bold. Whether you're just dreaming about starting a business or deep in the grind, this podcast is your space to feel seen, supported, and fired up. Because let's be honest, this journey is hard, hilarious, and absolutely worth it. So let's dive in. Leslie Youngblood (00:52) Welcome back to Serious Lady Business. I'm Leslie Youngblood, your host, feminist and founder of Youngblood MMC, a marketing media and content agency. And I would like you to meet Liz Hanson today. Liz is the owner and photographer at Chicago Boudoir Photography, a studio that empowers women to feel confident in their bodies, relationships and lives. Liz opened her commercial studio in 2018 and has since photographed more than 2000 women. She has been featured on the TEDx stage, on national public radio, and with the Association of International Boudoir Photographers. Liz holds a BA in Art and an MA in Education. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband and two teenage daughters. Welcome to Serious Lady Business, Liz. Liz Hansen (01:35) Hey, thank you so much for having me. It's great to be here. Leslie Youngblood (01:37) ⁓ my gosh, I'm so excited to chat with you. We are talking about selling the unseen, growing a risque brand and empowering women to tell their story. you talk about photography studio and boudoir photography. You've grown this into a million dollar plus business. I mean, there's so much for all of us to learn from you. And I think it might have all started with your first boudoir session where you said it was life changing. How did that moment lead you to start Chicago boudoir? Liz Hansen (02:05) Yeah, so if you're listening to this and you have no idea what we're talking about, boudoir is just a fancy French word that means a woman's bedroom. But what I do at my boudoir studio is I've created a safe space for women to come and create sexy, sensual photos of themselves in order to feel more confident and empowered in their own skin. I was a wedding photographer, a family photographer about 10 years ago, and I heard some of my fellow photographers talking about boudoir. Leslie Youngblood (02:07) you Mmm. Okay. Liz Hansen (02:32) And I was like, what is this? Do people really take sexy nude photos? So I signed up for a photo shoot for myself. Like I was the person getting my pictures taken. I wasn't the photographer. And I walked into that session feeling so nervous. This was very much out of my comfort zone. Yeah, I'd grown up in a very conservative religious household where doing something like this was really frowned upon. Good girls didn't do stuff like this, right? Leslie Youngblood (02:36) you ⁓ sure. Mm-hmm. I like the hair. ⁓ Liz Hansen (03:00) But I'm not exaggerating when I say that I walked out of that photo shoot ready to show up in my life in bigger and better ways. It was a confidence boost unlike any other that I'd ever experienced. So I decided that I wanted to help other women have that same experience. And that's what gave me the drive to open up my boudoir studio. And now I've been running it for eight years and really just loved every minute of it. Leslie Youngblood (03:25) That's amazing. What was it that made you feel that way? Tell us more about the experience, because that is, I know, something that you bring within Chicago boudoir as well. Liz Hansen (03:34) So listen, as women, most of us have been socialized to believe that we have to quote unquote color within the lines, right? We have to do things a certain way. Our body has to fit into certain narrow beauty standards. Good girls do some things, good girls don't do other things, right? And somehow for me, signing up for a boudoir photo shoot just like busted through a bunch of those barriers and was like... Leslie Youngblood (03:42) We. of more. Liz Hansen (03:59) I can do anything now. I can do, if I can, if I can pose nude in front of a camera, I can do anything for someone else. It might be running a marathon. might be climbing a mountain. I don't know. For me, it was a boudoir photo shoot that kind of just cracked something open in me that made me want to do more in my life, show up and be bolder. Right. And so I had never run a business before. I didn't know what I was getting into. Starting a business was a big leap for me. I had to take out a business loan. made a lot of mistakes. Leslie Youngblood (04:07) Really. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm sorry. Mmm. Liz Hansen (04:28) But it all started with just kind of busting through some of those limiting beliefs that had held me back before. Leslie Youngblood (04:34) Wow, I love that. What did your family say when you told them that I'm gonna pivot away from weddings and I'm really gonna go all in on this style of photography? Liz Hansen (04:45) Well, I'm really lucky that my immediate family in the sense of my husband and my kids, they're totally supportive. My bigger family, my parents, some of my siblings were like very not supportive. I mean, my mother went as far as to tell me that I was going to hell for doing such a thing. Yeah, and that's okay. My parents are older from a different generation. They don't understand what this can mean for women. They just see it as a very taboo thing to do, very taboo business. And I get that like for most people, Leslie Youngblood (04:59) No! Yeah. Liz Hansen (05:13) boudoir, showing up unapologetically and showing skin is still not fully accepted. Women are still expected to stay in certain lanes. So I get it. I am still in a taboo business. But it's OK. My parents were never going to be my clients anyway. But I have gotten some pushback for sure from some people. And this is not for them. That's OK. But the people who are interested in this love what I do and are very supportive. Leslie Youngblood (05:22) We are. What a great point. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think that is so true. And I love what you said. Your parents, I just had a conversation the other day and we were talking about family and friends and they're not there to be your business coach or your business advocate. They're just there to love you. And so we can't expect them to give us that type of support in all the ways for our business all the time. And that's okay. And like you said, they're from a different generation. So they don't get like how truly life-changing this can be. And so you decided to go all in. I'm sure as a wedding photographer, you would just go in with your camera and you had a certain amount of equipment. And like you said, you had to get a business loan and then I'm sure a studio walk us through how it looked like and how it was different for you and how you essentially pivoted to Chicago boudoir. Liz Hansen (06:27) Yeah, so it's not easy to start a brick and mortar, right? Like it's different than like how you described exactly with weddings or families. You could show up on location with a camera, take pictures and then go home with me. Why I really needed a location, right? I mean, we're not going to take nude photos on the street. So I mean, you're good. There are There are photographers who do stuff like this on the beach and whatever, but I really wanted that studio setting. I live in Chicago. We don't have good weather, right? No. Leslie Youngblood (06:38) Mm-hmm. Okay. Liz Hansen (06:55) I rented out a commercial space. had to buy lights, cameras, furniture, samples, everything to get started, And you know, it can be hard to be what you can't see, right? I didn't have an example of what to do. I didn't have a business mentor. I eventually found these things, but day one, I really just started sort of blind. And in some ways it's good. It's like, if you don't know what you don't know, you're willing to take the step. I always tell people it's sort of like having a baby. Leslie Youngblood (07:14) Yes. Liz Hansen (07:24) You know that having a baby is going to be hard, but you don't know in what way or you just jump in and do it because you can't really know. Starting a business is sort of the same way. You just start. There's no other way to do it. Leslie Youngblood (07:24) Yeah. ⁓ Thank Yeah. Right. And you can't go back. You can't give the baby back. You can't. mean, you could give the business back, but you got to just keep going and figure and figuring it out, which is is a lesson. But I mean, I anybody listening that has a business right understands. Yeah, like I'm doing this and ⁓ shit, I'm doing this and I have to make this work. How am I going to make this work? OK, one day at a time. And so tell us a little bit too, like you, it's a, you know, the whole point and one of the reasons why we're talking today is this is like we were saying a risque business. How did you, when you started opening this up, like, did you have a plan on how you wanted to grow? And like we said, this has grown into a million dollar plus multi-million dollar business for you, which is incredible in any type of business. Like that's a unicorn, right? Let alone a brand that's considered more risque. So tell us a little bit like your mindset and how you had set out and planned to build it to be what it is today. Liz Hansen (08:33) Yeah, I think definitely there were people who were like, you cannot make money doing this. It's too crazy, it's too risque. And also everyone has an iPhone, no one's going to hire you to be a photographer. But that actually ended up being what I, you know, what seemed like the hardest thing about starting this business actually ended up being the best thing about this business because, because it's risque, because it's taboo, there are not very many other people doing it, right? Like I am one of the only studios in my area that offers this service, right? Leslie Youngblood (08:42) you Liz Hansen (09:00) Whereas there are hundreds and hundreds of wedding photographers and family photographers and baby photographers, right? So I found a niche that was not being met in my area, which allowed me to be more profitable, right? So initially you might think, don't go into that business. No one's doing it. You're not going to make any money. But actually what that can mean is no one's doing it. You can make money, right? So I knew getting started that there were going to be some really tough challenges to overcome. Leslie Youngblood (09:00) Mm-hmm. Wow. in. Wallace. Yes. Liz Hansen (09:27) One of them is you cannot use sexy photos, which is my product, to advertise. You can't take a sexy photo and upload it to Meta or Facebook or Instagram and use it for advertising. They have community standards, right? So there are some really interesting barriers because the product I sell, I actually can't use to advertise. Does that make sense? So I feel really creative about talking about what I do, showing what I do without showing everything. Leslie Youngblood (09:31) Mmm. Bye. Yeah. Yes. Mm. Liz Hansen (09:55) showing up as a real person so that people know that you're not going to end up in some sketchy basement to do new photos. I'm real. We have 100 % female staff. We have a commercial studio. We have a storefront. It's brick and mortar. It's not just some fly by night. It's scary experience, right? So every barrier actually ended up being an opportunity in many ways for me because the things that sound really bad about my business are actually awesome about my business because Leslie Youngblood (10:01) Yeah. Yeah. Liz Hansen (10:22) It makes it unique. cannot buy a boudoir photo shoot from an overseas Amazon cart, right? You have to come to my studio, right? So it cannot be outsourced. That's a benefit to me, right? There's less competition because fewer photographers are willing to go into this. So yeah, it's a really interesting business to be in. It's very niche. And also that's what makes it profitable. Leslie Youngblood (10:29) No. Right. Yeah. Right, I mean, we've talked so much, anybody has heard, you need to niche, you need to find your niche, find your niche, and you can think like, ⁓ I don't know, but that is truly a proof positive of what a niche can really do for you. And I also love so much of what you said is how like a negative thing can really be a positive, or like, I always think of it as, okay, we can't show this, so how are we going to market this? And I feel like it's similar if a client comes to us and. doesn't have a big budget. I'm like, ooh, I don't care. Like, let's figure this out. Like, what can we do that'll give us the most impact? And these are the type of challenges that business owners face every single day, whether it's trying to market without showing your product or whether it's trying to make connections with an audience and show that you're authentic and a real person and how to get them to connect with you. Because especially when you're coming in and having your picture taken with your clothes on is... traumatic for a lot of people, like, right? Like there's so many people that even in the marketing and advertising world, even with headshots, people don't want a headshot or they're they're so self critical. Right. And I think that with the rise of social media and seeing the Instagram faces and all the things we can really get done on ourselves just in an iPhone picture, let alone and I'm going to really show my my myself in skin in a boudoir like photo. photo shoot, right? And so all those things that you're sharing are just like check, check, check, like truly at the core of what makes a great business and like great marketing is authenticity, showing who you are, like you showing up as the business owner and people want to connect with people. Women want to feel especially like safe, just like you said. And so I just think that's such a testament. to your success and to how others can learn from you to use that within their business. Like they might, know, they can sell widgets and still understand you need to connect with your audience. You need to figure out a way that's going to resonate and work. That's not necessarily showing your widgets all day. You need to sell them like and connect with them truly at the end of the day. So I think that's fantastic. Was there a mistake that sticks out in your mind as you were growing Liz that you're like, oh yeah, that. would be my one redo or was it just kind of, we figured it out and we just rolled on through. Liz Hansen (13:01) I made 100 million mistakes. Let's be honest. This business was built on mistake and redo, mistake and redo. But the biggest thing that I didn't understand when I started was to price for profitability. kind of, because here's the thing, boudoir, you're selling really, what you're selling ultimately is an experience and art, right? Do I sell albums? Yes. Do I sell gift items? Yes. But really what I am selling is Leslie Youngblood (13:03) and we'll Liz Hansen (13:27) the experience of coming in and having the pictures taken and the art that I create. How do you put a price on an experience and art? It's difficult, right? So I just kind of pulled some numbers out of a hat that to me felt like reasonable prices that someone should expect to pay for this service. Turns out I underestimated what it costs to produce this experience and this art drastically. Leslie Youngblood (13:31) Yes. Liz Hansen (13:49) So the first 19 months that I worked in my business, I was showing up every single day working full time and I wasn't able to pay myself, not $1, right? And that's because I had factored into the cost of like the heating and air conditioning at my studio and the lights and the printing albums, but I had not factored in paying the artist who was taking the pictures. And that's actually a really important part of the business, right? Leslie Youngblood (13:57) Mmm... Mmm... you Liz Hansen (14:16) The artist doesn't get paid. The artist can no longer create the art, right? But I had not valued my own art or my own time to factor that into the cost of the product. So what I thought was a quote unquote reasonable price for the images or the books, the boudoir experience was actually not going to allow me to keep doing this or to stay open. So I had to retool my pricing and I to raise my pricing. Leslie Youngblood (14:19) I'm ready. Sure. Sure. Liz Hansen (14:41) And when I did that, it was really scary, right? I thought no one's going to pay this. It's too much, right? But what I found was there are still people willing to pay for this. it's put me more, it's been able, it's allowed me to position myself as a luxury experience. I'm now a luxury experience and a luxury price point that attracts people who are looking for that level of service. So I can really ⁓ provide a white glove experience to each individual client. Leslie Youngblood (14:55) you Yeah. Liz Hansen (15:07) Yes, it's expensive. Yes, it might be more expensive than other photographers like for headshots and babies, but that's because boudoir is a different level of touch, a different level of care. But that comes with a higher price tag. And it took me a while to get my head around that to say, it's okay. A luxury experience can have a luxury price tag. If people can't afford it, it's a luxury. They don't have to buy this. I'm not everybody. ⁓ Leslie Youngblood (15:17) the world. You were... Hmmmm Not for everybody. Yeah. Which is terrifying. It that is so terrifying for business owners because you are like, well, shit, like I can't, know, no one's if I'm not if nobody wants to come here, I raise my prices, nobody's going to want to pay it. How am I going to keep the lights on? Right. And but then you do realize no, you will find the people that are willing to pay and want to have that. And you shouldn't want like I, you know, I worked with like a Liz Hansen (15:36) Yes. Leslie Youngblood (15:58) a custom cabinet maker and they, I can't remember the specifics, but I was like, you know, cause you're competing with the Home Depot cupboards, right? Or in the cabinets and whatever. And I'm like, listen, you're, you're Louis Vuitton. Like you're not like Marshall's, which is fine. And one is not better than the other, but the customer that wants what you do, wants that premium luxury product that has the handcrafted care and the other person is going to want to like that's on a budget and just needs to get it done is going to go to Home Depot. And one is not better than the other. It's just two different people from two different perspectives wanting two different things. And those people will find you and those other people can go to Home Depot and that's okay. And so I just think that it's so proof again, prove positive Liz of all these things that we're told in theory and you're like, but really, but what if it doesn't work for me or I don't know, but like truly. If you build it, they will come, essentially, right? Liz Hansen (16:52) And you have to get really comfortable with the idea of repelling some people and attracting some people. I think when I first started, that was really hard for me. like, I don't want to repel anyone. I want everyone to love me. I want everyone to think what I'm doing is great. But to be honest, there are 7 billion people on this planet and I cannot serve all of them. So I actually want to actively repel some people who cannot physically make it into my studio in Chicago, who are not interested in paying luxury prices for this service. Leslie Youngblood (17:06) Yeah. Yes. Mm-hmm. Liz Hansen (17:22) I don't want to spend marketing dollars on those people. I don't want to try to market to those people. So I want to repel them. But it takes like some doing to get your head around that, that there are actually clients you want to say no to, that you want your marketing to, you want some people to see your marketing being like, nope, right? Because when you do that, you will be able to hone in on the people who, when they see your marketing say, yes, this is exactly what I want. Leslie Youngblood (17:31) Thank Right. Yeah. Yes, a thousand percent. And I also love to where you talked about like this is a luxury experience. You have to look at it as so you should be charging more just in and of itself there and the value and you know of what you're giving to them is one, they're going to have these for forever. Right. And they're creating that memory almost like a trip. Right. Like you're taking a trip. You're not just again, you're not just going to the park down the street. you're not just going to the local hotel, which again, nothing bad on those. But you're going to like Paris. you are doing something that is going to stick with you for the rest of your lives and have a keepsake that is art, like a truly priceless art that is you for the rest of your life. And so, again, like what would you why wouldn't you expect? that to be a premium type of experience like you again would want, you don't want to go to an alley and a weird, sketchy studio with strangers. All of these things, again, that you've done so well. And I think, again, as a testament to your success is all these like friction points along the way that in the customer experience and that journey are alleviated. And because everything is connected, everything makes sense. and you're delivering on it, right? It's the customer experience starts way before they walk in your door, way before they buy your product. And what gets them to purchase, what gets them to book an appointment, there's a lot of things that can come up along that path to get them distracted or put them off. And so how do you ensure that everything that you have are taking care of them, in nurturing them, along the way. to get them to the point where they have that experience and are like, my God, I don't know what took me so long. I bet you hear that. Like, I bet how many times have you heard, what took me so long? I don't know why I was so scared or why I was hesitant. Yeah. Liz Hansen (19:28) Yeah, I wish I'd done this five years ago. I wish I'd done this 10 years ago. Exactly. The other thing about price too is like people, most people have never purchased a boudoir photography session before. So they have no way to anchor the price unless they've hired another type of photographer. So maybe they've paid $300 for a family photographer to take pictures of them in the park, or they hired a wedding photographer, right? Those are their only anchors for price. And those as actually comparing apples to oranges, right? Because Leslie Youngblood (19:38) me one. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right. Liz Hansen (19:55) is actually a different product. I compare it to people who go to shop for a diamond for an engagement ring. You've never bought a diamond before maybe. You walk in, you're like, have no idea what this costs or what goes into it. So there's a lot of education on my part to help potential clients understand what it is you're paying for and why it costs what it does. Like, don't, it's not like I'm saying, oh, well, I'm great. Let me break down this cost for you. But to say, yeah, this is going to cost more than maybe your family photographer for Christmas cards. Leslie Youngblood (20:01) Right. Mm-hmm. Liz Hansen (20:23) It is, and here's why. Let me tell you what, it includes professional hair and makeup. You're gonna be the only person in the studio for the day. You get a day to be a queen, you know? We offer full magazine quality retouching on all of your pictures, no extra costs, like all these things. Then they're like, okay, so this is not just walking in the park with my kids, right? But in the end, some people want to have that luxury experience and pay for it, and some people don't. Leslie Youngblood (20:27) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right. Right, exactly. again, you do what you can do to, again, share those things with them. And if they go forward with it, they don't. And if they do, amazing. And the ones that don't probably aren't your target customers. Anyways, they're never gonna get it or they, maybe they'll come around down the line. There's all those like types of different customer archetypes, right? whether you're a business coach, whether you're a photographer, because you know, there's... people that anybody would wanna work with well, I need to think about it more, right? those big purchasing decisions, right? And so it's just so interesting to get that feedback from them because they probably, you probably think like, I never thought about this, but yeah, that's a good question. And how do I explain it to them so they understand that this is worth it? And this is why that, you know, all these things come together for that. it's just when you're selling services. over a product, there is so much more involved in to explain to people what goes into those services that you're delivering for them. It's not just yep, and here's my $1 pen and it's red and it'll last you a long time and it's got this comfortable grip and you'll love it. And it's yeah, I'm sold. So how do you, you know, again, nurture those clients and get them to over the hill and then again, life changing. truly like life-changing for them. ⁓ Liz Hansen (22:06) One thing I've found is really important is to give little bits of information along the way. So I don't want to fire hose people, right? Because there is a lot to know what to wear, what to bring. What happens if I have this scar I want retouched? Maybe I want the scar not to be retouched. You what about makeup? I have sensitive skin. I wear a wig. I don't know. mean, there just a hundred questions before someone comes in for boudoir, right? And what I've learned as a company, as a service is to offer the information. Here's what you need to know to get started. Here's what you need to know before you come in. Leslie Youngblood (22:12) Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ she worked. Liz Hansen (22:35) Here's what you need to know when you're at the studio. Here's what you need to know after your shoot, right? Instead of trying to just jam all this information and all the time, right? Because you don't need, you need enough information to make certain decisions as you go along. Leslie Youngblood (22:37) Yeah. in one. Right, yeah, that's so true, so true. Now, Liz, before you opened Chicago Boudoir, you were a stay at home mom, right? doing wedding photography. Now you are a seven figure business owner. What were some of the biggest mind shifts that you had to make specifically when it came to the business? Liz Hansen (23:05) This was huge for me, right? Like I really grew up believing that good girls stayed home and had kids and were not boss babes. Like that was just how I, I grew up in a big family, six kids. And my expectation was that I get married young and have kids. And I did get married young, had kids and I would stay home mom for seven years. And then I had this desire to really do something more in a branch out. And I had a lot of what I have learned to call money blocks, right? Like the idea that I was allowed to make money. The first time someone handed me a credit card, Leslie Youngblood (23:27) Thanks. Liz Hansen (23:33) I remember my hands literally shaking. I couldn't get it in the reader because I was like, they're giving me their heart and money. Like I can't take money. It was this really like emotional thing for me because I had just had decades of kind of like programming that like I, my labor should be for free. Stay home moms, they work for free, right? And that's what they do. And I was happy doing that. And I, you know, I don't regret the years I stayed home with my kids, but it was the idea that no, I can charge for my labor, for my art. Leslie Youngblood (23:50) I think that's it. and Liz Hansen (24:02) It was, required this total 180 for me to really be like, no, I don't work for free anymore. You know, and that's okay. And there's nothing wrong with it. I had to really get over a scarcity mindset that there, I had to get over the idea that debt was, but taking out that business loan. mean, I might as well have like died because I had grown up with the idea that debt was just like evil and dirty and terrible. And if you had debt, you were just like a bad person. Leslie Youngblood (24:07) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Right, sure. Liz Hansen (24:27) I remember my dad telling me one time, I'd rather you get an STD than you have credit card debt. he would say, yes he did. Okay, so he's like CCD, it's credit card debt. It's like an STD. So the idea that I would take out debt to grow a business to me was scary, right? Like I didn't know, I'd never met anyone who'd done something like this. It wasn't in my circle, right? Now I have lots of business owner friends and I've seen lots of people do it, but at the time, Leslie Youngblood (24:31) Stop it! No he did not, Liz. What?! Stop it! Stop. Mmm. Liz Hansen (24:52) The idea that I was going to take out debt, that I was going to have to repay with my art and my labor was frightening. You know, was scary that I was going to dig myself into this giant hole, right? So for me personally, there was just like a lot of emotional, like things attached to money that I really had to work through. And I bought some books, I did some courses, I did some coaching because if you Leslie Youngblood (24:57) I have. Yes. Liz Hansen (25:15) grew up kind of in this scarcity poverty mindset things can come at you you just don't realize it's deep within you this idea these these things affect how you behave Leslie Youngblood (25:23) Sure, yeah, I think that is so spot on. There's so much I wanna dig into on this because I went through a similar thing where you, like, you know, hear it, student loan debt or debt's bad, credit card debt, student loan debt, debt's bad. Don't do it, it's gonna ruin your life. And then, so I was like, yeah, that is bad, it's bad. And then like a couple things like shifted my brain Where I read, what is it? Richard Branson's book. like Flying Virgin or something, his autobiography. And like he talks about, so he's this billionaire now, but he started and he used debt to grow his business. And I remember reading that book and being like, what? he was like leveraged to the gills. And I was like, ⁓ it's not called debt when you're in business. It's called leverage, right? It's leverage. So they have like a fancy name for debt when you're a business owner. And so it's totally different. And you need to have. sometimes like to use leverage to rocket ship your business. And so it was like, holy shit, are you kidding me? what? And it's just so different. And it's very frustrating because one, we're not taught as individuals outside of being business owners, you know, proper money management tools, right? Then to we're as a woman, we are maybe not so money inclined or we feel like I'm not good with money and right. we're characterizes shopaholics and this and that and not good with money. And then you like to let alone being a business owner and how you have all these itemized things to think about and the bills and and how am I going to scale and taking on debt and doing other things? And it just feels so emotionally overwhelming. And how could all that stuff from childhood, that subconsciousness in our money wounds not come up? And how could it not trip you up and sabotage you in some way because we don't feel safe when it comes to money. And that's really the key is we don't feel safe. So we sabotage ourselves subconsciously to get us back to that feeling of being safe and those money traps that we've held for years because that's where we felt safe. And so I think, you know, and I would love to hear more about your experiences and how proactive you were with taking courses and reading books because that's the thing too. It's just another skill. It's like learning a language, right? It doesn't mean you're not gonna succeed if you feel like you're bad with money or we have, everybody has money wounds. So tell us more about those steps that you took to work through those and how that helped you. Liz Hansen (27:31) You heard? So definitely started my business thinking that my money mindset was correct in the sense of like, the way I was raised is right. Like debt is bad, scarcity, we need to budget every penny and we need to save, save, save, save, save and never spend. Like I didn't know that there was like another way to be. And so the first, the first step I had to make was like, ⁓ maybe I need to change some things. Maybe running a business finances is different than personal finance. I've never done this before. So that was first, like the recognition. Leslie Youngblood (27:49) you sure. you No. Liz Hansen (28:10) that running a business was going to be different than personal and that I might need to make some changes. Number two was, okay, if I need to make some changes, how in the heck do I do this? And I didn't realize, like you said, the safety, the psychological nature of it, right? Like what it would take because here's the thing with boudoir, I am selling people pictures of themselves. I'm a salesperson. That's a big part of my job is I have to sell, right? I never sold anything before in my life really, right? Leslie Youngblood (28:14) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Liz Hansen (28:35) Like even with wedding photography, sign them up for the wedding, you take the pictures, you give them the pictures and you're like, here are your photos. Like there's not a lot of sales involved, at least not the way I was doing it. But suddenly with boudoir became different and I had to learn what it meant to be a salesperson. There are skills you can learn, sales skills to be more effective at helping people arrive at where they want. So yes, I bought books. I listened to podcasts. I followed, I hired a business coach, a business mentor. ⁓ Leslie Youngblood (28:35) Right. Yeah. Right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And that's Mm-hmm. Liz Hansen (29:02) I started writing affirmations down every single day. Like it is safe for me to spend money. People love to buy my product. People value what I do. It is okay to have luxury prices because I offer a luxury service. Like I had this whole list of things to get my mindset in a place where I could effectively sell. Because when I was like, ⁓ you want to buy, you want to give me your hard earned money? ⁓ no. Like that's not, that wasn't working, you know? Leslie Youngblood (29:06) Easy. I'm if me. I'm not sure. Yeah, people feel that energy or they're ⁓ okay, she's not into what's wrong or am I doing the right thing? Because she's not into this. should I be as into this? I mean, right. It's they react to what you put out for sure. Liz Hansen (29:30) ⁓ Totally. So I had to show up as a totally different person. And at first, I was really acting a little bit. I was putting on the Liz sales persona at first. But then after you do it a few times, it becomes, no, this is real. I know this is valuable. I know you want it. I know I've created something you like. Money is value and energy and an exchange of that. I've created something of value. You have something of value called money. Let's exchange it and we'll all be happy here, right? Leslie Youngblood (29:46) No. Wow. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Right. Liz Hansen (30:12) So yeah, for sure. It was not an overnight process for me. I remember reading a couple, I read there's a book called, You Are a Badass at Making Money. Yeah. I remember some of that book was a complete revelation to me. I was like, wait, what? Like I don't have to feel guilty about, I can behave differently. Like every page of that, I was like, this is news to me. And I know some people might read that book and be like, yeah, no, it's not news to me. for me, it really was. Like you have to understand, like I'd never. Leslie Youngblood (30:19) I've read that too. Thank you. Right. Liz Hansen (30:39) been a salesperson. I never run a business. So these things were, was, was, was the, the ground shifted underneath my feet when I realized how I could show up differently around money. Leslie Youngblood (30:46) Yeah. Mm-hmm, yeah. And you know, there's so much talk about business owners, being a business owner, being an entrepreneur is hard. And I think a lot of it is because we're forced, it's truly the biggest work on yourself that you'll ever do. And that is the hard, and that's not like, you know, doing what you do is hard. It's that self stuff that is really the hardest and you're pushed to. learn and confront money wounds and you're pushed to step in and be more sales when again, that's another thing like, ⁓ salespeople like pushy and this or that. And it's like, ⁓ now I'm going to be one of those people. And it's all these things that we have to unlearn. And it's so uncomfortable. But at the end of the day, when you conquer those, mean, or continue to learn and be willing to go there, that's when you. see the success and that's when you're really changing and like the self that I'm sure you are now obviously is totally different than the self you were when you started this, self that you are tomorrow, next week again will be different because along the way we're forced to pivot and change. And I think why we say business ownership is not for everybody is because who wants to do that, right? Or some people just want to go to their job and do their work and go home and that's fine, right? But then I think some of us are just more. I always will apologize to my husband. I'm like, I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm like this. I just can't help it. I just think, I don't know, you know, and, that is not the price you pay, but that's like the gift that you give yourself is that self reflection and becoming a better version of yourself and pushing yourself in your, those mindset traps that we don't even realize that we have to grow and better our business and change lives too. Liz Hansen (32:29) Owning a business is the best personal development course you can ever take, right? You want to learn about yourself, you want to push yourself, you want to grow, start a business. The only other thing that compares to it, in my opinion, is having a baby. And it's similar. You have a baby and the baby has to grow up and it's hard and the toddler years are really terrible, right? Starting a business is the same. Like at the beginning, it's really terrible, right? And it has to grow up. But you will learn things about yourself. I think running a business that like... Leslie Youngblood (32:38) Yeah. Yeah. Liz Hansen (32:55) If you really want to grow, you really want to develop, you want to dig deep and see what your flaws are and become a stronger person, a person with stronger skills, with more abilities, like start a business because it will push you in every possible way. Leslie Youngblood (33:07) Thank you. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And you mentioned that you found a business coach and you found mentors along the way. How did you find those when you needed them, Liz? What was the process? What were you looking for? And how did they help you with some of these challenges? Liz Hansen (33:24) So I had just started my business and I had been running maybe six or eight months. I knew I wasn't making a lot of money. I mean, I wasn't able to pay myself, right? And I remember thinking like, there's gotta be someone out there who knows a little bit more about this than I do. And I went on Facebook, this was 2018, and I was either served an ad or searched up and I found a coat, it was a mastermind that you could join for photographers specifically who were opening studios. Leslie Youngblood (33:31) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Liz Hansen (33:51) And it was expensive. I did not have the money in the bank account to buy into this mastermind. So there was a coach and some recorded videos, but also a group of photographers that you could come and talk to, right? The mastermind piece of it. And I remember going to my husband and being like, I don't, we don't have the money for this, but I think it might be worth it. And he's like, put on a credit card. My husband does not have the same money wounds I do by the way. And I put on a credit card thinking like, it's possible that this is sort of a scam. You know, it's some sort of Facebook thing, you know. Leslie Youngblood (34:01) Yeah. God bless. Thank you. Liz Hansen (34:19) But what ended up, yes, the coach was helpful. Yes, I watched the recorded videos, but what was most helpful was that group of people, mostly women, who were also opening up boudoir or portrait studios. And coming, we would meet on Zoom, we would talk, and just seeing other people, what they were doing, bouncing ideas off of them, seeing they had some of the same struggles, getting ideas. Leslie Youngblood (34:27) and Mm. Mm-hmm. Liz Hansen (34:42) It made all the difference for me because listen, there was no one in my actual life who had any idea what I was doing. There was no, I didn't have any entrepreneurs in my circle. No one in my family has started a business. didn't have like neighbors. I could be like, Hey, how's your business going? Right. But finding that support and it made all the difference within, I want to say six to 12 months of joining that group. I was able to become profitable. I was able to revamp my pricing, my Leslie Youngblood (34:44) Thank Okay. Yeah. Wow. ⁓ Liz Hansen (35:07) My offerings totally changed how I actually took pictures. I learned how to take pictures better, how to deal with clients. I didn't know I needed a CRM. I got automations. I I started from ground zero, right? And they were like, what CRM are you using? I'm like, I don't know what a CRM is, right? So all of those things, it was the material, it was the coach, but for me, it was the group. It was the mastermind, the support. Like it was the village that created for me. Leslie Youngblood (35:11) Wow. Thank you. Thanks. Mmm. Liz Hansen (35:33) that allowed me to sit on my laptop, do stuff, come in, get some ideas, then go to my studio and implement. Leslie Youngblood (35:39) Yeah, yeah, that's incredible. And what I think is so important too about that, and that was even pre pandemic and when we shut down. But when we think about what we need to succeed today as people in general, let alone business owners, is so many of us are in that same boat I would love to know if a family that's made up of entrepreneurs, like what are those conversations like? But I think for a lot of us, we don't have that. I mean, you know, and so you're like. And then you feel again, like they don't understand you or you feel not just different, right? Cause your mind is in a different place and it's just, again, it's okay. And so even in this age of AI, even in this age of social, even the age of the internet is like our second world, it's the human to human connections that really make the difference and that facilitates success. Because if you can't bounce ideas off of each other, you don't know what you don't know. Right. And so just to have that village is feels like this almost old fashioned type of thing, but it's just so instrumental to success today. And I'm sure it be instrumental to success in a thousand years from now, because we need people. Liz Hansen (36:45) And you know what, for me, paying for something made a big difference. Like, listen, there's tons of free resource. There's free Facebook groups. There's free YouTube videos. When I paid this money and the other people had also paid money to be in the group, that made all the difference because we were all so committed. Leslie Youngblood (36:50) ⁓ Yeah. showed up. hmm. Mm hmm. Yeah, that's so true. I can see that definitely. And I've done some masterminds or some, you know, group professional groups too. And you're like, ⁓ I don't have this money or I'm going to put this much money down to learn these things. I'm going to throw up. And then it's like truly though, but it's like investing in yourself. You need to invest in yourself. And then also too, what I think as business owners now, can, that can be a write-off too for like your business if you're taking those. And so if you're, you're, know, looking to do it and you're on the funds, but you know, again, I think a lot of people don't realize those types of things can also be a business write-off. So you should have a bit more, you know, support in the direction of actually going for it. Liz Hansen (37:46) Absolutely. It's like the tuition that you pay to, you know, like you would, a lot of people pay tuition to go to college. Are you willing to pay one semester of tuition to learn how to run your business? You know? Leslie Youngblood (37:49) Mm. Yeah, that's so true. I love that perspective, Liz. Now I want to pivot back to like the bigger picture with boudoir photography. how do you feel like that it contributes to a larger conversation about women reclaiming their bodies and stories, especially in today's landscape? Liz Hansen (38:12) So, you know, there are people who come to me and say, boudoir is just playing into the patriarchy, right? Women coming and putting their bodies on display for men to consume those images. And, you know, I get that. We live in like a patriarchal society in which men in many circles have more power than women, right? Men have more seats on Fortune 500 companies. Men have more seats in the Senate. Men have more seats on the Supreme Court, right? However, Leslie Youngblood (38:21) I'm I don't know what to Thank Liz Hansen (38:38) In my opinion, boudoir is actually a punch in the face to the patriarchy. It's saying I can show up however I want. You can't tell me what I can and can't do. You can do a boudoir photo shoot and never show anybody because it's just for you. So I whatever you wherever you are in your journey and connecting to your body and to your life, you don't have to do a boudoir photo shoot. But I hope you will come to a place where you come to a sense of ownership about your life and your body. Leslie Youngblood (38:41) ⁓ Mm, right. Mmm. Yeah. Liz Hansen (39:07) You are the captain of your ship. You get to decide what you do, how you spend your time. It's not your boss's fault. It's not your husband's fault. It's not your kid's fault. Your life circumstances, wherever you're at now, you can make changes. You can take steps, right? You have power. You are the most powerful driver of your life. And Boudoir, in my opinion, is kind of saying, I'm in charge. I'm here. I'm unapologetically me, right? Leslie Youngblood (39:19) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Liz Hansen (39:35) So you don't have to do a boudoir photo shoot to get there. can be part of your journey, but there's other ways you can do that too, right? Like maybe for you, you need to cut a toxic relationship ties with the toxic and say, I'm not doing this anymore, right? Maybe you need to quit your job and start a business. Maybe you need to stand up and say, I'm going to go talk to the school board about XYZ, whatever it is that you feel like you need to do. I hope you can find the inner strength to do that. Leslie Youngblood (39:47) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I love that. what you said, anybody listening, do one thing today to take your power back in one small way. It doesn't have to be booking a boudoir photography session. It could be just like you said, like I'm leaving for an hour to go shopping to window shop or something like even something silly like that. And I think that a lot of us women, mothers, know, spouses can feel like, well, I have to do all this or no, I can't do that. I can't leave the kids or go do this. And it's like, why not? Why not? And like you said, and again, I think it's so interesting where we trap ourselves in this with our minds of these boxes of how we should operate. And truly, when it comes down to it, you're the one that's keeping you in that cage and there's no lock on the door. you can walk out at any time as soon as you decide that you want to walk out. But again, we're scared of what's out there that we want to feel safe. I feel safe in here. It's my part of my identity. And but it doesn't have to be. And so, you know, Liz Hansen (40:47) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (40:55) to just think about that in any small way. Every day you can make any type of change in your life, which is pretty profound, like truly, because I know we think I'm stuck, I could never get there. I'm never gonna find my spouse or I'm never gonna get the job or I'm never gonna do this. but that's not true. you can do something tomorrow, they'll change your life. make a TikTok and change your life like in an hour that goes viral. It's just the... opportunities are endless today. but again, isn't it so interesting? I always think it's so interesting. It's always these mind traps that keep us where we are. And it's ourselves that hold us back. And it's easy to place the blame out externally, but really, because it's the tough work to look internally. And again, it comes back to internal and ownership. Yeah, right. Yes. my goodness. I mean, can somebody else be in charge? I don't want to be in charge. Liz Hansen (41:37) Yeah, the good news is you're in charge. The bad news, you're in charge, right? Leslie Youngblood (41:48) There's a lot of responsibility, but that's the thing. mean, with great power comes great responsibility and you have it if you want it. And I just think that's so, know, something that a lot of us don't think of on the day in and day out, but we really can. So tell us, Liz, if you could give one piece of advice to a woman about stepping into her power, whether it's in business or in front of the camera, what would it be? Liz Hansen (42:10) My whole mission, so my business is boudoir, but my mission is self love. Like I want women to fall in love with themselves. So if you are currently in the like, hate my body mindset, I want you to see if you can transfer from I hate my body to I have a body. You're gonna just change that one letter. I hate my body to I have a body. Once you get from body negativity to body neutrality, I have a body. Leslie Youngblood (42:24) Mm-hmm. Thank you. Liz Hansen (42:32) When I have a body, it allows me to do things. What does my body let me do? I have legs, lets me walk. I have arms that lets me give hugs. I have a belly that lets me eat food and laugh, right? If you can get away from the self-hating to just the neutrality, I'm here, I have a body. When you start to love yourself, that's when you'll be able to offer love and goodness to other people in the world. Leslie Youngblood (42:39) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's truly the most powerful action we could ever take is actions of self love because that truly radiates beyond to helping yourself first helps other people in ripples that you will never even know. So I love that so much. Liz, please, I would love for you to share where everybody listening right now can connect with you and Chicago Boudoir outside of this podcast. Liz Hansen (43:16) Yeah, so I'm at ChicagoBoudoir.com. Boudoir is a tricky word to spell. It's B-O-U-D-O-I-R.com. And listen, even if you're not in the Chicago area, stop on by because I have a bunch of free resources. I've got a free ebook. I've got a quiz you can take, some downloadable printable affirmations. So if you're in the Chicago area, I'd love to meet you at my studio or otherwise grab some of the freebies on my website. Leslie Youngblood (43:38) Fantastic. And we'll also put those links in the show notes. Liz, thank you so much for an amazing conversation. You are truly an inspiration. Your work is just mind blowing. I also encourage everybody, if you're not in the Chicago area, please go to the website and just look at these incredible pictures that Liz and her team creates, like true works of art that are. people just like you and me, that we have this beauty and the soul and all these things inside of us that we can harness, ⁓ whether it's in a picture or in our real lives, it's just so evident in all the work that you do, Liz. Thank you for taking time to speak with us today. Of course, we'll be in touch. Cheers. Liz Hansen (44:09) Thank you so much, Leslie. Leslie Youngblood (44:14) Thanks for tuning in to Serious Lady Business. If you loved this episode, be sure to follow or subscribe so you never miss a moment of the real, raw, and really wonderful sides of female entrepreneurship. And hey, please leave a review if you're feeling generous. It helps more amazing women find us and join the conversation. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at at Serious Lady Business and get all of the updates at SeriousLadyBusiness.com. Until next time, keep showing up, keep building, and keep being your seriously amazing self.