Why I started...

I am a mid-elder millennial. My adolescence was peak what I like to call "hate on women." Media loved to destroy gorgeous, talented women for their bodies. You were either too skinny, far too fat, someone spotted cellulite on the beach, or you were dealing with major acne, no one was happy with a woman's looks. Kate Winslet, a goddess among us, was branded "blubber." Aside from physical jokes, we were bombarded with anti-gay/lgbtq+ slurs, women who were confident or strong minded deemed sluts or bitches. It was like we just hated everyone except for the occasional rich handsome white man. Soon after all this was the photoshop explosion. Not just insanely over retouched magazine covers, but selfies... with filters, so many filters. Constantly being plagued with the ideals of bigger eyes, bigger lips, bigger bums, smaller waists, little noses... anything to not look like ourselves because not being us is better right? How many of us have a complex with not ever feeling good enough, raise your hand. *both hands in the air* I wanted to change all that. In my early 20's I realized I had a gorgeous group of friends. These women

and men were smart, funny, beautiful people and it was rare I ever heard them speak kindly about themselves. I wanted the people that I loved to see themselves the way I see them. I didn't want to retouch out their freckles or make their thighs look like hot dogs. I didn't want my juicy friends hiding their stomachs behind giant purses or my queer friends to not love up on their partner because they were terrified of getting hate-crimed. I wanted to show them how powerful and loved they are. I wanted to celebrate the person they are and their passion, whether that passion be in the confidence they recently found in themselves or love and admiration with a partner. So I opened my home to a few friends who then told other friends, and the ball got rolling. This isn't a formal studio experience. There are no simple white walls or back drops, there is an overflowing snack cart in the kitchen, cannabis on the porch, my home is lived in, but it's a safe inviting place for people to come over and take time to honor their sensuality and feel at home with themselves.