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Amanda:  Hello everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. So happy to have you here. I am so excited about today’s guest because this is someone I’ve gotten to know over the past few years, and honestly, every time I see her or work with her team and talk with her, I’m just blown away. Today I’m talking with Hope Orr, who is the owner of a Boudoir Photography studio.

And before you think, Oh, that’s not for me, or, That sounds scary, just hang on, because Hope has this incredible way of putting together her team and they help women see themselves in just a completely different light. I’ve been following her studio and her work for years now. I’ve actually worked with her and her team several times, and I am telling you, they are just magic behind that camera. And what I love the most about Hope is her story, how she got into this work, what drives her, the transformation that she witnesses with the clients for her studio. It’s just incredible. So I’m talking about women who walk into our studio feeling really insecure or disconnected from their bodies, and they leave feeling like goddesses. And that’s not an exaggeration. I’ve seen it happen. 

So whether you’re someone who’s always been curious about boudoir photography or you’re thinking, there’s no way I could ever do something like that, I think you’re going to love hearing her perspective on how this work can be so much more than just taking pretty pictures. It’s about self-love, confidence, and yes, even how it can impact your marriage and intimacy. 

So Hope, welcome to the podcast. 

Hope: Thank you. I’m so happy to be here. 

Amanda: Okay, so why don’t we just start with you telling my audience a little bit about yourself. How did you end up in this space? There’s definitely a good story there.

Hope:  Great. Okay. So I grew up in Utah and in Utah and outside of Utah, as women, there are a lot of unrealistic expectations that are put on us that we hold ourselves to. And so I grew up seeing my mom and the women in my life always dieting, always wanting to restrict and change their body. And so I learned that from them too. And so I grew up feeling insecure about my body and constantly thinking about it. Really every day, always wanting to find a new diet, wanting to be smaller, and really feeling unhappy with myself and my body. 

Amanda:  Yeah, I think so many women can relate to that. 

Hope:  Yeah. And so I remember when I got to my early twenties, I was kind of in the spot where I had spent years and years trying to change myself and it was really, really discouraging. And I started realizing that I was struggling with perfectionism and struggling with focusing so much on myself and my body that I really couldn’t show up in other relationships in my life, in other areas, you know, in work and in all the different roles that I showed up in.

Amanda: Yeah.

Hope:  And so I got to this point where I decided I wanted to be done with dieting. I started learning about intuitive eating and as part of that journey, I was trying to learn how to love and accept myself. And that’s a hard thing to do. A lot of us as women, and men too, experience this, but it’s kind of hard to know where to start with that.

And how to change your perspective of yourself rather than trying to force your body to look different.  So I had been doing a number of things to work on that. And one thing was, I decided I wanted to do a boudoir session. And I was a little bit scared. There’s some shame around that. I didn’t know if it was okay. I wasn’t doing it, you know, for a husband or someone else. I was doing it for me. And I was also afraid to see my body. I was like, What if I don’t like these photos? What if I feel worse about my body? 

Amanda: Yeah.

Hope: So I was on a work trip and I was in my hotel room. I am a photographer. I was a photographer. So I set my camera up on the table and I ran over to the bed and I posed, I didn’t even know what I was doing, but I tried it out and when I went back over and picked up the camera and looked at these photos, I was really surprised to see how instantly I could see this whole picture of myself and all of a sudden those things that I hated my stretch marks, I hated my stomach, I didn’t like how my arms look. All these different parts of my body became neutral. 

Amanda: Hmmm…

Hope:  And I could see them with more compassion and understanding. And then I could see this whole picture of, look at this beautiful woman. Like, look how amazing she is. And, and so it was honestly really unexpected and really impactful for me to have that experience. And it changed the way that I showed up in the world after that, it changed the way that I felt about myself, which really did impact all areas of my life. And so that’s kind of where the journey started. 

Amanda:  Yeah. Okay. So take me from there to starting your own studio. 

Hope:  Yeah. So I didn’t think, Oh, I’m going to go open this photography studio now. I just kept moving forward in my life and seeing the results of that experience, seeing how really, no matter what size I was, I could feel comfortable and confident. And of course, a boudoir session won’t completely heal you or change you overnight. But it’s one of those really big shifts. It can be a big shift in your life to help you on your journey of self-acceptance and self-love. 

So a few years later I was actually in the same hotel that I was in back when I did my first boudoir session, and I was with my partner and I told him that we were going to do a boudoir shoot. And at first he was like, What? Like, I don’t know about this. But I talked him into it. And this time I had a little remote so I didn’t have to run back and forth between the camera, but we did a boudoir shoot together. I showed him what to do, how to pose and things. 

And it was honestly seeing his reaction to his photos. He was like, Hope, you made me feel manly. You made me feel sexy. You know, these things that, like men, they have their own body image challenges too. 

Amanda: Yeah, yeah.

Hope:  And seeing that my experience was not unique to me. 

Amanda: Mm-hmm.

Hope:  I saw somebody else have the same experience where he was able to work through some of his own body image challenges too.

Amanda: Yeah.

Hope:  And so that was when I started realizing more people needed to experience this. So I started offering it to other women and that grew and grew and I started seeing so many women’s lives being changed and their perspectives being changed as they were able to see their whole picture and really start to accept and embrace themselves more. And so that is how Elevated Boudoir started. And we’ve grown since then. So now I have a whole team that I work with. It’s a small team of women. We have a photographer and a hair and makeup artist and a stylist as well to help with outfits and posing and everything. And so I have this amazing team of women that we get to work together and help other women feel more confident in their body. 

Amanda:  That’s so awesome. I know, so I’ve shared this story on the podcast before, and I think I’ve even told you, but I did a session right before I married my husband, Kevin. I was coming out of an emotionally abusive marriage and the abuse had centered around my body, my weight, my size, how much I ate, how much I exercised. I was probably the heaviest I’ve ever been. And I just needed something to help me see myself differently. And so I went and did this session, and I mean, I did it for my husband. I gave it to him as a wedding gift, but it was mainly for me. And it totally changed my perspective on myself. It helped me believe some of the things that he had been telling me. Of course he hadn’t seen me naked at that point, but he had seen me in like a swimsuit and stuff. But it just helped solidify that what he could see in me was true that it doesn’t matter what size you are. You are beautiful for who you are inside and out. And it helped me see that differently. And since then I’ve done a few shoots. I’ve done a couple with you and your team. And every single time it has reaffirmed those beliefs that I’m trying to confirm within myself that I’m beautiful. I’m sexy no matter what I look like, even with my stretch marks and my rolls of fat and those types of things. The female form, even the male form, is beautiful. No matter what size or shape you are. Like there’s so much beauty there. And it’s one of the reasons why I love to offer it at my Retreats too, because it’s so incredible to watch these women who are so nervous before, like some of them are like, I don’t even want to do this. And they go in and they come out a completely different person. Like there’s just a light in their eyes that was not there when they went in. So I know you’ve got some really amazing stories from your clients. Can you just tell us maybe a few stories that blew you away with their transformation during their sessions?

Hope:  Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And before we hop on that, I’d love to just reiterate what you said you know, you mentioned how you’ve done boudoir shoots at different phases in your life when your body has been different. And I have too and that’s been something that really has been amazing for me to see where I have photos that I look back on where I was quite a bit bigger, and then photos where I was quite a bit smaller and all of those photos, I love every single one of them. And you know, I think so many women, they think that they have to be a certain size or they have to really be confident in their body, but then they end up waiting forever to feel that. And it really doesn’t matter what size you are and if you have plans to change your body’s shape or size or whatever, taking time now to capture yourself and learn to love and accept yourself, like that is one of the most supportive things you can do for yourself and for your relationships around you and for your life. 

Amanda:  Yeah, absolutely. Before we start talking about your clients, I just want to share something. So I’ve recently lost quite a bit of weight. Some of it was planned and I worked for it, and some of it just happened, based on different things that were going on. I’ve lost probably, I’m close to 40 pounds since like I did my last session with you, but I had worked so hard to love myself and my body the way that I was, I wasn’t like, it wasn’t losing weight because I didn’t like myself or didn’t love myself. It was like we had a wedding coming up and I just wanted to look my best in photos, and so I just planned on losing just a little bit. And then a lot more happened, which wasn’t planned, but it’s interesting to me that when I look in the mirror now, 40 pounds thinner, my thoughts are the exact same as they were when I was 40 pounds heavier. Because I had done the work to love myself and my body just as it was. 

Hope:  Mm-hmm. I love that. Yeah.

Amanda:  Okay. So I want to hear your client transformation story. 

Hope:  Yeah. So one that comes to mind, a few months ago we had this woman reach out to us, and she is a mom. She’s in her, I’d say, late thirties and she’s got four kids. Some of them are older, some of them are younger, and she reached out because she feels like she doesn’t feel sexy anymore. She’s like, I don’t know how to be sexy. And so she wanted to do this session, but she was also really nervous. She’s like, you know, before I had kids, I really didn’t have a ton of issues around my body. But since I’ve had kids, I’ve really just struggled to feel comfortable and feel okay with how my body looks and has changed since having babies. 

Amanda: Yeah.

Hope:  And so she came in to work with us and one thing that we offer is, we have a huge wardrobe of over 600 pieces. 

Amanda: It’s amazing. An amazing wardrobe.

Hope: Yeah. It’s so fun. Every shape and size color from size is extra small to five xl and she came in for her style consult. That usually happens on a day other than your photo shoot and you get to work with our wardrobes stylist. So she met with our wardrobe stylist and she told her, I only wear baby dolls because they cover me and I don’t really want to be exposed. And they feel safe and so my wardrobe stylist, she said, Absolutely, we can definitely find you some of those and are you open to maybe trying some pieces that aren’t baby dolls? And she was, she decided to trust the process. So my stylist pulled out, you know, a bunch of different outfits for her to try on, and she surprised herself. This client, she ended up choosing this amazing, it’s like this red strappy kind of leather piece. It looked incredible on her. 

Amanda: Oh, love it.

Hope: And she was so shocked and so surprised, and excited, that she had a few different outfits. That one was one that she was extra excited about because she was like, I never would’ve thought that I would look good in this. I never thought I’d even wear this. But she felt so good in it. So she came to her session and loved her session. She was really nervous at first and again, reiterated that she doesn’t feel sexy. Like this is kind of out of my wheelhouse. I’m a mom. 

But afterward when we were talking, she was sharing her experience of what it was like in our studio and working with our team. And something that she said is that not only did she find that sexy side of her again, but we helped her find a side of her that maybe she didn’t even know was there to begin with. And that was that confidence and that like, really just settling into herself and her body and celebrating what she’s done as a mom, you know, having these babies and growing them and raising them and showing up in her marriage. And so that was. Truly just amazing to see her connect with herself again, feel confident, feel sexy, and also discover new things about herself that she didn’t know she liked before.

Amanda:  Yes. Oh, I love hearing that so much. I think back to all these women at my retreats that do this, and so many of them are so reluctant to even do anything, let alone boudoir photos. Some of them want to just go really conservative, like just a men’s white shirt or something, which is totally fine, right? They can feel sexy in that and see themselves differently in that. 

I had one lady who was very self-conscious about her body and so she wanted to do her entire shoot in the tub in a bubble bath. Like the glow on her face when she came out, she was so much more loving and accepting of herself. And I got the most amazing email from her husband when she got home that he saw such a difference… 

Hope:  Oh, I love that. 

Amanda:  …in how she felt herself and how she showed up in their marriage and in the bedroom. 

Hope: Yeah.

Amanda:  Because of that transformation of seeing herself differently. And I just love hearing these transformational stories.

Okay. So I know you’ve got more. Tell me more. 

Hope:  Well, you just reminded me of one. So, she was a new mom, so she had just had a baby within like six months of her session. And that can be kind of scary. You’re going through postpartum and really your body is still healing. And, so she had just had a baby, but she was ready to try it out. And she was a self-proclaimed tomboy and so the idea of getting her hair and makeup done in our studio and getting outfits and stuff, it definitely was out of her comfort zone. But she wanted to try this out and see what she was capable of doing.

And so she came in and she was even still a nursing mom and so she had to pump during her session and all of that, to make sure everything is taken care of. So during her session, our hair and makeup artist sat her in front of the mirror so that she could watch the process of getting her hair and makeup done and for her that was exciting because she didn’t really know how to do her hair and makeup. And so being able to learn and being taken care of by another woman. And she got some tips and tricks for her hair and makeup, but then she went into the studio. 

So my photographer, she was taking her photos and something that we love to do is after, you know, so first we start out posing you, we’ll show you how to do the pose, and then we have you hop into that pose and then we guide you through, this is where to put your hands and your feet and your facial expression.

And so my photographer walked her through the first pose and then she turned the camera around and she showed her this photo of her, and it was like, This amazing like batty photo where she was like, she was shocked. Her mouth dropped open and she was like, Oh my gosh. Like that’s me? 

And that surprise and you know how you mentioned earlier, they come in feeling unsure of themselves and nervous sometimes, but then when you have this experience and you see these photos, finding that confidence and being like, wow, like I didn’t even know I was capable of showing up with this energy and showing up with this confidence and power and being able to appreciate yourself and who you are. So that was  something that was really impactful. Sometimes we don’t always see the full transformation in the studios. It often happens after. 

Amanda: Yeah.

Hope:  And so afterward, she was telling us how she had some friends over and they were looking through her boudoir images and they were loving them and all that and we’re an expensive studio to work with and her friend turned to her husband and said, Were you okay that she spent so much money on a boudoir session? And he said, Absolutely. And I would have her do it again because of the confidence that it brought her. 

Amanda: Yes.

Hope:  And so that was just so powerful for me to see not only is this a change that our clients get to see, but that the people in their lives see too, that your spouse can see.

And it really truly does change the way that you show up in your relationship. And I go back to my mom and the women in our lives, they were doing the best they could and also for me, there were some, I guess, challenges that I faced around my body and it’s like, what would it be like for our children to have a parent who feels comfortable and confident and settled in their body. How does that affect our children as they grow up and as they see themselves and they have this identity and this view of who they are? And so I really do think that even though our kids don’t see our boudoir photos, they do see the impact that it has on our lives.

Amanda:  Absolutely. And what a great gift to give the next generation to not give them the same trauma that we had. 

Hope:  Yeah, absolutely. 

Amanda: I  know that that’s something that I’ve really, because I grew up in the same sort of situation as you. I mean, of course the women in my life were doing the best that they could, but it was very much diet culture, body image and things were not necessarily said and done in ways that helped me have good thoughts about my body. And I’ve worked really hard to do things differently for my kids and for not just my girls, but help them to have a good body image for themselves, but also my boys in how they think about women and how they treat the women in their lives. Because I know that there were comments made by some of the men in my life about women’s bodies that stuck in my brain and did a lot of damage. 

Hope:  Mm-hmm. 

Amanda:  And so I really wanted it to be better for the next generation and to heal that.

So I love that, like what a great blessing it will be for these women and the future generations because of how differently they feel. 

So I would love for you to just walk people through the process with your team and what that looks like. Because, I mean, I’ve done a few different sessions with different photographers and then of course with your team, and I would have to say that what happened with your team was just so far above in excellence with anything else that I had experienced, and I really felt what I wanted mattered and I felt cared for, but also challenged in good ways, and so I would love for you to walk my audience through that. 

Hope:  Yeah. Well, thank you. First of all, I’m just grateful that you chose to work with us and that we got to walk you through that experience.

So at Elevated Boudoir, our focus is really on body positivity, on helping our clients feel comfortable and at home in their bodies. And not every boudoir studio has that as their priority or what they’re going for. And that’s okay. So we love to work with women who don’t know how to pose or are scared or this isn’t something that they’ve done before because we love to walk them through and help it be a safe, comfortable experience. So everything that we do throughout our client’s experience is really tailored to help them feel safe and feel comfortable, and be taken care of because we know that that creates the space for every client to have that impactful experience where they can find more confidence and they can feel more comfortable.

So, not every experience is the same depending on who you work with. I’ve had some damaging boudoir experiences before myself. And so my goal is to never create that for our clients. 

So what happens is if you’re interested in working with Elevated Boudoir, you can hop on a call with a member from our team, and she will walk you through the experience and give you the full details. And if you decide you want to book, then there’s a number of things that get to be included with your experience. 

The first thing that you get is full access to our wardrobe. Like I mentioned, we have over 600 pieces so our clients don’t have to stress out or worry about what they’re going to wear because they’re going to get that support and help with picking out pieces that are going to look good on their body and help them feel confident.

Amanda: Yeah.

Hope:  The next thing that they will get is a style consult where the stylist will help them with that and we do have that on a day other than their shoot with the purpose of, we don’t want you to go into your shoot feeling uncertain and I don’t know what I’m going to wear. I haven’t met these people, I haven’t seen the studio. This is such a vulnerable experience and so it’s really important that you are taken care of and that you have all the information that you need. 

After that, you also get a style guide and a prep guide that we email over. Those come right when you book with us so that you can take your time to look through and get ideas for what you might be interested in wearing. And then also the prep guide walks you through how to prepare because everyone has questions, what about tan lines and what about my eyebrows? Or do I shave? All the different things. So we want to make sure you don’t have any worries or questions going into your session. You know what to expect. 

The next thing that we include is hair and makeup with a professional artist. And so you don’t have to worry about how you’re going to look. You can roll out of bed the morning of your session and show up to the studio where we’re going to pamper you and take care of you and help you feel good. 

Amanda: You do feel totally pampered. Totally pampered. And one of the things that I loved about the hair and makeup is, they’re accentuating your best qualities. They’re not making you look like someone you’re not. 

Hope:  Yes. I agree. And we do that intentionally. I never want our clients to see a photo and be like, that’s not me. You guys changed me. You made me something I’m not. And so when you work with your hair and makeup artist, you get to decide, do I want more of a natural hair and makeup look? Do I want more of a glam? What feels like me? How do I show up in my life? 

And really throughout the experience leading up to your session, we do a number of different things to prepare for your session and to learn about you and your preferences so that your session really is tailored to you and your personality so that those photos really do feel like you, not some completely different person.

Amanda:  Yes, I love it. 

Hope:  So when your hair and makeup is all done and you’re ready to go, you’ll step into our studio and in the studio room it’s just you and your photographer and your stylist. And so the first thing, like I mentioned, that happens is the photographer will demonstrate the first pose for you, and then she has you hop into that pose and she’ll walk you through exactly where to put everything, your hands and everything. And at this point, most clients are pretty nervous. They’re shaking and they’re like, what have I done? This is crazy. But luckily they’re comfortable with us enough where it’s like, okay, we’re going to do this. We’re going to try it out. But after we’ve done a few poses and the photographer turns that camera around and shows you this amazing, stunning, gorgeous photo of yourself, you may have never even seen yourself in this way ever before… 

Amanda:  Yeah, yeah. 

Hope:  That’s when those nerves die away and it’s like, okay, like this is fun and that confidence. All of a sudden you feel like a model. It’s like, okay, let’s keep going. So you get to keep feeling confident and keep posing and keep getting amazing photos in your session and then one week after your session, you get to come back to the studio. You get to see your photos on the big tv, you get to pick out your favorite ones and order your products and anything that you’re wanting to include with your package. And then we design and we customize your products so that you can have these physical reminders that you get to love and keep forever and remind yourself that, Yes, I am beautiful. I’m powerful. I am confident. All these things that you felt in your session, you get to carry that as a reminder through these photos. 

Amanda:  I love it. I absolutely adore the book that I got with my photos. I mean the quality was so amazing. The photos are beautiful. I love that the pages are thick, they don’t bend, you’re not going to accidentally ruin your book. It was so beautiful. And then I’ve told you this, but, so I did some of the wet sets where it was like a shower scene where you just see a silhouette. Which I loved. And if I had a bathroom to put them in, I share my bathroom with my teenage son, so probably not the best idea, because we just live in a tiny little house. But, if I had a bathroom to put them in, I would blow them up, big wall portraits to put on my wall in my bathroom. Because they’re just so, so beautiful. 

And I love that you offer so many different things to either keep them nice and close and personal or put them completely on display. 

Hope:  Exactly. Yeah. And some clients, I’d say many of our clients are worried about who’s going to see them, what am I going to do with them? And we definitely have ways to keep your photos private where you can still pull them out and enjoy them and remind yourself of how amazing your body is. 

And then some clients really surprise themselves with like, oh, actually I do want some wall art for my bathroom or my bedroom. 

Something that honestly surprised myself with is, so I did a session where I did the wet set, which you get sprayed down with water and oil and there’s all these little water droplets dripping down your body. So I got two pieces of wall art from my session for our master bathroom, and I have truly been amazed at how powerful it is seeing my body on the wall every day. And seeing just how that reminder every single day, I can carry that with me throughout my day and on days when I have a hard time… Actually this morning I was like, oh man, I’m just not feeling my amazing best self today. This is a little bit hard. And I was standing in the bathroom and I saw those on the wall behind me, and it was like, no, like, it’s okay. It’s okay to not feel amazing every day. And also like, here’s your reminder that you’re okay and your body’s okay. And yeah, I just love that. 

Amanda:  So I know that you also do couples sessions. So I had a former client, her and her husband who were what, probably in their sixties, seventies? Like an older couple, do a session with you. And they were generous enough to share those with me, so that I could see them, and it was amazing. Amazing. So tell me a little bit about your couples sessions. 

Hope:  Yeah. Couples sessions honestly are some of my favorites. So we have couples of all different ages and backgrounds who come in to work with us. And I would say most of my, well, most of my clients are older, even individual clients, I’d say they’re in their forties and fifties. So most of our couples clients are also, we get a wide range, but many of them are older as well. And so they come in and usually the men are more nervous than the women. I had this one guy, he was this big, burly motorcycle guy, and he came in and he was shaking. He was so nervous. But he’s like, I’m doing it for her. I love her. I’m here for her. 

But every single time we do these sessions, so it’s really the same process as the woman gets her hair and makeup done. She gets to be styled and we walk them through what they can bring for their husband to wear. And some men want to be, and women too, some people want to be covered mostly. Others want to be mostly nude. You know, there’s all sorts of different comfort levels and we meet you wherever you’re at with that. 

And so with our couples, my photographer, she will demonstrate the post for them. Same thing. She’ll show the wife, this is where you’re going to stand, this is what you’re going to do. And then she has the woman get into that pose and then the photographer will then guide the husband, okay, now you come stand by her here. Now you’re going to put your hand here, you’re going to look at her like this.

And she guides both of them through every single pose. And it’s really honestly the same. They’re pretty nervous. A few poses in, the photographer will turn the camera around and show them this photo. And usually the men, they’re like, oh yeah, dang, okay. They’re like, this is great. I love this. And so that’s when they are like 100% on board.

And it just becomes this fun session where the couple that at some point they’re just like laughing with each other about something silly or something dumb that they did or, you know, different moments throughout the session for them to really connect and they leave our studio like they’re on their honeymoon again. Like they are just so giddy and in love and it’s seriously so amazing to see that experience for them. 

Amanda:  I’m sure. I mean, even with photographer and stylist present, the heat gets turned up quite a bit with a couple of sessions sometimes. I’m sure.

Hope:  Okay. That’s a great question and that’s a very common question. A lot of people are really worried about it. I would say it actually doesn’t happen as often as you’d expect. It does happen sometimes and our team is used to it, you know? It’s nothing weird or whatever, and we don’t really focus on it. We just keep guiding our clients through their poses.

But what most clients don’t realize until they experience it is when you’re posing, there are so many different parts that you are paying attention to. So he’s like, okay, I have to put my hand here on her back. I have to put this other hand on her arm. I have to look at her this way. We’re going to stand this way. So there’s a lot of different pieces and parts that you’re paying attention to. And so while people think that the session’s going to be like this erotic, steamy thing, it really is mostly just like a fun, connective experience. So nothing that people really have to worry about too much.

Amanda:  Okay. So if women or couples are thinking like, okay, this sounds terrifying, but also amazing, what would you tell them? What would you tell them about diving in or deciding if they’re ready to do this or not. What would you tell them? 

Hope:  Yeah. I would say about 98 percent of our clients, nearly everybody does not feel ready when they do it. And so if you are interested, but it’s scary to you and you are waiting to feel ready, you’ll be waiting for your whole life. The confidence and that feeling of readiness, it doesn’t come before you take action. What happens is you take that step forward, you book the shoot, you take that step and then that’s when those changes begin to start happening. And so I would say don’t wait. If this is something that is interesting to you, that you feel like you could benefit from, it’s going to be scary. Dive in and trust the process. Make sure you’re going with someone who’s going to take care of you, a team that will help you have a good experience. But yeah, don’t wait for the confidence because it will never come if you wait. 

Amanda:  Awesome. Do you think this kind of thing can actually help marriages? Beyond beautiful pictures, right? Do you think it can actually help marriages? 

Hope:  Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, whether you’re doing it individually or if you’re doing it as a couple, I personally believe that it is one of the fastest ways to change or to shift things within yourself, which then shifts things within your marriage and your relationship. 

One client I remember actually, I’ve had many clients since then, but I remember my first client who was doing this as a gift for her husband. She’s like, I just want sexy photos for my husband. That’s all I care about. I just want him to really have fun photos that he’s excited about. And after her session she said, Hope, I did this as a gift for him and what I didn’t realize was that this was one of the greatest gifts that I could give myself.

Yeah, so I’d say absolutely it helps. It helps your marriage 100%. 

Amanda:  So I would imagine that there are probably both men and women listening to this, that women are thinking, great, now my husband’s going to pressure me into this, and husband’s thinking like, I have to get my wife to do this. 

What would you say? 

Hope:  Well, so I’ve had men ask that before, many men who say, I really want my wife to do this because I want her to see how amazing she is, and I want her to see how confident she is, but I don’t know how to approach it without making her feel like she’s objectified or that it’s for me.

I can’t speak for everybody and for every relationship, but I would say, what I’ve told men before is if that’s really why you would love for her to experience this, start the conversation out with, Hey, I have an idea. This is something I heard about. I’m a little bit afraid to tell you about it, and I’m worried that you’ll think this and this and this, and that’s not my intention. Is it okay if I tell you about this idea? 

And so starting out with those worries of like, I’m worried that you’ll feel this way and this is not how I want you to feel, that really paves the way to have a good conversation where you can then approach it as I want you to see how amazing you are. Like, I love you so much, and I love your body, and I see how this affects you in your life. I would love this for you, and if it doesn’t feel like a good time or you don’t want to do it, that’s totally fine. I don’t want you to feel pressured, but I would love to see you be able to see how amazing and incredible you are. 

Amanda:  I love that. I love that it’s that meta conversation before we have the conversation. Which is what I talk about so many times with my couples, is having that meta conversation.

Okay. If someone’s listening and they’re thinking, okay, I want to do this. Um, how do they find you? Because I know that if you’re in the state of Utah, Hope and Elevated Boudoir is the place to go. They’re the number one in the state of Utah, which is awesome and I highly recommend of course, and I actually know people who have come in from out of state to work with you as well. Just because it’s such an incredible experience. So how can they find you? How can they work with you? What’s the next step? 

Hope:  Yeah, great question. So we do have people flying in from all over the country to work with us. And exactly what you said, because they want to make sure that they have a good, positive experience.

So if you are wanting to work with us, Elevated Boudoir is located in Draper, which is about 20 minutes outside of Salt Lake City. Go onto our website, elevatedboudoir.com and you can fill out our little contact form and our team will reach out to you within 24 hours so that we can get you pricing and package information.

You can also email us at info@elevatedboudoir.com. And you can also find us on social media too. And it’s the same, it’s just @ElevatedBoudoir. 

Amanda:  Awesome. Okay. Well thank you so much, Hope, for being here with me today. I always love spending time with you and getting to chat.

Hope:  Me too. Thanks Amanda. This is so fun.

Amanda: It is so fun. And everyone, I hope you’ll reach out to Hope and her team, it’s an extraordinary experience. I can’t wait to do it again. I’m so excited for a future session with her. We’ve also talked about maybe having Hope or one of her team members come to our Retreat and do it there.

I am hoping to get the February Retreat up on my website in the next month or so, so that if you’re interested in that, then that might be a good taste of what you could get with boudoir photography. 

After we finished recording, I was talking with Hope and she has generously offered a $500 product credit to anyone who books with her and mentions this podcast or my name, which is so incredible of her.

So I hope you’ll take up on it. Thank you so much for joining me today. Have a great week and we’ll see you next time. Bye-bye.