Episode 55: You Are Worthy of Loving the Body You're In - Interview with Luxury Empowerment & Boudoir Photographer Dijana Szewczyk - Manifestation and Mimosas

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the show we like, totally fan girled on
big time.
This amazing soul sister Hername is Deanna says Wic.
Yeah, hopefully I did your lastname right, deanna.
She is so fabulous and we hadsuch an amazing time, and it was
the first interview in thestudio for the season.

(00:22):
Right, which is exciting becausewe did a couple of those last
year but we haven't really we'vebeen more connecting on zoom.
Yeah, so it's fun to have herhere.
Yes, she's amazing.
We totally fan girled and sheis a luxury, empowerment and big
to our photographer.
Yes, she's been doing thatsince 2017.
She is amazing, like.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
I can't even get over it.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
I can't get over it.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yeah Well, and obviously you know her origin
story.
She's originally from Croatiaand like 2012 was like I'm
moving to America and just didit, which is fucking rad.
And then starts photography in2017 and grows it from like zero
to half a mil with an ear boom.
Like she is so legit.
I like I haven't been thatnervous to talk to someone in so

(01:10):
long, but like you said we weretotally fan girling and it was
incredible.

Speaker 1 (01:15):
Yes, and she also is a bit of a marketing type expert
as well as soon as she cameover.
You all didn't get to see thispart because it happened before,
but you know, we were standingin the kitchen having our you
know champagne and getting somesnacks, like we do with our
peeps when we interview themhere.
But she was asking us all theseamazing questions, and I, and

(01:36):
had ideas about how we couldmarket ourselves and it was so
amazing and refreshing.
Yes, you know, to have a womannot like hiding her secrets and
like you know, what do they,what do they call it Gatekeeping
, gatekeeping, gatekeeping andshe was just like, oh, this is
how you do it and you should dothis, and what if we did this

(01:56):
together?
And like she had?

Speaker 2 (01:57):
she was just, she wasn't like I have all these
ideas that could really help youguys, but you'll have to pay
for it.
Exactly, she was like you aregrowing.
I want to empower you.
That's like really.
Her vibe is like empoweringwomen and she was all about it.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
Oh my God, I loved it .
Yes, and she prides herself onmaking women feel seen and
powerful and sexy in their ownskin and sexy in their own view?

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yes, she had mentioned a couple of times.
It's not sexy in like the eyesof another, not the eyes of your
partner, the eyes of someoneyou're trying to attract.
It's in your own view to lookat yourself and go like hot damn
.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
I've got it.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
I have got it.
Yes, right.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
I loved every minute of her.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Me too.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Like it was incredible.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
It was incredible, and so if you've ever been
thinking about doing a Boudoirphoto shoot, yeah, even if you
haven't been thinking about it,you're going to get so excited
for it after this episode.
She also gave us some tips onhow to like, pose and look, you
know, really gorgeous and sexyon the fly, and then, after we
wrapped the episode, we wentdownstairs and we probably will

(03:06):
release a little video beforethe episode.
Yeah, but she walked us throughsome posing and taking selfies.
And we ended up with, like mypersonal opinion, like some,
like real photographer level asprofessional shit.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Honestly, in like in five seconds, she was like do
this, sit here, move that way,boom, boom, boom.
And then was like quick, quick,quick.
How do you like this?
And I was like, is that me?
Yeah, it's incredible.
Yes, On a cell phone.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yes, so we loved that and there's so much value in
this episode.
So, yeah, check it out.
We're super excited for you tolisten.
You're going to love it.
The energy is high, absolutely.

Speaker 3 (03:47):
Welcome, Deanna, to the podcast.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Thank you, thank you.
We are so excited you're here.
We have been following you forover a year, yeah, and I think I
harassed you over a year agoand was like will you come on
the podcast, Because I saw yourposts on TikTok and you are a
Boudoir photographer, and afabulous one at that.
Thank you, I love your stuff,and so we started following you.

(04:09):
I harassed you a little bit.
We finally got you here in theGoddess Fives studio.
You are the first interview ofthe season in the studio.
Yay, we're excited.
You're here because you'refabulous and you have a business
and you empower women withthese beautiful photo shoots,
and so we have so many questionsfor you.
But before we ask our questions, we like you to start by

(04:30):
telling us a little bit aboutyour backstory and your journey
to becoming a Boudoirphotographer.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
Okay, so I've been doing this now for, I want to
say, seven years and it startedvery, very silly.
So my husband and I were like2016,.
We were on vacation.
We were like, oh man, I wish wehad a camera to take some
photos of this beautiful scenery.
So we came back, we got thecamera and it was supposed to be
my husband's hobby and you knowhe's a boy.

(04:57):
So he gave up after two days,of course, and I was like look
at this camera, I can do this.
So, like, I literally took likea couple photos of my dinner and
one of my friends was going ona hike with another.
Like you know, friends werephotographers, so I'm like, I'm
going to get along.
So there was, like I want tosay, like 15 of us most of them
were, like you know,professional photographers,
amateur photographers justplaying around with their

(05:18):
cameras, and I took photos justfor funsies, because I literally
got camera like a week beforeand I came home and they were
all posting the photos in thatlike little chat we had and this
is not me trying to be like whoI'm better than anybody, but I
was looking at my photos andphotos of these people who've
been doing this for years, andmy photos were like equally good

(05:39):
, if not like better than theirsand I'm like huh, like I like
this.
Not only do I like, like how itwas making me happy and how it's
connected to people, but like Iwas like I can make a business
out of it.
So it just kind of explodedfrom that.
Like that was a photograph inyou know few models and in a
couple of months, like I wasjust playing around and working

(05:59):
with a lot of women who were itwas more from me.
The same way, how we talked alittle bit earlier as well is,
my goal is not to kind of.
It's not necessarily aboutBoudoir, it's.
There are so many women whofeel really insecure in their
bodies, who feel uncomfortable.
We just been in photos and I'mone of them, 100% one of them.
So my goal was, from beginning,like hey, let me make you feel

(06:21):
beautiful, like you know, havethis beautiful dress and you're
in a nature and you just have areally good photo of yourself
that you love.
And that was my thing.
Like it was never about likenudity or seduction or trying to
make men see you, and it's notlike about being provocative.
It's about so many of us,especially as we like turn 30 or
we have kids or we like move onfrom certain areas and areas of

(06:43):
our lives and we become sodrained by life and you see the
photo of yourself, yourself, oryou, you know, just you in the
middle of the night and likewhat the hell?
You know, what am I doing here?
And by doing these photo shootsfrom day one for me was more
about I want to make these womenand myself, you know, with that
as well feel good aboutthemselves.
You know, have a one part of me, you know, have a one part of

(07:03):
your life where you know, yes,I'm frumpy and I'm tired and I'm
a mom and I'm exhausted, andwhat is this life?
And then you look at this foryou, like you know what I still
got?
It Like wow, wow, boom, youknow, check me out.
So it kind of started with likebeing more women and being more
dressed.
It was more about combining thenature, because I love hiking,
combining nature and gettingwomen in nature, like just being

(07:24):
in the beautiful dresses.
And then they somehow startedtaking the clothes off how about
, let's try if your dress isfalling off of your shoulder,
you know?
And it just like transitionedto more Boudoir, because it
seems that people, really women,really love that.
They love the feeling likethey're sensual beings and they
love feeling like they're more,just more than just being moms,

(07:44):
yeah, and I'm just kind oftransitioned like that.
So I've been doing Boudoirfully for the last like five
years.
It's been like my full timebusiness and it doesn't really
feel like business.
It's just I just get to hangout with people and make them
feel good and we have a lot of,like you know, cheeky little
jokes and so it's really sillyfor me to talk about is a as my

(08:05):
business, because I know it is.
I'm legit.
But like, but at the same time,I could just like meeting new
people and having fun with themand and giving them the
experience that they can't getanywhere else, and yeah, that's
kind of my little journey.

Speaker 1 (08:21):
I love how you fell into it.
So when you were like a littlegirl, did you have any dreams
like, or you were artistic,creative, or is this totally out
of nowhere?

Speaker 3 (08:29):
I was always.
So I come from a very differentculture.
Like, so it's not like.
Here in America you have a veryit's a very different standard
of living.
So I come from a very differentbackground.
So even in those thatenvironment, I was always trying
to make like.
I was always trying to havebusinesses, by the way, like I
have.
I remember being like eight andmaking frames out of rocks and

(08:50):
selling them to my aunt boughtthem, by the way, thank you,
auntie but like, but.
Yeah, I was always moreartistic and I was more drawn to
.
I always felt like it was thisis such a silly way to say it,
but like.
I had this like little mantrain my head of saying like this
is not my life, I was made fordifferent.

(09:10):
Like it was not a lot more orthat was not happy, was just
like, like it was like this isnot my life.
And in when I came to Americaand I cut even like, in that
point it was like, hey, this isyeah, I'm living, I'm in America
, yeah you know, but then I fellinto this business and it just
feels like me.
It feels like this is what I wasmeant to do.

(09:32):
It feels like home, it feelsvery comfortable and it feels
like I was just.
This is a lot that I was meantto be having.
So, even like when people tellme like and give me which I
really appreciate in acompliment about my work and
stuff, I'm like.
This is just so normal to me,like it was what I was supposed
to be doing from day one.
It never was challenging.
It never felt like Likestressful.

(09:54):
It's just like I take photosand you love them.
What?

Speaker 2 (09:58):
a gift to be like.
This is exactly who I am, andit I'm warm, supposed to be yeah
, it feels very Peaceful to me.

Speaker 3 (10:07):
I just feels very much like I was meant to do this
and and like the fact thatpeople actually love it.
Yeah, I was never like it wasnever supposed to be, like, hey,
let me do this as a business.
It was just like I'm gonna takephotos.
You like them?
Yeah, you know.
Yeah, just a transition intothis like business now and I
Like are you sure?
Like you want to give me money?
Okay, but it's been very, it'sbeen a very beautiful like

(10:32):
Feeling coming into this andfeeling like I, I belong, yeah.

Speaker 1 (10:37):
I love that beautiful and I'm really curious about
like the editing process too,because your photos are so
beautiful, so you do thesebeautiful photo shoots in
different rooms.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
We'll talk about your studio because I love how you
have different themes.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
We love a good theme.
Always I mean look at us butyeah.
Yes, and so you have all theselike themed rooms you you like.
How do you get?
First of all, how do you getwomen to portray like the
essence of who they are?
Like how do they choose whatthey want?
For the shoot or are you going?
Hey, I suggest this that.
Yeah, that's the process.

Speaker 3 (11:08):
So one thing that I really try to do is like when
somebody inquires through mywebsite and they're like, hey,
I'm going through this, thisjourney, I'm getting married, or
I'm getting divorced, or youknow I'm ready for this.
Yeah, they send me this likeinquiry and then I get them on a
phone call and that'sPurposefully for that reason
that you just asked me aboutlike.
So it's not necessarily aboutlike selling them my services,
but I want to see are we a goodmatch?

(11:29):
Yes, number one I'm veryIsamnipian, I'm very vocal and
loud and Some would say,obnoxious.
You know we love it.
Yeah, but, like you know, I'mvery Bossy and I honestly love
that about myself and clientslove that about me.
But it's very important thatwhen somebody hires me there,
there's fun really well to that.

(11:50):
So not only like when we havein this phone call like they're
interviewing me, but I'm alsointerviewing them.
I'm like are we a good match?
Because if I will and it'ssomething that tell them if I
will see you naked they're halfnaked like 10 minutes after you
walk into my studio Then youneed to be comfortable with me.
You need to understand that whenI talk to you in a certain way,
it's because I see value in itand I hope you're gonna see

(12:10):
value in it as well.
Yeah so we have this phone calls.
People usually tell me theirstory and what I expect, like
you know, I asked them thequestions about.
You know what's theirinsecurities, what is there
things that they really loveabout themselves?
Have they ever done a sessionbefore?
If they have any triggers, youknow the colors they love, the
vibe they love like.
So it's not necessarily aboutlike hey, you want Boudoir

(12:30):
photos.
Yeah, you know, it's like.
This is a story of view.
So how do you see yourself, howdo you want to see yourself,
and is there a certain thingthat you see in my portfolio
that made you believe, like,this is me.
Yeah and like.
So when we have these littleconversations like I get to
learn more about the woman ILearn about, like hey, I feel
like we're really good match.
Here's where I think that Icould offer to you, here's how

(12:52):
we can make it happen.
Or I can be like you know whatI?
I Don't necessarily think thatI'm the right photographer for
you, or I can be.
This sounds like it's a littlebit more.
No, you know, because they'reclients, want a very different
spectrums of sensuality.
Like there's a I want to feelfeminine, soft and lovely and I
want to just feel good in myskin.
Versus like hey, I'm having onlyfans account and I need stuff

(13:13):
you know and I don't shoot that,by the way I don't go to that
spectrum, but like when thereare people who come to me and
they're like I'm really lookingforward to something towards
more erotica or more like sexualstuff, yeah this is something
that I'm like.
This is not what I'm doing.
Yeah you know, we have verynaughty photos.
They're very, you know,provocative in its own nature,
but they're also artistic andthey're also more, you know,

(13:35):
shot from a female gaze yes,made for woman by woman.
It's not like we're trying toattract a man or be very like,
you know, not a bitdisrespectful, but like.
There's a very different wayhow you photograph when you're
trying to attract a man whenyou're trying to prove A man
that you are a sexual being invery different way.
How to photograph woman, evenwhen she's naked, in a way
that's gonna make her just feelbeautiful as a sensual being.

(13:58):
Yes, so those are theconversations we have Before
they even consider booking me.
Like it's more about like, hey,here's how I see you.
And that's when they tell me,hey, this is what I want to do,
this is how we can make ithappen, I tell them I can make
it happen.
Here are the dates and we justBasically explore what does that
woman need from the session?
Whether it's like to regain herconfidence, whether it's

(14:18):
because she's already veryconfident and loving her body
and she just wants to capturethat.
Yeah, maybe some clients areinto their like fitness.
They want to showcase theirmuscles.
You know there's a lot ofdifferent Variables that go into
how the session works.
So my my studio does have.
I have I don't even know Godlike 20, 30 sets.
I have everything.
And Also the sessions come withhair makeup and they come with

(14:41):
wardrobe oh wow and with propsand with everything.
So basically what I tell myclients, especially when they're
nervous, they're like I don'tknow what to show up, I don't
know what to think about, likewhat should I do?
I'm like you show up, like somany women show up in their PJs
because we started 9 am.
They come in their PJs, intheir slippers, with their, like
you know, morning coffee, yeah,and that's it.
And I and they use my wholewardrobe, my studio, you know

(15:04):
everything, and they just showup and they're themselves and we
kind of style them and createeverything for them Because it
helps you.
Like, if you're anxious about,like you know, what do I buy,
and is it not gonna look okay?

Speaker 2 (15:15):
Yeah, what if?

Speaker 3 (15:16):
I don't even care about wearing high heels like
then you don't, because this isabout to you and what makes you
feel Seen and beautiful andexcited like, and if you're like
shopping, then don't shop.

Speaker 2 (15:26):
Yeah, do you do the hair and makeup.

Speaker 3 (15:28):
No, I have a professional stylist.
I have several.
I have my main girl, mariam.
So I have, I have my main girland she does a beautiful job.
So all my but I have few girlsbecause I'm trying to kind of
also open up my business toother Women who are like trying
to like get their name out there.
So I try to hire people that Ihaven't worked before so they

(15:49):
can like start getting, you know, just accustomed to the, to
everything that's going on aswell.
So I have licensed professionalmakeup artists on site and she
does the hair makeup for like anhour and a half.
Yeah and then from that point on, like we just kind of go to the
wardrobe options and we startphotographing, so the session
itself is a car like four orfive hours altogether.
Oh, wow, and we also have aMoses.

(16:10):
We have a lot of, a lot ofawesome, but it's just.
It's the whole idea of thesession for me is it's the
experience you know the photosare a great Product of your
experience, something to look atand be excited for, yeah, but
the experience itself is what'sgonna make you love yourself,

(16:30):
because you gonna.
As you're in my studio, you getto.
You know we talk about yourinsecurities to talk about the
things you love we talk about.
You know you scars and thelight that you went through.
And then when you move, when youpose, the way how we talk, the
way how I teach you to, you know, have a facial expressions,
yeah, how you hold your hair,the way how you move your chin,
yeah, all those little thingslike that are obviously good for

(16:52):
photos.
They also kind of help youbecome this more like confident,
vibrant person, you know so.
So many of my clients tell methat, like after their session,
like they just Wake up the nextday, like just feeling so
powerful, wow, because you you Idon't even know how to explain
it just does a beautiful thingto yourself, a steam, when you
Spend like, let's say, like,three hours moving in a very

(17:15):
sensual, feminine, soft way, orpowerful, like because somebody
people might want you know posesas well.
So it helps you see yourselfthat it's not just photo,
because when you see your imagesand you see images of other
women and social media.
You're like that could never beme.

Speaker 2 (17:31):
Yeah, or.

Speaker 3 (17:31):
I don't look like that.
Yeah, it's so easy for her, youknow.
But when you actually get to bein that position and you see
yourself moving that way and youand you feel how Easy it is to
fall into the pattern or justfeeling powerful and beautiful
and sensual, and then you seethe photos as a product.
Yeah that's like wow.
So for us, just you knowthey're great but that all day

(17:51):
we spent together and you knowjust very, very feminine vibe
and and feeling and excitementand you know Just the company
that like we, an energy we havein a studio, it's what I feel
get the clients feeling goodabout themselves, even more than
the actual result at the end.

Speaker 2 (18:07):
I'm just gonna say like, personally, a boob, our
session is something I havealways wanted to do.
Yeah and I feel like I missedmy window.
Why?
Because I was young and hotlike 25 and I'm not that anymore
, and but it's like somethingI've always wanted to do, like
the idea of Celebrating myselfand my body for like three hours

(18:30):
sounds Incredible like I'mgonna do it I.
This part of my question is likeit seems like that's, that's
how you get women to come out oftheir shell, a little bit, like
I really feel like, well,that's something you do when
you're already hot.

Speaker 3 (18:46):
But you know that's and that's 100% right, how most
of my clients.
But they just like have thesame feeling as you for years
and I'm not now or like I'mgonna lose it.
Wait, I know it.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
Yes, yeah, I'll do it when I'm hot again.
Exactly never happen, and you?

Speaker 3 (19:00):
kind of miss the opportunity.
By the way, you are hot.
Oh yeah, how you move, the wayhow you pose, so I was looking
at your downstairs in a kitchenand the way how you hold on to,
so I know that's give me more.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
Keep it coming.

Speaker 3 (19:13):
Professional standpoint.
Like you have a reallybeautiful feminine, soft Vavavum
vibe around you, like you know.
So the fact that you you Seeyourself as a miss in your
window is a shame, because Ifeel like obviously I don't know
how you looked, but doesn'tmatter how you look when you're
25, because I bet when you were25 you would also insecure and
you were stressed and you weresucking in your belly Yep, so

(19:35):
like even if, even if Iapproached you when you were 25,
you would be like no, not me.
Yeah, so that that itself is areason enough for us, as we're
aging and as our bodies arechanging, to recognize In your
own head you will never be goodenough.
Yes, and that's what we'retrying to change.
Because, like, the whole pointis over.
The I mean not the whole point,but, for me personally, the

(19:55):
whole point of the session to bedone when you are not feeling
your best is to show you thatyou might not feel like you're
at your perfect, yeah, right now.
Yeah, but you are and you canbe essential and beautiful and
you know, like just even naughty, if you want to.
I do want to.
But, like the whole reason ofus waiting for that perfect body

(20:21):
, you're missing the point ofthe whole session and and the
whole experience, which is toshow you that, doesn't matter
what you're going through inyour current life, doesn't
matter how your physicalappearance is like, you are
still worthy of beingphotographed, you're still
worthy of being feelingbeautiful.
And it's not about attractingmen, it's not about showing like
, having social media contentLike it or some people it is.

(20:43):
But for me, when I do my ownselfies, or when I hire other
photographers or when I workwith my friends and and clients.
It's all about like, hey,recognize that it's okay to have
, like you know, big belly andarms that are not as small as
you want them, or if your hairis like very, very thin, or you
just are too tired, or you workall the time like those are not
the reasons why not to do asession.

(21:04):
Those are the reasons to dosession because your life is
already so overwhelming and youalready feel like you're Falling
behind and you're just like theenergy is dropping and you feel
like what, why me?
Like I don't even.
You know, you know, you knowyou don't have a reason.
We have no man or you have no,no, you know Opportunity to do
it like this is why you do do it, because that will help you see

(21:24):
yourself in a new light.
That's gonna help you move in adifferent light.
That's gonna help you buy abikini.
Yeah, so many of my clientsDon't wear bikinis because I
call have the belly.
So what?
Like you have belly, but youalso have curves and you have
boobies and have booty andyou're a beautiful, sensual
woman and even if none of thosethings relate to you, the fact
that you go to Target and yousay this beautiful, vibrant pink

(21:45):
, yeah, you know, bikini and youlike, there's absolutely no
reason for me to have a bikini.
I guess what I wanted.
Yeah, and the the Boudoirsession in my, if I was to, you
know, say that's what it doesfor you.
It makes you see yourself asworthy of splurging, of enjoying
yourself or of being Sensual,of wearing things that's gonna

(22:06):
make you feel good, even if it'sfor not partner, if it's not,
or you know, or again, socialmedia, even if, like, there's
parts of your body that you feelreally like Uncertain about,
yeah, it should not change yourwork, it should not change the
value that you possess as aperson and how that session can
make you really get back intothe scene yourself that way

(22:26):
amazing, yes, and I love howyour photos aren't over edited
and I assume you leave it up tothe client, right?

Speaker 1 (22:33):
So, like you know, I saw this one today, or this one
have these beautiful breasts andyou know she had her stretch
marks there and I'm sure she'slike.
You know, these are your,they're your.
Your scars right like yourscars of womanhood and
childbirth and yeah, all of that.
And so if a woman is like, hey,I love this, I want to leave it
, you leave it.
If she's like, take it out Areyou do, you edit out or you not?

Speaker 3 (22:54):
that, yeah, no, I'm so Passionate about this topic,
yeah, yeah.
So I'm gonna tell you about myfirst Boudoir session and the
reason why I kind of start doingmore, but less of that woman in
nature and more in the nakedwoman, yeah, is I.
I was pregnant.
I was like too much pregnantwith my first child, I and I was
like this is it Like it's nowor never, because I'm never

(23:15):
gonna be this hot again, allthis stuff that we tell
ourselves.
So I had a session.
It was a great session.
Again, nothing that's like thiswas life changing and but it was
nice.
And I received the photos likea month later, like she just
sent me a gallery and like she'slike there you go, and the
photos were beautiful.
But that was not me.
I was, my skin was plastic-y,there was no belly, there was no

(23:38):
imperfections.
It just looked like a reallybeautiful photo of a lady, yeah,
but I did not feel seen, I didnot feel represented, I felt
like this was something that Ihave, but it didn't resonate
with me.
So that was kind of like areally like you know, a point in
my career where I decided thatyou know what I don't like and I
was not bad experience at all,like it was great, but it was

(24:00):
nothing special.
And my goal was, like, fromthat point on, like I want to
make women feel special withthis experience.
I want them to feel beautifulas they are.
So what I usually do is, youknow, clients come to have their
session.
I usually take a lot of photosway too many photos.
So I take like, let's say, like600 photos and from those 600, I
narrow down to 200.

(24:21):
And my goal is to show youclients a lot of like individual
, unique images.
So like out of those 200, whichis going to have like very
different poses, different youknow the way how her face is
looking, the way how her body islooking, so when she sees them
she gets to choose for herselfwhat she loves.
And I show them those photosunedited, so they come to my
studio.

Speaker 2 (24:41):
I have this giant.

Speaker 3 (24:42):
Yeah, because like that's the point, Like the point
is not to show you if we'redoing this for a reason, like
it's a gift for somebody, or youneed a specific like branding.
Obviously branding you do notneed your unedited, because you
need this to pitch your vibe,your brand.
But for Boudoir, if the wholepurpose of your session is to
make you feel beautiful aboutyourself, then I want you to see
yourself as you are.
I want you to see that justmakeup, just the pose and a very

(25:05):
well fitting, beautiful injuryit's.
You already have everythingthat it takes for you to feel
beautiful.
You do not need me to shape youand move you and, you know,
fluff up your hair and slim youdown for you to be beautiful.

Speaker 1 (25:17):
You already are.

Speaker 3 (25:19):
But that doesn't mean that, like you know, when
client is looking at the photosand she selects her favorite
hundred usually, or, like youknow, favorite 20, and she said,
you know what I really love howthis looks, but I do not like
my back rolls or I really wishmy hair was fluffier, or do you
see how, like, my tooth is alittle bit yellow here.
You know those things are like.
Client comes to me and tells mehey, I love this as they are,

(25:41):
but let's make this a little bitdifferent 100%.
So basically all my clients intheir photos as they are, most
of them actually gets the wholecollection.
So they get to skip them asthey are, and their top, top
favorites are just those softthings like I remove under eye
circles.
I remove the bruises.
If there's any kitty scratches,you know, like under eye
circles are usually a big one,nobody needs those.

(26:01):
So like stuff like that Iremove.
But it's important to me thatit's natural that it feels like
it.
It feels like them, that theway how I pose them, the way how
they're being dressed, the wayhow they are moving, the way how
their smile is looking.
We do a lot of veryinappropriate jokes because very
.
But, like you know, not onlydoes it, like you know, kind of

(26:22):
helps loosen the client up, butit gives them those like natural
laugh because I don't want youlike when I say like laugh and
you're like you know, becauseI'm not trying to get you a cute
photo that you can show to yourgrandma, like we're trying to
get you your natural selfpopping out.
So when we, you know, that's whyI don't rush my sessions.
I do not put a limit on theamount of outfits we do.

(26:42):
I do not make like any.
You gotta be here out by, likeyou know, one PM or we're done.
Like no, like we're here foryou If you need to take a break
between their sets becauseyou're nervous and you're
shaking and you just like, yeah,want to be on your phone for
five minutes because this isvery overwhelming, hell yeah.
So if you, if you need to justkeep going very, very fast with
the sessions you're not thinkingabout it and you're just like

(27:03):
going, which happens, like youknow, that's okay too.
But, like you know, we joke, welaugh, we have a little bit of
drinks not too much, like youknow I you know, we do not want
drunk clients.
We want clients who are happy,but you know still present.
So it's kind of it's all fromthe moment that I, that somebody
reaches out to me or finds meon social media, to the day that

(27:25):
they get their products oralbums and stuff.
It's all about giving yousomething that you're looking
for.
So I guide you to the wholeexperience.
I help you, you know, make upyour mind.
So, for example, I have a lotof clients.
When they're picking theirfavorites, they remove all the
photos with their imperfections.
Yeah, so you're going to havelike 200 photos.
You're going to remove everysingle one that shows your belly
.
And from my goal and my part inthat, like choosing selection,

(27:47):
is like it's not to tell you,hey, like you should really love
your belly.
It's like I can see you movingall of those photos.
Is this because you do not likehow your belly looks?
Are you worried that I cannotedit it out?
Or you know, and then usuallyclients say like, oh, I just do
not like how this, like you know, skin is looking.
You know, like if you want tokeep a photo or two, I can edit
that out, because people don'tunderstand, like, how much I can

(28:09):
edit if I wanted to, but it'snot, you know.
So my goal is, like again,through the whole experience,
giving those clients, makingthem feel seen and making them
feel heard, and making womenfeel like I'm not trying to sell
to them, I'm not trying toforce them, I'm not trying to
tell them, oh, but like youshould really love this, because

(28:29):
everybody else loves this Righthere, look at my studio, look
at all these million sets, lookat all these outfits, look at
all these props.
Like what makes you feel good,what?
makes you excited, like do youwant to fulfill your girly
dreams and have, like you know,those like murder robes, those
like I have it in all colors.

Speaker 2 (28:46):
That is my dream is to like no offense to Matt, but
that he like dies mysteriously.
And I answered the door in oneof those rooms, like I want the
cops to be like, wow, are you asuspect?
And be like maybe I am nowSorry.

Speaker 3 (28:59):
Matt, yeah, but yeah.
But, like you know, someclients really just want to feel
beautiful or they want to feeljust like girly and feminine and
soft and artistic.
Some come to me and they'relike hey, you know what, I have
this fall above my bed and Iwant to have a photo of me and I
want it to be art.
I don't want it to be seen thatit's me, but I want to be naked

(29:22):
me.
And then we spend like an hourlike just creating a lot of like
kind of it.
You have this like thing aboveyour head.
Yeah, like something that's likeit's an art, it's a form of the
body.
It plays with lots of likelight and shadow and just
moodiness and drama to createthe piece of art.
So some sessions are morefocused on art.
Some sessions are focused moreon a sexuality part of it.
Sometimes it's just abouthaving a beautiful photo of your

(29:45):
face.
I had a lot of hilarious likenot in a bad way, like I had way
more than usual clients overage 60 recently, really, and I
never had them before.
And I feel like you know,because I started showing more
older women as well, and, yeah,they come to me and they're like
.
I had a woman that was likeover 70 and she's like I'm going

(30:06):
to live until I come at least95.
And I am still a very sexualbeing.
So she wanted a very naughtysession.
I'm like, okay, she was a verynaughty person.
It was beautiful, she was fullof life and she's incredible and
I love her.
But I have a lot of clients whoare like in all phases of their
lives and they want differentthings and I think, like it's

(30:26):
just a beautiful thing, likeeven as you were saying about
you feel like you missed yourwindow.
You might feel like that now,but imagine 10 years from now.
I bet you're going to be like,oh man, if I did it then.

Speaker 1 (30:36):
Yeah, of course.
Yeah, oh, my gosh.
Okay.
So can somebody choose multiplescenes from your studio for the
shooter?
Is it limited to like a certainamount?

Speaker 3 (30:46):
I limited kind of limited.
So because there's so many, andup until like two years ago I
would be like, hey, whatever youwant, girl, and then we would
spend like 10, I kid you not 10hours shooting because they want
to go to the beach and theywant to go to the mountains and
they want to do, and I do it allbecause I love it.

Speaker 2 (31:04):
I would be like I'm taking advantage we can just do
one room and one shot and bedone.

Speaker 3 (31:08):
Yeah, you said it, not me, but like it felt a lot.
It felt like girls were moreexcited about doing everything
instead of actually thinking hey, no, this is what I want.
So now I limit and it's stillnot fully limited.
So my whole studio is available, everything that's like that.
It's not a specialty set Like,for example, shower set or
bathtub set or going outdoors,or sometimes, like you know,

(31:32):
people want to have secondaryhair and makeup styling.
So they have.
I have certain sets like 10 or15 of them that are very hard to
do, so like I need to have anassistant for it.
It takes an extra two hours todo like just photograph that set
.
You know it's a huge production.
Those sets are extra andthere's some that we have to
agree on prior to your session.

(31:52):
So that's more like, hey, youknow, I want to have this and
this and this and this and thatand I'm like that's cool, but
that takes so much more longerfor us.
But for everyday sessions, forclients who just want to feel
beautiful, my whole studio andit has like a lot Like it has.
I mean, it's a house, so I havelike six shooting spaces, three
shooting bathrooms Allbathrooms can be photographed in

(32:13):
for showers, for bath or likejust different lighting.
There's a backyard set, there'sa patio set, there's an outdoor
shower, like a jungle set.
There's everything there andthose things are all available
to clients Like, so usually wediscuss all those options before
while they're in a hair makeup.
So they're sitting we just kindof talk about okay, here's
what's your vision, what's yourcolors, what speaks to you?

(32:33):
Yeah, but it's also okay forthem, like when they go to the
shooting area and they're likeoh, I really love how this looks
.
Can we try that?
Yes, because my goal is not tolimit clients just because I'm
trying to be like no, you getthis and that's it.
But it's more like I want youto focus on what really matters
instead of being so aestheticabout doing everything that you
forget why you actually camehere.

(32:54):
And then also, as the more setsyou do, the less time in each
set you have.
So, instead of us spending like15 minutes doing a specific set
, because you love it, you'regonna spend five.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
And.

Speaker 3 (33:05):
I can't guarantee to give you like the most epic,
amazing photos in five minutes,but in 15 I can.

Speaker 2 (33:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (33:11):
So it's just kind of giving clients a bit more
guidance, but I still allow.
I mean, again, the goal is tomake women feel beautiful, so
I'm not gonna make you be likeno, actually, you see, this
flower wall, this is only for myextra VIP.
You are VIP, you came here,yeah.
So I'm pretty flexible witheverything that clients want, as

(33:31):
long as they are really wantingit, and then I do it because
it's like you might as well.
If it's a we might as well, wewon't do it.

Speaker 1 (33:39):
Yeah, I pictured myself in that bathtub.
I love the bathtub full of gold, glitter and champagne, and I
love the pink neon you have.
You have some neon stuff.
I have a lot of pink.
Yes, yes, that's what mypicture for me, but you also do
like some branding stuff, right,I saw on your website.
I'm curious about that.

Speaker 3 (33:57):
So the way how I you know, I'm focused the most on a
Boudoir because, most peoplefind me through Boudoir, but the
way how my brand is.
From beginning it wascelebrating women through all
phases of their lives maternity,motherhood, mummies and babies,
a lot of mummies and babies.
But branding is something that Ido often and most of my clients
because what I tell them, whenyou book me for Boudoir session,

(34:20):
you already get in your hairmakeup.
We might as well like just bringfew outfits for your branding
and our makeup artist can stophalfway through, like before
your makeup gets, like very likewow, wow, womb, we'd give you
some branding photos and thenyou go back to the chair and you
continue being like naughty.
So it kind of gives you morevalue for your money.
But even for clients who onlywant branding, I do that and

(34:40):
it's more modern stuff and it'smore, like you know, just kind
of relatable and fun, and I docorporate things as well.
But I feel, as time is changingand the woman that I work with
it's more focused on being moreagain like there's a different
between, like you know, headshotand, like you know, you like
your passport photo and brandingimage, which is for example,
for you guys like I would learn,like you know what's your brand

(35:02):
colors, what is your vision,what is your vibe, how do you
want to be represented.
And then, when you come tostudio, I set up the space to
give you a lot of you know morelike almost like a movement
photo, to give you a lot ofcontent to share on your social
media, to share on your website.
You know you get some reallycute things that showcase who
you are as a brand, who you areas a person.

(35:23):
So, like that way, do not feeldo not feel like yeah, I got
this photo and I see 20 otherpeople having the same photo
Like it really represents youand how you want your brand to
be seen.
You know anywhere that you postyour images.
So I love that.
It's very the same vibe as itis with the Boudoir.
So we still have that phone call.
I still learn a lot about you,what your colors are, what your

(35:44):
props you're going to bring.
You know what I need to preparefor my end, because Masudia has
very different colors, but youknow if your brand is very, what
color is pink?
I have a lot of pink.
I'm working in.
What do I not have in a studio,let's say like if you have a
very teal.
Your brand is teal, right, Iwould have to, you know, come up

(36:05):
with a different ways to kindof accommodate that because my
studio is a lot of, like, youknow, the jewel.
Actually I can accommodate teal.
I could do whatever I have it,I can do.

Speaker 1 (36:20):
Has there ever been a request that was like so crazy
or so out there that youcouldn't, and if you can't tell
us, that's fine.
But like, is anybody everproposed something to you and
you're like can't do it no way,or that's totally bizarre?

Speaker 3 (36:32):
Well, people want to bring animals and guns and they
know to either.
Yeah, but nothing that I waslike unable to like perform,
like the, the most intense onethat I ever got and that took a
lot.
If you see, it was floating onthe internet a couple years ago
a pregnant woman that's likeliterally hanging in like a

(36:52):
cloth, is almost like an aerialshot, and she's pregnant, like
flopping all over.
And there was a client thatcame to me.
I'm like I have nothing for you.
Not only is that not safe, yeah, but actually I'm gonna share
for us, you can see.
But I did it and it turned outamazing.
Like you know, we had like apretend.
I had my assistant holding thethe sheet.

(37:12):
She said she laid in a sheet,but she had like stuff
underneath, right, so I had tolike water shop a lot of things,
but we made it happen.
I think that was the hardestComposite, interesting shoe that
I did with not with having noequipment.
Yeah because I had to reallylike work on it but Not really.

(37:32):
And I feel that because peoplereally know when they're coming
to me what to expect I hadbecause I do for a couple of are
.
There's a lot of people whocome to me the very
inappropriate Expectations, thatI'm like nuts, like yeah, you
know not, not, thank you, yeah,but other than that, like I'm
pretty confident in everythingthat that I can offer and I'm

(37:53):
very comfortable say no if thisis not something that I think
I'm good at, that I'm your, thatI'm your person.
One thing that was reallyInteresting when you asked about
like you know, something thatwas like very much.
So usually I tell my clientshey, if you love shopping, just
bring, bring everything you have, it's absolutely fine.
You know, we're just gonna gothrough your things, select what

(38:14):
you like, what I like, and sodon't stress about like you know
, don't stress about like youknow, your stuff.
So yeah, that's the, that's thesomething that I tell all my
clients and Couple.
Years, more than couple yearsago, there was a woman that came
and she had an, a kid.
You're not.
We talked about it, so I'm notgossiping about her.

Speaker 2 (38:31):
She knows that I tell this story.

Speaker 3 (38:32):
She's my cautionary story.
Okay, she knows I tell this toeverybody.
But like she showed up, she hada full car of stuff.
Her husband came with the fullcar of stuff and her best friend
came with the third car and sherented her own City chair
something and it was intense.
So like and I in that point Iwas in my little like 300 square

(38:54):
feet studio, like there was nospace for her stuff.
Intense, so like she brought in, they brought in, and here is
like all power on the floorright where I'm shooting.
So that was like.
I think that was like, if notonly situation that I have found
myself Unable to set theboundary on time, yeah, and

(39:18):
unable to Get myself out of itwithout being like what is the
word I don't want to say againinappropriate, because, like,
I'm very like comfortable withmy clients, I'm very like, no,
we joke.
Yeah, we're still like I haveno place where I'm feeling like
I can't tell you.
I think I'm like Cindy, that'sa lot.
Yeah, I don't know what to do,it all of this.
So, like you know, it was justthat whole session took way

(39:40):
longer because we just there wasso much going on, but that also
helped me set a boundary withthe clients going forward, which
was like, hey, when I say bringeverything you want, that means
like whatever fits in your car,but you know it's, it's been a
beautiful like I.
There's really nothing that Ican kind of look back on my

(40:03):
business and be like I regretthis.
Yeah, I feel like a verynaturally flew from, you know,
from doing a lot of women innature to women in branding, to
mummies and babies, to more likenaughty and sensual stuff and
and I'm kind of almost likecircling back to boot to
branding a little bit more,because I Love Boudoir but I
photograph over 200 people ayear and like how many naked

(40:25):
Buddhists can I see Before?
Like you know, they're allblending Okay.
So, like you know, I just kindof I love.
I love because when I work withwomen, like I can really do so
many different things and indoor, outdoor, you know, funny,
silly, I'm just working withdifferent brands really helps me
like kind of hear what theirvision is.
So instead of trying toaccommodate what I think it's

(40:47):
gonna look the best, I have tofollow what you want.
Yeah and just kind of Marketing.
There's so many beautifulthings about, about being in
this line of work where I am,and makes me feel really.

Speaker 2 (40:59):
Really good, that's great.

Speaker 1 (41:00):
I want to go back to.
Okay, you're basically aself-taught photographer.
Then, in, in the sense of like,you all of a sudden discovered
that you had a gift and youtaught yourself.
How do you?
Because I've seen some of yourVideos where you're showing a
client, like how to pose, andlike when you show them or when

(41:21):
you're doing the shoot, and it'samazing, like how did you learn
this?
And like what are some tips forwomen, like when they're doing
their photos, like what's thecore basic of like looking sexy
girl.
I.

Speaker 3 (41:33):
Faking, faking confidence because we don't feel
it.
So I am self-taught oneverything I'm.
I have issues, I don't knowADHD, but so the way, how, how I
Do I, how I pose people isthinking what do I love about my
own physical appearance.
And what do I hate about my ownphysical appearance when

(41:53):
somebody takes a photo of me?
So if I say to my husband hetook a photo and he's just like,
doesn't click whatever, yes,god, they are the worst.
But they think they're doing areally good job.

Speaker 1 (42:03):
Do you know my?

Speaker 2 (42:04):
head is cut off completely.

Speaker 3 (42:08):
And my husband is like he's like six to and I'm
like five feet, so he alwayslike shoots from like above and
I look like a little midget.
I'm like nothing wrong withthat, dude, but can you like
just?
bring it down, yeah, just kneeldown with the love man on their
knees.
Okay, I do so.
It's just like I, the base, thebasics for me, that I, when I

(42:30):
was telling my clients is likeNumber one, keep your ankles
together, sweet Jesus.
So I always like the few thingsthat.
No, not like that.
So like usually, like whenyou're posing, we always kind of
spread our legs or we do likestuff like this.
Yes like this looks really,really weird to me.
So, but it's more along thelines of like we, we want your

(42:52):
shoulders back, we want yourneck forward, chin down.
Sometimes when we laugh we tiltour head super, super fat back,
so your body looks bigger thanyour head because I do always
it's natural.
So like when you're laughing ina camera, you're like, yeah,
that looks better than Totally.
So it's like I just give thoselittle like tips, like before we
start showing.
I'm like, hey, here's how thisis going to look.

(43:13):
You're always going doing yourBarbie feet.
So I say these are Barbie feet,these are ballerina feet.
We do Barbie feet.
It looks flattering.
We always have your anklestogether, so you're not kind of
always just curving your legs,you always have your shoulders
back.
And one thing for me that myphotographer friends disagree is
like if you're comfortable, itdoesn't look good.
Oh, so if you feel like, hey,I'm having fun, you don't look

(43:36):
good, yeah, so we want yourshoulders back.
We want you like kind of justpopping that booty, arching your
back, getting the boobies out,like you know, just kind of
showcasing that, that aconfidence with the way how your
body's you know, whether you'resitting or standing or talking
to somebody, yeah, and then verybig one is.
Most of the people you know,including myself, we have like

(43:57):
double chin.

Speaker 2 (43:58):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (43:58):
And we're just in a natural environment like that
kind of showcase and thatthere's nothing wrong with that.
But if we're trying to get thebest angle right, Then I call it
like a swan neck or aturtleneck.
You kind of just get your chinout.

Speaker 2 (44:09):
It doesn't go all the way.
So you feel, yeah, I was gonnasay I'm just put my shoulders
back.

Speaker 1 (44:16):
Okay yeah, the chin thing is tough for me.

Speaker 3 (44:18):
Yeah, just kind of.
It doesn't have to go superhard.
I just got a little bit of chinout immediately, like you know
moves that Double neck and thena little bit of tilt of your
head and just does suchbeautiful things for the way how
you're presenting yourself.
Yeah, what do you have in aconversation with somebody?
Obviously that not now.
Okay, I'm not.

Speaker 1 (44:35):
I'm trying.

Speaker 3 (44:35):
Oh yeah, we were just singing this pillow behind my
back is not helping, but like.
So I feel like when I again,when I talk to my clients, I
look at them and I look at themas a best friend.
I'm not looking at them as aslike yeah, yeah, you're good.
It's like if my best friend hadsomething in her teeth, I would
tell her.
My best friend was trying topose for a photo and she looks

(44:56):
like.
I know that I know that myfriend is gonna hate the way how
her, you know, let's say likehow her bra is sticking out of
her shirt right.
I'm gonna tell her.
So you know it's kind ofsimilar.
I look at my client and I tellthem, like I'm not what, this is
a professional Looking so.
I'm just gonna always observeevery single little thing and
I'm like fix your ring ring iscrooked.

(45:16):
Yeah, let's see when your teethI want you to move that hair
from your lip and I'm not likehow you make up is is, you know,
spilling tilt your head alittle bit and pop those
shoulders back and like so Ijust kind of tell them every
single detail so you don't haveto think about it.
Yeah, but as I am even doingthat, like, it kind of becomes
second nature.
So there was the end of thesession.
Every single client alreadyknows yeah, you have to be like,

(45:37):
you know, like and how you holdyour hair.
When you put your hand.
Here's a advice whenever Moresilly, when you put your hand in
your hair and you're trying tobe cutesy, you always leave hair
next to your face.
So you do not do this.
Yep, you do this.
So, like I just again, itbecomes very natural to me and

(46:03):
it all stems from, like, my owninsecurities.
It's like what do I?
If I had somebody to take myphotos?
What would I want them to seeon me?
Yeah, I'd be offended ifsomebody says hey, diana,
actually like get thoseshoulders back and can you
please like tilt your chinforward, would I be, you know,
angry that they likedisrespecting me or be like yeah
, thank you.
And that's why you come toprofessional.

(46:23):
Yeah, taking your own selfies,or if you claim, with your
friend, it's nice to have alittle bit of advice, yes, but
it's very different becauseyou're having fun.
If you're having a professionaland they'll tell you trust me,
I got you.

Speaker 2 (46:34):
Yeah, then I'm expecting that they got me plus,
I feel like I've and I havealways said this and I do
believe it's true I'm justnaturally not photogenic Like
I've.
You know, if like, if it'scasual or like candid photos,
I'm always like why why is oneeye closed, like I don't blink
halfway?
That's it right.
I'll say like Like don't pullher back.

Speaker 3 (46:59):
Yeah, I think it's also beautiful thing because,
like all those candid photos, Ithink it's great to have the mix
of those even unphotogenicphotos, because it's a real life
.
Yeah, so, like you, you are inyour moment, you're natural,
you're just enjoying life andthere's nothing wrong with
having photos that are not, youknow, so slightly acceptable as
being perfect.
Yeah or being great for yourInstagram feed, but they're you

(47:22):
yeah when you look at them youfeel like, hey, this is me, even
though you do not like howyou're half eyes, you know.

Speaker 2 (47:27):
My eyes, always one bigger than another.
Yes, me too.
Yeah, it is what it is.
I can tell you one thing,though there are the very few
and far between photos of methat are, like, really cute.

Speaker 1 (47:36):
Yeah, you're like.

Speaker 3 (47:40):
They're going your favorites folder and they're.

Speaker 2 (47:42):
They are what I say if the house is on fire.

Speaker 3 (47:46):
But see, that's what you do about the water session.
Or that's what you do familysessions.
Yeah especially as mom.
So, my goodness, like you know,having a photos with your kids
or even alone, where you justfeel and feel and look beautiful
, yeah, it just does such abeautiful things for you.
Yeah, because you, yourecognize that those selfies are
cherished for memory of amoment.
Those beautiful photos whereyou feel beautiful are the

(48:07):
things that you're gonna proudof display on your wall.

Speaker 2 (48:09):
Yes, yeah you know, and it just kind of gives you
something.

Speaker 3 (48:13):
Even when I photograph families which is not
very often, but I do I do, youknow, for repeat clients
sprinkled here and there, myfocus is always a mom, because
people always like oh, your kidis so cute, or husband is being,
you know, having stuff in theirpockets.
I'm like, I'm just very bossy.
I'm like get the stuff out ofyour pocket, remove your Apple
watch.
Your job here, husband, is tolook at your wife, smile, caress
her, pretend like she's yourtop of the world, please.

(48:35):
And then kids are gonna be kids.
Yeah, it's gonna run.
Like you know, you do not takecare of your kids, you do not
look at your kids.
I tell your kid what to do.
You know, obviously I'm talkingkinder and nicer, but like
that's, that's a general vibe,is like my job is to pose your
kid, my job is to pose thehusband and my job is to focus
on mom because there's so manyphotos.
When photographer gives yougallery of a hundred words, like
there there's a family sessionand your kids look cute.

(48:58):
Yeah, your husband is smilingin the camera because husbands
are always freaking photogenic.
I have no idea, so annoyinglike, so easy for them, just
like hand in a pocket and belowbecause they have no worries.
Yeah they dress everyone.
They didn't book it.
Yeah, they're not.

Speaker 2 (49:13):
Yep, yep, they showered and they showed up.
Good for them and you about.

Speaker 3 (49:16):
You bought the clothes and you prepared it.
You and you drove.

Speaker 2 (49:20):
You know make sure everyone's coordinating.

Speaker 3 (49:22):
Yes, yeah but, like you know, but nobody pays
attention to mom, yeah, and andthen mom is the one who bought
the photos, who's stressed abouteverything, who take care of
everything, who handle the kids,who was up at like 4 am, who
everything.
And then she gets out of thosehundred photos.
She gets two photos where shelooks at the camera.
Yeah, and that's so offensiveto me, like you, very offensive

(49:45):
to me.
Come on, focus on that woman,because she is the one who did
this, because she does not havea good photos with her kids.
She can take photos of thatwith the kids, but that will not
take photos of her with thekids, not good ones anyway.
Right, how about you, as aphotographer, focus on the
person that needs it the most.
Give her those beautiful imagesfor her kids, give her those

(50:06):
special, have her hug, her kidor tickle or snuggle or twirl or
genuinely laugh while gettingher chin down.
Yes, you know, because we,especially as we age and our
bodies are changing and ourpriorities are changing and
you're just kind of losing thatlittle bit of zest for life.
Maybe I'm just tired, but youknow like things are changing in

(50:30):
your life and you stopprioritizing yourself.
And then even those littlesplits of moments where you find
energy to get the photos done,or family session done, or
selfies, or put a nice dress on,and you're still not being
represented in your own life, inyour own camera role, and it's
just nice to have somebody who'sgoing to be like I got you, yes
, you showed up, thank you verymuch.
And now you do not have tothink about anything because I

(50:53):
will tell you.
You know, we say according towhat clients' desires are, but I
will tell you how your makeupis going to look.
I'm going to tell you whereyour hair is going to go.
I'm going to give you examplesof the earrings you're going to
be wearing or you don't likeearrings, that's okay, but you
know, because you deserve tohave somebody's attention fully
on you for a day.

Speaker 2 (51:11):
Okay, it's another husband.

Speaker 3 (51:13):
And I feel like when people hear the word Boudoir
they get so offended Cough cough, mother in law but people get
very much offended by the ideabehind it.
But they don't reallyunderstand how, just how
beautiful the journey is ofhaving a woman who's very
insecure, who comes to my studiolike shaking and crying and

(51:35):
being like I don't want to dothis, like but I'm here because
I paid, so I got to do it now,Right, you know, and they walk
out of their feeling on top ofthe world, Like they just and
you can kind of tell I haveclients who like I don't know,
it's just a beautiful thing ofbeing part of the journey and
seeing, like how the sessionitself changed the way they see
themselves, they act, what theystand for, the way how they

(51:57):
confront people in their lives,because they start seeing the
worth in them.
And it's not just about thephysical appearance, but it is
one of the aspects of our, Iguess persona of ourselves that
we always feel really bad aboutand we internalize that.
So when you start seeing thevalue in yourself and beauty in
yourself and you startrecognizing like, hey, am I

(52:18):
really allowing people to treatme this way?
Like no honey?
Yeah, it just gives you that.
Like no honey.

Speaker 2 (52:26):
And if I didn't want to do it before?

Speaker 1 (52:28):
I certainly want to do it now.
I'm not doing it, my.

Speaker 3 (52:31):
God it's, it's.
I love it and I'm very muchinto the like powerful badass,
you know empowered women who arekind of like sick of people of
different gender.
Yeah, tell them what to do, howto act, what's appropriate, how
we should behave, and I'm likeyou know what, like you can be

(52:53):
happily married and love your,your spouse, and still, you know
, disagree with the way how wewere brought up and and what
made us who we are, and tryingto change that, and I'm a very
angry person sometimes, butanyway, I don't know if you're
angry, you're like powerful andlike passionate.

Speaker 2 (53:12):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (53:13):
I had a vision while you were talking about you
should do like a, a workshop,and you could probably do like
an online thing.
That would just make youmillions of like for women on
how to pose and like confidencein the room, like teaching, you
know, doing like a class likethat where you take women
through and like I would requireme like put them in brown.

(53:34):
Maybe you teach us and thenwe'll teach people, yeah.

Speaker 3 (53:40):
Even better.

Speaker 2 (53:41):
I love the idea.

Speaker 3 (53:42):
Like I feel that you know, photography makes me happy
, but there is an aspect, nowthat I'm, I need a little bit
different.
So I do love the idea of moreworking with women in a
different aspect as well.
So, like again, it's all aboutempowering women through every
part and photography is part ofit, but it's not all of it.
So you know, working with smallbusinesses, getting their
businesses to succeed, gettingtheir brands to become as

(54:04):
successful as my brand is, orsomething like that, but even
just like talking to women abouthow to embrace their power, you
know how to fake their power.
You know stuff like that, likeit's really appealing to me.
But I also have a lot ofimposter syndrome which is
ridiculous yeah.
Like it does make me feel likeme, like you would listen to me,

(54:26):
like I'm what am I?
Yeah, but it takes a lot ofthat, like you know, almost like
a fake confidence, even for meto present fake confidence.

Speaker 2 (54:36):
Right.

Speaker 3 (54:38):
And I have small kids .

Speaker 2 (54:39):
Maybe, If you see so like effortless, effortlessly
brilliant.
I would really dare to say likeyou're so educated on it,
you're so confident in whatyou're saying.
I feel like your vibe is verylike.
You're already gorgeous.
Let's celebrate that, yeah.

Speaker 3 (54:54):
Like 100%.
I have never saw a woman that Idid not see beauty in her.

Speaker 2 (54:59):
God, I love you.

Speaker 3 (55:02):
But do you agree Because?
Like you guys yes, who's likeyour own size and you can be
like, oh my God, you're amazing.

Speaker 1 (55:08):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (55:09):
Then you look at yourself in the mirror and be
like oh, I'm a whatever youwould use Beast.
Yes, why?

Speaker 3 (55:14):
Because we are our worst critics.
And for me it's like and I'mnot, no, no different I
absolutely despise the way howmy physical appearance is most
of the days, but then I wake upand I'm like you know what?

Speaker 2 (55:23):
Yeah, like today, I'm sexy yeah.

Speaker 3 (55:25):
Today.

Speaker 2 (55:26):
Today I'm sexy yeah.

Speaker 1 (55:28):
If we could teach that, though.
That's like the thing, like mything is self love, loving
myself, like it's the biggestchallenge for me, and I feel
like a little bit of the bodydysmorphia thing throughout my
life and it's fucking hard.

Speaker 2 (55:42):
We got to do the little masterclass and if it's a
day like a day workshop.

Speaker 1 (55:47):
Go to your studio.

Speaker 2 (55:49):
I got.
The wheels are turning again.
We're going to do it.

Speaker 1 (55:52):
I love it.
We'll bring the equipment Nice,so cool, okay, so sort of
wrapping it up and tying somethings in.
In talking to our audience, ourladies who are, you know, we
always say you know, create alife your future self will be
proud of and that you love.
Now, right, what is your tips?

(56:13):
Let's say one of these women.
They want to take that leap,they have a dream, they want to
become a photographer, they wantto do this thing, like, what
tips do you have for women whoare ready to just spread their
wings?
Yeah, a lot of them.
Perfect, yeah.

Speaker 3 (56:28):
I think, like the most important one that I would
give to everybody is like, stopwaiting to be perfect.
We are so afraid of peoplejudging us, mocking us, you know
, telling us that we're doingsomething wrong, that we, that
we just forget to take, startmaking the steps and we wait for
that perfect moment and perfectbrand and perfect, you know,

(56:48):
instagram name and all of thoselittle things, and they make us
feel inadequate constantly, andthe reason why I read this
somewhere but the reason why menare always kind of higher up on
a ladder is because they don'thave that in that feeling that
they're inferior.
They're just like I want this,I'm going to do this, you know,
and so I think that would be myfirst.
One is, like, if you have anidea and or like the simplest

(57:12):
little things, like you want tobecome a photographer, start
taking photos.
Like, just start rambling,taking photos and start acting
like you're a big deal.
I remember like again.
So I had that in 2016,.
Like, I had that like onemeetup with other photographers
and I had these photos and afterlike a month, I was like I'm a
photographer, I'm amazing, like,and that was not amazing, you

(57:32):
know, but like, but I was betterthan I expected to be.
And when I acted like I gotthis, people believe that I got
this, and I mean I never.
I never tried to like sellmyself something that I'm not.
But like, if you do have atalent or a vision, or even if
you just have an idea, like juststart acting on it little
things you know, to starttalking about it, start making

(57:53):
up ideas, start, you know,posting on social media about it
.
Like talk to your friends.
Like start getting you know thefeedback from people who are
there to support you.
And if people are notsupporting you, then find new
people.

Speaker 2 (58:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (58:07):
Because there was always going to be people for
either.
You know, I don't want to sayhaters, but like I don't see the
vision because it's so mucheasier just to do your nine to
five and you know, just like youknow, do your regular thing and
don't draw any attention toyourself, because it's so much
easier just to do whateveryou've been doing the whole time
that they do not see the valuein trying something else.
So, like I feel like it's justlike stop waiting for the

(58:29):
perfect time, stop waiting forthe perfect way how your body is
working, stop waiting for theperfect environment.
You can do whatever you wantand if it doesn't work out, who
cares?
Yeah, seriously who cares?

Speaker 2 (58:39):
I love that.

Speaker 3 (58:40):
Like we're so like afraid of people's judgment, but
like even if the worst casescenario is people gossip about
you for a day and then they moveon because you're not important
but, you're also very important, so depends how you look at it.
So you know, just stop worryingabout outcome before you even
start.
I guess.

Speaker 2 (58:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (58:59):
I love that.
That's beautiful, and stopworrying about what your
family's going to think.
It's like family even instarting this podcast.
We have family who don't listenat all.
We have family who you knowtold us we have a coach we have
family who like loves it right.

Speaker 3 (59:16):
So when you're worried about what everybody
thinks, it's like so you getlike so stuck in it because
you're trying to impress people,but like you're not doing it
for people and when you succeed,those people are all going to
be like oh, I knew you can do it, I knew it.

Speaker 2 (59:26):
Yeah, and you're not going to be like that.
Well, I'm like we're not doingit for them, or?
Doing it for us, and the morewe believe that, the more we're
on that path.
I think we're successful yeah.

Speaker 3 (59:35):
And you're going to attract people who believe in
you and who like.
Why do people listen to thispodcast?
Because they can relate to it.
Yeah, they can relate to you,they can relate to me.
They find the value in it.
So you're not trying to impresspeople who already decided that
you're not worthy.
You're trying to find newpeople who are going to be part
of your cult.
You know, yeah, but like youknow, there's always going to be

(59:55):
a place where you feel likeyou're not worthy and you feel
like this is not the right path.
And it's okay to haveself-doubt, but you're just like
if not you, who then you?

Speaker 1 (01:00:07):
know who's going to do it then.

Speaker 3 (01:00:09):
So like the more you kind of stop yourself, like
you're just, you're not hurtinganybody but yourself, because
it's still going to be in theback of your head.
If I did it, then If, I did itthen, yep.
And like that's kind of thebiggest thing that I even do for
myself, because I have dayswhere I'm like I'm just can I
just not, like I love the idea.
I've been in it for yearsbefore this.
And I was like, if I could like,how about I just go back to

(01:00:29):
dating and I'm like I'm notgonna, never mind, but like the
simplicity of life.
But then it's like, if I'm notdoing this, like there's nothing
else that makes me feel good,yeah, and now I'm the bread
winner for my family.
So if I have a day where I'mlike I should just cancel all my
clients and I need a you knowbreak, then my family doesn't

(01:00:50):
get to have meal, you know.
So it's one of those thingswhere, like, you just kind of
have to recognize that whateveryou contribute into society, to
yourself, to your life, to yourfamily, like it has value.
And even if you're hard onyourself, or even if you feel
like, okay, it's not working howI want it at the moment, it's
still going to bring value downthe road.
So you just can't quit.

Speaker 1 (01:01:10):
Yeah, I feel like you're like the biggest
celebrity that's been on theshow.

Speaker 2 (01:01:14):
You're like a celebrity.

Speaker 1 (01:01:16):
You are Okay, we're so honored.
Like you know, if we reach outto people, it's a long shot and
you're one of the ones who arelike, well, that'll never happen
.

Speaker 2 (01:01:26):
Well, and we talked too big for a year Longer.
What makes me celebrity?

Speaker 1 (01:01:32):
God, you're just your status, your charisma, your
like, your compliments.
Keep going.

Speaker 3 (01:01:39):
Yeah, your own photos , yes, your online presence Like
you're.

Speaker 1 (01:01:43):
Yeah, beautiful, it's beautiful.

Speaker 2 (01:01:45):
Oh my God, you guys are really sweet.

Speaker 3 (01:01:47):
We love it.
I was just thank you you seelike for me it's like I see
myself.
You know, I recognize how Ihave a lot of clients who are
intimidated by me who haveliterally hired me because
they're like, because of thatstatus.
Yes, they see my following andthey're like oh, you must be a
big deal.

Speaker 1 (01:02:02):
And I'm like.

Speaker 3 (01:02:03):
And then they come to my studio and one of the things
that I don't do when I'm doinga session is like I don't wear
makeup.
Yeah, I come very, almost likea very frumpy looking because
I'm not there to compete with aclient.
I don't want clients coming upalso being frumpy because before
they hear, makeup is that andstuff, and they've seen me being
this like gorgeous, you knowpersona, yeah so I'm just there,
we're just hanging out.
We just woke up.

(01:02:24):
Here's coffee for you, coffeefor me.
So it's very much like kind oflike a best friends hanging out
vibe.
But it's really funny to mefrom people like say things like
oh my goodness, guys Like I wasin Starbucks and I'm already in
my coffee, and girls are likeare you, are you that, diana?
The photographer one.

Speaker 2 (01:02:42):
What the fuck Like.

Speaker 3 (01:02:44):
I love that they have several dozen people recognize
me based on my name, on, youknow, in a Portland area, and it
terrifies me because I'm notmade to be persona, like I'm
very you know, you're behind thecamera, I'm behind the camera,
yeah, but it's kind of likereally fun to meet people and I
mean talk about my passion, mydream.

(01:03:05):
I don't really get to talkabout it anymore, because I talk
about clients and.
I work with clients and I workall that and I don't have to,
like you know, advertise myselfanymore, Anyway.
So it's kind of fun to just belike, hey, this is what I do.
And I must remind myself aswell, not only just you, but
remind myself why do I do this?

Speaker 2 (01:03:23):
And it's been nice.
I am so honored that you'rehere.
I know, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:03:28):
Like a dream come true.
Oh, my goodness, for reals.
Ok, so last question is reallywhere can people find you?
We're going to link everythingin the episode notes, but if you
want to just kind of runthrough your website and
Instagram.

Speaker 3 (01:03:44):
Yeah, so all of my social media is my first name,
last name, which is going to belinked because I will not say it
, but it's diannasaswitcom, andit's the same with every single
social media, and the best wayto reach me is, honestly,
through my website, because I dohave employees and I do have
people who are keeping track ofall these messaging systems, but

(01:04:07):
sometimes things get lost.
So if you are trying to get moreinformation about the session
or collaboration or working withme, the best way is via my
website and because I checkthose very often.
But that's going to it.
I do really enjoy meeting newpeople and having new clients

(01:04:28):
and hearing people's stories andproving people wrong.
I think that's my thing.
I'm very combative, so if I canprove you wrong, if you come to
me like oh no, I'm not forJenik, I'm like ha ha, yeah, you
said what?

Speaker 1 (01:04:42):
You're like watch this bitch?

Speaker 3 (01:04:43):
Yeah, so I think it's really fun Like just coming in
your people and learning aboutthem and seeing how I can
convince them that they're wrong.
I love that.

Speaker 1 (01:04:53):
That's fabulous.
You're amazing.
I know You're so silly.
Well, thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (01:05:01):
Cheers and thank you for joining us.

Speaker 1 (01:05:04):
We're so excited I know.
All right, bye.

Speaker 2 (01:05:08):
Yeah, yeah, thank you , thank you.

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Episode 55: You Are Worthy of Loving the Body You're In - Interview with Luxury Empowerment & Boudoir Photographer Dijana Szewczyk

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Episode 55: You Are Worthy of Loving the Body You're In - Interview with Luxury Empowerment & Boudoir Photographer Dijana Szewczyk