April 9, 2018 • 49 mins
FYI!!! Carla Marie is no longer the host of a morning show in Seattle but she is still supporting small businesses in every way possible. She’s even started her own small business with her radio cohost and best friend, Anthony. All of the links below will help you stay up to date!
Follow Carla Marie on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/thecarlamarie/
Watch Carla Marie and Anthony’s Show on Twitch
twitch.tv/carlamarieandanthony
Sign up for The Carla Marie and Anthony Show newsletter to stay up to date:
https://view.flodesk.com/pages/5f516ae62c60490027b9ec20
Email Carla Marie
SideHustlersPodcast@gmail.com
Text Carla Marie and Anthony:
201-305-0894
Follow Carla Marie and Anthony on Instagram
http://instagram.com/carlamarieandanthony
Subscribe to Carla Marie and Anthony on YouTube:
YouTube.com/CarlaMarieAnthony
Follow Carla Marie and Anthony on Facebook
http://facebook.com/carlamarieandanthony
Email Carla Marie and Anthony
CarlaMarieandAnthony@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh today. That's how I've started every podcast, and I've
done it on accident at the beginning, and now I'm like,
this is the official start to Side Hustlers podcast. I
think this is episode five, um, and I'm really really
excited to tell this person's story. How we met in
the most random way possible, actually Instagram, which is apparently
the new way I make friends. Her story is incredible.
(00:22):
So say hello to Andrea Michelle. I keep going to
call you Andrea Michelle Photo, right, because that is your Instagram. Yeah,
it just gets stuck and I'm like, oh, okay, so
this is andre Michelle Photo. Actually no, that's not her
last name, right, And I keep wanting to call you
the Carlo Marie and I hope no. That's how we're
gonna address each other throughout the rest of this podcast.
So obviously you can tell she's going to be something
(00:45):
along the lines of Photo, but there is way way
more to her. First, let's talk about your quote unquote
day job, your current day job, the one you're doing
right now, not what you were doing a few weeks ago.
We'll get into that. So what do you do? I
am I'm a family and child therapist, So I work
with families that come in that have been through a
(01:06):
lot of stuff, and I work with kids to you know,
overcome their traumas and counsel them to be better people
in the future. Amazing. Now, is that something you've always
wanted to do? No, Actually, how did you get into it? Oh? Man,
that's a really long story, but I guess it goes
all the way back to my undergrad So I was
like in my early early twenties, I went to school
(01:27):
going for graphic design, which is totally different. Decided that
I thought the psychology class was so much better, but
I didn't know what to do with that. So I
just kept going with it though, because I loved it
and then ended up having to go to counseling myself. Yeah,
and that really like changed my whole perspective on what
psychology was. And so you had a positive experience. Oh yeah, totally.
(01:51):
I loved it. It changed my life. It changed my
perspective on everything, and it kind of clicked and I
realized that that was something that I could do. I
love listening to people, and I love telling people like
you don't like give and it's not giving advice, but
it's like guiding them, you know, helping them through things
that might be too difficult to go through on their own.
So you loved that so much you started doing it
(02:13):
and then recently you went through more schooling. Yes. Yeah,
I just graduated the middle of February with my master's
degree in mental health counseling, UM, specifically in child trauma
and family counseling. So that is what your current job
is now. Before that? What before you finished with that degree?
What were you doing? Well? I was. I didn't internship
(02:33):
for nine months. That was completely unpaid. Um that's how
you know you love. Yeah, Um, so I wasn't really working.
But before that I was doing community case management, which
is basically the same thing a little bit more intense.
But that year with nothing, I was full time photography
besides the internship. So when did photography start? Like, when
(02:54):
did your love your passion for taking pictures? When did
that come into your life? I have ways, and I'm
pretty sure every photographer says this they love I've loved
taking pictures since I was little, with my cell phone,
when cellphone tide cameras that were ready right and those
little point and shoots. I still have my very first
point I took a film photography class in high school
(03:16):
and that was where it was like like the Angels
came out and like the sun, and um learned how
to develop my own film, which was amazing. That's cool.
I see, I've always wanted to do that. Yeah, I
think probably from watching nine Shows and a kid. We
go into the red room and you did, and it's
totally like that. So you still do that. No, it's
(03:38):
really hard to do it nowadays because you have to
rent a space and it's pain. But digital photography is
just just great obviously. Yeah. I mean, and then my
friends throughout like high school and college, they were like,
you're really good at this, Let's go out and shoot.
And I started to just have fun with it and
shoot my friends and it just kind of was like, oh,
maybe I can do something with this and totally loved it.
(03:59):
When was the first time you got paid? Do you
remember to take pictures of someone? It was a wedding?
Why are you laughing? I feel like, well, weddings are
not something amateur photographers normally do as their first page.
I mean it was me by myself, an indoor wedding,
which is not easy lighting. I never thought about that.
(04:22):
And I had never had experience with that before and
I think that was in two So we in the
last episode of Sideheusers, we actually talked to Andrew Coleman Smith,
who does wedding videography, and he has said almost the
same thing, like weddings are just so intense you don't
want to be part of that, so stressful, so stressful.
And that was your first, like first time being paid. Yeah,
(04:45):
did a disaster happen or was it you were lucky
at all? I think I was lucky enough where it
was people that I knew, and it was a little bit.
They didn't have high expectations god, which looking back now
was like, oh good thing. They didn't have my expectations.
They had like the little black all around the edges
of the photos and selective colors so called photos black
(05:08):
and white. Oh my god. Yeah, I was getting wild. Uh.
But yeah, that was my first paid one, and now
eight years later, it's almost more than a side hustle,
I think for you. Yeah, I mean for the last
nine months I lived off of it. That's crazy. Yeah. Yeah,
it's me being a photographer and counselor. Which do you
spend more time doing. I think that's really hard is
(05:31):
depending on the week, it's equal, that's all. So are
they both your side hustle? The kind of are you
like just rolling with two jobs like a boss in here?
I think right now I'm rolling with two jobs. Um,
but I'm lucky enough for my nine to five is
a four day a week, eight to six, so I
(05:52):
don't have an extra day. That's awesome for photography. And
I can do all my business stuff on my lunch
breaks on my phone because it's all social media. That's amazing.
And by the way, if you want to check out
Andrea while I'm talking to her, you can go to
her website. It's Andrea Michelle dash photo dot com. Her
instagram is Andrea Michelle Photo and it's a N D
(06:13):
R E A M I C h E l L
E photo. I don't need to spell it. I guess
I P h O T O just in case it's not.
You never know. But there is another side, another Instagram
page that I guess branches out off of regular photography.
And you say the words, Okay, teach me how to
(06:33):
say it boo dwar. I can I can never say
that freaking word. I'm like wood. It's like I hear
it in my head and then I try to say
it probably gonna need your help even more, but that
you have that page as a separate page and you do.
Can I say sexy photos or is that completely? I mean, yeah,
(06:54):
I guess that's what it is when you bring it
down to bed room. Um, let's say sultry, sensual or
just boudoir. I mean, I mean I call it women's
empowerment portrait. Okay, that's what I call it. When did
that start? When didn't you start doing those pictures? That
(07:15):
was actually just about a year ago. Really. Yeah. I
was noticing a lot of my friends trying to, like
my married friends, trying to find somebody who would do
it for them, which has got to be awkward to
find a strange Yeah, and there's not very many out
there that like, actually do it and do it wow. Um.
And what I mean by doing it well is doing
(07:35):
yeah and not where it's like oh she's got lace
and leather and heels and oh she's got a men's
jersey on. Great, it's you know, do you make it
an art? Yeah? You really bring out I think when
you do it, you actually bring out the person in
the photo. It's not just like you're saying, just slap
on some sexy clothes that you don't feel comfortable in
because you never wear this kind of stuff and pose
(07:58):
like this is more okay, how do you feel sexy?
And you kind of run with that, and I love that,
and I asked that exact question, actually, how do you
feel sexy? Carl Murray? You got it? Let me be
your marketing or or customer service something, and I asked that.
I asked, what you know, what helps you feel sexy?
What makes you feel what about you do you feel sexy?
(08:19):
Like all those questions in a questionnaire before those women.
Even that's great, and I always meet with those women
right face to face because I don't want to be
that person that they just show up and half naked
in front of their or is that where you Where
do you usually shoot them? Oh? Man? So many different places.
I just got an apartment that I'm using as a studio,
(08:39):
which is super exciting. Yes, very very exciting. I'm still
furnishing it and that's really fun. Oh my god, I
want to help. I'll send you my my boards and
you can tell me what you think. I'm obsessing over
that right now, I'm obsessed with home decre to the
point where it's so overwhelming. I never know what I want.
I know, I went to Ikia on Saturday. That was
(08:59):
probably about Yes, So that's also making an investment is
something we've been talking about in a lot of these podcasts,
and I've learned that everyone has made an investment into
their side hustle, into their passion. And obviously getting an
apartment is a huge investment. Yes, yeah, well, especially because
(09:19):
there's all the things that go in an apartment. Exactly
what made you say, Okay, this is a good idea.
Obviously I'm going to spend money on it. Now I'll
make money an x amount of time. Like what was
that process? Like, well, it kind of came about where
I was spending so much money on hotel rooms and
airbnbs and you know, traveling to client homes. It was
(09:42):
costing me money, you know in gas and mileage, and
I was like, this is the same, right as just
getting a space. Yeah, and you can you don't have
to shoot food, damn it. You don't have to shoot
those photos there either. You can use that space for anything.
And I do, I mean I do. I work with
the skin care line right now. And yeah, and I
(10:04):
am doing other products stuff like T shirts and portraits.
And it's fun to be able to have that space
and be able to do whatever I want with my
art in my own space and I don't have to
go out and seek something. And to check out these
pictures that we're talking about, is it bout that I
say pictures or do you only say photos? Um? I
guess their picture, I mean their pictures. I feel like
that dumbs it down. To check out this amazing photography
(10:26):
for real, it's Andrea Michelle. I wrote it down so
I know how to say it. That's separate Instagram for
these photos. How did you start finding these clients? Like
obviously you're saying these women have to fill a questionnaire.
It's got to be weird almost for both of you. First,
how did you find them? Um? Well, originally it was
word of mouth and that's all it was. It was,
(10:48):
you know, I had a friend who had a friend
that wanted to do it. I have a friend who
has other friends that want to get married and want
to do it. And eventually I actually started a it's
a v I P private Facebook where women add their
friends to this group and all we talk about is
women's empowerment and feeling beautiful and lingerie and I will
(11:09):
totally add you. And there's fun, there's contests, giveaways and
fun little like you know, post your celebrity crush and
a gift comment like it's just fun because you know,
there's it's a safe place for women to talk about
Spacebook for something good. Yes, yes, And we talk about
so much like women's bodies and like how you don't
(11:31):
have to be thin to be on boudoir. You don't
have to be I love perfect person. Yeah. And one
thing you said, word of mouth, that's how people found you.
That's been a common theme in all of these podcasts,
from Tatum talking about finding people to promote and write
for the magazine. Uh, you know Tiffany with Sweetpea Beauty,
That's how she found clients when she didn't know what
the heck she was doing. My dad even talked about
(11:52):
word of mouth. That's how he got clients to hang
draperies and blind and even Andrew just the whole idea
of YouTube is really word mouth essentially a social media itself.
Is everyone's been doing that common theme. Do you think
that has been how you found the most people so
far for anything any of your photography. I think that's
(12:12):
how you get the most genuine work. And I say
genuine because I can get tons of clients on those
for sales sites on Facebook or sending out an ad
on Facebook or Instagram. But I have to have my
ideal client. I'm not just gonna take everybody, because you
never know what you're gonna get, even in a client.
And I think word of mouth has been the best
(12:33):
way to get real people who really want to support you,
and find more real people who want to support you
and pay your prices. That's really it. Those people that
you get on ads don't often want to pay your price,
especially you know mine where it's a little higher. And
these genuine people know the worth in your work. Yeah,
because you've got someone that they trust telling them I
(12:57):
worked with heart and it's awesome. You're hearing it from
a real person, not reading of like you're saying a
Facebook ad because you don't actually know what is going
on behind the scenes of the Facebook add and you're
talking to a real person who's done it, who's been there.
It's great. So obviously word of mouth is one of
the ways you get people. Do you get a lot
of people seeing your actual work on Instagram for boudoir
either for my other stuff that I call it wander
(13:21):
less work. Yeah. Um, it's more like the portraits, the
brands that kind of a lot of outdoor shoots too, Yes,
the actus. I love hiking and all that. It's like
being outside. I'm the your basic PNW you know, and
your purple hair to go with it. By the way,
just everyone knows she has purple hair at least. Yes. Yeah,
my profile actually is not up to date for that work. Yes,
(13:44):
Instagram is the way to go for paid boudoir work.
Facebook is really Oh yeah. I think it's because of
that v I P group that I have, Ok, that
makes sense. Yeah, and the ads that come out on Facebook.
Two people tag each other and it's more I think
that's more of a selling basis, where Instagram is more
of like a sharing a portfolio place. I mean, I
(14:06):
definitely get comments and things through Instagram, but it's not
as like thorough as Facebook or my website is. So
that's actually how we met really through Instagram. So I'd
say a few months after I officially moved here and
started morning show on Power I think you commented on
something probably that I postedly, and I was like, oh,
(14:28):
who's this because at the time I would really check
and I still check everyone's profile to see who they are,
where they're from. But we were dying to know if
people from Seattle were actually listening. And I was like, oh, Andrew,
Andrew Michelle photos this and I click it, and she's
from here and she's a photographer, and I was like, oh,
my god, herself is awesome and this is cool. She's
from here. And you were one of, if not the
(14:48):
first person that I remember following and commenting from here.
I told you that when I first met you, like
you have this special place in my heart. I followed
you back and I think we talked and I'm like, oh,
we gotta do shoot one day. I got to do this,
just back and forward on Instagram. Had something planned too, yeah,
and that I broke my hands. And then finally you
had downtime in between, um, finishing up your master's degree
(15:12):
and starting your job, so we had to come in
studio a few weeks ago, and um, you probably I'm
if I haven't posted already, I will be posting soon.
In the picture that she took of me, in studio
and you'll see that, but that's nothing compared to what
you do outside. It's amazing. But it's crazy that something
like Instagram not only should me your work has made
me want to go to you as a photographer, but
(15:33):
now I know you and now you're in studio on
my podcasts. Pretty cool. Yeah, I mean the connections you
can make on Instagram are so cool. I've met so
many awesome people down here in Seattle or back up
where you know. I live up in Bellingham, so it's
a couple of hours away, but all the people that
I've met in between just through Instagram has been so amazing.
One of my best friends I met on Instagram and
(15:54):
she lives in New Jersey now. She was in Chicago
at the time. It's so crazy. If we use social
media for of things, so many amazing things can come
of it. Yeah, get that way completely right. One of
the things that you were talking about was your camera.
How many camera you've had a You got a new
camera right recently. I think it was about a year ago.
I bought this camera. That's so it's newhere for me. Yeah,
(16:17):
say in the last eight years. Ago, was that you
started getting paid for photography. How many cameras have you
had in that time too? And that's but they last forever.
But they're expensive. Yeah, the cameras are expensive, the lenses
are expensive, lights, batteries, s D cards are expensive. People
don't realize, like your little point and shoot camera ain't nothing. Yeah, oh,
I know, we have to get these big chunky cards
(16:38):
that costs up words of a hundred dollars, and then
like hard drives for the computer and backups for those
hard drives you have to have, and all the services
in between that you have to have, like light room
and all that carries. It's gonna say, so what do
you use to edit the photos? Lightroom? I use light
room and photoshops, so don't be light room and photoshop.
And I mean I don't use photoshop as often because
(16:59):
I am in all natural photographer, right, you don't you're
not editing. Yeah, I mean I'll take out of pimple
or whatever, course, thank you. But light rooms for people
have no idea what that is. It's part of the
Adobe suite and it's to edit more of landscape lighting
type of gosh, I don't even know, like not techy
that way, Like how would you describe light room to
(17:19):
my mom. Light room is like a really more intense
Instagram filter, like perfect yeah, um, and you you can
edit things all the way down to the whites of
the eyes and all that cool stuff, and it's it's
an amazing thing. It's literally a dark room on your computer.
So everyone thinks when they have an iPhone, but they
(17:39):
are a professional photographer, you know firsthand, like, all right,
your phone may take a great clear photo, but portrait
mode ain't got nothing on what you can do. And
people think that. Do you think that people think photography
what you do is kind of obsolete or becoming obsolete
because of the iPhone, or you're just like, I know,
I'm safe, I'm not worried. Every once in a while,
(18:01):
it gets to the point where you think, oh my gosh,
is this ever going to last? But as soon as
you work with a client and show them, yeah, show
them really what it is that they're getting, or a
sample of your prints, because I do preat work too,
so I print everything and they're just gorgeous. There's something
that you can have. They're not something that you just
it's on your phone and just disappears in a couple
(18:22):
of years. Like, these are things that last for a lifetime,
not just a quick moment in time. So yeah, I
phone got nothing on, you know. And and that's actually
like a problem like with photographers. People get their pictures
and then they don't print them, and then they put
filters on my art. Oh yeah, it's it's been an issue.
(18:43):
But that's you know, why we have business protection, and
because if someone's posting something and tagging you and they've
edited on their own, that's not my art anymore, as
copyright taken away my work. Wow, I never thought about that,
is it. Photography isn't just clicking a moment. It's making
(19:04):
an art. Like the picture that I click isn't normally
what you're actually going to get. The picture that I
click is a little bit edited and changed and is
like a serious memory. It's not like, oh, hey, I'm
gonna tell you to take a selfie. I never thought
about that. That's definitely, I mean for anyone, whether you're
listening to this podcast because you want to do photography,
or you want motivation, or you're just a regular person
(19:26):
like me who's learning this for the first time. I
feel like that's something huge that a lot of people
can take away. You don't realize because we are so
used to taking pictures on our own that that is
your art. And by adding a super filter like I
don't know xx pro from Instagram, you're ruining your art. Yeah,
it just totally takes away from everything that I did
and those countless hours that I've done for you, you know,
(19:47):
for that client. It's just like thanks, Okay, I never
thought about it. You know, if you just wanted the
raw file, it could have just given it to you.
But yeah, one of the things, Um, you mentioned and
earlier about what you do, I guess your day job
or some days job would be, uh it's counseling or
mental health therapists. Do you think that photography really helps
(20:10):
you balance because those are completely different things. Photography, I say,
is my grounding. It's my way to kind of shake
everything else off. Um, after I'm done with a long
day hearing all these things that these kids come to
come to me with, and it's been a it's been
(20:31):
a way for me to heal myself through things, but
also really rewarding way for me to like express myself.
I'm hearing all these feelings and these emotions all day,
but I don't get to say it to anybody, and
my photography is my way of doing that, and posting
on Instagram is my way of like telling people how
I'm feeling that day and like getting it all out there.
(20:54):
And it's been such an amazing journey to find that
piece that like keeps me grounded and balanced for being
able to do this work every day. I did reach
a point in my old job in community case work
of burnout, which is where I was just tired every
day I would go home and cry. I couldn't even
take a picture. I couldn't like I wasn't a functional
(21:15):
human being and it wasn't worth being paid to feel
that way. And luckily that lined up right with my
internship that Yeah, I got lucky, and photography really helped
me get back on track. Also like find out who
I was. Yeah, well, a lot of people say who
are well? I have on this podcast that what they
(21:38):
do during the day is something they enjoy or it's
it helps, you know, do one part of their brain,
but their side hustle is their passion and maybe one
day they'll get to do that completely. But you're not.
You're okay with being split and splitting your time, and
this is what you want to do, Yes, for sure.
I never want to stop doing both one day. I
hope to combine the two eventually, and I've already started
(21:59):
to do that. Gonna say, oh yeah, I mean in
the doing boudoir and basically counseling these women every day.
But you don't have your teen's doing those No, no,
no no. These women is the only adults that I
worked on the Andrea Michelle photo side. You've got the
teens that you work with. Yeah, And and like I
(22:20):
was telling you before we walked in today, I've had
teen clients that absolutely fall in love with being in
front of the camera and end up finding their passioning
a model and then get these crazy cool things. But
also on the other hand, in the counseling world, I've
started to use photography as a technique and working with
teens who have been through a lot, photography has been
able to help them express themselves and the same way
(22:42):
you do, yes, even with just their iPhones like that.
And I know that kind of goes against what we
were just saying, um, but these kids really do find
the beauty in their real lives when they're given an
assignment to go seek out something beautiful or to seek
out something that means, you know what it is, what
expresses themselves in their real world, and it helps them
(23:04):
change their perspective even though they feel like life sucks.
You know, as a teen, life sucks, and if you're
going through so much crap that a lot of these
kids are going through, they need that outlet. And photography
has been a really amazing way for me to spread
that to those teens. But when you take photos of them,
do you think you're showing them themselves in a light
that they've never even seen before. For sure. I'm one
(23:27):
of those people that hates being in front of the camera.
I know you don't. You have to go very far
down on her Instagram to find her, so good luck.
Yeah it's pretty bad, but I hate being in front
of camera and the camera. Why don't you come in
front of my camera? Hey, I've done it a few times.
There's even on my bootour page a couple of pictures
of me. Oh I had a fine note, Well maybe
(23:49):
they're still up. I don't know. I have rainbow hair,
so it should be easy to find. Oh I did
see that. Yeah that was me. I skimmed through those.
I wasn't about to be like a creepie in all
these pictures. Maybe I'll do that one later. I didn't
need anyone want to buy the studio. We have windows here.
I'm like all on the phone looking at girls and
they're brawn underwear. I know. That's the good thing about
(24:11):
having a studio now is that I can reveal images
in private and not in public. That's amazing. Um. But yeah,
you show them themselves. Yeah yeah, and they're like, whoa
like a model? That's cool. Yeah. And one of the
cool things is, um, one of the assignments that I've
given teens like in therapy is take a picture of yourself,
not a selfie, like set a timer and take a
(24:33):
picture of yourself. And we did that at the beginning
of therapy, and then when we get a couple of
months in, we take another one, and then at the
very end we take a last one and we compare
the three of them, and you can just tell in
their eyes and they're like, just the way that they're
expressing themselves in this photograph that they've truly changed. And
(24:53):
then that is really powerful for them and they can
start to reflect on what it is they've really grown
on and what they've learned. That's stuff. Well, that's something
I mean anyone can do for anyone listening you don't have.
There's those challenges. We take a picture of yourself every day,
but you can do every three months. I mean, if
you go through your own iPhone right now, you can
look at photos of yourself six months ago, and maybe
(25:16):
you were in a good place or a bad place then,
and you'll kind of feel it all over again, and
you'll know, Okay, I want to get myself back there,
or I want to never go back there again. You
don't realize what photography, what this art could actually do
for your soul. Yeah, beautiful. I guess I never really
thought about it. I mean when I do look at pictures,
like I just said, I will feel things, but I
never really thought about kind of doing it as an exercise. Well,
(25:40):
and photos are, like I said earlier, a moment in time,
and they're a memory that you could keep forever and ever.
And by looking back at photos, that gets something else
we can do with families. It's like we look at
family photos from back and how we can change or
go back to that, and it's it's motivation. But It's
different than fitness, you know, comparison photos, because it's it's
(26:03):
a feeling. I change the way that I look like
I feel like and and some people are more visual
and that photo really helps you see maybe I wasn't
a really bad place, or what is it that I
need to do to make that look so much better?
And it's not being vain, it's not being self absorbed
in your photo. It's truly seeing you know how you
(26:26):
look and how that expresses how you feel. It's all
about feelings. I'm loving this because I feel like I'm
learning you don't really think about regular people, don't really
think about photography this way, and I feel like you
are helping all of us look at a completely other way.
I mean, you've taken essentially to side hustles that no
(26:46):
one would ever ever in a million years really think
could go together, and you've smashed them together, and you've
done something amazing with both of them. I mean, think
about all the people you help every day, whether you
are doing just photography with them, they've come to you
from Facebook or wherever, or the teams that you are
working with. I think, like, do you ever stopped down
and think, wow, you know what, thank God for me today. Yeah,
(27:10):
especially when I'm like reading the reviews that I get. Um,
I think the last couple I've actually like sat there
and cried because right, because I've made changes in these
These have been boudoir clients, UM and one wedding, and
I've changed like their lives, like I've captured a moment
in their life that they want to savor and that
(27:32):
they want to like move forward from. And it's just
been really really cool. I mean, I had one lady
that was like, I've never felt more beautiful in my life,
and now I'm like motivated to do it again and
to see how I change throughout the years. I want
to do it every year, so I get like return
clients that way. But it really is amazing to read
(27:54):
those stories. And I actually am starting a plug through
my website because there was so much extra time to
do something else's going to be on the blog. So
at the end of every boudoir Um experience, you get
a questionnaire emailed to you and it's about what the
boudoir session was like. So it asks questions like how
(28:17):
did you feel before doing it, during it after, and
what would you tell other women about the session and
would you tell women to do it? Would you tell
women not to do all that kind of stuff? And
the boudoir the blogs is essentially about what real boudoir
is like and why you should do it. And it's
called real Women, Real Boudoir And they can find that
(28:38):
through your website. Yeah, it's right on my blog at
the top Andrea Michelle dash photo dot com and it'll
be up there. Yeah, And I'm about to post the
first one, which is my very first boudoir session ever. Um,
one of my favorite people, most empowering, Like she's been
through so much stuff that this boudoir session meant the
world to her. And so there's some really cool stuff
(29:01):
and it's it's not my story, it's not me writing
about boudoir. It's these women are writing their own blog
about their session with me. That's great and it's been
really cool to go through those questionnaires and have those
women allow me to share their photos and their stories.
You said you kind of have your time split equally
between photography and counseling. Do either ever get in the
(29:23):
way scheduling wise? Have each other learn? How do you
handle that? Sometimes? Um, sometimes I get caught at my
desk like talking on the phone to a photography client,
and I probably shouldn't, but I mean on my Google
it should be changed. Now. I have like I'm closed
during the week. I'm closed Tuesday through Thursday. And that
way I don't get calls. I make sure that I
(29:45):
don't answer calls or texts during the day from my clients.
And I have like a little thing that comes up
that's like I'm out of the office. I'll you know,
get back to you soon as possible. And that way
I'm giving myself boundaries you have because I don't think
I'd be able to function the way I am if
I let them bleed because it's just too much. Well,
(30:08):
the same way I know Tatum and I talked about
in the first episode about her magazine. The same way
she scheduled time to make sure in her calendar she
was working on the magazine. It's almost you have to
go the other way to make sure your scheduled time
to not do it or do the other stuff you
have to do. Yeah, I definitely do that. My planner
(30:28):
is crazy, highlights everything, and come to mind, I have
special colors for my break times, and I make sure
that I go for walks, and you know, I do
yoga twice a week, three times a week, and I
go to the gym still, but I schedule that in
so that I'm making sure that I'm doing it, because
if I didn't, I'd be stuck in from the computer
all day. I'd have a hunchback, my neck would be
(30:51):
sorry from holding my camera around my neck. So important,
it is so unbelieving important. I know. Sometimes when our
show ends, I've been in this studio for five hours
and then we'll actually go into another studio after the show,
which you were even here. When you were here, we
had to do this. It's almost like six hours of
being in these tiny rooms and now you're back, right,
I know, I'm back. But sometimes I'll literally catch myself
(31:13):
going to the bathroom after the show on my phone,
not doing anything, but just sitting on the toilet on
my phone, like I needed, I need a break. Yeah,
maybe going outside would be a little better than putting
myself in the bathroom. Maybe, but when it's raining in
the winter in Seattle, that's not happening. But it's true.
If you have to leave your desk or I know.
Andrew said he'll edit for his YouTube channel for like
(31:34):
twelve hours straight. He's got to take a break. He
needs to just mentally. Even though photography is kind of
my personal escape during always, Um, I can't do ten
women in one week. I have to make sure that
I'm spacing them out even though I'm you know, have
a high demand. I have to make sure that they know, no,
(31:55):
I can't do your photos in one week. Like that's
not how I do it. I still need time for
me and I need a break from photography sometimes it's
so much that, like, I don't want to lose my
creative like flow, and so I have to take that
break in that moment. If you're not mentally in that shoot,
(32:16):
you're thinking about the next shoot or all the stuff
you have to do when you're unorganized in your brain,
that experience for that woman is not going to be
amazing because you're not focusing on her or helping her
making her feel comfortable. And those shoots never I'm never
really happy with and I want to be happy with
my photos for those women too, So I have to
make sure that I'm having that space in that time.
(32:37):
Like on a if I do be due in the morning,
I make sure I go to bed early. The night
before and have time. I don't plan anything. I might
go to the gym, but like I hang out and
I watch a movie and I go to sleep because
I want to be there and I want to be
present for that woman, Like I don't want to be
just that floaty I'm hanging out with you like person Um,
(32:58):
I need to be my true self from my art
and I need to have that. You know that reset
button needs to be switched every time I go in.
I feel like I need to take a page out
of that. But I do my best to go to
bed early. But it's true, when you don't have sleep,
you're just you're almost like a waste sometimes, Like if
you're so exhausted, I know sometimes you can't help it.
(33:19):
But if you're so exhausted, you can't give your best,
no matter how much you're trying, no matter how much
coffee you drink, you're not going to be you. Yeah.
And if you get at least what is it more,
at least six hours you need, yeah, you'll be trust me.
I see a difference in the morning. I'm so much
more attentive. And if you're not attentive when you're taking
pictures of someone I don't know, shooting the ceiling, and
(33:42):
then I get frustrated and I don't like that feeling. No,
of course not. I mean if I'm shooting three or
four women in one day, those last couple of women, unfortunately,
we're not going to get the best work. That's just
how it is. And I and I'm honest about that.
I tell my women and if they want a specific day,
I'm like, nowhere or do you have some to you
that day? Like smart, you you need to have your
(34:03):
best experience and if you do it on that day,
you're not going to get it. You're like, you're human
and you can that to really any side hustle whatever.
It is. Just I guess small doses you're better off.
Your better Your work will be better in small does,
especially if it's creative. Yeah, And I think it goes
back to like what I said, I have boundaries, and
(34:24):
boundaries don't aren't just meant for between people. That's you
need to have boundaries within yourself and know how much
you can and can't do. You can have a side
hustle and work two jobs and all that, but you
have to know where that balance is in order to
actually function in your side hustle, Like, if you're side
hustling like hardcore, how is that your best work? And
(34:46):
how do you still have passion in that? I don't.
I don't understand how that's even possible. Like your passion
can only be there if you have that fire, and
if your fires dampened by being tired, where there's gonna
be no passion. Yeah, girl, I love it. Drop in
the truth songs, everyone's got it. I just void for
that like one to come out, and I'm like, Okay,
thank you for that. That's a great quote that will
(35:07):
be posted somewhere. Appreciate you for that one. So you
obviously have a lot. You're a mental health therapist or counselor.
You've got Andrea Michelle photo and you've got Andrea Michelle Boudoir.
Was there anyone in your life, whether when you were
going out on any of these ventures, that doubted you.
You don't have to tell me. Who oh yes, really yeah, way.
(35:31):
I knew you were going to ask this question because
I listened to the podcasts. I love this and it's
actually one that's kind of emotional for me. Um. I
had no support in anything. I had no support. I mean,
I had like my close family and my partner, um,
they were all really supportive of me going and back
and getting my masters. But even like all the way
(35:53):
back getting my bachelor's degree, I was constantly like getting
questions what are you gonna do with that? Like what
kind of job can you get with that? Where's the
money in that? Well? I don't understand people, and yeah,
and then when I went to go do photography full time,
that oh, you're going to be a brook starving artist
and you know, what are you gonna do with that?
And it was I had people pushed me away out
(36:15):
of their lives as soon as they found out I
did boudoir because it was too it was too racy,
it was too sinful to them, and it just was
like whoa, whoa, whoa, You're not like understanding this. And
it was really really hard for me to say shove
it to those people I know. And but that's like
what you have to do. If they're not going to
(36:36):
you're not hurting anyone and what you're doing first of all,
so they're not going to support you and what you love,
then what is the point of having them in your life?
And they're obviously filled with hate for some reason you
don't want that around, no matter what it is, whether
just in general. Unfortunately, some of these people I couldn't
really push out of my life, um family, and so
(37:00):
that made it even harder because I was like, Okay,
who out there actually believes in me? And that's when
I turned to the Instagram world and so definitely because
those are the people that truly want me to succeed. Um.
I mean, my my boyfriend has been amazing, um, helping
me get this side hustle going, and he's always like, oh,
(37:21):
do you have shoots this weekend? Are you doing this?
And I'm like, no, I'm taking a break, like calm down, um.
But that social media world has been so amazing and
the friends that I have in the arts, because without them,
I don't think I would be where I am because
(37:42):
constantly hearing what's that going to do for your life?
What's you know? Are you going to make money doing that?
It was so hard to get past that. I'm sure
I know a lot of people who I've talked to
it will say, you know, having that one hater or
that one person who doubted them kind of little fire
under them and made them want to prove them wrong.
But when you've got so many people telling you it's hard. Yeah,
(38:03):
it wasn't just one person. And I think that's what
makes this story a little different, is that I had one,
maybe two people supporting me. You're opposite real life. Yeah,
And I did have those moments where it's like, yes,
I'm going to do it to prove you wrong. But
being who I am and what I've been through, it
always came back to know, maybe they're right, maybe I'm
(38:25):
not going to make it um And so that Instagram,
those Instagram people like you and all those other people
like I met up with photographers this morning, and we're
also supportive of each other and wanting to help each
other succeed. That that is what kept me going. And
knowing that I'm helping these people. You realize now that
you have proved them wrong, right, I have good I've
(38:46):
heard it. I'm making sure have they said any have
any of those people some of them, Yeah, for sure.
They've been like, no, you don't really make that much
from that, nice suckers, and do you want to see?
And also I will not be taking any of your
photos ever, thank you. By Yeah, I don't bring my
camera to like family things or personal events because it's
(39:08):
different and I can't. I can't do that, like that's boundaries. Good.
Good for you. Oh my god, I hate these people
whoever they are. I want to give them no geas
and beat them up. For you, it's been it's been
a hard it's been a hard road with that kind
of stuff to support, and I still go through phases
(39:28):
where I'm like, I don't know if I'm good enough,
like police, and then like the likes on Instagram, you
always have to get more and more likes, and no,
I don't because that's not it's not defining who I am.
It's not demining my success. Also, Instagram is probably just
having a weird day where they're putting a random photo
or they've changed their algorithms exactly. That's what I mean.
So don't you can't, as much as I feel like
(39:52):
you want to say this every twelve year old, you
can't judge things by likes, but I mean, that's what
we're so used to doing at this point. But you can't.
You know, you do is amazing, And everyone who's listening
to this podcast right now is probably checked out what
you're doing. And if they haven't, they better go look.
You don't have to look at the boudoir photos while
your work safe when you're home, but Instagram is pretty
(40:12):
safe for like being out in public, yes, but not
the website. I didn't go that. Okay, no, but for real,
go look at the work that Andre Michelle is doing,
because it's it really is incredible and and from if
you're not from the Pacific Northwest and you look at
her photos, it's like, that is what it is here,
(40:35):
that's how gorgeous it is here. And if you have
no idea, if you've seen the crap pictures I've taken
and post it on Instagram, you they're nothing compared to
what she does. My my goal is to take pictures
in new places every time I go. I try not
to repeat places, you know, like when I go out
and do adventure stuff. Well, we have a secret spot
that we're My hand is finally free, so we're totally
(41:01):
going to go to get that outfit game on point right. Honestly,
that is my dilemma. How do you how do these
people pick out outfits when they shoot with you? Oh gosh,
I'm the least stylish person ever, um, which is so funny.
I'm an oxymoron. I guess. I mean I'm wearing a
T shirt with a flannel and jeans today, Like, but
(41:21):
that's like that's specific Northwest, UM for those like kind
of Pacific Northwest stuff. I'm just like, where what you
would wear that makes you comfortable that like you would
go out hiking in or um where something that's the
color of the place we're going. So, like the photo
should I did this morning was actually in a lows
hardware store what um. Those will be posted very soon
(41:46):
just because we were like, have you seen the Michael's Challenge? Yes, yeah,
so we did that but in Lows um. And so
we had the girl where like browns and beiges so
that it would like kind of be like the woods
of wood and like the lumber. And it turned out amazing.
And if you don't know what the Michael's challenges, it's
like the random teenagers started. So if you go to
(42:08):
like Michael's the craft Stower or what else is there?
There's a C. Moore if Facebtill exists, or Joanne Fabrics, Yeah,
there's um that wall of fake flowers. So what these
teenagers did is went to the store and took photos
where you just see like the person's head like a portrait,
like a school portrait, and the flowers and it legit
looks like yeah we did that, and lows and you
(42:30):
zoom out and you realize there in the middle of
a store with glass and lights. It's crazy. I can't
wait to see these. We haven't put it like a
lampshade on the model's head and like Messer, I was amazing.
Oh my god, we need to find who doing a
grocery store. Oh yeah, just like the cans. Yeah yeah,
I'm down. Oh my god, this is going to be
your new thing, the produce section very you can wear
(42:51):
any color. Now I'm back to what do I wear?
Look what you did? Oh man? Are their apps? Let's
go to the photography world. What apps do you have
on your phone that are you saved me? Because other
than Instagram that they save you. Oh the very first
podcast you did, the Magazine Lady. I can't remember her name, Tatum,
(43:12):
the Magazine Lady from now on? Oh yeah, what is that?
Because amazing? Think Andrew mentioned it too, and I won't
even download it right now. I love that app. I
originally was doing like rows of three images from the
same shoot every time and it was getting a little
(43:33):
bit like, oh cool, there's like a stripe of that,
stripe of that, but like the it really like makes
a really cool flow and like you can pick move
stuff around before it's already outposted. Yeah, and it has
your Instagram already loaded in it so that you can
like compared to what you've already Okay, So an example
(43:55):
if people don't know what we're talking about, if a
lot of brands do launches, you'll see on your feed
when they do, like you just get like bits and
pieces of a photo and you're like, and then you
go to their main page and you see all one
big image. Squares is one big You can use it
for that, but you can also use it to, I guess,
curate what you want your overall Instagram to look like,
(44:15):
so it makes your vibe right, I'm now downloading right now. Yes,
are their apps that you use for UM mental health
that people can use on their own or what what
is your go to? I don't have an app right
now because I go to yoga myself, so I don't
need one smart but there is um one that I
(44:37):
recommend to a lot of people. Oh my gosh, and
I'm blanking on the name. Um, it's a mindfulness app,
and if it really doesn't know what mindfulness is, it's
that like bringing yourself to the present and learning breathing
exercises help calm anxiety, and like meditation kind of stuff,
but not super duper hippie where you're like, oh, this
is weird. You know, there's a bunch of them I have.
I don't even use them. I have have meditation, but
(44:59):
I that's a paid one. I know. There's a camm app.
There's Yeah, there's a I don't know why I'm blanking
on the name of it right now, but it's a
really it's a really cool app and teenagers use it
and there's like games to calm me down and really
great stuff that they can actually use at school and
that some schools are okay with kids using because it
helps them bring themselves. That's amazing. Oh it's headspace. Yeah, okay, good,
(45:23):
we got it. I've actually might have headspace and I know, um,
they're on like some airplanes. I think Delta has it
in the Delta studio. You can watch some of them
and there's a sleep one so everyone just passes out
on the plane. Okay, Headspace and download that one. So
you're doing something super super cool that I want to
talk about because luckily this podcast, yes, we do it
(45:43):
here in Seattle and we've got awesome people in Washington
to listen to us, but we do have listeners all
over the country, which is wild thing. And you are
doing across country road trip basically cross country. Yeah. And
one of the things I saw you posting and I
was like, damn, this girl is awesome. You were posting
asking people wherever you live if you want to do
a shoot, reach out to me, because you obviously want
(46:05):
to grow your portfolio and not to shoot over. Where
are you going to? You're going from Washington to our
end destination is Minneapolis, Minnesota. Okay, So if you're kind
of along that line and you're listening, reach out to
Andrea because she wants she's looking for people to shoot. Yeah.
My route is actually in one of my highlights leave
(46:25):
on Instagram Instagram. Um, it shows our routes actually might
be backwards because we changed it. But I'll post another
one pretty soon that will show all of our stops
for stopping in like Yellowstone and bad Lands and three
things where I went Like it's so jealous. You have
so much fun and Glacier and all that, and even
in Minneapolis will have some time in a really cute airbnb,
(46:46):
which is awesome. And you're going to last week of July.
The last week of July. Yeah, I think it's the
one through the fourth of August. I think. I'm sorry,
I'm looking through what you I was looking through your highlights.
It was it there. I clicked too fast, So okay,
it's it's there somewhere. But yeah, if you're like looking
for a quick little portrait session or headshots in a
(47:08):
really cool place, like hit me up. Yeah, if you
were sitting in this whole podcast thinking, great, there's a
photographer in the Pacific Northwest. How can that help me? Bam,
she's coming to you. Oh yeah, hey, I'd even do
boudoir anywhere, like fly me out. It'll just be my
plane ticket extra, you know. Okay, Okay, I really think
I'm I think I want to do it. Yeah you should,
(47:29):
but I feel like I want people have to pay
for it. Can we sell them to play Boy? I
mean that would be great for you. Yeah. Well, I
don't know if I'm that racy, but I don't want
to be that racey either. There's amazing like women's empowerment
budoire magazines on Instagram that I take a lot, Like
(47:51):
Embrace magazine is a really cool one. Cool Embrace Magazine
hit me up. We could even just we can't even
talk to Tatum. Maybe they'll do a like spread on boudoir.
I'm just saying, look at that the side hustlers linking up.
And then we could get Tiffany from Sweepy Beauty here
in Washington and she could do I actually reached out
to her about doing your makeup for our shoot. I'm
(48:13):
like what, And she can do the makeup, and then
we can talk to Andrew uh, Andrew Coleman Smith and
he can do a behind the scenes YouTube. And then
we are incorporating my dad in this at all, no
pass unless he has any fashion tips for us. And
then oh we can have Kylie can sing the soundtrack
of the video. Here we go perfect. Oh my god,
(48:35):
I can't wait na have a side Hustlers party. I've
actually thought about doing a side Hustlers networking event when
this is big. We have more than five people to
show up, and one of them being my dad. I'm down.
We're going to do it. I'm down. Okay, Well, I mean,
do you have anything else in the world that you're
doing that people need to know about? No, you can't. Okay,
the good base place to go? I would say his
(48:55):
instagram right, yeah, Andrea Michelle Photo. Um, I will tell
her and stuff on my instagram if that's easier. Also,
you've got Andre Michelle dash photo dot com and you'll
be able to find her. Who do are so? Thank
you so much. I appreciate it. I hope everyone's listening.
I love this and again listening. If you have anyone
(49:16):
you like I should should talk to you. You know
where to reach out. It's the Carla Maurie at gmail
dot com or the Carla Marie on Instagram. Thank you
for spending so much time with us.
Oh today. That's how I've started every podcast, and I've
done it on accident at the beginning, and now I'm like,
this is the official start to Side Hustlers podcast. I
think this is episode five, um, and I'm really really
excited to tell this person's story. How we met in
the most random way possible, actually Instagram, which is apparently
the new way I make friends. Her story is incredible.
(00:22):
So say hello to Andrea Michelle. I keep going to
call you Andrea Michelle Photo, right, because that is your Instagram. Yeah,
it just gets stuck and I'm like, oh, okay, so
this is andre Michelle Photo. Actually no, that's not her
last name, right, And I keep wanting to call you
the Carlo Marie and I hope no. That's how we're
gonna address each other throughout the rest of this podcast.
So obviously you can tell she's going to be something
(00:45):
along the lines of Photo, but there is way way
more to her. First, let's talk about your quote unquote
day job, your current day job, the one you're doing
right now, not what you were doing a few weeks ago.
We'll get into that. So what do you do? I
am I'm a family and child therapist, So I work
with families that come in that have been through a
(01:06):
lot of stuff, and I work with kids to you know,
overcome their traumas and counsel them to be better people
in the future. Amazing. Now, is that something you've always
wanted to do? No, Actually, how did you get into it? Oh? Man,
that's a really long story, but I guess it goes
all the way back to my undergrad So I was
like in my early early twenties, I went to school
(01:27):
going for graphic design, which is totally different. Decided that
I thought the psychology class was so much better, but
I didn't know what to do with that. So I
just kept going with it though, because I loved it
and then ended up having to go to counseling myself. Yeah,
and that really like changed my whole perspective on what
psychology was. And so you had a positive experience. Oh yeah, totally.
(01:51):
I loved it. It changed my life. It changed my
perspective on everything, and it kind of clicked and I
realized that that was something that I could do. I
love listening to people, and I love telling people like
you don't like give and it's not giving advice, but
it's like guiding them, you know, helping them through things
that might be too difficult to go through on their own.
So you loved that so much you started doing it
(02:13):
and then recently you went through more schooling. Yes. Yeah,
I just graduated the middle of February with my master's
degree in mental health counseling, UM, specifically in child trauma
and family counseling. So that is what your current job
is now. Before that? What before you finished with that degree?
What were you doing? Well? I was. I didn't internship
(02:33):
for nine months. That was completely unpaid. Um that's how
you know you love. Yeah, Um, so I wasn't really working.
But before that I was doing community case management, which
is basically the same thing a little bit more intense.
But that year with nothing, I was full time photography
besides the internship. So when did photography start? Like, when
(02:54):
did your love your passion for taking pictures? When did
that come into your life? I have ways, and I'm
pretty sure every photographer says this they love I've loved
taking pictures since I was little, with my cell phone,
when cellphone tide cameras that were ready right and those
little point and shoots. I still have my very first
point I took a film photography class in high school
(03:16):
and that was where it was like like the Angels
came out and like the sun, and um learned how
to develop my own film, which was amazing. That's cool.
I see, I've always wanted to do that. Yeah, I
think probably from watching nine Shows and a kid. We
go into the red room and you did, and it's
totally like that. So you still do that. No, it's
(03:38):
really hard to do it nowadays because you have to
rent a space and it's pain. But digital photography is
just just great obviously. Yeah. I mean, and then my
friends throughout like high school and college, they were like,
you're really good at this, Let's go out and shoot.
And I started to just have fun with it and
shoot my friends and it just kind of was like, oh,
maybe I can do something with this and totally loved it.
(03:59):
When was the first time you got paid? Do you
remember to take pictures of someone? It was a wedding?
Why are you laughing? I feel like, well, weddings are
not something amateur photographers normally do as their first page.
I mean it was me by myself, an indoor wedding,
which is not easy lighting. I never thought about that.
(04:22):
And I had never had experience with that before and
I think that was in two So we in the
last episode of Sideheusers, we actually talked to Andrew Coleman Smith,
who does wedding videography, and he has said almost the
same thing, like weddings are just so intense you don't
want to be part of that, so stressful, so stressful.
And that was your first, like first time being paid. Yeah,
(04:45):
did a disaster happen or was it you were lucky
at all? I think I was lucky enough where it
was people that I knew, and it was a little bit.
They didn't have high expectations god, which looking back now
was like, oh good thing. They didn't have my expectations.
They had like the little black all around the edges
of the photos and selective colors so called photos black
(05:08):
and white. Oh my god. Yeah, I was getting wild. Uh.
But yeah, that was my first paid one, and now
eight years later, it's almost more than a side hustle,
I think for you. Yeah, I mean for the last
nine months I lived off of it. That's crazy. Yeah. Yeah,
it's me being a photographer and counselor. Which do you
spend more time doing. I think that's really hard is
(05:31):
depending on the week, it's equal, that's all. So are
they both your side hustle? The kind of are you
like just rolling with two jobs like a boss in here?
I think right now I'm rolling with two jobs. Um,
but I'm lucky enough for my nine to five is
a four day a week, eight to six, so I
(05:52):
don't have an extra day. That's awesome for photography. And
I can do all my business stuff on my lunch
breaks on my phone because it's all social media. That's amazing.
And by the way, if you want to check out
Andrea while I'm talking to her, you can go to
her website. It's Andrea Michelle dash photo dot com. Her
instagram is Andrea Michelle Photo and it's a N D
(06:13):
R E A M I C h E l L
E photo. I don't need to spell it. I guess
I P h O T O just in case it's not.
You never know. But there is another side, another Instagram
page that I guess branches out off of regular photography.
And you say the words, Okay, teach me how to
(06:33):
say it boo dwar. I can I can never say
that freaking word. I'm like wood. It's like I hear
it in my head and then I try to say
it probably gonna need your help even more, but that
you have that page as a separate page and you do.
Can I say sexy photos or is that completely? I mean, yeah,
(06:54):
I guess that's what it is when you bring it
down to bed room. Um, let's say sultry, sensual or
just boudoir. I mean, I mean I call it women's
empowerment portrait. Okay, that's what I call it. When did
that start? When didn't you start doing those pictures? That
(07:15):
was actually just about a year ago. Really. Yeah. I
was noticing a lot of my friends trying to, like
my married friends, trying to find somebody who would do
it for them, which has got to be awkward to
find a strange Yeah, and there's not very many out
there that like, actually do it and do it wow. Um.
And what I mean by doing it well is doing
(07:35):
yeah and not where it's like oh she's got lace
and leather and heels and oh she's got a men's
jersey on. Great, it's you know, do you make it
an art? Yeah? You really bring out I think when
you do it, you actually bring out the person in
the photo. It's not just like you're saying, just slap
on some sexy clothes that you don't feel comfortable in
because you never wear this kind of stuff and pose
(07:58):
like this is more okay, how do you feel sexy?
And you kind of run with that, and I love that,
and I asked that exact question, actually, how do you
feel sexy? Carl Murray? You got it? Let me be
your marketing or or customer service something, and I asked that.
I asked, what you know, what helps you feel sexy?
What makes you feel what about you do you feel sexy?
(08:19):
Like all those questions in a questionnaire before those women.
Even that's great, and I always meet with those women
right face to face because I don't want to be
that person that they just show up and half naked
in front of their or is that where you Where
do you usually shoot them? Oh? Man? So many different places.
I just got an apartment that I'm using as a studio,
(08:39):
which is super exciting. Yes, very very exciting. I'm still
furnishing it and that's really fun. Oh my god, I
want to help. I'll send you my my boards and
you can tell me what you think. I'm obsessing over
that right now, I'm obsessed with home decre to the
point where it's so overwhelming. I never know what I want.
I know, I went to Ikia on Saturday. That was
(08:59):
probably about Yes, So that's also making an investment is
something we've been talking about in a lot of these podcasts,
and I've learned that everyone has made an investment into
their side hustle, into their passion. And obviously getting an
apartment is a huge investment. Yes, yeah, well, especially because
(09:19):
there's all the things that go in an apartment. Exactly
what made you say, Okay, this is a good idea.
Obviously I'm going to spend money on it. Now I'll
make money an x amount of time. Like what was
that process? Like, well, it kind of came about where
I was spending so much money on hotel rooms and
airbnbs and you know, traveling to client homes. It was
(09:42):
costing me money, you know in gas and mileage, and
I was like, this is the same, right as just
getting a space. Yeah, and you can you don't have
to shoot food, damn it. You don't have to shoot
those photos there either. You can use that space for anything.
And I do, I mean I do. I work with
the skin care line right now. And yeah, and I
(10:04):
am doing other products stuff like T shirts and portraits.
And it's fun to be able to have that space
and be able to do whatever I want with my
art in my own space and I don't have to
go out and seek something. And to check out these
pictures that we're talking about, is it bout that I
say pictures or do you only say photos? Um? I
guess their picture, I mean their pictures. I feel like
that dumbs it down. To check out this amazing photography
(10:26):
for real, it's Andrea Michelle. I wrote it down so
I know how to say it. That's separate Instagram for
these photos. How did you start finding these clients? Like
obviously you're saying these women have to fill a questionnaire.
It's got to be weird almost for both of you. First,
how did you find them? Um? Well, originally it was
word of mouth and that's all it was. It was,
(10:48):
you know, I had a friend who had a friend
that wanted to do it. I have a friend who
has other friends that want to get married and want
to do it. And eventually I actually started a it's
a v I P private Facebook where women add their
friends to this group and all we talk about is
women's empowerment and feeling beautiful and lingerie and I will
(11:09):
totally add you. And there's fun, there's contests, giveaways and
fun little like you know, post your celebrity crush and
a gift comment like it's just fun because you know,
there's it's a safe place for women to talk about
Spacebook for something good. Yes, yes, And we talk about
so much like women's bodies and like how you don't
(11:31):
have to be thin to be on boudoir. You don't
have to be I love perfect person. Yeah. And one
thing you said, word of mouth, that's how people found you.
That's been a common theme in all of these podcasts,
from Tatum talking about finding people to promote and write
for the magazine. Uh, you know Tiffany with Sweetpea Beauty,
That's how she found clients when she didn't know what
the heck she was doing. My dad even talked about
(11:52):
word of mouth. That's how he got clients to hang
draperies and blind and even Andrew just the whole idea
of YouTube is really word mouth essentially a social media itself.
Is everyone's been doing that common theme. Do you think
that has been how you found the most people so
far for anything any of your photography. I think that's
(12:12):
how you get the most genuine work. And I say
genuine because I can get tons of clients on those
for sales sites on Facebook or sending out an ad
on Facebook or Instagram. But I have to have my
ideal client. I'm not just gonna take everybody, because you
never know what you're gonna get, even in a client.
And I think word of mouth has been the best
(12:33):
way to get real people who really want to support you,
and find more real people who want to support you
and pay your prices. That's really it. Those people that
you get on ads don't often want to pay your price,
especially you know mine where it's a little higher. And
these genuine people know the worth in your work. Yeah,
because you've got someone that they trust telling them I
(12:57):
worked with heart and it's awesome. You're hearing it from
a real person, not reading of like you're saying a
Facebook ad because you don't actually know what is going
on behind the scenes of the Facebook add and you're
talking to a real person who's done it, who's been there.
It's great. So obviously word of mouth is one of
the ways you get people. Do you get a lot
of people seeing your actual work on Instagram for boudoir
either for my other stuff that I call it wander
(13:21):
less work. Yeah. Um, it's more like the portraits, the
brands that kind of a lot of outdoor shoots too, Yes,
the actus. I love hiking and all that. It's like
being outside. I'm the your basic PNW you know, and
your purple hair to go with it. By the way,
just everyone knows she has purple hair at least. Yes. Yeah,
my profile actually is not up to date for that work. Yes,
(13:44):
Instagram is the way to go for paid boudoir work.
Facebook is really Oh yeah. I think it's because of
that v I P group that I have, Ok, that
makes sense. Yeah, and the ads that come out on Facebook.
Two people tag each other and it's more I think
that's more of a selling basis, where Instagram is more
of like a sharing a portfolio place. I mean, I
(14:06):
definitely get comments and things through Instagram, but it's not
as like thorough as Facebook or my website is. So
that's actually how we met really through Instagram. So I'd
say a few months after I officially moved here and
started morning show on Power I think you commented on
something probably that I postedly, and I was like, oh,
(14:28):
who's this because at the time I would really check
and I still check everyone's profile to see who they are,
where they're from. But we were dying to know if
people from Seattle were actually listening. And I was like, oh, Andrew,
Andrew Michelle photos this and I click it, and she's
from here and she's a photographer, and I was like, oh,
my god, herself is awesome and this is cool. She's
from here. And you were one of, if not the
(14:48):
first person that I remember following and commenting from here.
I told you that when I first met you, like
you have this special place in my heart. I followed
you back and I think we talked and I'm like, oh,
we gotta do shoot one day. I got to do this,
just back and forward on Instagram. Had something planned too, yeah,
and that I broke my hands. And then finally you
had downtime in between, um, finishing up your master's degree
(15:12):
and starting your job, so we had to come in
studio a few weeks ago, and um, you probably I'm
if I haven't posted already, I will be posting soon.
In the picture that she took of me, in studio
and you'll see that, but that's nothing compared to what
you do outside. It's amazing. But it's crazy that something
like Instagram not only should me your work has made
me want to go to you as a photographer, but
(15:33):
now I know you and now you're in studio on
my podcasts. Pretty cool. Yeah, I mean the connections you
can make on Instagram are so cool. I've met so
many awesome people down here in Seattle or back up
where you know. I live up in Bellingham, so it's
a couple of hours away, but all the people that
I've met in between just through Instagram has been so amazing.
One of my best friends I met on Instagram and
(15:54):
she lives in New Jersey now. She was in Chicago
at the time. It's so crazy. If we use social
media for of things, so many amazing things can come
of it. Yeah, get that way completely right. One of
the things that you were talking about was your camera.
How many camera you've had a You got a new
camera right recently. I think it was about a year ago.
I bought this camera. That's so it's newhere for me. Yeah,
(16:17):
say in the last eight years. Ago, was that you
started getting paid for photography. How many cameras have you
had in that time too? And that's but they last forever.
But they're expensive. Yeah, the cameras are expensive, the lenses
are expensive, lights, batteries, s D cards are expensive. People
don't realize, like your little point and shoot camera ain't nothing. Yeah, oh,
I know, we have to get these big chunky cards
(16:38):
that costs up words of a hundred dollars, and then
like hard drives for the computer and backups for those
hard drives you have to have, and all the services
in between that you have to have, like light room
and all that carries. It's gonna say, so what do
you use to edit the photos? Lightroom? I use light
room and photoshops, so don't be light room and photoshop.
And I mean I don't use photoshop as often because
(16:59):
I am in all natural photographer, right, you don't you're
not editing. Yeah, I mean I'll take out of pimple
or whatever, course, thank you. But light rooms for people
have no idea what that is. It's part of the
Adobe suite and it's to edit more of landscape lighting
type of gosh, I don't even know, like not techy
that way, Like how would you describe light room to
(17:19):
my mom. Light room is like a really more intense
Instagram filter, like perfect yeah, um, and you you can
edit things all the way down to the whites of
the eyes and all that cool stuff, and it's it's
an amazing thing. It's literally a dark room on your computer.
So everyone thinks when they have an iPhone, but they
(17:39):
are a professional photographer, you know firsthand, like, all right,
your phone may take a great clear photo, but portrait
mode ain't got nothing on what you can do. And
people think that. Do you think that people think photography
what you do is kind of obsolete or becoming obsolete
because of the iPhone, or you're just like, I know,
I'm safe, I'm not worried. Every once in a while,
(18:01):
it gets to the point where you think, oh my gosh,
is this ever going to last? But as soon as
you work with a client and show them, yeah, show
them really what it is that they're getting, or a
sample of your prints, because I do preat work too,
so I print everything and they're just gorgeous. There's something
that you can have. They're not something that you just
it's on your phone and just disappears in a couple
(18:22):
of years. Like, these are things that last for a lifetime,
not just a quick moment in time. So yeah, I
phone got nothing on, you know. And and that's actually
like a problem like with photographers. People get their pictures
and then they don't print them, and then they put
filters on my art. Oh yeah, it's it's been an issue.
(18:43):
But that's you know, why we have business protection, and
because if someone's posting something and tagging you and they've
edited on their own, that's not my art anymore, as
copyright taken away my work. Wow, I never thought about that,
is it. Photography isn't just clicking a moment. It's making
(19:04):
an art. Like the picture that I click isn't normally
what you're actually going to get. The picture that I
click is a little bit edited and changed and is
like a serious memory. It's not like, oh, hey, I'm
gonna tell you to take a selfie. I never thought
about that. That's definitely, I mean for anyone, whether you're
listening to this podcast because you want to do photography,
or you want motivation, or you're just a regular person
(19:26):
like me who's learning this for the first time. I
feel like that's something huge that a lot of people
can take away. You don't realize because we are so
used to taking pictures on our own that that is
your art. And by adding a super filter like I
don't know xx pro from Instagram, you're ruining your art. Yeah,
it just totally takes away from everything that I did
and those countless hours that I've done for you, you know,
(19:47):
for that client. It's just like thanks, Okay, I never
thought about it. You know, if you just wanted the
raw file, it could have just given it to you.
But yeah, one of the things, Um, you mentioned and
earlier about what you do, I guess your day job
or some days job would be, uh it's counseling or
mental health therapists. Do you think that photography really helps
(20:10):
you balance because those are completely different things. Photography, I say,
is my grounding. It's my way to kind of shake
everything else off. Um, after I'm done with a long
day hearing all these things that these kids come to
come to me with, and it's been a it's been
(20:31):
a way for me to heal myself through things, but
also really rewarding way for me to like express myself.
I'm hearing all these feelings and these emotions all day,
but I don't get to say it to anybody, and
my photography is my way of doing that, and posting
on Instagram is my way of like telling people how
I'm feeling that day and like getting it all out there.
(20:54):
And it's been such an amazing journey to find that
piece that like keeps me grounded and balanced for being
able to do this work every day. I did reach
a point in my old job in community case work
of burnout, which is where I was just tired every
day I would go home and cry. I couldn't even
take a picture. I couldn't like I wasn't a functional
(21:15):
human being and it wasn't worth being paid to feel
that way. And luckily that lined up right with my
internship that Yeah, I got lucky, and photography really helped
me get back on track. Also like find out who
I was. Yeah, well, a lot of people say who
are well? I have on this podcast that what they
(21:38):
do during the day is something they enjoy or it's
it helps, you know, do one part of their brain,
but their side hustle is their passion and maybe one
day they'll get to do that completely. But you're not.
You're okay with being split and splitting your time, and
this is what you want to do, Yes, for sure.
I never want to stop doing both one day. I
hope to combine the two eventually, and I've already started
(21:59):
to do that. Gonna say, oh yeah, I mean in
the doing boudoir and basically counseling these women every day.
But you don't have your teen's doing those No, no,
no no. These women is the only adults that I
worked on the Andrea Michelle photo side. You've got the
teens that you work with. Yeah, And and like I
(22:20):
was telling you before we walked in today, I've had
teen clients that absolutely fall in love with being in
front of the camera and end up finding their passioning
a model and then get these crazy cool things. But
also on the other hand, in the counseling world, I've
started to use photography as a technique and working with
teens who have been through a lot, photography has been
able to help them express themselves and the same way
(22:42):
you do, yes, even with just their iPhones like that.
And I know that kind of goes against what we
were just saying, um, but these kids really do find
the beauty in their real lives when they're given an
assignment to go seek out something beautiful or to seek
out something that means, you know what it is, what
expresses themselves in their real world, and it helps them
(23:04):
change their perspective even though they feel like life sucks.
You know, as a teen, life sucks, and if you're
going through so much crap that a lot of these
kids are going through, they need that outlet. And photography
has been a really amazing way for me to spread
that to those teens. But when you take photos of them,
do you think you're showing them themselves in a light
that they've never even seen before. For sure. I'm one
(23:27):
of those people that hates being in front of the camera.
I know you don't. You have to go very far
down on her Instagram to find her, so good luck.
Yeah it's pretty bad, but I hate being in front
of camera and the camera. Why don't you come in
front of my camera? Hey, I've done it a few times.
There's even on my bootour page a couple of pictures
of me. Oh I had a fine note, Well maybe
(23:49):
they're still up. I don't know. I have rainbow hair,
so it should be easy to find. Oh I did
see that. Yeah that was me. I skimmed through those.
I wasn't about to be like a creepie in all
these pictures. Maybe I'll do that one later. I didn't
need anyone want to buy the studio. We have windows here.
I'm like all on the phone looking at girls and
they're brawn underwear. I know. That's the good thing about
(24:11):
having a studio now is that I can reveal images
in private and not in public. That's amazing. Um. But yeah,
you show them themselves. Yeah yeah, and they're like, whoa
like a model? That's cool. Yeah. And one of the
cool things is, um, one of the assignments that I've
given teens like in therapy is take a picture of yourself,
not a selfie, like set a timer and take a
(24:33):
picture of yourself. And we did that at the beginning
of therapy, and then when we get a couple of
months in, we take another one, and then at the
very end we take a last one and we compare
the three of them, and you can just tell in
their eyes and they're like, just the way that they're
expressing themselves in this photograph that they've truly changed. And
(24:53):
then that is really powerful for them and they can
start to reflect on what it is they've really grown
on and what they've learned. That's stuff. Well, that's something
I mean anyone can do for anyone listening you don't have.
There's those challenges. We take a picture of yourself every day,
but you can do every three months. I mean, if
you go through your own iPhone right now, you can
look at photos of yourself six months ago, and maybe
(25:16):
you were in a good place or a bad place then,
and you'll kind of feel it all over again, and
you'll know, Okay, I want to get myself back there,
or I want to never go back there again. You
don't realize what photography, what this art could actually do
for your soul. Yeah, beautiful. I guess I never really
thought about it. I mean when I do look at pictures,
like I just said, I will feel things, but I
never really thought about kind of doing it as an exercise. Well,
(25:40):
and photos are, like I said earlier, a moment in time,
and they're a memory that you could keep forever and ever.
And by looking back at photos, that gets something else
we can do with families. It's like we look at
family photos from back and how we can change or
go back to that, and it's it's motivation. But It's
different than fitness, you know, comparison photos, because it's it's
(26:03):
a feeling. I change the way that I look like
I feel like and and some people are more visual
and that photo really helps you see maybe I wasn't
a really bad place, or what is it that I
need to do to make that look so much better?
And it's not being vain, it's not being self absorbed
in your photo. It's truly seeing you know how you
(26:26):
look and how that expresses how you feel. It's all
about feelings. I'm loving this because I feel like I'm
learning you don't really think about regular people, don't really
think about photography this way, and I feel like you
are helping all of us look at a completely other way.
I mean, you've taken essentially to side hustles that no
(26:46):
one would ever ever in a million years really think
could go together, and you've smashed them together, and you've
done something amazing with both of them. I mean, think
about all the people you help every day, whether you
are doing just photography with them, they've come to you
from Facebook or wherever, or the teams that you are
working with. I think, like, do you ever stopped down
and think, wow, you know what, thank God for me today. Yeah,
(27:10):
especially when I'm like reading the reviews that I get. Um,
I think the last couple I've actually like sat there
and cried because right, because I've made changes in these
These have been boudoir clients, UM and one wedding, and
I've changed like their lives, like I've captured a moment
in their life that they want to savor and that
(27:32):
they want to like move forward from. And it's just
been really really cool. I mean, I had one lady
that was like, I've never felt more beautiful in my life,
and now I'm like motivated to do it again and
to see how I change throughout the years. I want
to do it every year, so I get like return
clients that way. But it really is amazing to read
(27:54):
those stories. And I actually am starting a plug through
my website because there was so much extra time to
do something else's going to be on the blog. So
at the end of every boudoir Um experience, you get
a questionnaire emailed to you and it's about what the
boudoir session was like. So it asks questions like how
(28:17):
did you feel before doing it, during it after, and
what would you tell other women about the session and
would you tell women to do it? Would you tell
women not to do all that kind of stuff? And
the boudoir the blogs is essentially about what real boudoir
is like and why you should do it. And it's
called real Women, Real Boudoir And they can find that
(28:38):
through your website. Yeah, it's right on my blog at
the top Andrea Michelle dash photo dot com and it'll
be up there. Yeah, And I'm about to post the
first one, which is my very first boudoir session ever. Um,
one of my favorite people, most empowering, Like she's been
through so much stuff that this boudoir session meant the
world to her. And so there's some really cool stuff
(29:01):
and it's it's not my story, it's not me writing
about boudoir. It's these women are writing their own blog
about their session with me. That's great and it's been
really cool to go through those questionnaires and have those
women allow me to share their photos and their stories.
You said you kind of have your time split equally
between photography and counseling. Do either ever get in the
(29:23):
way scheduling wise? Have each other learn? How do you
handle that? Sometimes? Um, sometimes I get caught at my
desk like talking on the phone to a photography client,
and I probably shouldn't, but I mean on my Google
it should be changed. Now. I have like I'm closed
during the week. I'm closed Tuesday through Thursday. And that
way I don't get calls. I make sure that I
(29:45):
don't answer calls or texts during the day from my clients.
And I have like a little thing that comes up
that's like I'm out of the office. I'll you know,
get back to you soon as possible. And that way
I'm giving myself boundaries you have because I don't think
I'd be able to function the way I am if
I let them bleed because it's just too much. Well,
(30:08):
the same way I know Tatum and I talked about
in the first episode about her magazine. The same way
she scheduled time to make sure in her calendar she
was working on the magazine. It's almost you have to
go the other way to make sure your scheduled time
to not do it or do the other stuff you
have to do. Yeah, I definitely do that. My planner
(30:28):
is crazy, highlights everything, and come to mind, I have
special colors for my break times, and I make sure
that I go for walks, and you know, I do
yoga twice a week, three times a week, and I
go to the gym still, but I schedule that in
so that I'm making sure that I'm doing it, because
if I didn't, I'd be stuck in from the computer
all day. I'd have a hunchback, my neck would be
(30:51):
sorry from holding my camera around my neck. So important,
it is so unbelieving important. I know. Sometimes when our
show ends, I've been in this studio for five hours
and then we'll actually go into another studio after the show,
which you were even here. When you were here, we
had to do this. It's almost like six hours of
being in these tiny rooms and now you're back, right,
I know, I'm back. But sometimes I'll literally catch myself
(31:13):
going to the bathroom after the show on my phone,
not doing anything, but just sitting on the toilet on
my phone, like I needed, I need a break. Yeah,
maybe going outside would be a little better than putting
myself in the bathroom. Maybe, but when it's raining in
the winter in Seattle, that's not happening. But it's true.
If you have to leave your desk or I know.
Andrew said he'll edit for his YouTube channel for like
(31:34):
twelve hours straight. He's got to take a break. He
needs to just mentally. Even though photography is kind of
my personal escape during always, Um, I can't do ten
women in one week. I have to make sure that
I'm spacing them out even though I'm you know, have
a high demand. I have to make sure that they know, no,
(31:55):
I can't do your photos in one week. Like that's
not how I do it. I still need time for
me and I need a break from photography sometimes it's
so much that, like, I don't want to lose my
creative like flow, and so I have to take that
break in that moment. If you're not mentally in that shoot,
(32:16):
you're thinking about the next shoot or all the stuff
you have to do when you're unorganized in your brain,
that experience for that woman is not going to be
amazing because you're not focusing on her or helping her
making her feel comfortable. And those shoots never I'm never
really happy with and I want to be happy with
my photos for those women too, So I have to
make sure that I'm having that space in that time.
(32:37):
Like on a if I do be due in the morning,
I make sure I go to bed early. The night
before and have time. I don't plan anything. I might
go to the gym, but like I hang out and
I watch a movie and I go to sleep because
I want to be there and I want to be
present for that woman, Like I don't want to be
just that floaty I'm hanging out with you like person Um,
(32:58):
I need to be my true self from my art
and I need to have that. You know that reset
button needs to be switched every time I go in.
I feel like I need to take a page out
of that. But I do my best to go to
bed early. But it's true, when you don't have sleep,
you're just you're almost like a waste sometimes, Like if
you're so exhausted, I know sometimes you can't help it.
(33:19):
But if you're so exhausted, you can't give your best,
no matter how much you're trying, no matter how much
coffee you drink, you're not going to be you. Yeah.
And if you get at least what is it more,
at least six hours you need, yeah, you'll be trust me.
I see a difference in the morning. I'm so much
more attentive. And if you're not attentive when you're taking
pictures of someone I don't know, shooting the ceiling, and
(33:42):
then I get frustrated and I don't like that feeling. No,
of course not. I mean if I'm shooting three or
four women in one day, those last couple of women, unfortunately,
we're not going to get the best work. That's just
how it is. And I and I'm honest about that.
I tell my women and if they want a specific day,
I'm like, nowhere or do you have some to you
that day? Like smart, you you need to have your
(34:03):
best experience and if you do it on that day,
you're not going to get it. You're like, you're human
and you can that to really any side hustle whatever.
It is. Just I guess small doses you're better off.
Your better Your work will be better in small does,
especially if it's creative. Yeah, And I think it goes
back to like what I said, I have boundaries, and
(34:24):
boundaries don't aren't just meant for between people. That's you
need to have boundaries within yourself and know how much
you can and can't do. You can have a side
hustle and work two jobs and all that, but you
have to know where that balance is in order to
actually function in your side hustle, Like, if you're side
hustling like hardcore, how is that your best work? And
(34:46):
how do you still have passion in that? I don't.
I don't understand how that's even possible. Like your passion
can only be there if you have that fire, and
if your fires dampened by being tired, where there's gonna
be no passion. Yeah, girl, I love it. Drop in
the truth songs, everyone's got it. I just void for
that like one to come out, and I'm like, Okay,
thank you for that. That's a great quote that will
(35:07):
be posted somewhere. Appreciate you for that one. So you
obviously have a lot. You're a mental health therapist or counselor.
You've got Andrea Michelle photo and you've got Andrea Michelle Boudoir.
Was there anyone in your life, whether when you were
going out on any of these ventures, that doubted you.
You don't have to tell me. Who oh yes, really yeah, way.
(35:31):
I knew you were going to ask this question because
I listened to the podcasts. I love this and it's
actually one that's kind of emotional for me. Um. I
had no support in anything. I had no support. I mean,
I had like my close family and my partner, um,
they were all really supportive of me going and back
and getting my masters. But even like all the way
(35:53):
back getting my bachelor's degree, I was constantly like getting
questions what are you gonna do with that? Like what
kind of job can you get with that? Where's the
money in that? Well? I don't understand people, and yeah,
and then when I went to go do photography full time,
that oh, you're going to be a brook starving artist
and you know, what are you gonna do with that?
And it was I had people pushed me away out
(36:15):
of their lives as soon as they found out I
did boudoir because it was too it was too racy,
it was too sinful to them, and it just was
like whoa, whoa, whoa, You're not like understanding this. And
it was really really hard for me to say shove
it to those people I know. And but that's like
what you have to do. If they're not going to
(36:36):
you're not hurting anyone and what you're doing first of all,
so they're not going to support you and what you love,
then what is the point of having them in your life?
And they're obviously filled with hate for some reason you
don't want that around, no matter what it is, whether
just in general. Unfortunately, some of these people I couldn't
really push out of my life, um family, and so
(37:00):
that made it even harder because I was like, Okay,
who out there actually believes in me? And that's when
I turned to the Instagram world and so definitely because
those are the people that truly want me to succeed. Um.
I mean, my my boyfriend has been amazing, um, helping
me get this side hustle going, and he's always like, oh,
(37:21):
do you have shoots this weekend? Are you doing this?
And I'm like, no, I'm taking a break, like calm down, um.
But that social media world has been so amazing and
the friends that I have in the arts, because without them,
I don't think I would be where I am because
(37:42):
constantly hearing what's that going to do for your life?
What's you know? Are you going to make money doing that?
It was so hard to get past that. I'm sure
I know a lot of people who I've talked to
it will say, you know, having that one hater or
that one person who doubted them kind of little fire
under them and made them want to prove them wrong.
But when you've got so many people telling you it's hard. Yeah,
(38:03):
it wasn't just one person. And I think that's what
makes this story a little different, is that I had one,
maybe two people supporting me. You're opposite real life. Yeah,
And I did have those moments where it's like, yes,
I'm going to do it to prove you wrong. But
being who I am and what I've been through, it
always came back to know, maybe they're right, maybe I'm
(38:25):
not going to make it um And so that Instagram,
those Instagram people like you and all those other people
like I met up with photographers this morning, and we're
also supportive of each other and wanting to help each
other succeed. That that is what kept me going. And
knowing that I'm helping these people. You realize now that
you have proved them wrong, right, I have good I've
(38:46):
heard it. I'm making sure have they said any have
any of those people some of them, Yeah, for sure.
They've been like, no, you don't really make that much
from that, nice suckers, and do you want to see?
And also I will not be taking any of your
photos ever, thank you. By Yeah, I don't bring my
camera to like family things or personal events because it's
(39:08):
different and I can't. I can't do that, like that's boundaries. Good.
Good for you. Oh my god, I hate these people
whoever they are. I want to give them no geas
and beat them up. For you, it's been it's been
a hard it's been a hard road with that kind
of stuff to support, and I still go through phases
(39:28):
where I'm like, I don't know if I'm good enough,
like police, and then like the likes on Instagram, you
always have to get more and more likes, and no,
I don't because that's not it's not defining who I am.
It's not demining my success. Also, Instagram is probably just
having a weird day where they're putting a random photo
or they've changed their algorithms exactly. That's what I mean.
So don't you can't, as much as I feel like
(39:52):
you want to say this every twelve year old, you
can't judge things by likes, but I mean, that's what
we're so used to doing at this point. But you can't.
You know, you do is amazing, And everyone who's listening
to this podcast right now is probably checked out what
you're doing. And if they haven't, they better go look.
You don't have to look at the boudoir photos while
your work safe when you're home, but Instagram is pretty
(40:12):
safe for like being out in public, yes, but not
the website. I didn't go that. Okay, no, but for real,
go look at the work that Andre Michelle is doing,
because it's it really is incredible and and from if
you're not from the Pacific Northwest and you look at
her photos, it's like, that is what it is here,
(40:35):
that's how gorgeous it is here. And if you have
no idea, if you've seen the crap pictures I've taken
and post it on Instagram, you they're nothing compared to
what she does. My my goal is to take pictures
in new places every time I go. I try not
to repeat places, you know, like when I go out
and do adventure stuff. Well, we have a secret spot
that we're My hand is finally free, so we're totally
(41:01):
going to go to get that outfit game on point right. Honestly,
that is my dilemma. How do you how do these
people pick out outfits when they shoot with you? Oh gosh,
I'm the least stylish person ever, um, which is so funny.
I'm an oxymoron. I guess. I mean I'm wearing a
T shirt with a flannel and jeans today, Like, but
(41:21):
that's like that's specific Northwest, UM for those like kind
of Pacific Northwest stuff. I'm just like, where what you
would wear that makes you comfortable that like you would
go out hiking in or um where something that's the
color of the place we're going. So, like the photo
should I did this morning was actually in a lows
hardware store what um. Those will be posted very soon
(41:46):
just because we were like, have you seen the Michael's Challenge? Yes, yeah,
so we did that but in Lows um. And so
we had the girl where like browns and beiges so
that it would like kind of be like the woods
of wood and like the lumber. And it turned out amazing.
And if you don't know what the Michael's challenges, it's
like the random teenagers started. So if you go to
(42:08):
like Michael's the craft Stower or what else is there?
There's a C. Moore if Facebtill exists, or Joanne Fabrics, Yeah,
there's um that wall of fake flowers. So what these
teenagers did is went to the store and took photos
where you just see like the person's head like a portrait,
like a school portrait, and the flowers and it legit
looks like yeah we did that, and lows and you
(42:30):
zoom out and you realize there in the middle of
a store with glass and lights. It's crazy. I can't
wait to see these. We haven't put it like a
lampshade on the model's head and like Messer, I was amazing.
Oh my god, we need to find who doing a
grocery store. Oh yeah, just like the cans. Yeah yeah,
I'm down. Oh my god, this is going to be
your new thing, the produce section very you can wear
(42:51):
any color. Now I'm back to what do I wear?
Look what you did? Oh man? Are their apps? Let's
go to the photography world. What apps do you have
on your phone that are you saved me? Because other
than Instagram that they save you. Oh the very first
podcast you did, the Magazine Lady. I can't remember her name, Tatum,
(43:12):
the Magazine Lady from now on? Oh yeah, what is that?
Because amazing? Think Andrew mentioned it too, and I won't
even download it right now. I love that app. I
originally was doing like rows of three images from the
same shoot every time and it was getting a little
(43:33):
bit like, oh cool, there's like a stripe of that,
stripe of that, but like the it really like makes
a really cool flow and like you can pick move
stuff around before it's already outposted. Yeah, and it has
your Instagram already loaded in it so that you can
like compared to what you've already Okay, So an example
(43:55):
if people don't know what we're talking about, if a
lot of brands do launches, you'll see on your feed
when they do, like you just get like bits and
pieces of a photo and you're like, and then you
go to their main page and you see all one
big image. Squares is one big You can use it
for that, but you can also use it to, I guess,
curate what you want your overall Instagram to look like,
(44:15):
so it makes your vibe right, I'm now downloading right now. Yes,
are their apps that you use for UM mental health
that people can use on their own or what what
is your go to? I don't have an app right
now because I go to yoga myself, so I don't
need one smart but there is um one that I
(44:37):
recommend to a lot of people. Oh my gosh, and
I'm blanking on the name. Um, it's a mindfulness app,
and if it really doesn't know what mindfulness is, it's
that like bringing yourself to the present and learning breathing
exercises help calm anxiety, and like meditation kind of stuff,
but not super duper hippie where you're like, oh, this
is weird. You know, there's a bunch of them I have.
I don't even use them. I have have meditation, but
(44:59):
I that's a paid one. I know. There's a camm app.
There's Yeah, there's a I don't know why I'm blanking
on the name of it right now, but it's a
really it's a really cool app and teenagers use it
and there's like games to calm me down and really
great stuff that they can actually use at school and
that some schools are okay with kids using because it
helps them bring themselves. That's amazing. Oh it's headspace. Yeah, okay, good,
(45:23):
we got it. I've actually might have headspace and I know, um,
they're on like some airplanes. I think Delta has it
in the Delta studio. You can watch some of them
and there's a sleep one so everyone just passes out
on the plane. Okay, Headspace and download that one. So
you're doing something super super cool that I want to
talk about because luckily this podcast, yes, we do it
(45:43):
here in Seattle and we've got awesome people in Washington
to listen to us, but we do have listeners all
over the country, which is wild thing. And you are
doing across country road trip basically cross country. Yeah. And
one of the things I saw you posting and I
was like, damn, this girl is awesome. You were posting
asking people wherever you live if you want to do
a shoot, reach out to me, because you obviously want
(46:05):
to grow your portfolio and not to shoot over. Where
are you going to? You're going from Washington to our
end destination is Minneapolis, Minnesota. Okay, So if you're kind
of along that line and you're listening, reach out to
Andrea because she wants she's looking for people to shoot. Yeah.
My route is actually in one of my highlights leave
(46:25):
on Instagram Instagram. Um, it shows our routes actually might
be backwards because we changed it. But I'll post another
one pretty soon that will show all of our stops
for stopping in like Yellowstone and bad Lands and three
things where I went Like it's so jealous. You have
so much fun and Glacier and all that, and even
in Minneapolis will have some time in a really cute airbnb,
(46:46):
which is awesome. And you're going to last week of July.
The last week of July. Yeah, I think it's the
one through the fourth of August. I think. I'm sorry,
I'm looking through what you I was looking through your highlights.
It was it there. I clicked too fast, So okay,
it's it's there somewhere. But yeah, if you're like looking
for a quick little portrait session or headshots in a
(47:08):
really cool place, like hit me up. Yeah, if you
were sitting in this whole podcast thinking, great, there's a
photographer in the Pacific Northwest. How can that help me? Bam,
she's coming to you. Oh yeah, hey, I'd even do
boudoir anywhere, like fly me out. It'll just be my
plane ticket extra, you know. Okay, Okay, I really think
I'm I think I want to do it. Yeah you should,
(47:29):
but I feel like I want people have to pay
for it. Can we sell them to play Boy? I
mean that would be great for you. Yeah. Well, I
don't know if I'm that racy, but I don't want
to be that racey either. There's amazing like women's empowerment
budoire magazines on Instagram that I take a lot, Like
(47:51):
Embrace magazine is a really cool one. Cool Embrace Magazine
hit me up. We could even just we can't even
talk to Tatum. Maybe they'll do a like spread on boudoir.
I'm just saying, look at that the side hustlers linking up.
And then we could get Tiffany from Sweepy Beauty here
in Washington and she could do I actually reached out
to her about doing your makeup for our shoot. I'm
(48:13):
like what, And she can do the makeup, and then
we can talk to Andrew uh, Andrew Coleman Smith and
he can do a behind the scenes YouTube. And then
we are incorporating my dad in this at all, no
pass unless he has any fashion tips for us. And
then oh we can have Kylie can sing the soundtrack
of the video. Here we go perfect. Oh my god,
(48:35):
I can't wait na have a side Hustlers party. I've
actually thought about doing a side Hustlers networking event when
this is big. We have more than five people to
show up, and one of them being my dad. I'm down.
We're going to do it. I'm down. Okay, Well, I mean,
do you have anything else in the world that you're
doing that people need to know about? No, you can't. Okay,
the good base place to go? I would say his
(48:55):
instagram right, yeah, Andrea Michelle Photo. Um, I will tell
her and stuff on my instagram if that's easier. Also,
you've got Andre Michelle dash photo dot com and you'll
be able to find her. Who do are so? Thank
you so much. I appreciate it. I hope everyone's listening.
I love this and again listening. If you have anyone
(49:16):
you like I should should talk to you. You know
where to reach out. It's the Carla Maurie at gmail
dot com or the Carla Marie on Instagram. Thank you
for spending so much time with us.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!