Personal Archives - The Boudoir Divas

Does anyone read our boudoir blog any more?

By boudoirdivasadminPersonal, Sales & Contests, Workshops

I’m guessing probably not since we never update it. He he. But today we had the urge to do just that, give whoever it is out there who may still take a peek at this boudoir blog a little update on us and our business. (Side note, I did just check our analytics and plenty of you folks do take a lookie at this blog. So hey now, we’re even more motivated to write this post).

Because of our silence on this blog, it may have seemed as though we dipped out of the photographer spotlight that we were so grateful to for so long. But it’s with good reason. After 8 years of that ‘put your head down, work your booty off’ season of your life, Kimberlee and I decided it was time to reap a little bit from what we sowed. K really reaped her harvest, pumping out two gorgeous children in two years (see evidence of that incredible feat below). Arie and Maelee are such a blessing to us, I can’t wait to get them into trouble and have lots of adventures with them & K when they are older.

And as for me (Marissa)… I meandered the globe taking in all kinds of amazing sights and sounds, one of those things that’s necessary after even the most amicable of divorces. I roamed South East Asia with a kindred spirit for a month, hit up my second home in Paris twice with Kimberlee and friends (not literally MY second house, I wish)! I lived in the bellows of a cruise ship for a few weeks with a friend hitting up every port in the Caribbean (that was actually my favorite), hiking the trails off Cinque Terre in Italy, and even doing big Yosemite Half Dome hike. And I even did a little good, creating this video and fundraising campaign for a hero of mine. I’ll pop the video in my ‘show and tell’ collage below. And, last but not least, and so necessary in all break ups, the cutting and dying of my hair 😉 All the while we were taking care of our studio (Kimberlee mostly remotely) and just kinda rolling with it. Still doing some pretty dang cool things photography wise if we do say so, again, evidence below.

So all that to say, you didn’t see us around, cuz, well, we were too busy kinda living the simple(ish) life for awhile. Taking time to raise a family and be present, and travel the world, all the while so grateful to the staff at the studio who was okay with me just popping into the studio an average of about 30 hours a week at that time. Erin taking care of all the typical biz owner’s responsibilities, so much love for her.

But then something happened around January. The wind shifted, and all of a sudden here we are again. In drive mode. And once again we were all about that very hands on biz life. Myself especially, really putting every bit on my focus on the studio.

And when you focus, it pays off. Last month our boudoir studio had one of it’s most successful months ever (if we don’t count the times we do our big annual sale – and we don’t actually count that sale in our monthly gross). In just one month, June 2016, we grossed over $31,000.

And all in that time frame of ‘aha’, we also saw some of our past boudoir workshop attendees killing it! That got us even more excited! This is one of the most rewarding parts of being educators in this industry: seeing our teachings being implemented, and turned into success stories! There are a ton of you, but a few of the most notable ones that we see out there are Jen Rosenbaum and Denise Birdsong, just doing amazing things. Then we got a few workshop testimonials that just hit us…. for instance Jenny Taylor wrote us this on Facebook: “Hi. Just wanted to stop by and say thank u for all the informational advise you have put out in the world. 7 years ago when I started you were so inspirational and still are today! I owe some of my credit to you.” I love how all of us boudoir photographers cheer each other on. It’s infectious.
boudoir business
And messages of gratitude from other photographers keep coming in, on a regular basis. And then we thought, man, we have all these resources that are still SO valuable, especially our new online workshop. We need to start telling the newer boudoir people about this stuff.

I mean after the success of last month, my goodness we REALLY want you all to know how we did it. So all that to say, please stop by our shop and see all the updated resources and then do check our newly launched, more affordable than ever Online Boudoir Workshop which we’ve broken down into pieces. Use PROMO CODE: AUGBLOG to get an additional $35 off your online workshop purchase. Expires Aug 31, 2016.

So now I welcome you to the show and tell portion of this blog post. Here our studio decided we wanted to add some flair to the back of our studio (see all our shinanigans at @theboudoirdivas …..

A recent outdoor boudoir shoot, styled with Peggy of @feathersandfox
boudoir outdoor
My gorgeous biz partner and bestie, Kimberlee, and her sweet new adventure in mamahood….
boudoir divas studio
Some of my faves from my wanderings,
marissa boucher boudoir
Meet my hero Josie, it was an immense honor to tell her story in the Philippines….

Paris photo shoots for our clients this past May 2016, email us if you wanna know when the next trip is!
We also gave away a trip to Paris and a photo shoot packages to a lucky client! Kirsitie Ennis won the drawing. See www.parisgiveway.com to see how we did it!
boudoir paris
Meet the awesome Jenny Chambers! She flew all the way to Paris for a mentor session. We talked shop then went out and photographed a model together! This is the stuff dreams are made of.
paris boudoir

August 1, 2016

Love6

She’s here!

By boudoirdivasadminPersonal

Hi everyone! K here today – just wanted to drop in and write a quick post to let you all know that we have a new ‘Baby Diva’ here. My new baby girl arrived this past week and I am already SO in love. A week later than her due date, she entered the world with just 4.5 hours of labor, start to finish. It was an intense day but gosh she is SO worth every moment. She’s such a precious little thing (although, 9lbs 2oz isn’t SO little), and she is already melting our hearts. It is incredible to see how your heart can expand and find room in it to love another baby. Daddy, big sis, big brother, and I are all loving having her home and figuring out our new normal. Thanks to all of you who have already sent over sweet notes on social media! Being a mom + business owner at the same time is something I’m still learning how to maneuver – it has been such a fun/crazy/hectic juggling adventure these past 2 years, and I feel like I’m going to have to learn all over again to get into my ‘groove’ with a toddler and a newborn. But I am super excited about this new stage of life, and also looking forward to new adventures and projects on the horizon with the Boudoir Divas!
Kimberlee West

February 21, 2016

Love4

Baby #2 on the way!

By boudoirdivasadminPersonal

If you follow us on social media, you will have already seen the news – but I am excited to officially announce that I will be welcoming baby #2 into our family in early 2016… and it’s a…. GIRL!!! I’m already halfway to our due date, so crazy that it’s gone by so quickly. We are thrilled to be expanding our family with another girl (my stepdaughter is over the moon about having a sister). And although my son doesn’t understand what’s going on, he does give my belly lots of kisses and talk about the ‘bebe’ in there.

This news is also the reason why we needed to change/postpone our Boudoir Retreat dates for 2016! But don’t worry, we ARE still planning on a Retreat for the summer. There are only 12 spots available, so if you’d like to get in on this, be sure to sign up for the waiting list. We’ll be emailing those people first (a week early) to let them know that registration has opened, before we announce to the world. 🙂 Can’t wait for what 2016 has in store – both in my personal life, and also for the Boudoir Divas (we have a LOT going on, if you didn’t see our last blog post go watch the vid to see what we’ve been up to!) PS – is it crazy that I just found out the gender yesterday, and I already started a Pinterest board this morning?!! 😉

September 25, 2015

Love1

6 Years in Paris

By boudoirdivasadminBoudoir Photo Shoots, Paris Boudoir Workshop, Personal, Speaking Programs2 Comments

It’s hard to believe I am saying this, but yea, Kimberlee and I have come to Paris for six years now either leading workshops or doing photo shoots. And now we are here again! Excited to see what this year holds for us as we set out to shoot two wonderful studio clients in this mind blowing city. Earlier today we were reminiscing and thought we would share our Parisian escapades with you lovelies. If you were ever there with us we’d be honored if you commented! (You have to go to the actual post by clicking on the header to comment fyi).

2009 was our first try at this Paris thing. This was one of the bravest things we’ve ever done. We were like 26 year old little squirts (with terrible fashion sense) who wanted to lead a group of photographers in Paris, teaching them and creating community with them. We led a boudoir photography workshop for 12 ladies, who traveled to Paris from the US and a few from Europe! We were nervous, and SO relieved when everything went off without a hitch. Oh this was also the era of K and I wearing matching things ALL the time. What the? This was also the year we decided to force our workshop attendees to create a music video with us, which you can watch here… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRYRKIb_Tb4 After our workshop, we also took an epic roadtrip through northern France and Brugge.

2010. Or as we call it, “The Year of The Volcano.” We took on a lot this year as we planned for two back-to-back photography workshops with 14 people in them each! We rented a beautiful, to die for apartment in the Trocadero Arrondissement, and we even brought our moms out to help and have fun with us. Alas, a volcano filled the skies with tons of ash, stopping all air travel for about a week, and only about half of our attendees made it out. We were beyond disappointed. BUT for those who were there, man did we have a great time. All those who missed out ended up attending a workshop in San Diego or in Paris the following year. See the video here…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLVX0Xk8vrk
2012!!! Two workshops back-to-back, held in Le Marais Arrondissement of Paris. We really felt ‘in our grove’ this year and really understood how to navigate this crazy city. Afterwards K and I went on a road trip all over France. Incredible times, to say the least.

2013. We were asked to speak for GNPP in Tours, an awesome photography organization for the talented photographers here in France. We piggybacked it with a photo shoot of our friend Tenley. See the videos…. Sunny Day and Eiffel Tower.

2014
Last year we created a beautiful video/photo shoot with one of our loves, Christine Penny. This woman inspires and motivates us and she booked this package with us so that we could collaborate and create a dreamy kinda ‘day in the life of a fabulous entrepreneur in Paris’ visual story. Her video is one of the pieces we are most proud of. This is the year that K’s little man (just 3 months old at the time) traveled with us as our travel buddy.

2015
We are here again this year, and we couldn’t be more excited. This year we have two beautiful clients traveling here for their own photo shoots on the streets of Paris. Jennifer & Jessica are two friends who wanted to have a fun experience together, and we are honored to be able to be a part of this dream for them.

2016
While we are here prepping for our photo shoots this year, we have already been talking and dreaming about what is going to be in the plans for 2016. We love doing photo shoots and will probably book a couple more again for next year. But then we’ve also been dreaming about possibly hosting a ‘reunion workshop’ here – for any PAST attendees (who have ever come to a retreat or workshop, either in Paris, SD, Vegas, or Miami). So we’re putting this out there to all of you past attendees – would you be interested in coming for a Paris Reunion??? If so, please email us and we’ll start putting together a waiting list. xoxo, M&K

May 1, 2015

Love5

Shaking it in the Philippines

By boudoirdivasadminPersonalNo Comments

I, Marissa, have to tell you about this non-profit called Kusewera. Here’s their wonderful mission “Our mission is to empower and educate children in impoverished countries through active and creative play. We create affordable humanitarian service trips for people of all walks of life, so that they can personally help implement the Kusewera Empowerment & Educational Program (K.E.E.P.). We organize activities such as sports, dance, music and art. This sustainable year-round program empowers the children to learn, laugh, play. We hope to empower the children to pursue goals, dream for a better future and be positive leaders in their community. We encourage and invite anyone to volunteer, and in turn, gain valuable perspective while making a long term difference in the lives of the children.”

I was invited to join this group with one of my closest friends, Tenley Molzahn. She and I met when she had a shoot with our studio in 2010. Since then she has been one of K and my most awesomest friends (in fact she’s even my neighbor and she went to Paris with us!). What a trip this was….

I meant to write this post when I returned from my trip in October, but you know…. life. It happens. So here I am now looking for a few of my fave pics to post to tell you what an INCREDIBLE trip this was. This was my first humanitarian venture where I wasn’t asked to photograph it, so to say the least, I was stoked. WAIT, don’t get me wrong, I love being able to serve with my talents, but being behind the lens always leaves me feeling a little disconnected while documenting other people playing and interacting with their new friends. So I was ready for this new take on this type of trip where I felt like I could really goof off with kiddos.

All that to say, sorry for the quality of some of these images…. I was too busy having fun and DANCING!!!

10421616_10202877888173530_50899384686875962_n

I truly fell in love with the Philippines. I felt so at home with all the friendly faces, the weather, their customs, their BEACHES (omg)! This trip was such a reset and reminder that there are billions of people that needs our help and resources and hope that I never forget that and am intentional with the way I live my life, in hopes to make a small impact. If you are looking to to do something like this, I STRONGLY recommend you look into a trip with Kusewera.

One of our “play” assignments was teaching a dance to these kiddos! We had about 30 minutes to teach them this cute little number and man did they get into it. Here’s the end result.

I still have more stories to tell, and I so, so, so plan to return and hope to teach a photography and business course to a group home of girls that I fell in love with. I’ll will be sure to fill you in when that’s a little more on the horizon with that.

Thanks for reading and be sure to shake it off, shake it off.

Can’t stop won’t stop mooovin’- Marissa

January 6, 2015

Love1

Help us send Marissa to the Philippines!

By boudoirdivasadminPersonalNo Comments

Remember that awesome hand made gown we photographed in Paris?! Well we’re putting it up on auction! This October, Marissa is planning a humanitarian trip to the Philippines with the non-profit group Kusewera. She’s auctioning off that amazing Parisian striped tulle dress to support her effort. Now’s your chance to bid on these one-of-a-kind items! Help her make a difference and support this amazing cause!

This hand-made Striped Dress with tulle skirt is great for photo shoots! The tulle skirt can be worn alone or under striped dress. It’s been photographed by The Boudoir Divas studio in Paris on two separate editorial shoots. Both items are beautiful and timeless! Listing also includes a 12×18 thin wrap print of Hotel de Ville photo, shot by The Boudoir Divas.

Place your bid here! XOXO

September 4, 2014

Love1

Things are changing….

By boudoirdivasadminPersonalOne Comment

When we were young 20-somethings, our imaginations ran wild with the possibilities for this vision that was our photography business. But what began as a grand dream in our minds, we matched with some serious will and hard work. Persistence doesn’t even come close what would describe what when on the countless times we were knocked down, made mistakes or just plain worked through the exhaustion. We had a vision and we wouldn’t stop until we saw what was so brilliantly clear in our minds as a functioning, beautiful reality. We wanted to create our own little castle, a lovely little kingdom that was authentically ours. That the rest of the world would see as “The Boudoir Divas,” the world’s largest and most sought after boudoir studio, but we would see as something that was totally our little universe. A world where women could enter, feel amazing, learn what it meant to embrace their own skin and unique beauty, and have one of the best days of their lives in the process. Through the years we were honored to hear over and over how a woman’s shoot was the mark of a new chapter in her life that was titled, “Self Acceptance.” Our little world was so loved and we were, and are, incredibly grateful to all of the women who have trusted us so willingly.

Our little world…… 6500 sq feet, 7 full time staff members/photographer/artists, 500+ shoots a year. Adding crazy photo shoots all over the world, having people from as far as Hong Kong flying in for a shoot or to learn from us, traveling and speaking to other photographers showing them pieces of what’s possible and how to get it. If we are unabashedly honest in our content, well it was electrifying to pour out hearts into our art and have it so well-received. What more could or would an artist ever ask for? I think the answer to that is nothing. They would ask for nothing.

But if you are like us, if you think in pictures, if you see the world as an open sketch pad just waiting to put your pen to it, then you will never harness your imagination. You just have to let it keep creating. When one creation is done, you revel in it, you enjoy it, but then you turn the page and go on again. But this time around the artist sees things differently. What was important to her is still VERY important, but it has changed a bit. Mainly because her medium has changed, her brushes or tools are different, and an artist is nothing if not resourceful and ready to adapt. She loves the challenge of using the best pieces of the beauty that is currently around her.

This is exactly what happened to us. Our lives are different and change is in the air. A lot has been happening in our lives, and we are excited about all of the big changes that are taking place. It’s actually very simple, all of it. And my goodness is it colorful, risky, and exciting. Instead of continuing in this gorgeous chaotic world that we call our BIG studio, we were inspired by the words in the quote above, and we are changing-up our business and our studio a bit. We will be leaning-out, freshening up, condensing, and reinventing The Boudoir Divas. We won’t be doing as many shoots, but we will remain just as profitable. We are the same crazy-entrepreneurial-minded-business-women-best-friends. None of that has changed. But we are ready to reinvent and give a new look to the San Diego studio.

We are learning that you need to embrace the simple in order to enjoy the extraordinary. Now for us crazy dreamers (who, mind you, still have a lot of long-term crazy dreams), when we were talking about this new direction for the studio – for a few minutes, ‘scaling down’ felt a little like ‘going in reverse.’ But if we keep our focus and continue pursuing our big dreams, we know that the opposite is actually true. Sometimes in order to move forward, you have to take a small pause and decide what changes need to be made in order to jump into that next season of life. Our hope and big dream is to open more Boudoir Divas studios someday, and in order to do that we need to create more time to focus on just that. And in order to create more time, we need to get the San Diego studio more streamlined, and give it a fresh new look, or facelift, if you will.

Not to mention… with this change, we are going to create a little more time to explore life. What’s the point of hitting your goals if you don’t take the time to relax and enjoy them?! Life is so sweet right now. Kimberlee is enjoying mamahood in Washington. I am planning my next wanderlust adventure. We are blessed beyond measure.

So what exactly is getting sketched up on this blank page you wonder? Well, we currently rent two suites that make up the 6500 sq feet of our dreamy little castle – upstairs and downstairs in a huge building in San Diego. So we are now consolidating into one suite, currently under massive reconstruction, putting up walls, windows, lofts, doors. Creating all new sets, with hopes of going from a kitschy look to a very fresh, modern look.

We move into this space on July 26th. So we have about a week to paint, host the biggest yard sale in the history of Sorrento Valley, move our entire offices downstairs, and build our new sets to be up and running on August 2nd. It’s going to be a challenge, but this little family can hustle like NO other, and I think we are all excited about the task at hand. Hard work has never intimidated these beauties we roll with.

Let the new adventure begin, chin chin!

PS. We JUST LAUNCHED our San Diego Boudoir Retreat and Miami Workshop/Consults/Shoots.

July 8, 2014

Love1

Quite possibly our blogs biggest news ever….

By boudoirdivasadminPersonal, Press & NewsNo Comments

So um, REALLY big news……Kimberlee HAD A BABY boy!!! I know, I know, there wasn’t much build up about it, well unless you follow us on that thing called Facebook. And even then it was a little under the radar. Here is my theory, K is really great about posting about all thing business, marketing, ME, etc. But when it comes to her, well she gets a little camera shy. I tried to get her to share some of the exciting and very eventful things in our lives lately: her freaking cute nursery, her kinda epically adorable pregnant belly (plus great figure, which let’s be honest is a little annoying), her and her hubs so sweet family sessions with the baby belly and on the list goes on. But as good as this girl is about cheering on the rest of the world, she really seeks no attention herself. So I am saying all that to say…. that I FINALLY got her permission to post a photo of this OUTRAGEOUSLY beautiful little creature, Arie Chandler, who entered the world on Feb 1st at 4:54 am. He was 8lbs, 14oz, and 22 inches. We have a baby!! Oops, scratch that, KIMEE has a baby!! My bad. And I am going to love him like he’s my little nephew. I am so happy that K is healthy, that he is healthy, and that she has such a wonderful hubby, who I should probably mention at this time cuz he was kinda a big part of the whole thing. Thanks for being our “someday your Prince will come,” Prince Eric. That day you met and won us over, I mean won Kimee over, at our suite at WPPI in Las Vegas, you swept her off her feet (which let’s be honest, not that easy to do, she was rightfully picky) well that was an amazing day for all that love her. Look at what God can bless us with. Love you guys (Arie I love you more, but shhhhh, that’s between us). – M

February 18, 2014

Love2

I didn’t chicken out… #believeinbeauty

By boudoirdivasadminPersonal7 Comments

Marissa here!

It’s done……….and so therefore I can’t “un-do” it. Because people know it’s been done. And then I would look like I panicked. And for the most part, I am a fairly confident person. So “un-doing” it would ruin that whole idea I have of myself in my head. See my past blog post if you are wondering what the heck I am talking about 😉

So I am a pretty conservative-ish person, and yes I am a boudoir photographer. And I have this thought, if I want to run a boudoir studio that’s known for being the most conservative/private boudoir studio, I can’t be showing my own boudoir pics. Like here I am conservative biz-owner and here’s me in my undies.

Not that I would really want to anyway but just like all our other clients, I have some SERIOUSLY hot ones that impress even me, so once in a while I have gotten excited about the thought of showing a pic of me at my best, a wowzers boudoir pic. But it’s just not in the cards for me. As well as for my personal modesty reason and the afore mentioned reason.

HOWEVER….

For years now we have been wanting to do a BIG and very HONEST before and after piece on a client. But we are always VERY weary of before and afters. Especially posting them on FB etc. (side note, don’t please don’t get me wrong, we TOTALLY see why other studio do them). But our overall fear is that it looks like we are saying, “hey look at this girl who is “beautiful” NOW because of US.” And we worry that this would bring us amazing monetary gain, while perhaps hurting their feeling (sometimes, not always, please don’t think we are bashing other boudoir studios, this OUR reservation). The before and afters we do have of the gals you see on our website or FB are our close friends, and signed up for the task with no reservation. Understanding the scope of how, why and when we would use them.

So back to that project we wanted to do. Like I just explained, we decided that we couldn’t ask a friend or client to look like total crap in terrible light on video in their skivvies. So in a moment of bravery, and a desire to take charge of my mind (see the video for the full story)…. I did it! Ah!! While I feel very vulnerable expressing my un-confident inner thoughts (and my cellulite) in this way, certainly far from the glamorous ways I once fantasized about showing off a boudoir pic or two, I think that if it can help some other gals overcome the same thoughts I am having, then it serves a purpose. I try really hard to live honestly, if I am going through things, I share them. I never want to act like I have it all together, leaving others to feel isolated. So here it is…. my current thoughts…. and what I am doing about them…

January 6, 2014

Love1

I almost chickened out…

By boudoirdivasadminPersonalNo Comments

Marissa here. So I am working on a new video project called, “What light do you see yourself in?” It’s a step in a crazy direction for me. It’s very honest, and it’s also very revealing in many ways. The other day I was editing and I said to myself, forget this, I don’t want to do this anymore. I quit Final Cut with no real intentions of opening it to finish this project I had been dreaming of doing for the past few months. Then something happened, a little voice clicked on in my head that said, you have been a lot of things, you have made mistakes, but being a coward was never one of them. It was a resonating thought. And it continued to resonate till I got the car later and heard this song. Then I knew the thought wasn’t a fluke, I was being taught a lesson by the universe.

So with that I leave you with the fun news that we will be launching a little bit more of a provocative video than we are accustomed to. IF I am brave enough 😉 (Maybe this post was written in a hasty moment to be sure I don’t chicken out) -xoxo – M

December 19, 2013

Love0