I thought it would be important to share a brief snippet of my story. Being comfortable in my skin and loving myself is always something I struggled with. For years, I battled anorexia. It consumed my life and is still a daily battle. No one ever wants to hear of a skinny girl’s struggle but eating disorders are real and all consuming. I was bullied a lot in high school over my eating disorder and constantly called ugly and bullied which just fed into it even more. I got to a point where if I ate, I would punish myself with self mutilation. I obsessed over calorie counting that it controlled my life even into my first pregnancy. The residual effects of it still haunt me, I’m an extremely picky eater and sometimes just looking at food makes me physically ill. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard “you need to eat a burger” to someone who is struggling, that’s not okay. And if you look at my pictures, I have a lot of scars. At 19, I started battling different stages and forms of skin cancers, my last surgery was this past summer. The eating disorder, the cutting, the scars and cancers plus the fact I carried three babies had really taken a toll on my body and my self esteem, but I think it’s important to understand that you are only given one body in this life, and you have to embrace it and love it. And hopefully through my story, I can inspire others to battle through their demons and start to love their bodies too.

Did anything change about how you see yourself?
For the first time in years, I felt like my own person again. Being a housewife and mom of three (2 of which are really little), I feel so consumed in doing everything for everyone else that doing something for myself made me feel like a person again! And that I am more than just a mom and wife.

What was your initial reaction to the images?
At first, it was awkward seeing pictures of me like that. I’m not a sexy person at all, I’m actually a pretty big dork that loves to laugh so seeing a sexy, sultry side of me photographed was different but in a good way. Katie did an awesome job making me look hott. I loved the images and couldn’t wait to send them to my husband.

How did you feel before your session? What were you most nervous about?
I felt anxious before. I was nervous about being the worst “model” Katie would ever have, worried about not knowing what to do and super worried about the reaction from my husband.

Any advice for others looking to do a shoot?
Just have fun with it! Browse Pinterest and get ideas of what you’re looking to do first. Katie is awesome at bringing ideas to life. It really is a lot of fun and a totally comfortable environment.

How did you feel before your session? What were you most nervous about?
I was extremely nervous. I talked to my best friend the whole ride there. I would say I was most nervous about my face being that I look different than everybody else.

What was your initial reaction to the images?
I was completely shocked, I didn't believe it was myself.

Were you happy with your hair/makeup? Why/Why not?
My hair and makeup looked amazing. With my face being different makeup is actually a hard thing for me. But she listen to exactly what I wanted and what I needed for my face not to look lopsided even more.

Did anything change about how you see yourself?
Yes, I guess we all have this view on how we think we look. But to be able to look at yourself from the outside on how other people see you makes you step back and have a different perspective.

Any advice for others looking to do a shoot?
Don't think about it. Just do it. It's completely worth it.

Miss D was a little late for her session, so our hair/makeup artist kicked booty and got her glamed up in no time. She was pretty nervous since she didn't have as much time as other girl have to warm up while they get their pamper on.. But she KILLED her session. She is gorgeous! I'm excited to share her photos with you, and some of her words about her experience..

What was your favorite part of the entire boudoir experience?
The feeling I get when I see my photos each time. I was in the new studio and while getting my makeup done besides thinking how kind and understanding everyone was, I thought —-WOW what an empowering thing for woman :) Katie is a genius!!

How did you feel after your session?
So relieved that I had it in me to go through with it. More comfortable in my skin since I can remember, confident that my husband and I were going to love this project. Mostly though very impressed of Katie who never batted an eye when I ran late, who juggled kids and work seamlessly that afternoon and the whole while was incredibly under the weather. She kept a smile on and nailed it all anyway. We woman often do that in our lives. Sometimes it’s nice to have a reminder that struggle is not yours to bear alone. Woman should be doing more to lift one another up. Katie definitely does that.

Did anything change about how you see yourself?
Volumes. There isn’t just one thing and sometimes it still seems like I’m looking at someone else. We woman get so used to how we see ourselves or how we’re thought to see ourselves throughout our life, at it can be quite a shock to have that changed for you.

Any advice for others looking to do a shoot?
The feelings are real, apprehension, not attractive enough, shy, scared, not in the budget right now (I let that one be my excuse for a year)! This is an invaluable experience . At the end of the day you can’t buy self confidence but you can definitely ask for some help getting there. This was that help for me. I think everyone deserves to have this experience at least once.