The Boudoir Summit 2024

Unpopular opinion: the boudoir industry is healing generations. 

At least the way we do it. 

Now while I don't fully identify as a modern boudoir photographer ("Empowerment photographer" has been the closest I've been able to get to describing what I do), the boudoir industry as a whole is coming together for a single purpose - to elevate the consciousness of every human they encounter (and to maybe smash a little patriarchal conformity in the process but that's another post for another day.) and I DEFINITELY identify with that.

Last week I embarked on an adventure that brought me face to face with my purpose in the form of the first ever Boudoir Summit in Palm Springs. Boudoir photographers from all over gathered for the purpose of education, support, sisterhood, and of course some shenanigans. (what world changing gathering doesn't have some of those?!) Organized by North America's only boudoir specific print product company, The Boudoir Album, this evolutionary team comprised of three key team members, Craig Lauder, Laryssa Shooshan, and Emily Brown, took on a task that even the most experienced event coordinators, marketers, and business owners would consider ballsy as f*ck.  

Let me take you back to April 2024. I had received an email from the folks from TBA looking for educators for their first Summit which I almost deleted. Despite having been in the game for 13 years I had never educated on that level let alone locally, but I saved the email and slept on the thought. Two days later I decided to put forth my idea of photographing women over 40/50. I had no idea what it was going to look like but it was one of the most common topics I saw folks posting about in all of the popular boudoir focused Facebook groups. I mean, I HAD spent the last 2 years completely immersed in the topic. So much so that I had niched my business down to that specific genre. As the famous saying goes, "fuck it" and I hit send (actually it's “you miss 100% of the shots you don't take” but same thing). To my surprise, just a few short weeks later, I got the official email that my topic had been chosen. Holy shit, it was happening.

The weeks leading up to the Summit I think I disassociated a little. I also had a lot going on like a brand new portrait series and other sessions which kept me centered yet distracted. It wasn’t until I went to get my nails done that I finally let the excitement sink in. I have a hard time celebrating myself and being loud about it. I am highly aware that this stems from a childhood of bullying where anything I did to draw attention to myself or my talents was immediately ammunition for other people. Over the last 2 years I’ve been learning a lot about these responses, how they affect my interactions with other people and how to regulate those emotions that bubble up when I’m feeling overwhelmed and out of place. I can truthfully say that this entire experience was the absolute best of my career so far which is a testament to the self work I’ve been doing. (yay therapy! lol)

Not only was I attending the Summit as an educator but as an attendee as well. And after spending the previous days attending workshops by the unmatched Shannon K Dougherty and queen of moody boudoir Hannah Rachael, it was my time to shift from attendee to educator. I have never felt the inner peace I felt that morning waking up at 4:30am to meet my model in hair and makeup. It was the most incredible sensation to know that whatever happened, I was meant to be exactly where I was, doing exactly what I was doing. My heartfelt thanks goes out to my three attendees who found value in my subject and were eager to have conversations surrounding aging women in media. And to my model Amy Peacock for joining in on those conversations.

I can openly admit now that the process of course creation, marketing, and planning was, at the time, extremely uncomfortable for me. I’m the type of person who has to envision the final result before I can start creation which doesn’t work well when the thing you’re doing is literally being formed as you’re doing it. I got frustrated, discouraged, and even thought about bowing out MANY times but I had asked for this and the Universe said “absofuckenlutely” so I pushed through and I’m so glad I did because my brain “gets it” now. I am also incredibly grateful for the patience of Emily and Laryssa from TBA. They were also going through the creation/growing “pains” in real time while managing 18 educators, the majority of whom were new to educating on this level, and a plethora of attendees which must have been completely overwhelming. If you two are reading this know that I appreciate you so much for taking this on and being so patient.

So all of this to say, if you’ve made it this far, take the fucking chance. Bet on yourself regardless of how uncomfortable it’ll make you feel (growth in fact happens in the uncomfortable places) and don’t bow out because you might have feelings of not belonging in a space. If you’ve been invited, you better believe you belong. I can’t wait to see where this goes from here. Of course I have the educator buzz now and want to teach everyone everything I know but I’m going to take the month to process what I’ve learned and create from a space of that same peace I felt walking down that hotel hallway.

See you at the next one!
xoxo,
Chantelle