In this episode of The Art of Imperfect Adulting, Amy Stone speaks with Sabrina Harrison about body image, self-acceptance, and the transformative power of boudoir photography—both behind and in front of the lens. Joining from Westminster, Colorado, Sabrina shares her personal experience of gifting boudoir photos to her husband, which unexpectedly became a journey of reclaiming her own confidence and reshaping her photography business. The conversation explores how images impact self-concept, the realities of postpartum body changes, and actionable strategies to build self-love.

About Sabrina Harrison: Sabrina has a degree in photography from the University of Virginia. She moved to Colorado in 2016 with her husband and 2 dogs. She is currently working as a boudoir, retreat, and branding photographer in Westminster, Colorado. Sabrina is a huge reader and personal development junkie. She loves skiing, hiking, tea, tacos, and eclairs. Sabrina is the proud mother of 3 children, 2 bio and 1 bonus. Sabrina is a seasoned expert in confidence coaching and brand strategy, dedicated to empowering individuals to embrace themselves and unlock their potential through art and capturing their true essence behind her lens.

Main Topics Covered:

1. How boudoir photography can become an act of self-love and empowerment.
2. The emotional journey of stepping in front of the camera as a photographer, including vulnerability, trust, and letting go of control.
3. The impact of postpartum body changes on confidence and identity, and how photography can help reframe these experiences.
4. Specific techniques for cultivating self-acceptance, including affirmation strategies and mirror work.
5. Challenging social beauty standards and learning to see yourself with compassion.
6. How Sabrina’s personal photo session led her to niche her business and help other women transform their own self-image.
7. The philosophy behind presenting images as a “kinder lens” compared to self-critique.
8. Practical tips for anyone feeling critical or uncomfortable in front of a camera, starting with small steps and mindset shifts.

Quote from the Episode: "This is literally looking at myself through a kinder lens than I do maybe in the mirror. And I really wanted to try to create that for other people." — Sabrina Harrison

Timestamps: [00:00:05] — Welcome & introductions; Sabrina shares where she calls home [00:00:30] — Warm-up questions on Valentine’s Day gifts and personal preferences [00:02:18] — Episode focus: the meaning behind boudoir photography and Sabrina’s story [00:02:49] — Sabrina’s roots in photography: family legacy and first camera memories [00:06:10] — The origin story: deciding to gift boudoir photos to her husband after childbirth [00:07:47] — Insights from Rumi: action creates clarity [00:11:00] — What is boudoir photography? Sabrina explains the spectrum of style and comfort [00:12:00] — Facing nerves and the reality of body image post-baby; not being documented in family photos [00:13:13] — Surrendering creative control; empathy for clients’ experience [00:16:06] — How the experience unexpectedly transformed Sabrina’s business [00:17:16] — Shedding mental baggage and embracing new self-love postpartum [00:19:15] — Common body image fears, dysmorphia, and how photography can heal [00:21:25] — Confronting “imperfections” vs. seeing yourself as you are through photos [00:24:37] — Uncovering childhood limiting beliefs and the emotional impact of being photographed [00:28:03] — The ongoing process of building confidence and putting yourself out there [00:29:49] — First impressions of seeing photos: relief, pride, and letting go of old stories [00:31:16] — From personal transformation to business niche: helping others love themselves [00:34:07] — Sabrina’s approach to client self-confidence: mirror work, neutral affirmations, and ask-formations [00:36:10] — Where to find Sabrina Harrison Photography online and details of her free confidence workshop for listeners [00:37:36] — Fun closing questions: travel tips, online shopping, and favorite low-stakes holiday movies

ABOUT THE SHOW: The Art of Imperfect Adulting elevates the voices of experience by sharing real stories from real people figuring out adult life. Every episode features honest conversations about life's choices, changes, and challenges—interviews with individuals (not celebrities) who share their personal experiences and insights. Through these authentic stories, listeners find validation, motivation, and inspiration for navigating their own path through modern life. Because there's a big difference between expert advice and shared experience, and hearing another person's lived experience helps us feel less alone in our own situations.

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Welcome to the art of imperfect adulting. Sabrina Harrison, are

you ready for a fun chat? I'm so ready. Thank you so much for

having me. I'm happy you're here. I start all my conversations

asking everybody the same repetitive question. What part of the world do you

call home? I live in Westminster, Colorado, and if you're

not familiar with Colorado, that is a suburb in the Denver area.

Very cool. Next warm up question. Before we get to the topic of the day,

although I cheated a little bit on this one with you, how do you feel

about Valentine's Day presents? I

think that they should not be compulsory.

But personally, with my own relationship, I think that

it's really nice to have an opportunity to

show that person, person that means so much to you, how special they

are or to decide to spice things up and

kind of split the script if you've been in a longer relationship, maybe you know

what I'm talking about. So, like, I don't love

the compulsory nature of it, and I don't think that you should

necessarily have to get flowers or chocolate. But I do

think that it's an amazing opportunity to show yourself some love.

And I do think it's an amazing opportunity if you do have a wonderful partner,

to show them love too. How do you feel about it? They're sort of the

same. I have a rebound reaction to, like, any,

any day that's like, today is the day that you must do this. Like, it's

like, you know, but that's just me being me. And then

with regard to, like, Valentine's Day, like, I am not

a flowers person. Like, because. And my reason is

really dumb, but I feel badly for the flowers.

What about potted flowers? No, that would be different. That would be different. But

when people give cut flowers, especially on Valentine's Day, where they're frozen for a long

time because it's the biggest flower day of the year. It's like, hi, here, have

something that's gonna die. I killed this plant for you. Like, I know

that I'm a weirdo with that. That's like totally. Like, I don't expect anybody else

to. If you come to me and you're like, amy, that's dumb. I'm like, I

know, I know. But nonetheless, go straight to chocolate. Drive through.

All right. Exactly. Exactly. All right. So

in this conversation today, we're going to talk about photography.

Specifically, you are a working professional photographer, But

a few years ago, and we'll talk about it, you actually hired someone to take

pictures of you, which is always a fun Thing to be the

client in a thing that you are normally professional. That took you down a

path of self exploration and I think it even changed some stuff about your

business. Are you ready to talk with me about that?

Yeah, let's dive in. All right, let's do it. Let's back up. Before we

even talk about this photo session. Do you remember how old you were when you

first discovered an interest or passion or affection

for photography? Ooh, I think

that it's actually in my genes. My grandfather was a professional

photographer with a studio and so

I grew up with my dad, who very much got it from him, like,

hey, your hips don't bite. Everybody get together. That kind of thing.

And I have a very well documented childhood and wedding and everything.

So I and like my siblings are very much into

photography. I think it's just, it's just something that's all in our blood.

Family business. Family business. All right, so then,

do you remember what your first camera was?

Oh, that's a good question. My first camera that was

actually mine was a. Was a Canon film

camera. That's how when I was in college, I got

a new camera for photography classes

and we were still shooting with film. But what we would do

then, because it was like cusping on the digital age, was we

would take. We would develop the film and then

scan the film to Photoshop. And I

know you're a photographer too, so you maybe remember. I do, I

do. And then edit it from there in Photoshop.

Yeah, yeah. So I, yeah, I started with black and white film and in

the dark room and then definitely went through the phase where we,

when I was like when back when I was still working for

publications, we would shoot color film and then

scan it for the newspapers and the magazines.

And so yeah, no, I totally. I still have buried

in my closet somewhere like some of the cassettes and things from the darkroom at

one point. So they sold off my school oriented school. They eventually

sold off all their enlargers from the darkroom and I bought one and

did nothing with it for like forever. And then finally like gave it to a

school nearby. But I. It was so fun. Dark rooms were fun. Anyway, off track,

off track. But one more silly photo nerd question. If you had to go

the rest of your life with only one lens

to use forever and ever in all situations, what would it be? It would be

a 35. That is my choice too. 35.

1.4. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. I've got a razor

sharp 35 millimeter. And I personally

love being that distance from a client, which is

a pretty, like, personal distance, so that I can give a lot of

direction and communicate a lot. Um, I know that, like, wedding

photographers love like, a 7 to 70 to 1 20, so that they

can kind of get bird's eye view and more like editorial

candidates. But when I'm working with a client, it's like, I'm

very much helping them with every single detail. So I want to be able to

be close to them. Yeah. And I no longer do client work. So for me,

the 35, you get a bit of the perspective, you know, not that I wouldn't

also, if I was going on safari, be like, please send me with a 400.

Okay, so off that. Off that topic. All right, so very great.

I would rent it. I would rent it. I would. I would

rent it. I would borrow it. I would hit up anybody who I knew and

be like, let me take yours. I'll buy it if I break it. So

for your. For your husband's 40th birthday, this is the

event that kicked off this discussion. You made a decision that you were

going to give him some photos of you as a present.

Tell us about where the idea for this present

came from. Like, so put yourself before this, and what was the thought

process going into through your mind? Like,

I'm going to give him some photos of me. So I

was already working as a photographer. I was taking pictures of, like, babies

and seniors and pregnant women and families and just anything

that came my way. So photography was already, like, kind of

top of mind, but I was more like behind the lens.

And so I wasn't very well documented at that moment

in time. And I felt like it

was a very personal present. Like, anyone could give him a.

A new, like, dress shirt or a

mug or whatever. I'm literally the

only person that could give him this gift of me.

And so I love that that was the case that I was,

like. It was a unique thing that only I could do for him.

And I've had a chance to, like, really think about, like, that moment in

time. And I found a roomy quote that I actually think really

encapsulates, like, my feeling about it.

Rumi said, as you walk on

the way, the way appears, clarity does not come

before action. It comes from action. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. So I, like, I had a knowing

that I was, like, ready to reclaim my body.

I was postpartum and, you know,

going through that whole journey with children and

nursing and, like, having your body not be your own. I

was just, like, kind of freshly on the other side of weaning my

second child. And so I

was like, I was ready to take a leap into the unknown,

and I was ready to, like, really show my husband how much I

loved him. But the clarity actually came from the

doing. The clarity. I didn't have a ton of clarity when I did

it. Does that make sense? Well, for me, it does. But I'm a

person who's kind. I feel like that's one of the messages that I shout from

my little perch here, isolated in my cocoon of production.

When people ask me about starting something new, people seem

to always really want to have a conclusion and have

it be perfect and know that it's going to work before they start. And I

just kind of say. I'm like, I don't even think that's possible. I say, you

know, you've got to create enough of it and get it further out there to.

To even know, like, it's gonna. Doesn't happen until you do it.

You don't know. You can, you know, read about,

you know, walking or running or doing things and study it

forever and ever, but you won't know what it's like to do it until you

try, you know, like. Yeah, and so I, like, I think that

that's. And it is. It is a. A mindset shift

and an awareness. And Rumi says it so nicely and poetically, like, it's hard

to do stuff. I'm sure it's like, I don't know what's going to happen if

I jump off this cliff. I don't know if the water is cold, but you

won't know, like, until you do it. And that's where the clarity

comes from. You won't even know by watching other people. So somebody jumps off the

cliff in front of you, that's reassuring that they make it

right. Right. But if they know rock there.

But they might be like, hey, the water is cold. And you're like, all right,

I understand that. I know what that is. No, you don't. You don't know what

it feels like because you're going to jump in and you're like, oh, that's what

you meant when you said cold. Now I know what you mean. I feel that

it's cold. Now I understand. And so I agree with you.

I agree with Rumi. I think that's fantastic. All right, so

you have this idea you're going to give your husband these photographs.

It's a very specific type of photos that you're giving him, which is

boudoir. Photos. That's the idea of the gift. Right. So I want to get everybody

in alignment. You, me, everybody listening and watching. Explain, like, generally

speaking, what does this mean as a style of photography? Like, what are we talking

about? It's generally in lingerie

or some, like, version of undress. Some of my clients choose

to be in lingerie, only some of them do not even choose to be in

lingerie. Maybe they're in pajamas or they're, like, taking

off a dress or they're in a jersey or something like that, but it's some

form of undress. And then some of my clients take that all the way

to nude, and some don't. And what did you do?

I did. I undressed, like, from

a dress into lingerie, and then I did some

implied nudity where it looks like you're naked, but you can't actually see that you're

naked. Okay. All right. So that's the

concept. That's the concept behind the gift. Do.

So if I understand it correctly, you did. Did you take these photos of yourself

or you hired somebody you were trusting another creator to take these

photos of you? Yeah, I had a friend that I. That I

asked to help me, and we rented a hotel room,

and that's how we decided to do it. And then I. I kind of, like,

had an idea for some of the poses that I thought would

be sexy, and then we kind of just, like, rolled with it and

kind of vogued through that pose flow. And they also

had some ideas. So I think I probably had a

greater knowledge of what I was getting myself into

than most of my clients do when they begin the journey. Just because I

had done some research and I knew what it was like to be

on the other side of the lens and how I might pose,

as opposed to just being, like, the subject who is being

posed. Does that make sense? It does. So you reflected earlier.

I think there's a couple of interesting things about the timing of this. You said

you were postpartum. You had two kids.

Was your family complete at that time, or did you go on to have more

kids? Yeah. Okay. So for people who are listening who have not had children,

the first kid changes your body not as much as the second kid.

I will say from experience, that is the bigger. And I think so. You

know, that is a thing that I was first led into

by a trainer that I worked with at the time. They were like, get ready.

This is the bigger shift in your body. It is a massive adjustment, which everybody

says. And so that is an interesting time to Be thinking

about it. The other thing is that I would love to hear

you mentioned that you were not really, because you were the

woman in the family, but also the photographer. You were not really

documented very well in, like, sort of the memory books of your family,

which is a. A classic thing. Flip through an album and it's like,

where is. Insert the family photographer? They're behind the camera. Right. They're not in all

the pictures. What was it like to.

In your mind, in your mental talk, in the decision process? Like, where

were you in this? In choosing to hire somebody else and be like, I

want to be in these pictures? Like, what did that feel like? It was

super scary. I was very nervous about it because you're seating

control. And photographers notoriously love to be in

control of the image and the composition and how

they're being portrayed and everything. So it's definitely not

as comfortable as being on the other side of the lens for me. But for

me, that was a very important part of it because I really wanted to

truly have empathy for how my clients would feel.

They don't know how it's. How it's looking on the other side of the

lens, and they have to really. They have to trust the process.

Yeah. And I mean, we talked about the olden days before

digital cameras. Today, you can chimp a

little bit and see the image previews and get an idea of what they're looking

like. But back in the olden days, in the 1900s, when I

was in school. I love that. It's like a totally different number for that. I

love. It's my new favorite joke. I'm like, when I was in College in the

1900s, and there was no preview.

Right. It was a delay. And so you really had to trust. But now

you can do it a little bit. But I think that that crosses over industries.

People normally say one of the most famous is doctors make terrible

patients. It's like to be on the other side, something that you

are a master of and usually you're very familiar with. It's

a leap to hand the creative control or the

professional job over to somebody else and be the client. You knew the

person. This is a friend that you were working. Working with. Yeah. So you were

comfortable. I was comfortable. And I think that that's part of it, and that's

definitely part that I've built into my process. Like, I insist on having a meeting

with people before they're taking their clothes off so that we can get more

comfortable. Because I think if someone was just like, hey, come over to my

studio and take your clothes off. I'd be like, okay, no thanks. You know,

well, and to put. But two, I don't know if you've ever done commercial work.

People who work, like in, you know, catalog work and models,

they have no, like, it's like, it is. They are there. They will change their

clothes right in front of. There are people who would be. Yeah, that's normal. Totally

fine. Here's my, you know, like, so. Yeah, yeah. And

working with models after that, I. They're definitely

more at home in their bodies in that regard.

Yeah. No, and I like, so. And I call the tropics home.

Miami, Florida. So, like, people are very comfortable being, you know, in a.

In a state of semi undress. So it does depend

on where you are, but mostly speaking, absolutely. Like

walking in and being like, hi, get naked. That would be a

rapid introduction. So with you, you knew this person.

You had a concept of what you wanted to do. Am I understanding correctly that

even though this was a gift for your husband, it was absolutely something that you

were also thinking about for your photo business? So you were doing this was the.

You were experiencing it with the idea of adding this to the things that you

were going to offer right from the start? No, I

was just going into it as the experience. And it was

coming out of the experience and actually

seeing the photos that I let it, like, wash over me.

And I was like. I was like, oh, hey,

I feel. So much better about myself. Like, this is

literally looking at myself through

a kinder lens than I do maybe in the mirror.

And I really wanted to try to

create that for other people. It was coming out

of it, going into it. That was not the

intention. I was just very cool. All right. So very cool. So

what do you shared with me on the intake firm that we've talked about

offline between the two of us that with.

You didn't realize it when you started this process,

but you say that with time and perspective, you realize that this

gift that you were giving your husband was actually for you.

And so you started to talk a little bit about how it changed your concept.

Tell us more about what that means to you.

I was able to just set down some, like, mental

baggage that I had been carrying around in my brain for a

really long time. And I think that

this is especially important postpartum because you have

to learn how to love your body all over again.

And it has new features at that point. New

bonus features. Bonus features. Yeah.

And so I like, it was very, very transformational for Me,

I felt more capable, I felt more confident, and I

felt like I was lovable.

All right, all of that from the photos. Okay, so that's

really interesting because let's talk about how

photos and images, they sometimes have a

very direct connection to self concept.

Right. So. Which is a weird thing to kind of think about because I

don't think that, you know, most of the time you just think of it, it's

just a picture. Like what? You know, don't make too much of it. Right. It's

just a picture. But like going back to. And I am just,

I am pulling out a Psychology 101 reference that could be

completely wrong. And people can tell me, but the. There's a concept of self concept

where it's like, this is what I think of myself. And there's another one which

is that this is how I think that other people see me and judge me.

Those are two ideas of the same thing. But with photos,

right? When somebody hands you a picture of yourself or you see a picture of

yourself in a frame or in an album, those

two things come crashing together. Like so if you have a concept that doesn't

match the photo, that can be great. Like, oh, look how great I am.

Or it could be like, oh my gosh, I did not realize that that is

what I showed looked like in the camera. So what

were, did you have concerns when you started this? Like, you

knew you were postpartum, you knew you wanted to give your husband this, but did

you have concerns and fears as you went into this project and what did those

look like and feel like? My concerns were

like the common concerns that I hear all the time. I am like,

my belly is not my favorite part of my body, especially

postpartum. It I had like some new stretch marks and so I was very

concerned about how those were going to come across the camera.

And they just didn't feel like they belonged to me. And, and I do

think that most, most people have some

level of dysmorphia where they don't actually see

themselves as other people see themselves. Yeah.

And I think that

boudoir can be really helpful and healing in

that it helps you actually see it as it exists and

not as like it exists when

you make a huge deal of it in the mirror, when you're being self critical

and picking yourself apart, like you make it a much bigger deal

than it actually is. And when we're looking at

ourselves in our belly and we're maybe like pushing it out or

we're like focusing on the things that we don't like about it.

And you're not seeing it in space or with posing.

So, like, my stretch marks, like, largely did not

even show up because of the way that the light hit my

body. And I find that that's true with my

clients, too, that, like, sometimes light will pick something up and

sometimes it doesn't. And so it's like, okay, so in

reality, it's not an obvious

thing to other people. Like, it is to me when I'm really super

focusing on it. And when I move my body

in different ways, maybe I elongate my torso. Maybe you're seeing me from

the back and I've turned my head back to look at you. Like, it's not

an obvious thing to other people, and it's not something that really

draws your focus as another person.

It just does as the subject. And so when I saw it, I

was like, oh, like, that's just part of me.

It's not nearly as big of a deal as I thought it

was or, like, as gross as I believed it

was beforehand. Does that make sense? I think

so. I mean, I think that I would say that, you know, if

you're in the dressing room of, you know,

Bloomingdale's or Macy's or whatever, and you're looking at your outfit in the

mirror, you're looking for, you know, sort of

imperfections. Like, does it fit? Like, where doesn't it fit?

And then. And so what you're saying is that I'm going

to rephrase it. You tell me if I get it correct, if I understand

and put it in my own words. You were concerned

that the things that you saw as imperfection and not good enough were going to

show up in the pictures that you were going to give to your. To your

husband. And that was, you know, facing that. Like,

I don't. I don't want to highlight my

flaws. I want to, you know, I want it to be a pretty picture.

And that's a. You know, that's a definitely something, you know, as a

concept that's beaten into us in most families forever. It's like

our parents are like, make sure you smile for the school photo. You know, take

a good picture. You know, all of those things. So I think that that's a

reasonable thing. Okay. Did you. Did you have any concerns about

what the photographer who you were working with would think of you or what

they would say or judge you during the process or any

sneaky things about, you know, what my husband think when he

sees these photos? So I Was

comforted by the idea that, like, okay, well,

if I feel good, my husband is probably going to love

these because he loves me, and it's nothing he

hasn't seen before. Right. Okay. All right.

But I did feel slightly

concerned about being judged by the photographer for just

not having, like, a body that needs the beauty standard.

But that was very quickly kind of washed away just through the

experience and getting more comfortable. Yeah, I mean, I think that

that is, you know, that there's. There's layers of that that you

can unpack, because most of us are not Runway models

who are going to show up in. In the photos like that. But that doesn't

alleviate the pressure that when you put yourself in that situations, like, who am

I to. To do this and go through this? So I think that that's.

I think that's a good thing to be aware of.

Thing about it. Okay, so you shared that this process for

you, the process of having these photos taken of you in the context of giving

them as a gift, unearth some of your own confidence

issues. Which is interesting to talk to you about it today because you've already done

all the work. So it's like going back and thinking about it then

for me, it's easy to imagine, you know, the confidence issues. Right.

And we, like, when we look good in photos, we

may not, like when somebody catches us as a. In a candid

photo and we don't look great. Sometimes we can be

surprised by how we show up in reflections

and in and in photos, especially with this thing called

age. So, like, talk a

little bit more about what the confidence side uncovered as

part of the process. What did that feel like for you?

I think that I had some limiting

beliefs that I had. I think, thought I had put to.

Bed. But really I

just had not dealt with

them. Sort of bypassed that. Right? Exactly. I maybe, like,

shove them under the. The carpet instead of, like,

actually dealing with them. And

my lack of confidence came from when I was a little girl. I def.

I have two, like, beautiful, skinny sisters. And

I definitely felt like I was, like, less

worth worthy because I was a curvy girl.

And, you know, I'll never forget in third grade, my mom was like,

basically, you can't have dessert because you don't need it. But she,

like, continued to buy it for my siblings. So there was this,

like, othering that happened from a pretty young age.

And so when I was facing the

idea of, like, being like, fairly unclothed in

photographs, all of those things came back, like,

kind of crashing back. That you know, I didn't have a

Runway body. I had a postpartum body. And, like,

maybe that. That body was not as good as other bodies or

not lovable or not

pretty. And, like, I. When I

saw the photos, after going through, like,

how nervous I was to take them and how

I was worried about being judged, I

really, just. For the first time, like, I felt like

I could let go of so much of that.

That it was. That that was just a story I was telling

myself. So there's a lot that you touched in there.

The, you know, the pressure of beauty concepts

within your family and the

worthiness. So, yeah, no, the

worthiness of dessert. Everybody gets to eat dessert. You can eat dessert for breakfast. It

doesn't make you a good person or not.

But I do think that that's a part of culture that

is, you know, is still. Still around to this day. It has not gone away.

We do still very much prioritize and value

and highlight people who look a very specific way. And it's very

easy for people to say, oh, if I don't

look like that, I don't get to have this. Great.

And that's unfortunate because most of us do not

look like that. And it gets in the way of living your very real life.

Or, I'm going to torture myself through this experience. Like, you still

have to go to the pool party, but you're going to, like, feel

horrible through the experience.

Or people don't. People opt out. They drop their kids off for the pool party

because they don't want to be seen in a swimsuit. They don't participate in the

photos. You know, we all have these in our family. The

person who's not ever in the group photo or doesn't hang the photos because

they don't like to see themselves in their own house. And, yeah,

it's. You know, those things are all there. Did it surprise you that you

were nervous to do this? Seeing as it was

your profession, like, to turn the lens? Were you surprised by how nervous

you got to go through it? No, because

it was. It was still a new

level for me. Okay. Like, I hadn't shot any

boudoir yet. I had just been doing other kinds of photography,

and so I hadn't done any modeling yet. I'm a lot less

nervous now to get in front of the lens if I have

a new outfit for my client closet to show off. Or,

like, for example, right now, my

husband and I have been practicing like.

Like Santa Claus, like a fireman's carry with. Okay.

Up in the air with me and, like, kind of like a little Santa

baby, like, baby doll, like a red thing that has, like,

white on the edges, like a little, like, Santa uniform.

And, like, I'm much less nervous to do that and, like, hit it with a

timer because I practice so much, and I have gotten back in front of the

lens over and over again. But it does. Like,

there is a twinge that's like. And these are on the Internet,

right? No. Yeah. And everything has changed. Like, so. But there

is also. There's. So there's a new. There's a new

phenomenon with all the social media stuff and everything is that people.

There's a secondary judgment where people make an assumption often, and a

judgment about people who do have public

personalities and do put themselves out for those things. And some people would

describe it as cringy, you know, and other people, like, it's my job.

It's like, you know, just take it for what it is. So it's a. It's

a whole other level of those things. All right, so you

mentioned this a second ago. You started it, but I want you to walk me

through what your experience was. You were nervous to do it. You were unsure

of it. It uncovered some of these confidence issues. Walk us through your

experience of seeing the photos of you for the first time.

When I saw the photos of me for the first time,

I felt great relief that they didn't look

terrible. Like, I was worried they would. And

then I just actually let them wash over

me. And I.

I felt really sexy. I felt really good. And I. And all of those,

like, previous concepts of having, like, an unlovable or an

unworthy body, I was like, I can put that down because I feel

really good about myself. That is fantastic. All right, so

was there ever a time any part of this process like,

that you ran the scenario in your head? You're like, I can do

this, and then I can maybe not even give them to my husband.

No. Once I saw them, I was like, oh, if I'm happy with

them, like, he's going to be thrilled. Okay. All right. Very good.

Very good. Okay. So obviously, having boudoir photos taken of

yourself is not the only way to face the issues of body

confidence and things like that. But it is definitely one way to do it. Definitely.

So you have mentioned this throughout this. Like, that now you have turned around,

and this is something that you offer as a product and a process that you

take clients through. Connect the dots here

for how that actually happened, how you went from being somebody who was Like,

I'm going to try this for myself all the way through for, like, this is

something I'm going to do as a part of my business for other people.

So when I saw the photos and I kind of

let myself level up from that experience,

I. I sat with it and I

gave them to my husband. He was thrilled and he,

he was super supportive. And then I,

it took me like a couple weeks to say,

like, well, how could I offer this to other women?

Because it was so meaningful to me and it did really

help me transform and, like, believe

myself and like, I could do scary things and I was

okay on the other side. And I did feel really good

and sexy and like, really in my body. Like, I think that there is a

somatic connection where you're like, okay, I can live here.

And so then I reached out to friends and I was like,

hey, do you mind if I could I work out like a pose flow and

give you a couple photos to like, figure out what I'm doing

and then working through the process with them. I was like, okay,

yeah, I want to market this. I want to have this be part of my

business. And that's when I niche down. So it was probably like

three weeks or a month from then, and then probably

like three more months before I was like,

okay, I'm going to try to figure out this with models and friends and.

And then by August of that next year, I had my

first paying client. Very, very nice. I mean, it's so interesting to think

about this sort of niche within photography, right?

Because, you know, you take pictures of babies, nobody's worried

about, like, you know, whether or not to show the, like,

little fat rolls. Like, we love it. I love the rolls on babies. It's

so life affirming, right? You know, and you take pet

photos and family photos. Like, nobody's worried about, you know, the

goofy face of, of the animal because it's the way we see

them. But, you know, when it comes to, like, wedding photos,

you know, it's a lot of concern that we want it to look, you know,

the way we want it to look. Family photos, group photos, the family

fight, everybody getting ready. You will wear this shirt and you will be happy

about it. That's like a, you know, a comedy skit that plays out

in every single family. But then this is a very, you know, this is a

concept that you have leaned heavily into. You know, this isn't

it? There's an empowerment and an identity component of this that

is part, part of the, it's more Than just the pictures. Absolutely,

absolutely. But I do think that boudoir is throwing yourself into the deep

end. So I think that maybe start with a head shut.

Well, maybe. Or like, I, I do offer my

clients, like a lot of different ways to kind of help themselves

with self confidence and loving themselves before we get

to the photo shoot. So if they mention that they feel like, like

very self critical, I'll talk about mirror work with

them. Like, can we get to the place where we see something that we love?

Okay. Can we get to neutral on the things that we pick on a lot?

Like, could you thank your belly for digesting your food?

Could you thank it for holding your babies and keeping them safe?

And like, then could we bridge to feeling more

neutral about it? I have a body, I have a belly. It is okay.

Yeah. And then, and then we can get to, you know, more positive.

But I find if people are just saying affirmations

like, I have a beautiful body and they

legit cannot list things. When I ask them, what do you love about your body?

They're just not gonna believe it. Your subconscious is gonna just like, whoop,

don't believe that. That's way too far. This is a bridge too far.

And so I think these little baby steps can help just with

the daily mirror work and also so

asking in affirmations instead, I call them

ask formations instead of affirmations. So, like, why

am I so beautiful and unique? Why am I the person to

give this message? Why am I the person to give this gift? Because then your

body and your brain starts looking for the

answer instead of just kicking it out like, no, I'm not beautiful. I don't believe

that. I'm just not gonna. And then you feel diminished by it. If you're like,

like, I am hot and you don't believe that you're hot, then

you're like, oh, it just brings it back again. But if you

ask yourself, why am I so beautiful and

special? Then your brain's like, well, why? Yeah,

yeah, they love my hair or whatever, you know? Right.

No, I love that. That is fantastic. All right, so

in a minute, we're going to do the final questions. But I. You have the

people who are watching on YouTube. You can see, see that it's Sabrina Harrison

photography. But tell the audience what you. What you do and how

they can find you online after they listen or watch this interview.

I am a boudoir retreat and branding photographer.

I like to say I love to make women feel good with or without their

clothes on. And you can find me At Sabrina

Harrison Photography. That is my website. That is my Instagram handle. That is my

Facebook. It's very easy, and I would love

to help you level up. I would love to help you love yourself.

Fantastic. You have a special offer for the audience, which is a confidence

workshop called Glow up to show up. And so there. Normally that's

$47, but it'll be free for the audience. There's a link in the

show notes where you're listening or watching the show. The easiest way for everybody

who's in the audience to get those links is to subscribe to the imperfect adulting

email community, because then you don't have to dig through the show notes.

It comes straight into your inbox and you can just click it. You don't have

to even listen to all the episodes or watch them because I send the recap

once a week. So I always share with people that that is the easiest way

to do that. Thank you so much, Sabrina, for that very special offer.

As we were going through this, I was thinking that there's another element of this

that is coming with all the people who are doing AI

modifications of photos. Like you could do, you know,

tell your friend Mr. Chatgpt or, you know,

hey, make boudoir photography of me. That's like, not even me,

just a whole other element. But then it wouldn't actually be you. That's a conversation

for another day. Not for today. We're gonna go straight into the final

questions. Are you ready? I'm ready. Let's do it.

Do you like to travel? And if you do, what website do

you use to find your best deals on airplane tickets?

Oh, I do love to travel. I.

It's like. She's like, random question, Amy. Yeah,

I don'. Love airplanes, but I love being other places.

And I generally do, like, an incognito Google

search so that it doesn't have my metadata. And then I'll just kind of

scroll through and see who has the best offer. Oh, so

you do the incognito. So it doesn't know. That is very.

That's a good tip because I have learned that if I like. I have learned

that my search, the pricing changes when I log in with my free flyer

miles. It's like, oh, now here's your real price pricing. Except not really, because

once you book it, then we're going to actually charge you for your seat. But

anyway, like, air travel is

annoying in 2025. All right, next question.

Do you shop online? And if so, what's something you bought recently that

you're pretty happy with the purchase. I do shop online

and something that I bought recently because my husband's birthday is coming up

again is a set from Thistle Inspire.

It has has flames on it, and I love that lingerie company. It's

like very adjustable and it's handmade and it's women owned,

and it's Thistle and spire. Thistle Inspire. Yeah,

Thistle and Spire. All right. I've never heard of it. Totally gonna check it

out. All right. If I invited you over to my house for movie night,

which would be a long drive because you're in Colorado and I'm in Florida, but

let's go with it. But you get to pick the movie that we're gonna watch.

Putting you on the spot. What's the movie that you'd pick? Pick.

This time of year, Just right now, like today. Like, if it was today, what

would it be? I would totally pick some, like, Hallmark Christmas

trash because it's so low stakes

and it's literally like the same house every time. Like in

the same house. Like, as a photographer, you notice the sets and stuff.

Yeah, yeah. So I would definitely pick one of. Those Hallmark holiday

movie. That's a wonderful thing that. That's it. Sabrina Harrison, thank you so

much for being a wonderful guest today on the show. Thank you so much,

Amy. I really appreciate being here and having the chance to tell my story.