A Champion for Women and Mothers

Jen is a mom to three beautiful girls and a birth and postpartum doula. 

When Jen was pregnant with her first child, she realized that there were so many things she didn’t know about having a baby. She found herself asking whose job it was to teach or inform moms and their families of their rights and choices, and that’s when she came across doulas.

Jen was continually amazed at how doulas are there to support women in their most vulnerable state, both physically and emotionally. Now as a birth activist and doula, empowering women and families with the knowledge to have the births they want and advocate for their wishes is always at the forefront of her mind when working with clients. Through this work she is constantly working with women and their partners and families to trust their bodies, trust their instincts, trust that they can do this and that it’s ok to take a moment, an hour, an evening for themselves. Self care is just as important as caring for their newborns! You can’t pour from an empty cup. 

“Frequently I come in when women are mentally at their lowest. It’s my job to show them it takes a village… They are beautiful and worthy; they deserve to be heard; their feelings are valid; they are still a woman not just a mother—there’s something empowering about finding your village and walking through a new chapter of life among other women who love and support you.”

A familiar face at Le Boudoir Studio

For Jen, being overweight was a way of life. She’d been teased mercilessly for it growing up and tried desperately to lose weight, but nothing ever worked.

In early 2014, she had weight loss surgery and celebrated by getting into the 100s again (she weighed 199.8 pounds at her first shoot). She decided she needed to learn to love herself and her body, so she set out on a journey to figure out how. Boudoir photography is one step in her path to self love and appreciating her body for all it’s power it held. Now Jen has completed over 4 photoshoots with Le Boudoir Studio. 

“I was so excited for this shoot. This wasn’t my first time on a set, and I had some idea of what I wanted from the poses and the vibe. I was nervous because it would be my first time shooting with Miranda, but within minutes of getting started, those nerves were gone. The vibe on set was amazing! It was probably the most fun I’ve ever had at a shoot. My confidence was at an all-time high.” 

“Miranda was great in making sure the shoot was fun and different. Having done so many shoots and having shot on most of the sets multiple times, there were photos and poses I didn’t want to do again and some photos I wanted to recreate from my first shoot. Some poses I had been dying to do until I had the confidence to do them and we managed to get all of that done and more. Looking at the photos I was blown away even after multiple shoots I didn’t feel like it was the same old photos of poses again.” 

Photographing her weight-loss journey

Jen decided to have her first Boudoir shoot to celebrate her tremendous weight loss back in 2014. She was celebrating being in the 100’s again (she weighed 199.8 at her first shoot) and she wanted to celebrate that milestone with a set of photos that would remind her of how far she’d come.

It wasn’t easy for Jen to feel confident about herself. Growing up, she was made fun of for being overweight—something that left her with low self-esteem and no sense of worth as a person. But now, as an adult, she was ready to step into the spotlight and claim the life she deserved.

Over the next year and a half, Jen had several more shoots and documented her weight loss journey in boudoir style.  In 2017, Jen had all of her excess skin removed. However, life happened and motherhood, work, and COVID took over. Next thing she knew it was 2023! When the opportunity came up for this new set that fit the style and mood she had in mind, she knew that it was time to get back into Le Boudoir Studio!

Check out Jen’s Boudoir images we found from 2014!

A new Boudoir experience

Jen has been into Le Boudoir Studio multiple times and this was her first session since Miranda took over ownership. We had to ask, how was this experience different for her? 

“Honestly I can’t imagine anyone else taking over this brand. Miranda is of course her own person and has her own unique spin to put on things but the heart of love and empowerment is still there. Miranda is just a bundle of love and energy. We laughed so much I think we both were crying at one point. I think by the end she could almost read my mind. Miranda is so creative and has such a passion for what she does and it shows and shines not only during the shoot but before and after. The care she takes before to make sure she gets all your information, the information she sends you to make sure you know exactly what to expect, suggestions on where to shop (even down to budget and style). It doesn’t end when your shoot is over…you have photos coming your way and product (budget for extra because it’s so hard/almost impossible to narrow things down). She is so responsive to messages and even helped me find the perfect message to add to my book. I knew in my head what I wanted but I couldn’t make it fit into the limited characters and lines so I sent her an email with what was swirling around in my brain, she made it make sense and fit into the limits. I can’t wait to see the final book and canvas’. If you had the privilege of shooting with Jodi and are hesitant for a new photographer let me tell you Miranda embodies all the spirit and love Jodi has.”

Why Jen loves working with Le Boudoir Studio 

“I don’t know if I can adequately express how amazing this day was. I haven’t had so much fun in ages, and I don’t remember laughing that hard in a really long time. The day went by so fast—we could have easily kept going for hours! We chatted between takes and set changes like we had known each other for years. There’s something special about boudoir photography with the right studio and photographer; it’s like therapy and a girls’ night rolled into one. You forget everything going on in your life, all the stress just melts away for the afternoon or day, and for your time there it’s all about YOU!”

We asked Jen, what would you tell someone who is hesitant to book a boudoir session?

“Just do it. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and go for it. Trust Miranda and the girls to take care of any slight imperfections there might be but as someone who has done a shoot at almost 200 pounds down to a much lower weight but with a ton of excess skin and looking deflated in many areas to my completed journey, I’ve never been disappointed that I did a shoot. I’ve never looked back and said I should have waited. Now I’m so happy to have my journey documented and to have photos I’m proud to look back on and say I was beautiful at all those stages.” 

 

Hello, and welcome to the best boudoir studio in town.

As women, we tend to put everyone else first. We take care of everyone else before we take care of ourselves. But is that really the right thing to do?

Jen’s journey is about accepting herself for who she is today, celebrating her life and beauty as a mother, business owner, but most importantly, as a woman. We want you to feel empowered by Jen’s story and know that it is okay to take care of yourself first.

We are all women, so it only seems right that we have all of our clients be women too. After all, who understands what it’s like to be a woman better than another woman?

We know you have so much going on in your life—we get it. And that’s why we won’t make you feel pressured to book an appointment right now (or ever). We’ll give you time and space to decide if Le Boudoir is right for YOU and YOUR needs before asking for anything from you at all.

We’re Le Boudoir Studio, an all-female studio that focuses on empowerment and helping you feel like the baddest bitch in the room. We know that you’ve been told that your butt is amazing before, but we mean it when we tell you that your butt looks amazing. And really, what’s more empowering than feeling like a bad bitch?

Our goal as a studio is to make you feel like the hottest, sexiest woman in the world—because without a doubt, YOU ARE!