One of The Best Emails We Have Ever Received
This is why we do what we do.
I sat down at my desk last week and started reading my emails. The usual was waiting for me in the inbox. Enquiries, spam, and, my favourites, emails from our Divas who have just been to us. A few days before a gorgeous Diva, Kaitlyn, whom we had all fell in love with, had come to us for her Boudoir experience and today an email from her sat marked ‘unread’ in front of me.
What you’re about to read is not just the email that Kaitlyn had sent us, but probably the best explanation I could ever give you as to why we do what we do. In fact, if the only thing I could ever show someone was this email when asked “who is Divine Divas?”, I would be fine with that. I really, really wouldn’t mind at all.
Thank you Kaitlyn - you made me cry happy tears at my desk.
"Dear Jo, and the Divas team.
Thank you so much for a day I never expected to happen, let alone to have been brave enough to do. Your thoroughness and casual but professional attitude are really what put me at ease throughout the whole process. You helped me see and show off the natural beauty in myself I have always struggled to appreciate.
Shannon, thank you so much for the amazing job you did with my hair and makeup. Generally, I am easily intimidated by people who know their way around makeup, but your demeanor and warm attitude allowed me to relax. It truly means a lot to me how perfectly you nailed the natural look, and without going overboard. It says a great deal that I felt comfortable going to McDonald's for a quick bite with full makeup (for context, I had to buy makeup remover for today on the way home, as I owned none). I felt like I looked like myself in my pictures, and I remember thinking during the slideshow (through tear-blurred eyes that ruined the makeup a bit I'm so sorry) that I didn't know my eyes could look that pretty.
Jesse, thank you so much for bringing the vision of my inside self to light. I can only imagine how challenging it must be to bring a stranger out of their shell in a Boudoir environment, to create a space where they are allowed (and indeed, encouraged) to be vulnerable while also keeping things light, so that they enjoy themselves and have fun. I felt that you were able to do all this and more. There was never a time where I felt pressured, and the extra encouragement allowed me to step out of my comfort zone further than I truthfully thought I would feel comfortable. Your continuous affirmation, even for something as simple as hitting a position correctly, made me feel like I looked amazing even without seeing the pictures. I also greatly appreciated how you incorporated my pinterest board into the shoot. It made me feel heard and understood without having to use words I would never have been able to allow myself to use to describe myself or what I wanted/was looking for. Words like sexy, curvy, womanly, erotic, feminine, or even beautiful would never have been words I used for myself... but the proof is in the Boudoir photography. I appreciated the mental and emotional challenge of trying something that was quite far from anything I had pictured for myself, and your flexibility and interest with everything I brought was greatly appreciated.
Jo (and Neill), thank you so much for your positivity and attention to detail. Everything from the website, to the facebook page (public AND thoughtfully private), to the discovery calls, even to the cleanliness and beautifully decorated space clearly shows what your studio holds as priority. It is easy to have mission statements and uplifting exposition; it is much harder to show that you mean what you say. In the NHS we have a process called the 15 Steps Challenge, wherein you take 15 steps into any given clinical space and take time to observe the space, how it looks, how it functions, how it feels. It spawned from a mother's comment who said she could tell what kind of care her daughter would receive within 15 steps of walking onto any new ward. Within 15 steps I could immediately tell you and your team cared not just about welcoming a client to try something new, but about my experience, and my feelings. Your inviting space and genuine attitude allowed me to appreciate not only myself, but also the artistry of what you do. I would never have said any pictures taken of me could have been considered art, until today.
There have been a few moments in my life where I have had what could essentially be considered a shift in my world view, through which one has a revelation of self, of others, or generally of life. I consider this experience with you and your team to be one such defining moment, where I have come through the other side to see myself in a way I had dreamed of but never really hoped for. Thank you for your quiet compassion while I cried as I endured that shift in my understanding of myself.
And finally, thank you Jess for allowing me to cry to you on the phone at the very start of my journey. You showed great patience and compassion as you led me through an uncomfortable period of self acceptance. An acceptance that, at the time, could only admit that my self image was not what I wanted it to be. Sharing my low and imbalanced self image with you opened the door to self discovery and self acceptance, which I hope to remain open for the rest of my life as I continue to try to afford myself the compassion and space to discover, accept, rediscover, and re-accept (repeat ad nauseam) myself.
All of you, as a team, helped me feel sexy, curvy, womanly, erotic, feminine, and beautiful, in my own way, and I look forward to being able to treasure my experience forever with an album. I don't yet know if I'll be able to stop myself from looking through them, and am still debating whether it would be uncouth for a stranger to accidentally see my body on my phone screen.
Regardless, you have earned my trust completely.
Thank you,
Kaitlyn”
Are you ready for your life changing moment? Book a call with the Divas team today to talk about your Boudoir experience.