We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brianna Yung. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brianna below.

Brianna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Every single one of my sessions has been meaningful for its own reasons. When I look at the (now very long) list of all the appointments I’ve ever had, I can remember the face of each one and what it was that brought them to me. Sometimes it’s something very happy, like falling in love and wanting to surprise their partner, documenting a long-awaited pregnancy, meeting a fitness goal, getting a promotion at work, celebrating a birthday, etc. Sometimes it’s something very powerful, like getting out of a bad relationship, recovering from an emotional surgery, or practicing self-love/self-acceptance. Sometimes a mother has felt like her body has belonged to other people for years (birthing and breastfeeding) and wants to reclaim it. Any reason for doing a boudoir session is an awesome reason. But one client definitely stands out to me in particular, a young woman (early-mid thirties) overcoming cancer. Without giving away details that could make her identifiable, she is an amazing woman who has already been through more than most of us go through in a lifetime. We decided to split her boudoir session into multiple mini sessions over about a year-long period, the first taking place before any of her surgeries. The second, after her bilateral mastectomy. The third, after her implants. She has had to take calls from surgeons’ offices during her shoots with me. Getting to have even the smallest role in such a massively impactful stage of her life has been humbling and I know I’ll never forget it. It’s an honor.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Hi! Thank you so much for interviewing me!

My name is Bri, and I’m a boudoir photographer who lives and works in downtown Saint Louis. I love what I do!

I got into boudoir photography through a long and winding path of accidents and coincidences, and thank goodness. What I went to university for has nothing to do with photography in any way, and while I never would have guessed this is where I’d end up, it all seems very obvious to me in hindsight. I am exactly where I should be and I’m grateful every day for those accidents and coincidences that got me here.
As a very young adult, I was locked into a modeling contract with an agency based in Chicago. I hated almost every moment of it, and never renewed my contract. I was pressured, pitted against other women, and constantly criticized. My confidence had never been lower, and it took a while to recover.
Looking back, I think this is what drove me towards jobs that empowered women, even if I didn’t realize it at the time. In college, I worked at David’s Bridal, where I got to help brides blow themselves away while their friends hyped them up. Later, I started working at Victoria’s Secret and was offered a promotion to Bra Specialist. This allowed me to empower women and girls in a more intimate setting, where they were often shopping after a breast enhancement/reduction or childbirth, celebrating an anniversary or divorce, or even getting their first real bra. It become my job to help vulnerable-feeling women fall in love with their bodies, and I loved every minute I spent in the dressing rooms (and fell in love with lingerie after seeing what it could do for confidence levels).
In both jobs, getting to help women see themselves in a new light felt so rewarding.
In addition to those significant experiences, I danced, coached, and choreographed at a competitive level until I was 24. I coached dancers aging from 3 to 27, studying and instructing body placement, getting creative with the human body, and fighting to strengthen the self-esteem of my female dancers.
Cut to 2016, when my husband (boyfriend at the time) had faith in me and hired me at his a production-quality photography, videography and marketing business (to be honest—I just couldn’t get a freakin’ job anywhere else at the time. I got a 4-year degree in a field that needs a doctorate). That was the first time I held a serious camera. Soon after, I was feeling creative and someone answered my open call for a boudoir session. It turned out better than I allowed myself to hope for, I fell in love, and the rest is history.

I offer four different packages for boudoir clients, as well as another three packages for couples. I also do occasional boudoir parties for birthdays or bachelorette parties, and those are a blast!
I think the problem I solve for clients and what sets me apart are the same: accessibility. A reoccurring theme you’d see on my website or my Instagram posts is that I think everyone should be able to do a boudoir session, and that includes people who are on limited budgets. I think seeing yourself photographed in the same way that you see celebrity photos online or on magazines is a really powerful way of reminding yourself those people don’t have anything you don’t have except maybe MONEY—money to buy night nurses and nannies so they get a full night of rest and don’t have dark circles, money to buy personal training sessions and home gyms and surgeries and fillers and professional photographers and editors, money for a glam squad to come over every morning and to style your closet, on and on and on. You shouldn’t have to drop $10,000 to feel pampered and glamorous. (I know I certainly never could.) My packages start at $199 and go up to $2300. Except for “tease” sessions, my clients also receive all of their edited photos for digital download. I couldn’t stomach doing all that work just to have the client take home 3 small prints.

I think what I’m most proud of are the relationships I build with my clients from the very start. I want every single client to feel welcome and wanted, even if they just email me a question and never book. Reaching out to a stranger about a boudoir session can feel like a very intimidating thing, and I want them to know they found a friendly and embracing place. Another thing would be when clients come back for second, third, and fourth sessions or they recommend me to a friend or family member. That’s the best feeling.

The main thing I would want potential clients to know—even if they aren’t specifically potential clients of mine, just anyone in the world considering the idea—would be that boudoir sessions are for ALL. Single, engaged, married, divorced, all sizes, all genders, whether you’re 21 or in your late 80s. You deserve it! Go for it!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Honestly—integrity! It’s easy to be a good person if you’re a good person. Boudoir clients have to put a LOT of trust in their photographer and it’s important that they feel safe (not just physically, but emotionally). In such a sensitive field of work, having strong moral principles is just as valuable as having talent, even more so.

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

I actually do, and it all stirred from restlessness during quarantine! In addition to doing boudoir photography, I have an online clothing boutique on my website. That has been a LOT of fun!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.boudoirbybristudio.com
• Instagram: @boudoirbybri