We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dena Meeder a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dena, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

For most of my life, I played small. I hid behind my family, behind my work, and honestly, behind my own fear. I was always the one supporting everyone else—never the one stepping into the spotlight. The risk I took wasn’t a single moment; it was a decision to stop disappearing.

On New Year’s Eve of 2018, after years of feeling invisible, I made myself a promise: I would post a photo every single day for a year. It sounds simple, but for someone who had spent decades avoiding attention, it was terrifying. I didn’t have a studio. I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t have a roadmap. What I did have was a creative itch I had ignored for far too long.

That year changed everything. I connected with models, makeup artists, and designers. I experimented, failed, learned, tried again. I posted things that scared me—self-portraits, bold concepts, stories I had never told out loud. The more I showed up, the more I realized that the real risk wasn’t being seen. The real risk was staying hidden.

That daily practice turned into a photography business, which turned into a campaign where I photographed 40 women over 40 and helped them feel seen in a way many of them hadn’t in decades. The risk I took for myself opened a door for other women to do the same. And now I create transformation experiences for entrepreneurs and women who want to reclaim their power and presence.

How did it turn out? It gave me my voice back. It gave me a career I love. It gave me a community of women who trust me with their stories. And it taught me that the biggest creative breakthroughs happen the moment you stop waiting for permission and start taking the risks you’ve avoided your whole life.

Dena, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a portrait and editorial photographer based in San Diego, specializing in creating high-fashion, magazine-quality images for women—especially entrepreneurs, executives, speakers, authors, and creatives who want to elevate their visibility.

My work blends art direction, storytelling, and personal branding. I offer a full luxury experience: creative concepting, styling guidance, professional hair and makeup, curated wardrobe selections, guided posing, and magazine-level retouching. Every detail is intentional. I want each woman to feel like she’s stepping into her own editorial spread.

What truly sets my work apart is the level of personalization. I don’t believe in cookie-cutter sessions. I start by listening—really listening—to who someone is, what they care about, and how they want to be seen. Then I create a visual world that aligns with their story and their goals. Clients often tell me it’s the first time they’ve felt genuinely understood in front of a camera.

I help women step into a more confident and powerful version of themselves. For entrepreneurs, that often means images that elevate their brand, communicate authority, and attract the right clients. For others, it’s about reconnecting with identity, celebrating a new chapter, or simply being seen in a way they haven’t allowed themselves to be in years.

I’m most proud of the community that has formed through my work—the women who cheer each other on, collaborate, refer, and share their stories. I’ve photographed women at pivotal moments in their lives: launching businesses, writing books, navigating reinvention, stepping into leadership roles, or reclaiming their voice after years of being underestimated or overlooked.

What I want potential clients and readers to know is this:
My sessions aren’t just photoshoots. They’re transformations. They’re spaces where women show up as the fullest version of themselves, and I create the imagery that reflects that back to them.

For anyone who’s been playing small, hiding behind their brand, or feeling disconnected from their own power—my work is about helping them step into the version of themselves that’s been waiting to be seen.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding part of being an artist is witnessing the moment a woman sees herself differently—clearly, confidently, without apology. There’s a shift that happens during a session and again when she sees the final images. Her shoulders drop. Her eyes light up. She recognizes a version of herself she’s ignored or forgotten.

That transformation isn’t about perfection or posing. It’s about truth. Creativity gives me a way to reflect someone’s strength, softness, ambition, and story back to her in a way she can finally believe.

I also love the problem-solving that comes with being a creative. Every session requires me to build something from nothing—concepts, sets, lighting, styling, mood. I get to take a spark of an idea and turn it into a full visual experience. That process lights me up.

But the real reward is impact. When a woman uses her images to launch a business, book a speaking opportunity, step into a new role, or simply reclaim a part of herself—there’s nothing more meaningful than knowing my art played even a small role in her stepping into her power.

That’s what keeps me in this work. The transformation. The connection. And the privilege of helping women be seen in their fullest light.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A major lesson I had to unlearn was the idea that my work alone should speak for me. For a long time, I hid behind the camera and shared only beautiful images — no story, no voice, no sense of who I was. I thought staying invisible made me more “professional,” but all it really did was create distance between me and the women I wanted to reach.

Everything changed the moment I started putting myself out there — literally. I took self-portraits, shared my own journey, talked about the fears I had carried for years, and showed the woman behind the art. It was uncomfortable at first, but it was the missing piece.

Once I stepped into being the face of my brand, everything shifted. Women connected not just with my work, but with me — my story, my perspective, my honesty. That’s when I began attracting the right clients: women who value depth, vulnerability, reinvention, and the courage to be seen.

The lesson was simple but profound:
If I wanted my work to transform others, I had to stop hiding and let myself be seen too.

Stepping in front of the camera didn’t just grow my business — it helped me connect with the very women I’m meant to serve.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://denameeder.com/
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/denameederportraits
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/denameederportraits/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denameeder/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@denameederportraits
• Other: https://denameeder.co/40

Image Credits

All photos by Dena Meeder