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

Kelley, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I do a personal project every year in addition to my business projects.
Something just for myself, to learn, grow, explore, and be curious about. That freedom to create ultimately ends up impacting my business as well.

In 2022, I did a self-portrait project where I gave myself hands-on reiki treatments and then took a photograph of myself based on what came up during the session. The process and images were a return ticket to experiences and thoughts I had processed over the year of doing them. They laid the foundation for the next project.

In 2023, I started my emotionALL project. In the project, I invited individuals to come to my reiki space and sit in 4 emotions for photographs. I photographed THE EMOTIONS, not the individuals.The emotions I used where based on Brene Brown’s Atlas of the Heart. There are 87. I have photographed nearly all the emotions, and the project continues to grow. As it progressed, a new process developed for people to sink into their chosen emotions. We sit with all sides of an emotion – taking the lessons it has for us good and bad.

Witnessing and documenting through this project changed me as a person – how I mother, and how I connect with friends, family, and even clients. I no longer rush through the “unpleasant emotions” and see what magic happens in between. I think it opened my eyes to some of the less documented things that are also part of the story. Just only the smiling moments.

Kelley, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am an award-winning photographer and level II reiki practitioner based in California’s San Francisco Bay area with projects worldwide. I have a BA in visual communications, an emphasis on freehand drawing, and over a decade of heading a community facilitation and marketing department at a local landscape architecture firm. I turned my planning, trusting building expertise, plant love, and communications talents into my own business.
My work has been seen in The Knot, Diablo Magazine, Modern Brides, Bespoke Bride, Boho Weddings, local galleries, and many other online publications. She is an Unraveled Academy Expert Artist and co-founder of a unique intimate retreat experience for creatives around the globe called Poppy + Quill. She serves other creative souls who are activating their own stories. She’s that fairy godmother at your side holding space for all the co-creation and visions to come to life.
The transformative photography experiences often end with a hug and tears before we even see the final creations. I am most proud of the space I hold that lets people unfold in their images and allows them to be seen and carry that forward with them and let it spill on to others.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I worked part-time on my photography business while also doing a full-time marketing job. Eventually, the company until there were enough sessions on the books to decide between the two worlds. I love that I took my time to build it slowly, but it did mean a lot of late nights and full weekends away from my growing family, which was the biggest tipping point for me.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The people I get to co-create with.

I pinch myself every time I am invited into the intimate moments – birthing spaces welcoming new life, families expanding during weddings, treasuring the body during boudoir sessions, and getting all the little pieces of growing families stored in the treasure box for everyone to look back on and tell stories about.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.letsspreadbeauty.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lets.spread.beauty
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letsspreadbeauty

Image Credits

All photos taken by me – Lets Spread Beauty Photography and Design