We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kimberly Meadows. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kimberly below.
Kimberly , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
Believing in myself was one of the biggest and most terrifying risks I have ever taken. We all tend to get in our own way, coming up with excuse after excuse as to why we can’t do something and we rarely think of all of the reasons we can or should. I have been a single mother of two for 13 years now. Needless to say money was tight and being the mother of a special needs child, my schedule was erratic to say the least. I was constantly trying to figure out how to work a ‘regular job’ and still take my son to his Dr appointments, surgeries, recovery time etc. Working a 9-5 job wasn’t conducive to our schedule. Before I took the leap into photography full time, I worked several jobs. I cleaned houses, sang in a band, babysat…anything to make ends meet. I found that I wasn’t able to fully invest myself into my photography work because I was pulled in so many directions. I was unhappy, stressed, annoyed because I knew that if I would just get out of my way I could pull this photography thing off. One day I sat myself down and listed all of the reasons why I should dedicate 100% of my focus on my photography and what I needed to do to make it successful. That day was the day I decided that I CAN do it and I WILL do it…despite my fear of failure. I took a big risk, I had children that were counting on me to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. It was one of the most terrifying decisions I have had to make but I did it. I worked hard and kept pushing myself until it grew. I took the risk of believing in myself which is sometimes one of the most challenging decisions to make.
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
I have been shooting boudoir specifically for 8 years now. I got into photography about 13 years ago, not long after the birth of my second child, Grant, who has Down syndrome, as a creative outlet. Later, as a single mom, it was a way to support my family. I started out shooting family, weddings, children etc but then I found Boudoir. When I started doing boudoir, I really noticed a difference between (it) and my family photography, Boudoir was up here on this whole other level. It’s my passion.
I hear so many incredible stories — women who are divorced after 30-40 years of marriage, women who have been physically or emotionally abused, or women who are just very confident and want to do this for themselves. I don’t think people understand why women want to do this. I really don’t think it’s registered that they need to — they need to see themselves in a different light, to say, ‘Wow, I really am beautiful. I love it because it is such an empowering thing. It doesn’t matter what size they are (or) what the media (portrays). It’s taking ownership of their bodies. It’s saying, ‘This is me.’ ‘I love myself.’ ‘I’m comfortable in my skin, and I’m gorgeous. I provide something beautiful for these women, I get to watch them see themselves for the first time which is such a humbling experience. I am proud of the woman I have become, learning from all of these amazing women I have the pleasure of photographing. They have no idea how much they impact me and how I also view myself as a woman, a mother, a daughter. We talk about all sorts of things during these sessions and we truly get to connect on a deeper level. They impact me just as much as I do them. It is really a beautiful thing and I am blessed that this is my job, making women feel beautiful.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Life has a way of throwing you some serious obstacles especially when you’re on the right path… I think it is a test to see just how badly you want it. About 3 years into my journey becoming a professional photographer, I noticed some pretty serious vision changes in my right eye, my dominant eye. I developed double vision, seeing one thing on top of the other. I noticed that it wasn’t going away and it wasn’t just a minor issue so I went to CEI and had multiple tests done. It turned out I had developed histoplasmosis in my right eye, an infection that is pretty common in the mid-west. The only treatment for this was to have injections in my eye. Once the treatment was completed, which took about 6 months, I noticed that my central vision was gone. The injections caused scar tissue to form and block my line of sight…something that is much needed in the photography world. I almost gave it all up, I didn’t know how I was going to shoot no longer having sight in the eye that I used to shoot with. I sat with it for a while, I researched a lot and started playing with different ways to shoot so that I could capture the image, I basically retrained myself to shoot. So even though I hold the camera kind of funny, I was able to overcome that and I still do every day. Obstacles aren’t road blocks, they are just life’s little way of making you think outside the box.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Life without art for me is not an option. I have always been a creator ever since I was a child. I was always drawing ,painting, singing, doing crafts…basically anything that had to do with art, I tried. My goal has always been to be some kind of an artist because that is simply who I am, it makes me, me. As an artist you hear “get a real job” or “hobbies don’t make money”. There are a lot of nay sayers because they don’t believe in the value of art. I have a very opposite view. I believe without art there would be nothing. A building can’t be built without and architect, a car can’t be designed without a designer. Literally everything we see all around us was created by an artist in some sense. The aesthetics had to be designed which takes an artists mind to create. My driving force has always been to show others that you can succeed as an artist, as anything really when you want it bad enough. I get to show my children every day that if you want it, it doesn’t matter what others opinions are. What matters is your happiness and sanity by doing what you love!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kimberlymeadowsphoto.com
- Instagram: @dirtygirlboudoir
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlymeadowsphotography