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

Alright, Liz thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

I’m definitely happier as a business owner, but there are still moments where I miss the simplicity of having a normal job.

Before photography, I was a school teacher, so I know what that life feels like. There are things about it I still miss sometimes: a guaranteed paycheck, knowing when the workday ends and being able to leave work at work!

The last time I seriously thought about going back to something more traditional was after a really overwhelming stretch in my business. I had shoots nonstop, editing backed up, emails I hadn’t answered, bookkeeping I was avoiding, and social media felt like a full-time job on its own. I remember sitting at my computer late at night staring at Instagram analytics thinking, “a boring office job sounds really appealing right now!”

That’s the part that really gets to me sometimes. Your brain never fully shuts off when you own a business. Even on days off, you’re still thinking about bookings, marketing, finances and content.

And boudoir photography can be emotionally heavy too. Women walk into my studio carrying insecurities, heartbreak, trauma, confidence issues, life transitions. I’m not just taking photos. I’m walking people through really vulnerable moments. Most days I love that part of the work, but there are times when it’s emotionally exhausting.

I remember driving home after a session during that season and seeing a woman leaving an office building. She looked tired, but free. Work was over for her. She got to go home and be done for the day. That thought stuck with me for a while. But after sitting with it, I realized I didn’t actually want a different life. I just wanted things to feel more manageable at my studio.

I didn’t start this business for money. If money was the goal, there are easier ways to make a living. I started this business because I genuinely feel called to empower women.

Even when I was teaching, that was always my favorite part of the job. Helping people believe in themselves. Building confidence and encouraging people to see themselves differently. Photography became another version of that for me. There’s nothing like watching a woman walk into my studio nervous and insecure, then seeing her leave standing taller and seeing herself differently. That feeling never gets old.

A traditional office job might feel simpler in some ways, but I don’t think it would give me the same sense of purpose. This business lets me impact women in a way that feels deeply meaningful to me, and I honestly don’t think a regular job could do that in quite the same way.

Now when I have those moments where I feel tempted to walk away from entrepreneurship, I see them differently. Usually it just means I’m overwhelmed, burned out, or trying to carry too much on my own. I’ve learned there’s a big difference between wanting to escape my life and quit my business and just needing more support inside the life I have already built and love.

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’m the owner and photographer behind Chicago Boudoir Photography, a women-focused luxury portrait studio located in Winnetka, Illinois. I’ve been in business for more than 8 years now, and over that time the studio has grown into something that means so much more to me than just photography.

I started out photographing weddings and families before eventually transitioning fully into boudoir photography. Boudoir was never part of the original plan, but everything changed after I booked a boudoir session for myself and completely fell in love with the experience. It was empowering, confidence-boosting, and transformative in a way I didn’t expect. Seeing myself through someone else’s lens changed the way I viewed myself, and I realized how powerful that experience could be for other women too. That’s what inspired me to open and build the studio I have today.

At Chicago Boudoir Photography, we specialize in luxury boudoir experiences designed to help women feel confident, beautiful, and comfortable in their own skin. I’m incredibly lucky to be joined by a fabulous all-female team that includes our professional beauty team, retouching specialists, and studio manager. Having a women-led environment is something that’s really important to us because it helps clients feel safe, relaxed, and fully supported throughout the entire experience.

Every session includes professional hair and makeup, so clients can truly feel pampered from the moment they walk through the door. We also provide complimentary professional retouching with every session. My editing style is very natural because I still want women to look like themselves, just their most confident and polished version.

Privacy is also a huge priority in our studio. A lot of women are nervous about booking boudoir because they worry about where their images might end up. We take that very seriously and guarantee our clients complete privacy. No images are ever shared without written permission.

One thing that really sets our studio apart is the overall experience we create from start to finish. We do same-day photo reveals, which means clients get to see their images the very same day as their session. That instant gratification is one of the best parts of the experience because women immediately get to see themselves in a completely different light.

We also use professional studio lighting techniques specifically designed to flatter each client’s best features. Most women walk into the studio convinced they aren’t photogenic, but lighting, posing, angles, and guidance make such a huge difference. My job is to create an environment where women feel comfortable enough to let their confidence come through naturally.

Most of my clients have never done a boudoir session before, so we guide them through absolutely everything. Posing, facial expressions, outfit choices, nerves, all of it. By the end of the session, most women are shocked by how comfortable and empowered they felt.

Some women book sessions as gifts for their partners, but most end up realizing the experience was really for themselves. I’ve photographed women celebrating milestones, rebuilding confidence after divorce, embracing their bodies after motherhood, healing after difficult seasons of life, or simply deciding they deserve to feel beautiful exactly as they are right now.

What I’m most proud of after 8+ years in business is the emotional impact this work has had on women. The messages I receive from clients are the things that stay with me the most. Women telling me they finally felt beautiful again. Women saying they saw themselves differently for the first time in years. Women saying the experience helped them reconnect with themselves and feel confident again.

At the end of the day, I want people to understand that Chicago Boudoir Photography is about so much more than taking pretty photos. It’s about confidence, empowerment, self-worth, and creating an experience where women feel celebrated exactly as they are. That mission has been at the heart of my business from the very beginning, and it’s still what drives me every single day.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

One of the hardest moments I’ve ever experienced as a business owner happened on a freezing cold night in January a few years ago. It was a record-breaking cold night in Chicago and a pipe burst in the building where my studio is located. I remember getting the call and assuming it was probably a small issue that would need cleanup the next day. I had no idea I was about to walk into the complete destruction of everything I had built.

When I got to the studio, water had flooded the entire space. Electronics were ruined, furniture was destroyed, sample albums were soaked, walls and floors were damaged, and years of investments into the business were suddenly sitting underwater. It’s honestly hard to explain the feeling of seeing a space you poured yourself into completely destroyed overnight. This wasn’t just a studio to me. It was something I had built piece by piece over years of hard work, long nights, creativity, and sacrifice.

Over the next several days, I literally shoveled my business into a dumpster. I still remember standing outside in the freezing cold carrying out waterlogged furniture, ruined props, destroyed client products, and boxes of things that once felt so important. I cried constantly during that process because it felt like I was throwing away years of my life. I was exhausted, heartbroken, overwhelmed really wondering if I would rebuild or not.

Even though insurance eventually covered part of the damage, emotionally I was completely drained. Starting over felt impossible. The thought of replacing everything, redesigning the studio, purchasing new furniture, rebuilding the sets, and recreating the business from scratch felt overwhelming. I just wanted to qui.

What eventually pulled me through was realizing that the heart of my business was never really the physical space itself. It wasn’t the furniture or the walls or the props. What I missed most during that time was the work itself and the women I was serving. I missed the experience of helping women feel confident, beautiful, and empowered. I missed the emotional impact of the sessions and the transformation I watched happen in front of my camera every day.

That realization is ultimately what pushed me to rebuild. I bought new camera, I designed new sets and I opened back up again just 6 weeks after the disaster.

Looking back now, I realize that the experience changed me as both a business owner and a person. It taught me how quickly things can disappear, but it also taught me how resilient I am. At the time, it felt like everything was ending. Now, I can see it as one of the moments that proved to me I was capable of starting over, even when I didn’t think I could.

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

One of the biggest lessons I’ve had to unlearn is the idea that as a woman, I was supposed to stay small and be perfect all the time. Growing up, I absorbed many messages about what being a “good” woman looked like. Be pretty. Be feminine. Be polite. Don’t be too loud. Don’t take up too much space. But it also went deeper than appearance. I think I learned that women weren’t really allowed to be messy, especially publicly. Women were supposed to have it all together emotionally, financially, professionally. You were supposed to look effortless while quietly holding everything together behind the scenes.

I also didn’t grow up around female entrepreneurs or women taking big financial risks. I didn’t have role models showing me what it looked like for women to confidently run businesses, lead teams, make money, or build something from scratch. At the time, entrepreneurship felt like something other people did, especially men. I never really saw women around me described as ambitious or powerful in that way.

So when I started my business, I realized I was carrying around a lot of beliefs I didn’t even know I had. Deep down, I thought money was intimidating and complicated and probably something I just wasn’t naturally good at. I felt uncomfortable charging what my work was worth, talking about finances, marketing myself confidently, or even calling myself a business owner. Part of me still felt like I was “playing pretend” for a long time.

Building a business forced me to confront all of those beliefs head-on. I had to learn how to make hard decisions, take risks, advocate for myself, and stop apologizing for wanting success. I also had to unlearn the idea that ambition somehow makes women less likable or less feminine. For a long time, I thought I had to choose between being warm and being successful, when in reality women can absolutely be both.

One of the most healing parts of entrepreneurship has been surrounding myself with other female business owners. In the past decade, I have come to I know so many incredible women building businesses, leading teams, making money, supporting families, and taking huge swings unapologetically. Seeing other women succeed made me realize I was capable too. Sometimes you just need proof that it’s possible before you can fully believe it for yourself.

At the end of the day, the biggest thing I’ve had to unlearn is the belief that women are supposed to shrink themselves. I’ve learned that being feminine and being powerful are not opposites, and that I’m capable of far more than I once believed. That lesson has shaped not only the way I run my business, but also the way I photograph women. So much of my work is about helping women see themselves differently and realize they’re allowed to take up space, be confident, messy, ambitious, successful, and fully themselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chicago-boudoir.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chicago.boudoir/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chicagoboudoir
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-hansen-9aab35173/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/boudoir_chicago
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChicagoBoudoirPhotography
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/chicago-boudoir-photography-winnetka-2
• Other: Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/VIPChicago