We were lucky to catch up with Nursah Wood And Sarah Cea recently and have shared our conversation below.
Nursah Wood and Sarah Cea, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
When I (Nursah) first started shooting Boudoir sessions, I was renting Airbnbs, hotel rooms and then even shot from my guest room for a year… I was also renting other photography studios, but I knew I wanted a space to show more of my style with consistency. One day at a Historical Buildings touring event by Delaware County, I discovered my current studio. The historical, rustic style of the space quickly grabbed my attention. It was the summer of 2021 and we were still going through Covid and it was not even a year after becoming a single mom. The decision of having a lease was scary, but I also knew that this was the space for me… a space to crate my own art. A space away from my home, where I could be creative, and was dedicated to my clients. So I took the chance and signed the lease. It’s been 3.5 years and today and one of the reasons our clients book with us is our unique studio space and our moody styles that works so well together!
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.
Today, owned by 2 women who work perfect as teammates, Exactly You Boudoir provides a premium Boudoir photoshoot experience for women all over Ohio. We take pride in providing a well-deserved service for any shape, age, and background. We pay attention to details by getting to know our clients with calls and questionnaires before their session. We are eager to create a custom session for everyone to show their personality and style.
We own an ever growing client closet, and have so many unique sets to shoot with, and we host events in the studio regularly. We aim to show you the real you! We also shoot couples and Dudedoir- and loving all the new experiences!
Our goal is to create a community that women feel safe to express themselves without any judgement. I think this sets us apart from just being photographers. We want to tell your story with intimate photos… Anyone and everyone who is especially struggling to find themselves, going through tough times or have achieved big goals/milestones, or just want to celebrate life with an intimate gift is welcomed and encouraged to experience a session with us! We promise to be friend first and photographer second:)
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
Nursah :
I am from Turkey and studied Architecture back in Istanbul. I first came to USA as an Intern Architect but then studied Graphic Design. All these occupations required me to know basic photography skills. I also lived in Italy for a year and was already taking journalistic style street photos. However, I never thought I would do photography professionally. After my own engagement photos, I realized how fun it would be to work with people to capture their important moments and my interest quickly turned into passion. I watched countless videos, took classes, read and became a self-taught wedding photographer. One day one of my bride-to-be asked if I would shoot her Boudoir photos as a gift to her soon-to-be-husband. I again searched and practiced before the shoot. I loved the process and starting marketing Boudoir photos to my other brides. From there, it grew quickly and I started shooting Boudoir sessions for many different reasons for women going through different phases, women who want to find themselves again, women who is going infertility, women who were abused… I then realized the empowering power of this intimate photography style and became eager to give more.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Nursah:
A year after signing my lease, I realized how much extra work owning a studio requires. I was still busy with shooting weddings and family sessions so having to pay rent every month and making profit became harder. I knew I wanted to shoot more Boudoir but I wasn’t ready to give up the rest yet. During my 2nd year in the studio, I reached out to our Facebook photography group and asked if anyone wanted to rent the studio space for a month while I traveled. That’s how I met with Sarah. After I turned back, I met with her to get the keys, but I never got them back:) Over that meeting, she told me how much she loved the studio. We exchanged our life stories and talked about our life goals. I saw the photos she took in the studio and was surprised to see how similar our styles were. We also both wanted to shoot women, create empowering experiences for them so we decided to combine powers in 2023.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.exactlyyouboudoir.com
- Instagram: @exactly.you.boudoir
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExactlyYouBoudoir/
- Linkedin: none
- Twitter: none
- Youtube: none
- Yelp: none
- Soundcloud: none
Image Credits
-Studio space
-Bridal Boudoir sessions (white lingerie)
– celebrate milestones (30)
– empowering sessions (cancer)
– attention to detail
– unique sets and props (disco ball)
-heirloom products