We were lucky to catch up with Robyn Ulrich recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Robyn, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

One of the driving factors in a woman’s self-confidence and overall success in life, very much revolves around how she perceives herself.

As a young girl who was incredibly shy and unsure of herself, I can attest to how dramatically my life changed for the better once I adjusted my self-perception and gained confidence of my own.

In today’s culture of social media obsession (while already being inundated with movies, magazines and clever marketing), young girls are turning into women who are having an increasingly harder time grasping what is real and attainable which is causing us to question ourselves and our capabilities.

The message we are receiving, tells women that we are not valuable, capable or worthy, unless we are are are perfect. Airbrushed faces make us think our pores are ugly and unnatural. Snatched bodies tell us we’re too fat. Botox and fillers tell us our wrinkles are shameful or that our thin lips are unkissable. We are constantly being told that we need to look a certain way in order to be worthy of love, or to experience the joys or success life offers.

As a Botox lover myself, I don’t think enhancements of any kind are negative tools nor that women should be ashamed of using those tools. In fact, I think they can also greatly help a women step into her own. It’s never the tools that are the problem, it’s when women are fooled into thinking the effects of those tools are natural or even mandatory.

My mission is to lift that veil of fantasy and unrealistic expectation, to show women that their natural selves ARE normal and that they ARE worthy just like any celebrity or influencer they see. I provide them with a first class experience with the right angles, professional makeup/hair, professional posing, professional photography and professional editing….so that they can come to understand what is normal, and what is art. Through the end of it all, women begin to stop comparing their natural state, to things that aren’t attainable without those professional keys. They begin to feel “enough” as they are, and come to appreciate the difference between art and reality.

And those wonderful clients who allow me to share their raw and unedited images, end up helping other women begin to see just how natural pores, curves, laugh lines and smiling lips are…and that they are just as beautiful and worthy as the women they scroll past on their social feeds.

Robyn, 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?

My name is Robyn, and I’m on a mission to help women change their self-perception and chase their beauty, through the art of boudoir photography.

From a very young age, I was always obsessed with perusing family photo albums and taking pictures with my Polaroid and film cameras; but it wasn’t until my early 20’s that I started to notice how natural photography came to me. I started dabbling more with family photos, infant sessions and even did some second shooting for weddings, but none of those niches really felt like a good fit.

Fast forward to my early 30’s when a friend asked if I would do her boudoir photos before her wedding. I honestly had no idea what I was doing, but being able to connect one-on-one with another woman made my heart and creative gears, sing. Not only was it fun to be able to just hang out with a friend while “working”, her attitude really opened my eyes. She was SO confident and authentic with herself and her body, it really made me want to utilize my craft to help other women have that for themselves.

As a shy girl growing up, I know how transformative it can be once you gain your own confidence and love how your look and who you are. Having a healthy self-perception can cause ripple effects in your own mental health, your friendships, your romantic relationships and even in your career. Happiness with ones-self cannot be contained.

Being self taught, I really focus on the natural talent that flows out of me vs trying to mimic other boudoir photographers work or style I see. I actually try to avoid looking at other boudoir photographers’ work as much as possible, so I can ensure I’m really developing my own signature style. I’ve always bucked the trends and I think that is the key to standing out more and not getting stuck thinking I have to create my art a specific way. There are a LOT of boudoir styles out there and I think what draws client’s to me is that I try to keep it classy, timeless and tasteful; not trendy and not something they are already used to seeing.

Having my own unique style makes me very proud of my work, but nothing compares to the reaction my client’s have after their sessions or once they’ve seen their galleries. It puts me on cloud nine being told how fun the sessions are, or that I bring a sense of security and comfort. And when women are in disbelief over how stunningly beautiful they look, or how they go from pre-session “I don’t think I’m going to want these images shared”, to seeing their gallery “OMG share them EVERYWHERE because I look AMAZING!”…I can say, “Mission Accomplished”.

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

People have often said, “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” That was a lesson very quickly unlearned! If you are pursuing your dreams, you’re going to work much harder than you even have in your life.

Although it won’t always FEEL like work because it’s actually something you’re passionate about, you’ll be incredibly busy making your dream a reality. You will be the main driving force behind that work which means you’ll be wearing many hats. Of course you’ll enjoy some of those hats, but there will also be plenty that you don’t enjoy…and you will have to wear them anyway until you get to a point in your achievements where you can assign it to someone else.

Before I launched my own photography business, I had always worked for other people; but helping others achieve THEIR goals and dreams, didn’t instill much drive into my soul. I wasn’t going to go above and beyond and kill myself just to let someone else reap the benefits. So I always did what was expected of me, but not much more unless it was going to benefit me in my career or my future on some level. Once I started my photography journey, it became my newborn baby that never let me sleep. At every step of the way, I’ve gone above and beyond and pushed myself harder than I ever have…because in the end, it’s for me and my family. There are some days that I feel I’m working longer than 24hrs…so I can definitely say that I AM working every day of my life doing what I love, and I wouldn’t ever trade it to work 8hrs a day, 5 days a week, for someone else.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

This probably goes hand-in-hand for growing your business as well, but the NUMBER ONE FOCUS OF ANY BUSINESS should be the client experience.

If you had the best meal in the world, but the service was terrible, the restaurant was dirty and smelly, was in a location where you felt unsafe, and the seats were uncomfortable….would you ever go back?

People often get lost thinking the quality of their product is the only thing that matters.

At every step of the process…from initial marketing that captures their attention, to the first meeting with you, to your onboarding process, to the process itself, to after the transaction has taken place…and even a follow up after their last interaction with you…ALL NEEDS TO BE AN ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE FOR THE CLIENT!

When clients have a stellar experience, that’s when you get the good reviews and word of mouth spreads like wildfire. Your product might not be the final level you’re working towards, but it won’t matter if it’s not perfect as long as your client experience IS. An okay burger on the beach in Bali, is better than a $200 steak in a back alley with rats crawling all over you.

I have my client experience perfected and I continue to perfect it further; and I hear about it constantly from my clients who’ve worked with other photographers that did NOT provide such a great experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.robynmichellephotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robynmichelleboudoir/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robyn-ulrich-34227015
• Other: Pinterest is pretty important for small businesses https://www.pinterest.com/RobynMichelleBoudoir/

Image Credits
*my clients do not wished to be identified