We recently connected with Sheena VanCott and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sheena thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I had very bad self esteem growing up. Body dysmorphia, went through a lot of traumatic events related to love. Broken hearts everywhere. I even got to a point where I wanted to end my life. It was after my longest relationship I had been in ended. I fell in love with boudoir along my journey of learning how to be a photographer. I watched numbers of YouTube videos, talked with as many other photographers as I could, and researched what I needed to do in order to learn how to do self portrait boudoir photography. I wanted to do something about my insecurities. I wanted to gain control over my emotions. It was the best decision I have ever made. For me, and for my life in the career world. I’m still fairly new to the business side of things, so it’s not quite to the point of lucrative that I’d like, but I know I could get there. I want to be able to give to others what I was able to give to myself. I’m a different person today in many ways, but primarily I know who I am now more than ever. I just want to make others feel good about themselves the same way I was able to do it for myself.

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 took a TV production class when I was getting my associates degree in mass communications at Salt Lake Community College. From there I started working at Fox 13 as a floor director. The first time I worked there all I did was rotate between giving the anchors queues, teleprompter control, and sitting in the control room counting folks in when the news started and went on breaks. I enjoyed it, the atmosphere made me feel alive. Especially when I was on the floor, that was my favorite. I eventually left due to low pay, but did end up working there a second time for a show called The Place. I got to actually operate the big studio camera in that studio by hand and do cool creative shots. It really started my love for the camera.

From there I actually started seeking out jobs on local film sets, because at the time I thought I might want to work in film. I still ultimately would love to do that, but the problem I found is that it was a very toxic drama filled industry, and I didn’t last long there. There was lots of passion, but not enough community for me. Not enough heart or empathy.

I dabbled in behind the scenes photography once I got a professional DSLR, Nikon specifically, and had a blast with that, but I undervalued myself a lot, and people took advantage of that. I started to take a hard look at whether or not that was really my path.

I was getting better at standing up for myself on my journey of self care, and people didn’t like it. I didn’t care. I needed this. I started trying to dabble in taking photos of other people. Offering free shoots at peoples homes so I could build my portfolio and get practice. And the responses I got were really positive which felt really good.

I was doing cosplay renditions of pop culture characters on my own path of boudoir self portraits. I noticed that no one else was really doing this at the time as far as a service goes. There weren’t specific boudoir photographers that offered it. I decided I wanted to start my business doing boudoir cosplay photography, and sell prints. So that is what I believe sets me apart from the now very saturated world of boudoir photographers.

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

I was able to attend a lady boss retreat and pitch the idea of my business to a room full of women who owned their own businesses. I made a lot of really good friends there and it was great for networking. I was able to talk to ladies who wanted to do whatever they could to offer up suggestions in order to help me be successful. It was a great experience and I did benefit from that.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part of what I offer is being able to empower others to embrace who they are for exactly who they are, as they are. It feels good to be able to help others along their own journey of self-love, and self-discovery.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sheenavphotography.weebly.com/
• Instagram: @sheenavphotography, @big_reds_dirty_nerds
• Facebook: Sheena V Photography