We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tamara Paskey-Alexander. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tamara below.

Tamara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

My original business name of over 11 years was Paskey Boudoir, but as we kept growing and growing, I knew we needed a re-brand. Paskey is my maiden name, and the business name I started my very first studio with in 2010. It made sense as a lone wolf business owner/ wearer of all the hats. But since I started hiring, it slowly felt less and less like it was the right name for the business. Pre-pandemic I hired my first full time employee, who is our in-house photo retoucher, Amanda. Then I brought on more client-facing staff, and the business grew to be more of a group effort. We quickly became a tight-knit group of supportive women and it felt like a collective…. or maybe a SOCIETY! I had purchased The Vixen Society domain name years ago thinking I might use it for business owner meetups or something similar, but nothing came of it. But in 2021 when I hired other photographers to help me run the studio, I knew it was time to move to that business name. So The Vixen Society came to life! Our clients and staff are all badass vixen babes, and I love that our name reflects it.

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

The Vixen Society is a private boudoir and fine art nude photography studio for regular, everyday women where they can feel like powerful, unique works of art. This has been our sole focus for 13 years, and it will not change anytime soon. In my opinion, no other type of photography rivals the impact that we make on women’s self-confidence. We stand apart by providing a completely all-inclusive session with professional hair & makeup, access to our incredible 1600+ piece luxury lingerie closet in sizes XS-5X, posing head to toe to flatter any body shape with a very discerning eye (this is our specialty), magazine quality retouching, and bespoke art products to display your images. We also love providing the emotional support needed to allow yourself to be completely free during your shoot.

A little background on how I got started… The only type of photography I have ever offered professionally is boudoir. Growing up I always had a camera in my hand, without fail. I went to art school, and did my best to figure out what I wanted to do with my craft, but as a lost kid in my early 20’s, I didn’t know what the hell that would be. After working silly jobs, and then being laid off, I knew it was time to find my passion and go all in. Boudoir fell in my lap through a photographer friend in 2010 (per her suggestion) and it immediately clicked. The posing, lighting, emotional aspect, etc., all made perfect sense to me. It sounds made up, but truly, nothing ever felt so right to me.

The thing that stands out to me the most about this niche field is how big of an honor it is that our clients trust us enough to allow themselves to be completely vulnerable in our studio. Boudoir photography & nudes can be an incredibly intimidating thing to do. Baring yourself in front of a stranger can be terrifying! But we take enormous pride in providing our ladies a very safe space to let their walls down, get rid of so much of their self doubt, and realize that they look and feel incredible naked!

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

The most rewarding part of what I do is seeing the client look at her final images. It’s easy to get lost in all of the details, and get overwhelmed by the business side of things. But after all of that hard work and stress, when I finally get to sit down with my client, and I watch her face as she sees her photos for the first time, I feel so warm and fulfilled. Knowing that something I’ve created helps a woman see herself the way others see her, or the way she wished she had seen herself all along, is unparalleled. There have been so many times that I’ve cried with my clients in the ordering room because they sit back and say “Wow, I never knew I could look like that. I never knew I could be that brave. I feel so liberated.” It’s huge for us to be able to finally get past those negative things we tell ourselves in the mirror and instead use kinder words about what we see.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Managing a team and the learning curve of doing so has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Over the past 3 years that I’ve had a full staff, I have cried and stressed myself out to the point of becoming sick several times. Being the sole owner, with no one to guide me, or bounce things off of didn’t help either. After having a bit of turnover, I have finally found my ideal team. The biggest thing I can impart on other employers looking to hire is… don’t ever think “I can train them to get them where I need”, or try to look for the best in people. Either that employee has the “IT” factor, or they don’t. I luckily have a photo retoucher, photographer, and makeup artist on staff who are all passionate, very hard working, and self motivated. I finally feel like I can run the business how I need to, as opposed to focusing on watching staff and stressing every second of the day. Offering competitive salary with benefits made it easier to find someone who is already successful in this field. We maintain high morale by doing things together a lot. We have lunches together multiple times a week, photoshoots with each other, trips, and we talk in a very personal way. We get along and can be open with each other.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thevixensociety.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/thevixensociety
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheVixnSociety
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-vixen-society-dallas
• Other: Private Facebook Group for Women Only- https://www.facebook.com/groups/1531070980494311

Image Credits
Models: Minxie Mimieux, Emma Jaye, Amanda Sahr, Amanda Kee, LaDonna Stein, Kelsey Heimerman, Rosie Lipps, Honey Cocoa Bordeaux