Today’s episode features an electrifying conversation between host Lorie Jones and trailblazing entrepreneur Liz Hansen, founder of Chicago Boudoir Photography Studio. With candor, Liz recounts her journey from art history and education to building a thriving studio that champions women’s confidence and individuality.
Liz shares how stepping outside her comfort zone, despite skepticism and societal taboos, became the catalyst for both her personal and professional growth. Hear about the real-life challenges women face in business, from silencing inner critics to tackling the money stories they inherit, highlighting the power of investing in community, mentorship, and self-worth.
You’ll come away from this conversation with inspiration and actionable wisdom to chart your path boldly, even in unconventional industries. For growth-minded professional women, it will be a celebration of courage, creativity, and the freedom that comes from betting on yourself.
Show Highlights:
- The joy of possessing fewer “little Mona Lisas.” [03:14]
- How and why Liz Hansen became a boudoir photographer. [06:34]
- The power of celebrating your unique beauty with confidence. [09:15]
- What can accelerate returns from investing in a mastermind? [14:14]
- Navigating starting a business in a controversial industry. [17:07]
- The importance of investing in an IRA early in life. [23:08]
- Embracing the risk of business ownership and necessary debt. [26:07]
- Money stories of transitioning to paid work as a SAHM. [30:34]
- Benefits and stigma of being a female boudoir studio owner. [38:10]
- Advice to young women who are aspiring entrepreneurs. [42:12]
Visit Liz Hansen’s website, https://chicago-boudoir.com/free, to access free resources.
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to Apple Podcasts and leave a review! For more information about Lorie Jones, go to https://fearlessfinancialadvisors.com/fearless-females.
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to Apple Podcasts and leave a review!
For more information about Lorie Jones, go to https://fearlessfinancialadvisors.com/fearless-females.
00:01.89
Lorie Jones
Good morning, fearless females. I am so excited today. We have got a treat. We’re talking with Liz Hansen, and she is the owner of Chicago Boudoir. And we will hear a lot about what she does today, but I am so excited to have you on my show, Liz. Thank you so much for doing this.
00:18.18
Liz Hansen
Hey, thanks for having me. It’s a treat.
00:21.05
Lorie Jones
So my first question is always the same. Actually, all my questions are always the same, but sometimes I get interested and go a little deeper. um But what is your favorite book?
00:31.82
Liz Hansen
Okay, this sort of an unconventional choice, but it’s not a novel. It’s a called The Joy of Less.
00:36.86
Lorie Jones
Okay. Okay.
00:39.95
Liz Hansen
And it’s a book about… becoming less attached to things and owning fewer things, kind of a minimalism approach. And I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite book because I just loved reading it, but it’s my favorite book because it changed. It literally changed how I lived my life.
00:56.99
Liz Hansen
I, I think more intentionally about what I buy what I have in my house. And it’s just really, it it really changed my whole perspective on possessions and it’s just um i recommend it to people all the time because had such a big impact on me
01:15.44
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I like that. Did it now? This is my problem is i i don’t, you know, like possessions and stuff like that. Like I don’t get a whole lot of those. But you know what? I have like so many appointments on my calendar. Does it help you like say no to some of the the electronic clutter maybe or like the the calendar clutter or the time clutter? Does help with that?
01:39.14
Liz Hansen
You know, that’s an interesting question. The book’s not recent. Like it’s kind of, it was written like at least 20 years ago. So it may not have been like as focused on digital clutter, but the the concepts are the same. So the big premise of the book is this, like imagine you were suddenly gifted the Mona Lisa and now it is in your home.
01:58.22
Liz Hansen
Well, what does that mean for your life? Now you have to ensure this painting. You have to care for it. You have to, you have to have security. You have to deal with people wanting to come to see it. Right. So oh ever owning that Mona Lisa would actually probably like just take up your time and your energy. Right.
02:14.68
Liz Hansen
And what the author of the book is saying is everything in your life is like a tiny little Mona Lisa in, an in, in that way, in that everything you own takes up some of your time and your energy, which are your most precious precious resources.
02:27.52
Lorie Jones
no
02:29.85
Liz Hansen
You have to clean things. You have to maintain things. You have to, um you know, vacuum things and you have to put things away. so The fewer things you can own, the more you can open up your time and your energy to things that really matter for you.
02:45.65
Lorie Jones
Oh my gosh. I love that.
02:46.37
Liz Hansen
That’s kind of like the premise of the book.
02:47.03
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
02:48.35
Liz Hansen
Yeah.
02:48.34
Lorie Jones
yeah I like that. I’m definitely putting that on my list. I’m going to clutter up my home with a copy ah the the book.
02:56.48
Liz Hansen
Yeah. Well, you know what you can do after you read it, you can give the book to someone else.
02:57.35
Lorie Jones
That’s all right.
03:00.34
Lorie Jones
That is a great idea.
03:00.70
Liz Hansen
Um, It was just such a, never thought about my possessions or owning things in that way before. It just opened my mind to thinking about things in a different way that I have. I mean, I read the book many years ago and I’ve reread it a couple of times and it just sticks with me.
03:15.19
Liz Hansen
When I’m at Target, when I’m at Walmart, when I’m online shopping, I think, do I want this item to take up a piece of my time and energy? Do I, do I, is that what I want? It’s not just the cost of buying the thing.
03:27.47
Lorie Jones
yeah Yeah, I love it.
03:27.55
Liz Hansen
It’s the cost of owning and maintaining the thing Indefinitely. So it just really affected me that way.
03:34.65
Lorie Jones
I i do. That’s so cool. I’m definitely putting that one on my list. So Liz, tell me a little bit about your journey. Like, how did you get started? um did you did you know what you wanted to do at age three? Like, i am so curious as to how you got where you’re at in your journey. What do you do today? And just a little bit about you.
03:55.92
Liz Hansen
Yeah, so I run um a photo studio called the Chicago Boudoir Photography Studio. And if you’ve never heard the word boudoir, it’s just a fancy French word that means a woman’s bedroom.
04:07.81
Liz Hansen
But what I do at the boudoir studio is I create a safe space for women to come and create sexy, sensual photos of themselves to feel more confident and empowered in their own skin.
04:18.71
Lorie Jones
Oh.
04:19.16
Liz Hansen
And um no, I did not know that I wanted to do this when I was a child. um I went to college and studied art history. I’ve always loved beautiful art. And then I actually got a master’s in education and I taught English for a while.
04:33.17
Liz Hansen
And then I was a stay at home mom for seven years, got married, had two kids. I have two teenage girls now, love on pieces. And when my kids were a little, I got into digital photography. so So listen, I’m old enough that like my wedding was shot on film, right?
04:46.45
Liz Hansen
Because digital photography wasn’t a thing yet, right?
04:46.80
Lorie Jones
oh
04:49.22
Liz Hansen
But when my kids were little, digital photography was kind of new. I got into it and I loved taking pictures of my babies. I took some photography classes at my local community college and I started a little business doing family photography.
05:02.11
Liz Hansen
And I did that for a few years, shot weddings, bar mitzvahs, events. And then i heard about boudoir and I decided to sign up for a boudoir photo shoot for myself. I was the person being photographed, not the photographer.
05:16.03
Liz Hansen
And I went into this boudoir photo shoot, very nervous, very inhibited, very unsure, but very curious. And I’m not exaggerating when I say that I walked out of that photo shoot ready to show up in my life in bigger and better ways. It was transformative for me. I just felt this like surge of energy and confidence from the experience.
05:36.86
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
05:37.58
Liz Hansen
And I decided i wanted other women to have that kind of experience as well, to feel some self-love, some self-confidence, So I took a big leap and I opened up my own boudoir studio. I had no previous business experience in terms of running a brick and mortar store.
05:54.51
Liz Hansen
had to take out a business loan to get started. First year or so, I was not profitable, but I’ve now been running that studio for almost eight years and just really loved every minute of it. I photographed more than 2000 women.
06:07.99
Lorie Jones
wow. ah You know, it’s so funny, Liz, because you’re saying these things and I’m like, I barely like getting my picture taken with everything on. How do you convince women to show the pudgier parts of their bodies or the pieces that like, like they don’t?
06:25.84
Lorie Jones
And, and it sounds like Like you help them feel so confident about who they are. Like how, tell me how that even works, how that transformation happens.
06:38.46
Liz Hansen
Yeah, I mean, you’re not alone in feeling some trepidation about doing something like a boudoir photo shoot because it’s very intimate, very exposing. And also it’s kind of taboo, right? For a woman to take pictures of nude or partially nude, right?
06:53.72
Liz Hansen
And that is part of the whole point of boudoir, to step outside your comfort zone and to embrace your own unique beauty.
07:00.54
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
07:00.73
Liz Hansen
And it’s more than a photo shoot. It’s like an experience in self-exploration and self-love. um Every photo shoot at my studio starts with professional hair and makeup.
07:12.46
Liz Hansen
I have a beauty team that’s going get you camera ready. Then we go over outfits and we plan what outfits you’re going wear. Could be outfits that you bring to the studio or it could be things I have.
07:25.44
Liz Hansen
And I’m going to curate that for you so that we get the vibe that you’re looking for for your photo shoot. Do you want to be soft and sweet? Do you want to be dark and sensual? do you want to do a mix of both? Do want to wear my six foot tall ostrich feather angel wings?
07:39.88
Liz Hansen
Do you want to just do the whole shoot with ah bed sheets and rose petals? Like we can do anything you want to help you kind of connect to yourself and create some images that you like.
07:49.76
Lorie Jones
Hmm.
07:50.26
Liz Hansen
And then something that we do during the photo shoot, I’m going to tell you exactly what to do and how to pose. You don’t have to know how to do this. I’m going to use professional lighting and posing to make you look your best. And then right after your photo shoot, before you even leave the studio,
08:04.29
Liz Hansen
I’m show you a slideshow of your pictures. That instant gratification is really fun, but also I want women to see their photos without a filter and without Photoshop to appreciate how gorgeous and beautiful they are just as they are.
08:18.80
Liz Hansen
Now, of course, yeah, I’ll do some Photoshop afterwards.
08:19.36
Lorie Jones
I love that.
08:22.01
Liz Hansen
If you have some acne or you have, you know, a bruise on your arm, you want me to take off. Like, of course I’ll do that afterwards, but I want you to to see the pictures right then and there and have a moment of just appreciating yourself and your body and everything it does for you.
08:34.81
Lorie Jones
No, that’s so neat. i I think that is really kind of an empowering. It’s, you know, it strikes me as just a little bit fearless to like, look at yourself unfiltered and find that beauty.
08:49.41
Lorie Jones
Because, you know, most of the time I’m looking at, oh, there’s a zit there. And there’s a wrinkle there. and I love that you give women that experience of being able to just show up.
09:00.61
Lorie Jones
And it sounds like it’s It’s been a really successful business, you know, and I’m sure we’ll get into this later on in the interview about like setting up the business and and stuff like that. But you’ve managed to find something that you both love and are passionate about and that has a return on investment.
09:22.73
Liz Hansen
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, when I was starting my photography business, so many people were like, you can’t make money doing that. Like everyone has an iPhone. You can’t make money. Who opens a photo studio?
09:33.71
Liz Hansen
What is this 1987 JC Penney? Like, what are you doing opening a photo studio?
09:36.48
Lorie Jones
Okay.
09:37.95
Liz Hansen
And I understood that. And i also believed that this was like a unique experience that people would seek out. we live in this digital era, of course, where we’re on our screens all the time and what we crave are real human experiences. Right.
09:53.64
Liz Hansen
And I knew that the boudoir studio would be that for people. It would be an opportunity to go and do something, to feel something, to be present, to be embodied. Right. And so yeah, it was a little bit of a crazy idea to open up the studio. I’m not going to lie, but i just really felt that it was going to work because women were going to want this because they knew it was going to help them.
10:16.05
Liz Hansen
They knew that they were going feel something when they came. um And so, yeah, when we first started, I didn’t, we didn’t have any money. I’m married. and My husband had a day job, fortunately. And so that was how we were able to buy groceries while I was working full-time at a studio that was not making any money at first.
10:31.16
Lorie Jones
Yeah, as most of us entrepreneurs do, right?
10:31.45
Liz Hansen
Not only was And not even was it wasn’t even making my and I had to take out a loan to start the business. So it’s you know, it’s losing money and every month at the beginning.
10:43.18
Liz Hansen
But I could see when women came into the studio that they were willing to pay for this experience and purchase photos because it was transformative. This wasn’t just, you know, oh I need a new headshot for my work.
10:55.96
Liz Hansen
LinkedIn. Right. This was different. This was this was a woman saying i matter. I am beautiful just as I am. I deserve this and I want these pictures preserved.
11:08.10
Liz Hansen
So I built on that. I got testimonials from women who came in. I took videos of them and asking about their experience, posted them on the website. I started a Facebook group where people could interact with other local women who’ve done this, get their questions answered.
11:22.75
Liz Hansen
And slowly the business did grow and become profitable.
11:25.96
Lorie Jones
Mm hmm. That’s cool. So tell me, Liz, what’s the best investment? If you looked over your journey, um what is the best investment you’ve made in yourself? Is there something that you can look back and you’re like, oh, my gosh, if I hadn’t done that, I don’t think I’d be successful today?
11:45.12
Liz Hansen
There is one thing that sticks out, which was this. When I was early on my journey of my entrepreneurship journey, when I was just starting my business, I joined and paid for um like a mastermind group with a coach who specialized in helping people start businesses.
11:57.44
Lorie Jones
Oh.
12:02.96
Liz Hansen
and in particular, like artistic photography businesses, right?
12:03.09
Lorie Jones
oh
12:06.47
Liz Hansen
And when I joined, it was not cheap, it was expensive. And I remember I found out about it, I really wanted to do it. I went downstairs, I said to my husband, hey, i found this group, this mastermind, this coach that helps people start photo studios and grow them, but it’s expensive. I don’t know, it could be kind of a scam, could be kind of a waste money. He was like, let’s put on a credit card. My husband’s kind of like that. He’s like, yeah, let’s put a credit card.
12:29.19
Liz Hansen
So I put this on a credit card. I really, we didn’t have the money for it, but I knew that I needed some people to talk to about. I needed a community. I needed some cheerleaders. And I needed someone who was like three steps ahead of me to be like, hey, look out for this. Because I really didn’t know what I didn’t know.
12:47.16
Liz Hansen
you know what i mean i didn’t know what pitfalls were coming to even prepare for them, right?
12:47.32
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
12:51.21
Liz Hansen
So even though this mastermind group was expensive expensive, for me it was ah it was a big layout of money for an investment. It paid off within like 90 days because I got so much support and data and information.
13:09.40
Liz Hansen
Yes, there’s a lot of information on the internet. Yes, you can Google stuff, but having real people synthesize it and say to me, this is what you need to work on right now first was so valuable. And I was able to leap ahead in my business in ways that I wouldn’t been able to do if it was just by myself.
13:25.17
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
13:25.58
Liz Hansen
I’m grateful for that course that I took that mastermind those people that helped me and supported me. And a lot of times I think as women, especially we’re like, we can do it ourselves, right. But like asking for help hiring a CPA, hiring a financial advisor, hiring a coach, joining a group, joining mastermind, these things can make all the difference in your money journey.
13:44.30
Lorie Jones
Yeah. And it can make it a little bit smoother and more pleasant too, don’t you think? Like you would have eventually learned all those things. Like, you know, like my clients will eventually figure it out. but But if you can smooth it out and make it easier for somebody to get to get started, to learn the lingo, to set up their, you know, systems and stuff like that, like how great is that to skip the hard parts and go straight to the fun parts or, you know, a little bit.
14:14.52
Liz Hansen
And it truly was an investment that paid off right? I think sometimes we think, well, I can’t spend that money on this. I can’t ah can’t hire so-and-so because it will the cost will be high. But in reality, it’s not a spend. It’s not a cost. It’s an investment when you get returns.
14:28.71
Lorie Jones
Yeah. And investment. Yeah. I love that. Invested in you. What is the worst advice someone gave you? And did you take the advice or did you not? What did you learn from it?
14:40.62
Liz Hansen
Well, the worst advice I got was don’t start a business. And I got that.
14:44.00
Lorie Jones
At all? Like blanket, not like boudoir, like nothing.
14:45.17
Liz Hansen
Yeah.
14:47.21
Lorie Jones
Don’t start a business.
14:47.89
Liz Hansen
Well, I mean, there were just a lot of people that were like, that’s really risky. Don’t do it. um And also like, that’s kind of taboo. Like, aren’t you embarrassed to start a business like this? Like, I don’t know that anyone was like, never start a business ever. I don’t think anyone said that to me, but a lot of people were like, just, you know, don’t start a boudoir photography business.
15:08.12
Liz Hansen
um And i you know it was sort of hard at the beginning to tell people like, well, I’m doing it anyway, you know? um
15:16.00
Lorie Jones
I heard what you said and I didn’t listen at all.
15:18.97
Liz Hansen
Right. And my parents were like very weirded out. Like they’re, you know, they’re older from kind of ah an older generation that does not understand at all why I would want to do this. And they were, you know, sort of hesitant about the morality of it all and things like that. But I have learned that, you know, the people who aren’t paying your bills don’t get to have opinions about your life, right?
15:42.99
Liz Hansen
They’re not the one ones waking and going to work. They’re not the ones paying the bills. They don’t get to have a say.
15:50.61
Lorie Jones
So um how did you navigate that when they’re like, when you’re doing it anyway, they said, i wouldn’t do this. And you’re, how do you, how do you tell? so I’m very curious. Like, how did you tell them?
16:05.41
Lorie Jones
I’m okay. Well, thank you. And did they get pissed off?
16:08.55
Liz Hansen
Thank you. Well, to be honest, I rented the commercial space and put up a website before I told anybody because I knew that I was going to get negative feedback.
16:16.59
Lorie Jones
Oh,
16:19.53
Liz Hansen
so let’s let Let me be clear. I told my husband. i didn’t call anyone out. like I didn’t just do this like rogue, but I didn’t tell any friends or family that I’d done it until after I’d signed the lease and put up the website because I knew in my heart that that there would be people who would tell me not to do it. And I didn’t know, like you said, that I would necessarily have the wherewithal to kind of be like, well, I’m going to do it anyway. So when I told people, was like, hey, I’ve already done the thing.
16:45.11
Liz Hansen
I’ve already rented the space. Then they were like, I can’t, I wouldn’t do that. I was like, I know, but i already did.
16:50.36
Lorie Jones
Yeah. So now be positive.
16:51.42
Liz Hansen
always Yeah, kind of changed the dynamic. And in the end, you know what? Some people weren’t all that supportive, but it doesn’t matter. They weren’t the ones running the business. They were never going to be my clients anyway, you know? It’s not like my dad’s going to come in for a photo shoot, right? So like, it doesn’t really matter if he supports my idea or not, right?
17:07.44
Liz Hansen
So, but there were a lot of supportive people, right?
17:07.64
Lorie Jones
And your husband.
17:10.93
Liz Hansen
I had a lot of friends early on who like looked at my price list and gave me feedback and things like that too. So while there were some detractors, yeah, I had a lot of friends who were very supportive as well.
17:17.46
Lorie Jones
Oh, that’s good.
17:22.05
Lorie Jones
And your husband was supportive?
17:24.21
Liz Hansen
He absolutely, in fact, he’s one I came to and i was like, I have this idea, but I don’t know. And he was like, oh, you have to. and I was like, well, but we’d have to take out a loan. And I don’t know if I can make it work. He’s like, you have to do this.
17:37.59
Liz Hansen
I can tell that you really want to. And now if you don’t do it now, you’re just going to put it off. You’re going to do this eventually. You care so much about this. You want to do this so badly. you’re gonna You’re going to open this business eventually. So you should do it now rather than later was his…
17:52.43
Liz Hansen
was his line. So, I mean, fortunately he was very supportive. And like i said, he had a day job that allowed me to lose the money.
17:57.94
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
17:59.55
Liz Hansen
I mean, I know not everyone is so fortunate, but that’s the only way I was able to, you know, go to work every day for a year and a half and not pay myself.
18:09.09
Lorie Jones
Yeah. That’s so interesting. I love that. I love that for you. um What about looking back over your journey, Liz? Are there, is there a situation that you can think of where you’re like, Ooh, gosh, I’m If I knew then what I know now, i totally would have done that differently.
18:25.72
Lorie Jones
and And how?
18:28.27
Liz Hansen
Yeah. um Well, there’s a couple things. Big picture, I was a stay-at-home mom for seven years. And while there were some benefits to that, I wish I had worked part-time instead of quitting working entirely.
18:41.14
Liz Hansen
um It was really hard to get started again after being home. And I know everyone makes their own choices based on their families and stuff. But for me, I wish I had somehow figured out to at least keep my foot in the door a little bit more than I did.
18:56.08
Liz Hansen
um In terms of my business, there’s been a lot of, oh man, i had a competitor who decided to tell all of her Instagram followers to write bad reviews on my site, even though they didn’t know me. And I got flooded with hundreds of bad reviews in one weekend.
19:11.42
Liz Hansen
um A pipe burst in the building, in the in the apartment above my studio and my studio got flooded and I lost everything inside. um Had to throw away my whole studio and start from scratch again.
19:24.79
Liz Hansen
um There’s been some hard things like that, you know?
19:27.17
Lorie Jones
Yeah, yeah
19:28.14
Liz Hansen
At the same time, like it’s just like running a business is like the journey of a life. it’s a i It’s the adventure of a lifetime, right? Like you’ll never learn as much, have as many highs or as many lows.
19:39.88
Liz Hansen
And I’m like, I’m grateful to be on the roller coaster, even if sometimes it’s crazy.
19:45.33
Lorie Jones
yeah, yeah, exactly. and And I think that, you know, as an entrepreneur, like you can’t explain that necessarily to everybody else, that there just is, there’s, you you’re never going to be happier and more proud of yourself and sadder and more discouraged than you are when you start something.
20:04.43
Liz Hansen
The only thing I can liken it to is having a baby. Like before you have a baby, you know, it’s going to be quote unquote hard, but you don’t know in what ways it’s going to be hard or how it’s going hard, how it’s going to change you. You just can’t imagine it quite.
20:19.00
Liz Hansen
And then the baby comes and then you just have to like grow with the baby, right? The business is the same way before you start, you you know, it’s going be hard, but you don’t you can’t quite imagine what the challenges will be or how they will come at you, but then they do. And you just have to rise to the occasion um while your little baby business grows up and then becomes an annoying te teenager before it kind of like gets into its more adult form.
20:41.22
Lorie Jones
Yeah. um If you could go back and high five your past self for a great financial decision, what would that be and why?
20:51.41
Liz Hansen
Okay, one thing I did was I started investing in my 20s. um I was really lucky to have a dad who was really, um he was like on it, you know?
21:02.53
Liz Hansen
And I came home from college my freshman year.
21:02.53
Lorie Jones
here
21:06.02
Liz Hansen
I’m like 19 or 20, right? And I worked all summer and I made $3,000 and I was really proud of it. This back in the 90s, guys.
21:12.93
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
21:13.41
Liz Hansen
And my dad was like, you got to invest in an IRA.
21:13.38
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
21:15.73
Liz Hansen
And I was like, what? You know, like, have but
21:18.61
Lorie Jones
What is even that? An era? What?
21:20.76
Liz Hansen
Yeah, but he helped me do it and he actually matched my contribution, which was really generous of him. And that started, you know, my IRA, my retirement fund that when I was 20 and that money, obviously, you know, it’s just sitting in an index fund has grown.
21:34.63
Liz Hansen
And if I hadn’t had him tell me to do that, I would not have known. I wouldn’t have done it. And I’m just grateful that he kind of showed me the way. And then every year he would call and he’d be like, all right, have you funded your IRA for this year? And some years I’d have more money than other years, but he was he was helping me along the way. And that, I wanna give my 20 year old self a high five for that.
21:54.54
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I love that. I love that answer. First of all, as a financial advisor, you just made my heart like grow three sizes. but But I love that youre your dad did that for you too. And tell me, feel like do you feel like Like when you when you finally started being successful and you know making money and you had extra income, did it make it easier to invest and save because you had been doing that all along?
22:22.54
Lorie Jones
Because that’s my theory is that it works.
22:23.10
Liz Hansen
Oh.
22:24.42
Lorie Jones
If you start young, you you are better at it.
22:27.52
Liz Hansen
Absolutely. Well, and I, I already had the account and I already had the habit and it was just like, well, how much can we, how much can we front load this year? you know, it wasn’t like, oh, what are we going to do? Should we, should we not know? It was like, oh, I know exactly what to do.
22:41.92
Liz Hansen
Let’s, let’s load up that IRA first thing, you know? Um, so yeah, it’s not just the habits, which are good, but it’s also just having like the infrastructure already there. Like the accounts are there, the, the, you know, it’s all set up. Right. And you just can make the transfers and it’s no big deal.
22:56.78
Liz Hansen
um
22:57.08
Lorie Jones
yeah
22:58.19
Liz Hansen
I love saving. i maybe have like a little bit of an obsession, but like I’m really, um i really enjoy I log into my QuickBooks every morning and I check how my business is doing. And then I log into my retirement accounts every morning just to take a look.
23:17.21
Liz Hansen
I have, you know, I log in. I just, it’s like, you know, some people weigh themselves every morning. I like to check my bank account every morning, just see how it’s going, check in on it.
23:24.15
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
23:25.80
Liz Hansen
And I love to watch my savings grow. So it’s, it’s kind of like, um, it’s a little bit of a game. It’s a little bit of a, um,
23:35.66
Lorie Jones
Challenge.
23:35.80
Liz Hansen
I don’t know. yeah It’s a little bit of a challenge. It’s not just like, oh, I meet with my financial advisor once a year. No, like I want to look at this like all the time, see how we can do better.
23:43.05
Lorie Jones
if Yeah. Yeah. I love that. I think that’s so great. um So what about.
23:52.40
Lorie Jones
What scared you the most um when you started on your career? And does it still scare you? Did anything scare you? Hmm.
24:01.30
Liz Hansen
When I opened my business, I was really afraid of failure in the sense that I was afraid i was going to tell everyone in the whole internet that I was starting this studio. And then if I couldn’t make money in it, I was going to have to tell everyone that I was closing it.
24:16.28
Liz Hansen
And for some reason, that like imp like i was like, oh my gosh, I would be so embarrassed. But what I didn’t realize is a business open and close all the time, a B, you don’t owe anyone an explanation. if I did close a business, you don’t even have to tell anybody. but You just take your accounts down, close lock the door. like no one You don’t have to make some big announcement to the internet. you know
24:38.52
Lorie Jones
Listen, everyone, i failed just in case you were wondering. Yeah, no.
24:42.25
Liz Hansen
Yeah, you don’t have to do that. And then see, the ah the thing that kept me going was this. I knew that if I was like 85 years old and sitting in an old folks home, I would have regrets if I didn’t start this business. There was something that was like pulling me to do this. Something don’t want to use. I’m not like a calling in like a religious sense, but like I knew that I wanted to start this boudoir studio. I knew I wanted to work with women. I knew I wanted to provide this experience for them.
25:08.44
Liz Hansen
And I knew if I didn’t do it, that if I was old in an old folks home, i would be sitting there with regrets. Like I didn’t do the one thing that i really wanted to do. So that’s what kept me going over my fear of failure.
25:20.99
Liz Hansen
I was like, because if I’m the old folks home, be like yeah, I tried it and didn’t work out, but at least I tried it. I was going to be at peace. But if I said I never tried it because I was too scared to fail, I was going to have regrets.
25:30.47
Lorie Jones
yeah
25:30.82
Liz Hansen
So that’s what kind of pushed me over the hill of like the fear of failure. Um, I mean, I also was really afraid of going into debt. I, again, my dad, you know, really big on saving, really big on investing. He’s like allergic to debt.
25:46.33
Liz Hansen
You know, he’s like, he’s like, I’d rather you get an STD than you have credit card debt. He calls it CCD. And I’m like, okay. Um, I mean, he’s just like, never spend more than you have. You know, that was like drilled into me. And I came from a big family of six kids or all those models and enough to go around. I get it.
26:02.90
Liz Hansen
But like the idea to take out a business loan that was debt that I was going to have to repay. I mean, that felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. to And we took out a $25,000 loan to get started.
26:15.69
Liz Hansen
Now, is that a lot of money to start a business? I mean, to me, it was a ton of money. it was more money than I’d ever seen in my whole life. But to start a business actually kind of small potatoes in terms of starting a business, right? Yeah.
26:27.45
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
26:27.75
Liz Hansen
So I had to kind of like recalibrate, you know, debt can actually be leveraged to to start things and to build things and to build businesses, right? It’s not always like a terrible disease, right? But I had to kind of recalibrate my my emotional response to debt and knowing that I was in debt and kind of being at peace with that instead of like freaking out about it all the time.
26:48.84
Liz Hansen
um Now, of course, you don’t want to just go put $25,000 on your credit card at J.Crew and like blow some money. Like I get that.
26:55.15
Lorie Jones
Yeah, 25% interest.
26:55.25
Liz Hansen
But in debt… Yeah, exactly. But putting $25,000 to build a business is a whole different kind of debt. And I didn’t really understand that.
27:06.91
Liz Hansen
But I like made a promise to myself, like if this business fails, I will go get a job and slowly pay down this debt. I will not just abandon it and you know declare bankruptcy. I will take accountability for the debt. But in the end, I was able to pay it off just through running the business. But that was that was hard for me mentally and emotionally to manage the debt.
27:28.00
Lorie Jones
Yeah, that’s so interesting. there’s um We talk a lot in in my business about the idea of money stories and like where do your money stories come from? what What things have you internalized about money and what are the stories you’re telling yourself? And a lot of times that is like you know the Dave Ramsey’s and the whole thing is like…
27:47.93
Lorie Jones
like all debt is bad, never have any debt, but there is that sense of, but what am i like, what am I using the debt for? And can i repay it, and is it a good amount in order to start something and build something.
28:03.81
Lorie Jones
and you know You go into debt for a house. like and And I would always say that’s a good use of debt because you’re you’re building for your future. And in this case, it’s the same sort of thing. I i love that you I love that you acknowledged that that was hard for you and that was a hard money mindset to kind of change, but also that it that it it did need to be changed and that you were investing in that future.
28:31.47
Liz Hansen
I mean, money stories are really an interesting and powerful thing. I mean, is i mean it’s really affected me. um I didn’t know any business owners when I started my business. Now I’m friends with like a lot of lot of business small business owners in my area and you know, near my studio and I’m boss babes that I’ve met on the internet. internet of but But when I started my business, I really didn’t have any mentors or people that I could look to who were like, oh yeah, I…
28:55.50
Liz Hansen
went into debt for my business and here’s how I did it. Like I just didn’t, it wasn’t part of my circle, you know? And so my only money stories I had were get a nine to five, pay off your mortgage, save for retirement.
29:07.69
Liz Hansen
I didn’t have this like kind of, well, you could take out some debt and start a business that you grow and become self-employed like that. It just, that wasn’t part of like an example that I’d seen.
29:20.21
Liz Hansen
Right. And so
29:21.06
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
29:21.98
Liz Hansen
When I started, I really did feel like I was like kind kind of going out on my own, doing something really risky. um What I didn’t understand is, you put money in the stock market, it’s risky, quote unquote, right?
29:32.26
Liz Hansen
Could I put $25,000 in the stock market and lost it? Absolutely. But i somehow I believed in the stock market more than I believed in my own abilities, which now I’m like, no, I’m like way better than the stock market.
29:44.04
Liz Hansen
I ain’t turned $25,000 in a more money in the stock market can any day. Like now I believe in myself more than I, but at that when I started, I didn’t have that confidence. I didn’t have that belief in myself because i didn’t, I didn’t, it’s hard to be what you can’t see.
29:52.72
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
29:58.22
Liz Hansen
Right. And I didn’t have a lot of examples to follow.
29:58.76
Lorie Jones
and i
30:02.07
Lorie Jones
Yeah. um i find that I find that really interesting because that’s part of the reason that Fearless Females is you know what it is, is because I wanted women to see examples of successful women, you know successful entrepreneurs, successful professionals, successful people who had who done it.
30:22.16
Lorie Jones
So you can say, oh gosh, Liz did that. Maybe? Like, I’m smart, too. Like, maybe I could do that as well. So i i I love that idea of more women that you can kind of look up to and see how they’ve done what they’ve done and and feel like, well, I could do that, too.
30:42.66
Lorie Jones
I bet you I could do that, too.
30:45.10
Liz Hansen
It’s so important. I mean, my money stories, even if I, like at first when I ran the studio, I had a hard time taking money from people. They wanted to give me their credit card so they could buy photos that they loved that I’d created. And I had this like, oh no, they’re they’re I’m taking their hard-earned money from them. You know, like,
31:01.80
Liz Hansen
I really had to do some like self work around this idea that like, no, they money is energy and money is exchange. And they want to give me money in exchange for what I’ve created for them. Right. But like being an artist and putting a price on your art and selling it to people and then taking a credit card from them, looking in the eye and being like, yes, that will be $1,500. And then being like, sure. And me being like,
31:23.96
Liz Hansen
okay with that you know like some of this it took like some maturity some maturing and some growth to come to ah better understanding about how money works and how how i could play a role and bringing joy into people’s lives through them spending money with me
31:38.53
Lorie Jones
Yeah. And probably a little bit of work around your own worth because You know, what you did and what you provided was was of worth. It was valuable. It was important. and And recognizing that it had monetary value, too, you know?
31:55.41
Liz Hansen
Right. And I think part of that, so like when I was a stay at home mom for seven years, you do all your labor for free. Right. And so I like, right. Like you wake up, you take care the kids, you make, you make food, you clean house. All the labor you’re doing as a stay at home mom is basically unpaid labor. Right. And so I’d kind of really gotten used to the idea that my labor was unpaid.
32:14.18
Liz Hansen
Right. And listen, we all do unpaid labor all the time to support our families. I’m not saying it’s not valuable, but to, to shift my mindset from, no i don’t work for free here at the studio.
32:24.80
Liz Hansen
No, you pay me for work. It required like some retooling.
32:29.70
Lorie Jones
Yeah, that’s so interesting. I never really thought of that before. I’m going to think on that just a little bit because I was a stay-at-home mom for 12, 13 years, something like that with with five kids. and And I never really internalized that. But yeah, I did everything for free. And so I didn’t think probably it was worth, I’m like, well, they shouldn’t be giving me money for this. I’m just doing it.
32:53.58
Lorie Jones
so
32:54.40
Liz Hansen
Yeah. I mean, the the work we do at home is important work. I’m not denigrating at all, but it is like you don’t get a paycheck for nursing a baby. Right. um And I’m glad that I had the opportunity to stay home with my kids. I love my beautiful children.
33:07.58
Liz Hansen
And it did kind of change how i I had to really change how I viewed myself and my labor when I opened a business, because when you’re an entrepreneur, you cannot You cannot settle for unpaid labor. I mean, you can for a few days and then you can’t turn the lights on anymore. Right.
33:25.04
Liz Hansen
So you have to figure out how to value your own. And especially in the kind of like the field that I’m in, which is, which is art essentially. It’s easy to say, Oh, I gave you a chicken sandwich. Give me five bucks. Right. Like we we know that sandwiches have, but when you’re like, well, here’s some art, especially when it’s created digitally, it’s not as tangible, right? It’s harder to put a price on that. And, and,
33:45.82
Liz Hansen
when I’m taking a picture of you sometimes people think well it’s I’m in the picture i own that thing I shouldn’t have to pay you for it right like to understand that since I created it it is worth money i can put a price tag on it I can say this is how much it costs and you can pay me for it if you want it that just took like a little bit of learning and figuring out
34:06.03
Lorie Jones
Did you face any unique challenges in this journey because you were a woman?
34:12.44
Liz Hansen
Yes, and I have some unique um legs up, if that’s if I can use that metaphor.
34:18.05
Lorie Jones
Yeah, yeah, good.
34:18.48
Liz Hansen
yeah So, I mean, I am a boudoir photographer that specializes in taking pictures of women in lingerie and nude.
34:19.25
Lorie Jones
Do both.
34:25.13
Liz Hansen
Do they want to come to a female photographer? Most women do. So I have a 100% female staff, right? So everyone you meet at my studio, everyone who works for my business is a woman.
34:36.42
Liz Hansen
And that gives a lot of women peace of mind. And so that’s a big benefit that I’m a woman, right? If I were a man, I don’t think I could succeed as well. I mean, there are some male boobar photographers and they create beautiful art, but being a woman in this field, I think is a benefit.
34:51.06
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I see that.
34:51.50
Liz Hansen
Um, And also sometimes I go to things like, I don’t know, chamber of commerce things or business things. And I don’t feel like I’m always super taken seriously because I’m female. And also because I run this kind of naughty business.
35:07.41
Liz Hansen
Right. um And so I think sometimes I’m not taken seriously for those reasons when I’m like, I’m running a legitimate business. I’m profitable. I’ve been in business almost eight years. Like I deserve a seat at this table, but I think sometimes I’m not always invited because they’re like, oh, she takes naked photos.
35:23.36
Lorie Jones
yeah
35:24.34
Liz Hansen
Like, I don’t know if we want to touch that with a 10 foot pole, you know? I mean, I have gotten kicked off of like credit card processing platforms and Google ads and stuff for being too naughty, right?
35:27.52
Lorie Jones
yeah
35:35.83
Liz Hansen
Because I get put into the category of adult entertainment or adult businesses. I’m not really. I mean, my pictures are honestly pretty conservative, but I’m viewed like,
35:47.37
Liz Hansen
in the those categories in some circles come and I sometimes wonder if I was a man running a taboo business if I would be taken more seriously don’t know
35:50.50
Lorie Jones
hu
36:00.89
Lorie Jones
Yeah, that’s interesting. and It’s not something that I thought about before, a but that you probably do have to deal with some of those things. hu
36:08.57
Liz Hansen
Oh, I mean, every day I um i try to ease into I’ll be like, okay, so I am a photographer. Start there. I take glamour portraits. Women come and get their hair and makeup done. Yes. Okay. You’re cool with that. Okay. Now ease into what I do here.
36:22.90
Liz Hansen
um Yeah. And, you know, when I um started my business, we had kind of to rearrange the workload at home, too, because I had been a stay home mom for so long that when I opened my business full time, I’ve suddenly gone all the time.
36:34.00
Liz Hansen
um You know, there was a lot of that unpaid labor that I was doing that someone still had to do. And so we made some changes. We hired someone to come clean our house, which we’d never done before. And was it expensive? Yes. But did it free us all up to do the work we really wanted to do? Yes. Like I wanted to be at the boudoir studio growing my business. I didn’t want to be at home mopping the floors.
36:53.94
Liz Hansen
So hiring someone to clean the house, like allowed me to do some more of that stuff. My husband took on some more of the cooking that he hadn’t done before, things like that.
36:58.02
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
37:01.50
Liz Hansen
So I feel like when men start a business or when men go back to, you know, when they go to work all day, no one’s like, oh, who’s at home mopping? They’re just like, oh he doesn’t worry about Who’s cooking? Oh, whatever.
37:12.14
Liz Hansen
Someone’s taking care, right? But as a woman, when I started a business, everyone’s like, oh my gosh, who’s with your kids? Who’s taking care of that? Like, what could, how can this possibly work? You know, you get all those questions and kind of a little bit of doubt that like you can do both. Whereas men don’t receive that same kind of criticism.
37:29.72
Lorie Jones
Yeah. yes
37:30.48
Liz Hansen
I have never been asked who watches your kids while you’re at work, but I get asked that all the time.
37:34.26
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. ah That’s, it’s true. And it is something that we deal with and, and especially professionally successful women as we, as we, you know, go out and have those successes professionally. i have had several women say that, yeah, they’ll ask me who’s taking care of your kids while you’re on this business trip, who’s doing this while you’re, you know, while you’re growing a business, who’s doing these things like kind of as if that’s our job where it isn’t it’s a partnership but yeah
38:08.60
Lorie Jones
we get asked or amend
38:08.78
Liz Hansen
Yeah. Yeah. I was recently and interviewed on NPR, National Public Radio, and i talked to them for about 90 minutes and then they cut the interview, you know how they do on the radio, they cut it down to about three minutes.
38:22.17
Liz Hansen
And the three minutes that they cut down, I love the interview. It’s fine. But it’s interesting to me that the three minutes that they chose out of the 90 minutes that they talked to me about my business was where they asked me about um child rearing and and balancing family and home as a business owner.
38:41.31
Liz Hansen
Of all the things that I could have talked about, that’s what they chose to cut for the clip. So that was kind of, it’s like an interesting example. I’m not sure that a male business owner would have got that same cut.
38:55.83
Lorie Jones
What is the thing, Liz, that you are most proud of?
39:00.54
Liz Hansen
You know, I mean, big picture. I’m most proud of my two girls. They are two teenage girls. They are the love of my life. They are they are fabulous. Sorry, my husband’s also love my life. But I love my baby girls. um but but big But beyond that, I am proud to have created a business that empowers women. I really believe, I know it’s taboo and I know it’s a little naughty and I know no nudity carries all these meanings. But I have been told so many times by women who come in the studio how…
39:28.06
Liz Hansen
this experience changed them, how it bolstered them, how it let them feel healed after their breast cancer surgery, how it let them feel freedom after their divorce, how let them celebrate finally getting pregnant with their first baby after seven rounds of IVF, yeah however how it helped them you know embrace their 50s with grace instead of hating turning 50. All of these things that women deserve to be celebrated. And I just feel like it’s been an honor to be a part of each of their stories.
39:55.13
Lorie Jones
Oh, that’s so neat. I think that’s really neat when you when you talk about women empowering and and feeling good about ourselves and our bodies just for who we are. That really strikes a chord with me. I appreciate so much, Liz, you coming on and kind of sharing your journey and and sharing your story.
40:13.96
Lorie Jones
if i I have um a woman, well, if we have someone who is just starting down this path, a young lady who’s just kind of starting down this path,
40:24.70
Lorie Jones
that you’re already pretty successful at, um what advice would you give her? Well, even like what advice would you give your own daughters if they chose to go this way?
40:33.36
Liz Hansen
Yeah, I mean, I would say start the business. I mean, there is so much. I mean, there’s there’s some benefits to a nine to five, right? Maybe you have insurance and maybe you have some stability. But man, starting a business, the financial opportunities when you start a business are so much greater than a salary for the most part.
40:51.12
Liz Hansen
Because you can grow on your own terms. you can You wake up, you want to work harder and you want to have some more revenue. You got it. You don’t have to go beg a boss for a raise. Right.
41:01.01
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
41:01.21
Liz Hansen
So I just want I wish and hope for more young women growing up to start businesses. Not only can it give you a lot of money, but it can also give you that freedom that you’re craving to have time with your children and time at work, right?
41:16.65
Liz Hansen
Because when you’re your own boss, you can make some more decisions about your schedule. So, I wish I’d had more people say to me, do it, open the business, you know, so that I’m going to say that to you now, do it, go for it, give it a shot. You’re smart enough.
41:30.81
Liz Hansen
You don’t have to have a PhD to start a business. People have been running businesses since ancient Rome, ancient Egypt, right? Where they were selling whatever, right? Like owning a business is achievable for you.
41:41.80
Liz Hansen
Um, It requires, you know, figuring some stuff out. It’s a lot of hard work, but it is going to be just like so much more fun and thrilling and engaging and fulfilling.
41:53.13
Liz Hansen
I already said that word, but just all the things me than nine five office job. I mean, nine to five office jobs can be fine too, but if you really want that job that you just feel like fills up your soul, like a business is just going to be more likely to do that for you, in my opinion.
42:08.94
Liz Hansen
So go for it.
42:09.40
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
42:11.79
Lorie Jones
Well, thank you so much for your time. um If I have a young lady who wants to get in touch with you and ask questions, how does she do that?
42:19.47
Liz Hansen
The best place to go is my website, chicagoboudoir.com. Boudoir is a tricky word to spell, B-O-U-D-O-I-R.com. Now, obviously, my studio is here in the Chicago area. And if you’re listening, you’re not in the Chicago area, still love to connect ah because I’ve got a lot of free resources that you can download from my site. So go to my website, go to the free stuff.
42:38.49
Liz Hansen
I’ve got an ebook on confidence and body self-love, and I’ve got a quiz you can take and all kinds of things. So don’t be shy. I’d love to see you over there.
42:47.52
Lorie Jones
Oh, well, thank you so much. Thank you for your time today, Liz. I’ve really appreciated it
42:51.75
Liz Hansen
Thank you, Laurie. This was great.