In this episode we cover:

1. Vanessa, doctor and mother of 2, goes into depth about her dissertation discussing women’s confidence in the workplace and what inspired her topic.
2. She acknowledges 5 factors that are considered necessary for women to thrive and correlated them to women’s job satisfaction. Ultimately, she was capable of finding a correlation between these.
3. She then continues to discuss her tribulations with impostor syndrome. She continued to mention how she had to balance being a good mother and a good intern. She acknowledged how social media affected her perception of this and how she used media to then empower her.
4. Vanessa offers advice to other women in the workforce, especially those who have recently entered.
5. David and Vanessa then acknowledge the opposite, what would it be like for men in a primarily female dominated environment?
6. Vanessa then tells a of how her lung collapsed 20 times, how it related to her ability to be a mother, and how it affected her career path.

In this episode we cover:

1. How Erin, hairstylist and mother of a 2 year old son, dealt with the changes of pregnancy and how it affected her.
2. She mentions that pregnancy is a different experience for plus size women and acknowledges the lack of media and entertainment coverage.
3. Erin discusses confidence and how it ebbs and flows. Despite taking about 5 years to build her confidence, she still has bad days and that is okay. She mentions how a sense of self and daily factors like clothing can change overall confidence. She advises others to be mindful of what they like and don’t like to begin building confidence.
4. Erin often dressed in pinup and did photoshoots before her son and quickly stopped during pregnancy. Getting back into pin up is helping her find that confidence.
5. David and Erin discuss how photoshoots can be transformational for an individual. She mentions that just because you may not like a particular photo, does not make it bad. What is good is constantly being redefined and others may find a beauty that you are not offering yourself.
6. Erin finishes the podcast by offering 2 great tips for posing in photos. She says the the photos should not feel comfortable and to know what you like.

In this episode we cover:

1. How Kelcey, a fitness trainer, booked her shoot as a part of her personal branding project for her fitness guide that she intends to release this year and how this photography process gave her the boost of confidence she needed.
2. Before her fitness journey, Kelcey faced scrutiny for being considered too thin and later went through cycles of bulking and cutting, but still experienced body image issues. She discusses her thoughts on whether this experience is still valid and should be supported by the body positivity movement for people that are considered conventionally ‘skinny.’ 
3. Kelcey enjoys power lifting and values her muscles. She also enjoys wearing dresses and getting glammed up. Is it possible to be feminine and muscular or are the two exclusive of each other?
4. Having pizza about 2-3 times a week isn’t something Kelcey’s shy about mentioning. She mentions how a journey towards health and fitness doesn’t have to keep people from enjoying certain foods so long as they stay within their body’s macronutrient requirements.
5. Kelcey recommends that anyone looking to be more aware of their health should begin by following sources that are similar to the goals they want for themselves and mentioned how important she thinks it is to see yourself through someone else’s lens to help boost confidence.

In this episode we cover:

1. How having a family member with down syndrome taught Andrea to be kind, how her trials through life made her tenacious, and how being innately ambitious led her to the opportunities she enjoys now.
   
2. The nerves of having Andrea, a successful boudoir photographer, as David’s first client after 3 months of not having shoots.
   
3. Being a busy woman as a mother of 3, a business owner, and photographer, Andrea discusses experience being pampered and being on the other side of the camera, especially considering the precautions needed to be taken with the COVID-19 virus.
   
4. Andrea mentions how she can empathize with her clients after this experience and her understanding of how having a photoshoot can be empowering and a tool in self-love for men and women despite how society might make them form judgments on their own bodies.
   
5. David and Andrea further discuss the boundary of valuing oneself and selfishness. How some actions and perceptions are mistaken as selfish instead of being kind to oneself. What does ‘self-care’ really entail?
   
6. Andrea shows her ambitious personality when she talks about how much she hopes others would ‘do brave things’ to find all the opportunities outside of their comfort zone.

In this episode we cover:

1. How Colleen grew up in a very conservative, Christian family.
2. What made Colleen want to do a boudoir shoot for herself? Colleen grew up in a very conservative, Christian family but realized after growing up that sexuality is a part of her as it’s been repressed. She’s always wanted to do something like a boudoir shoot to feel the liberation. On top of that she talks about how after pregnancy, she wanted to reclaim her sense of beauty for herself.
3. Colleen tells a story about taking “naughty” photos and having it on a family computer but forgetting about them as parents give the computer away to a church
4. We talk about how I imagine Colleen’s naughty photos are nothing close to what teenage girls nowadays are posting regularly on social media. 
5. The difference in beauty standards back then and now and society really reinforced the idea of being thin so it was hard for Colleen. How big booties are popular now and how she wishes it could’ve been that way back when she was hating her butt at 16.
6. Colleen talks about how the photoshoot was emotionally risky so it was empowering being able to tackle those emotions. The shoot helped her reconnect to her creative side.

References from the episode:

In this episode we cover:

1. How Jess decided to do a maternity shoot because her mom only has a single photo from her pregnancy. Along with the fact that Jess only had one photo she liked of herself – a lot of it because anytime her husband tried taking a photo of her, he would make her laugh. 
   
2. Importance of documenting the change of the body and the emotional experience. 
   
3.  The family dynamic as an American wife and a Chinese husband 
   
4. Capturing all the different sides of jess from the black/silhouette look to the goddess-like vibe with the gold fabric. And of course the inner content of going through pregnancy so the kiddo can see these pictures in the future and say “aww mom was really happy to have me!”
    
5. What she would tell her future “mom” Jess and her fears of losing herself in being a mom 

References from the episode:

In this episode we cover:

1. How Shar really feels about turning 30
2. Living a fulfilled life vs just chasing after “what we’re supposed to do”
3. Growing up Thai-American Shar talks about growing up overweight as a child and how she was bullied a lot. She mentions how she was made fun of not just my peers but my family as well.
4. Shar goes through, as a David Suh Photography veteran with over 3 shoots under her belt, how the experiences evolved.

References from the episode:

Welcome to the first episode of Behind the Portrait! For this episode, I have my lovely client Courtney who… is quite accomplished, to say the least. Courtney, as you can see by the title, is a lawyer, opera singer, and an equestrian. Courtney needed a photoshoot for her professional career so we spent some time on the phone doing a deep dive into the Courtney Daniels brand.

Of course, as I was starting to hear about the incredible career she’s built, I was envisioning a bunch of ideas on how to touch on all the different aspects of Courtney’s life!

At the end of it all, Courtney’s personal branding photoshoot came out to be a whopping 7-hour experience going from the studio in Sacramento to her beautiful home in Winters.

In this episode we cover:

1. How Courtney decided to just conquer the whole world
2. Growing up in Nashville but fighting all the stereotypes of growing up in the South
3. A word of professional advice from Courtney who was nominated as the top lawyer of Sacramento
4. Courtney is quite involved in the wine world as her husband works in the wine industry and names her go-to wine if she had to pick one
5. Courtney’s unusually long photoshoot with me but what was more unusual was how much energy and stamina Courtney had throughout the whole day

Memorable quotes from the episode:

• “I think I just don’t like people telling me no. I grew up always singing and my parents thought I’d be an attorney because I also argued a lot.”
  
• “Integrity is everything no matter what field you go into. Standing by your work and coming through when you said you’re going to. Your reputation is everything so commit to things that you’re going to follow through with.”
  
• “It’s very hard for women in today’s society where there are such high expectations for women’s beauty that nobody can meet. There is a lot of critical thinking when we’re looking at ourselves that makes us feel nervous looking at our own images, especially when posing in front of a photographer you don’t know but you made it so easy and fun. Which then helped me get excited about the whole shoot and keep the energy going.”
  
• “Take the time to celebrate you! I don’t that that often and this photoshoot was an opportunity to do that besides the fact that I needed it for auditions and my website. Women work so hard in different facets of our life whether its profession, family, or home and are many times the unsung hero. Take the time to acknowledge that and celebrate you.”

References from the episode:

• Courtney’s favorite images from the photoshoot: Cinderella
• Amadeus and Gary
• My favorite image from the shoot: Black and white on piano
• Courtney’s Lawyer headshot

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