Client Feature Friday: 50, Fabulous & Breaking Down Barriers!

Jezebel VonZephyr works with all kinds of women, from the suburbs of Seattle to all over the Pacific Northwest and beyond. We love connecting with each client, hearing her stories and capturing her unique spirit. We believe that every session is special in its own way, and we want to share that magic with the world. Every Friday we feature one of our clients and share a little about her. 

This week’s Belle came to us after seeing how much a session changed her friend’s life. She wanted to do some inner work on herself and celebrate a couple of major milestones in her life, so she took the plunge and booked our Soul2Soul session. We were excited to celebrate with her and help her break through barriers!

Age: 50 and Fabulous!

Where are you from? I’m from a small town in Oregon.

What is your theme song? It depends on my mood, and what’s going on in my life, but I am always happy to hear Nina Simone sing “Feeling Good” because I have started over so many times in my life and that song reminds me that we can always start again.

What are three words you’d use to describe yourself? Loving, intelligent, curious.

Is this your first Jezebel shoot? If not, how many have you had? This was my first JVZ shoot, but definitely not my last! I plan to return next year.

Why did you decide to book a session with JVZ? I was inspired by a friend’s JVZ pics that she shared in a blog. She is so beautiful, and I loved hearing her talk about herself in a new and much more confident way than I had ever heard before. (Love you, J!)

I also wanted to commemorate my 50th birthday and the completion of my Doctorate of Education. They were two major milestones in my life, and while I was feeling more content with myself in some ways than ever before, the doctoral program was all-consuming for three years. I lost touch with a part of myself that I wanted back, and beautiful photos of myself seemed like a good place to start. I was right!

How did you feel before your shoot? I kept the session a secret from my husband because I really wanted to just celebrate myself, so I had this really delicious feeling of having a BIG secret. I was excited for WEEKS beforehand. And then, on the drive up the day before my session, the nerves hit HARD. I was stuck in traffic by JBLM on I-5 and started to panic. I knew I wouldn’t back out, but I got really nervous while I had time to sit and think in traffic.

How was your session? What was your favorite part? I booked a Soul 2 Soul on the recommendation of the friend whose photos inspired me, and so I got a little JVZ time before I even got to the studio. The pre-session work with Tiffany opened up some lines of thought that I had been avoiding inside my head, and a couple of them cracked open during my session. I think the most meaningful thing that came out of my session was when Sarah tried to show me some of my pictures on her camera, and I didn’t really want to look. Tiffany said, “If she looks, she’ll have to stop believing the lies she’s been telling herself.” And that struck a deep, deep chord. I had glanced at Sara’s camera screen, and it was like looking into the sun, it was so powerful. I just couldn’t believe that beautiful person was really me.

We also had a moment in which Sara discovered my aversion to the word “deserve.” It was a deep, thorny, yucky issue, and it took me weeks to work through what it meant, and all the repercussions that have played out in my life. I have worked through a lot of the stickiness, but I am planning to find a therapist to help me work through the rest of it.

So my session was really deep and meaningful at some moments, but more than anything else, it was SO MUCH FUN. You can see in my smile just how much I was enjoying myself. That was the day that it finally sank in what I had accomplished with the completion of my doctorate. As a teen parent, completing high school was a challenge, and very few teen parents go on to finish a college degree. I am quite proud of myself for earning the highest degree in my field.

What was your favorite look from your session? Why? There are some fabulous shots of me in a burgundy dress that I bought for our 25th wedding anniversary that is coming up this December. But I also love the pictures of me in my graduation regalia. They’re pretty special!

How are you feeling since your session? I’ve heard people say their JVZ experience was life-changing, and I’m right there with them. The Soul 2 Soul really helped me change the way I speak to myself inside my head. I left the studio with some affirmation cards that I read every day for weeks after my session. The one I think of most often is “I speak to myself with a kind heart.” I have always had negative self-talk, and I have made a decision to be nicer to myself since my session. I was worried it would creep back in, but so far, so good!

Did you bring anything special with you to the studio? Why? I brought a whole IKEA bag full of stuff, LOL! My husband is a potter, so I brought a coffee mug he made, and there is a really great picture of me taking a sip out of it. I brought my graduation regalia, some of my own lingerie, one of my husband’s shirts, my anniversary dress, and the list goes on! I brought some of the things because I loved them, but I think deep down, I was also afraid there wouldn’t be anything in the client closet that would fit me. I was wrong, of course!

How was your reveal? Sara said I broke the record by starting to cry before she even started my slide show! I was just absolutely awestruck by my photos, and I have gone back to look at them a couple of times on bad days, just to remind myself that I am beautiful and powerful even when I don’t feel my best. I had been saving for my photos and I bought them all. I wasn’t willing to leave any behind, because even in the photos I didn’t LOVE, I wanted to learn to find something to appreciate about myself in every picture.

Any advice for anyone thinking of booking a session with JVZ?  Take advantage of the payment plan if you need to, and book. Your. session.

It will change your life if you let it. I am never going completely back to my old self.

Anything else you want to share about your session and/or experience? I have shared a select range of pictures with a lot of friends and family, and I have told each of them that it was one of the most loving experiences of my lifetime.

I had fun, I laughed a ton, and Sarah and Tiffany made me feel like I was the most important person they’d ever met. They have a calling to help women see themselves for the beauties they are, and they are the best at what they do.

Are you looking for a life-changing experience? Are you ready to level-up and break personal barriers? Take a cue from this client and give yourself the gift of a Jezebel session. You deserve to celebrate yourself and all the ways you shine. Be brave enough to step into our studio–we’ll help you see how bright your light truly is.