I’m so excited to introduce a new friend of mine, Shayla!  She’s a talented actress with so much drive.  I really enjoyed working with her and was so glad when she wanted to write a post about her experience.  I’m so thankful for positive, fearless ladies in my life!  I’m happy Shayla wanted to share some of her images, she looks AMAZING!  This is her story. 

If someone would have told me a couple weeks ago that I’d be staring at a professional photo of myself in lingerie and saying “Damn, I look good,” I would have laughed. 

But that’s just what I did a few hours ago.

Okay, let me back this train up a second and tell you a little bit more about me.

I’m a 27 year-old actress who has been in the theater world for over two decades now. This has led to me becoming a simultaneously confident and insecure woman.  As females, we put constant pressure on ourselves to live up to this Hollywood standard of beauty and I am no exception. Man, it gets hard in that head of mine sometimes! 

“I’m the girl with the bigger arms. I’m sure that’s what people think. Bigger arms and a flabby stomach. I could stand to lose some weight. My legs are pretty good, but I could still tone up my butt.”

And on and on the movie plays in my mind.

So, when Alisha and I talked about doing a boudoir shoot, I was a little nervous, to say the least. I have this picture in my mind of who I am and I was afraid that’s who I would see in the pictures. 

But I decided to go for it. Alisha’s an incredibly talented photographer, I already knew that. Surely, I thought, she could get something out of me.

Little did I know, what she would “get out of me” has been there all along.

After a really refreshing boudoir session (read: drinking mimosas, lots of silliness and leaving feeling pretty darn fearless after spending a morning in my skivvies), I felt a little bit more excited about how these photos might turn out. 

Alisha had me over to her apartment downtown for my photo preview. It’s worth the session just to get to check this place out! There’s something about her apartment that makes you feel high fashion just by standing in it. She handed me a glass of wine (who could say no under these circumstances?), turned on “Blurred Lines,” and directed me to look toward her 70 inch screen where my shots would be debuted.  

The first picture floored me. Ummm…that’s ME! The second picture- BOOM. Another great one. As she continued to show me what she’d captured, it really started to hit me. I AM sexy. I AM gorgeous. And hot damn, I’m fabulous.

I started to realize that the woman I picture in my head isn’t reality. Alisha has the talent of finding what is special and unique about each of us. Her craft is sexy, yes, but also soft, subtle, and feminine. I ended up having a hard time picking which ones I liked the most because she gave me so many options to choose from! She has an eye for finding shots that you’ll love. 

All and all, I wouldn’t trade this experience. Yes, maybe my boyfriend will like these photos (who are we kidding—he’ll LOVE them), but when it’s all said and done, I’m so glad I did them for myself.

I am fearlessly feminine and so much more. Thanks to Alisha Sims for helping me see that. I think every woman deserves a chance to feel gorgeous as hell and there’s no way Alisha won’t deliver that.