Developing Your Influence Factor: A personal Journey with Ann
A Warrior-Preneur is always up for a challenge that scares them a bit – personally and professionally. Recently, I caught a post on Facebook through one of my friends that Jillian Todd was looking for women over a certain age (and it’s not 30!) to pose for her for an article soon to appear in Examiner.com. The intention is about how older women step into sexy, confidence and knowing they are fully amazing even with age. Jillian specializes in “boudoir photography ”, so if you are not familiar, these are not your typical pictures!
When I saw the post I felt instantly excited and left a comment saying I’d love to! Well, guess what? Jillian followed up with me – gulp! As a warrior I was ready. As a woman I got nervous. What will people think of me? Yes, even I the warrior herself worried about that. Jillian assured me they would not use my name and only pictures that would be tough for people to tell it was me if I so desired.
I waited until the night BEFORE the shoot to think about what to wear for this, holy cow lingerie, huh? Then I got REAL with myself. I thought about what I say about sexy all the time- sexy is who you are, not what you wear or how skinny you are. Sexy is what you feel good in, not what others think is sexy. Sexy is what you exude when you are the BEST YOU. Sexy is willing to try something you have never done before and to take pride in what you learn. So I packed according to that…and I brought my sword.
Arriving at Jillian’s space yesterday was like going to a girlfriends house, she was comfortably dressed and welcoming. Her studio isn’t like you might think-it’s a studio and very professional. And the only mirror is TINY! (Simply brilliant) She looked at what I brought and was very complimentary and said she had other funs things we could try too. I never felt pushed to dress a certain way or to act a certain way. (I think that was my fear, that it would be like taking pictures for your boyfriend when you where in your 20’s!)
What Jillian did was allow me to be me and that is sexy. What Jillian is amazing at doing is helping you see the next level of beauty you have, that you might not see in yourself – while you are there.
Jillian sent me a few of my pictures for this blog (yes I put them in a little movie with some others of women she has taken, with their full permission of course), which I first saw this morning. It’s interesting what a woman’s first reaction is: “ohhh, ahh, wow! Ugh, what is that?” Emotions of pride, happy giggles and then the sudden critic. I again took out my sword, the figurative one, and told myself to STOP.
This little photo story shows you how incredible Jillian’s pictures are, and how diverse she can be (yes I included EVERY one she sent me this morning I did not self edit!!) I put mine at the end, it shows a great evolution we went though. It also shows her ability to take all women and have then feel what I felt! She specializes in pregnant women, women and couple photography.
You can reach Jillian at:
http://twitter.com/jilliansboudoir
http://www.facebook.com/JilliansBoudoirPhotography
408.843.7104
www.jilliantoddphotography.com
www.jilliansboudoirphotography.com
So what’s the point? Maybe sexy pictures will never be your thing. I get that (although after doing this for the first time I feel that EVERY woman should experience it at least once) This is less about the pictures and MORE about the journey. BUT what is your inner warrior afraid to do? What might be that thing that opens your mind, heart and soul to new level of self acceptance, and authenticity which only improves your success? That is why I am showing my pictures, with my name, it aligns with who I say I AM (and my regular readers know that!). Am I now wondering which external critics will show up? Absolutely. BUT because I have embraced Ann, she’s not worried about them.
Where will you stretch yourself to experience something new that challenges you to align with who you are? To embrace that internal critic and grow?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
