How Did This Even Happen???
That’s me all naïve and enthusiastic!
Starting Smoke Show Boudoir
In June of 2020, I managed to find myself in a tiny bathroom of the Hotel Phillips in Kansas City. I was dripping with sweat, panicking about my camera lens that kept fogging up and wondering if I really knew what I was doing. I had registered for a styled boudoir shoot there in the hotel and I had no idea what to expect but what came of it was nothing like I had ever imagined.
That day was long, 3 of us photographing and a few other vendors mixed in. I had studied like crazy on posing and hoped I could remember it all once the nerves kicked in because I was the least experienced there.
That’s my unwitting but ever supportive husband
Several hours later…
all the curl had fallen from my hair and no makeup other than mascara was left on my face, I sat down in my own hotel room to finally look through what I had actually captured that day. As I thumbed through each image I was shocked and ecstatic at the same time. I remembered something I had forgotten a long time ago. There is an incredible strength that we as women exude when we are confident. That confidence gives us power in even the slightest eye contact and a demure look aside can radiate a beauty in us that we often forget is there. Standing tall with our chin held high is not only a look of pure elegance but a reminder that we are each a force to be reckoned with. I forgot that. I lost that in myself somehow. Boudoir brought me back to that person and I didn’t even realize how long it had been until that moment. I was on a mission because I knew that there were other women who needed that reminder too.
My husband was with me that weekend and we stayed an additional night to just be us as a couple and enjoy the weekend but the wheels in my mind were turning the entire time. On the drive back here to Topeka, I rattled off my grand scheme. I probably confused him and worried him at the same time. I’ve had a lot of wild haired ideas but this one locked in like nothing else had. In that hour I went over my plans to come home and launch my boudoir photography with a marathon shoot that was much easier planned in my mind than it was actually executed.
2 Months Later…
I dragged my mom’s Harley to West Bottoms along with the peacock angel wings I had built, suitcases full of lingerie and heels. I shot 5 women in a stuffy, very poorly air conditioned industrial building during the hottest month of the year. We provided hair and makeup, the sets were amazing and I was incredibly fortunate to work with the women who showed up that day!
When I saw how amazingly beautiful it all came out, regardless of the hiccups, and one big “Figure it out!” push from another local photographer, I took every penny I had in my account and signed a lease for my studio on October 10th. The same day I launched Smoke Show on Facebook and here we are today.
In the last year, I have photographed over 50 women. Our group is over 2400 women strong and while my real birthday is in June, this one makes me beam with hope, excitement and pride. The community that has come my way since I started wandering and trying to figure out what exactly I wanted to be when I grew up just a few years before, has blown me away.
It has picked me up and healed me in ways that I never thought it would since my goal in all of this was to help other women do that. I couldn’t possibly begin to show the extent of my gratitude for each woman who has become a part of Smoke Show in some way or another.
So Here’s To One Year!
One year that I never knew would hand me my dream and bring it to life. Here’s to you for being a part of that dream, a part of Smoke Show and helping other women like myself remember the force of nature that we are built to be. And here’s to so many more!
XO,
Kayla
P.S. Scroll to the bottom of this post to check out the Birthday Sale!!!
From the 170 sq ft we started in to the current studio!
