Veronica was a 30-something, Mother of 3, and lacked serious self-confidence. Her husband came to us with the intention of buying his wife an Experience, in the hope of bringing up his wife’s self-image. He made it clear to us that Veronica HATED her lumps and bumps, her self-image was poor… and she had a massive complex about her weight. (like most of us do, right?) When she first learned of the gift her husband had done for her, she immediately said no. “No, Michael, I am not doing that. I don’t want anyone to see my body!”
Michael came back us to us with a heavy heart and informed us that his wife was not ready. For now, he said he would like to postpone the shoot. We too felt sad and thought about ways to help Veronica come around to the idea of feeling confident in her self-image!
TREATING YOURSELF AS YOU TREAT OTHERS
We invited Veronica and Michael to come and meet us together for a coffee. No strings, no obligations, just a good old chat. We learnt that since Veronica’s third child (at the time her baby was only 8 months old!), had caused her a problematic pregnancy, and therefore, she turned to food for comfort and slowly let go of her self-image (sounds familiar, right!). In her words, she has always had a curvy frame, but since her last child, she could not seem to get rid of the excess weight. While Veronica was telling us her story, we couldn’t help but notice Michael’s adorning eyes on his wife. The entire time. His incredible love and respect for her was something of a marvel to behold. We knew then, that all together, we could help Veronica get her confidence back.
The expression goes “treat others how you wish to be treated”, and as far as their marriage goes, this rings so true! Unfortunately, Veronica was unable to treat her own self-image in the way she treated her partner. With true love, and admiration. We wanted to help her change that, and eventually, we did.
STOP FOCUSING ON THE DETAILS
We helped her through every step of the process. From the mood board to the lingerie… The makeup to the guidance… We ensured Veronica, (and her unhappy self-image!) felt safe and confident in the space we had created for her. We also taught her to stop focusing on the details, and try to see the bigger picture. Her beauty in all its unapologetic glory! Her self-image was glowing, and her confidence was exploding! Our Veronica was finally ready.
Despite all of the work we did together before the photoshoot, ironically, this was the smoothest part for her (she later informed us grinning!). After a little Barry White to get everyone in the mood (just kidding!), we got into it. She made it clear she would like to be guided as much as possible. We told her we did not expect her to know how to pose, and that she could do no wrong. We were there to guide her every step of the way… Michael sat with us quietly observing his beautiful wife, and his admiration was endearing. We believe Veronica may have seen this, and then she really came into her own. Self-image and all!
VERONICA’S INCREDULITY AND MICHAEL’S SMILE
A week later, as we turned down the studio, popped open a fresh bottle of bubbly, and eagerly awaited our special client… We couldn’t help but smile. We just knew Veronica (and her nasty self-image!) had no idea what was coming…
As we opened the door to our beloved duo, the room filled with excitement and anticipation. “Is this really happening?” Veronica had asked. We passed her a tall glass of fizz and asked her to take a seat. She grabbed Michael’s hand, and we began the slideshow. Silence fell across the room, and for a moment, we felt nervous. Like REALLY nervous. We so badly wanted her to feel amazing, it was our turn to feel apprehensive!
As Veronica had studied every image as though it were a final to a degree! Yet, all of a sudden, she jumped up and exclaimed, “WHAT, THAT’S ME?!” We weren’t sure if it was from the shock of silence to squealing so quickly, or that tall glass of fizz… but we had all fell about laughing! And then we said, “YES. Yes, Veronica, that is YOU.” She stared at us in utter disbelief, and a sweet, little tear rolled down her cheek. She turned to Michael, and whispered, “Is that really me?” Michael looked into her eyes for a moment, and said, “Yes, my love. That is really you.” For so long, her self-image had been filled with hatred, and you could almost see it lift off her shoulders. We were so moved by this, and we all took a moment to take it in.
THE NEWFOUND SELF-IMAGE OF VERONICA
Veronica’s incredulity and Michael’s smile were simultaneously the greatest things that happened to us out of the entire Experience. Veronica was finally able to see her body for what it really was and learnt to truly appreciate it. The viewing of her photos had changed her mind entirely. This was the day Veronica’s negative self-image disappeared forever.
As we all know, our flaws often override the few things we admit that we like about ourselves. All of this is born from confronting ourselves with an image of perfection, yet we are unique. We must celebrate our uniqueness, and know when it’s time for a little empowerment. And a way to remind ourselves of who we are. So, we managed to prove Veronica wrong, would you let us prove you, too?