Raised by my mama in small town Missouri, I was always taught that my purpose was destined to exceed the limitations of the physical form. However, it took me years to believe her. Believe that I was worthy of eternalizing beauty beyond the skin barrier.
You see, like many young girls in our society, I was under the impression that I had to look like a woman that walked out of Cosmopolitan to be deemed worthy. Desperate to fit that mold I: cleansed, crash dieted, compared obsessively, placed my self image on a rollercoaster, and set impossible expectations and rules around my behavior as a thirteen year old. A THIRTEEN YEAR OLD. Which only led to me feeling less like Hilary Duff and more out of my body.
Devoted to Preserving Feminine Expression Beyond the Physical Form
A Luxury Boudoir Studio
It’s with this same perspective that I moved through high school and my early years of college. A part of me was excelling in my classes, making memories with sorority sisters, and coming into my own. Yet, the other was constantly convincing myself I wasn’t enough.
It wasn’t until my mid-twenties that I started discovering a sense of genuine belonging. After turning my career path upside down, I decided to save up all my money and take an English teaching gig in Southeastern China. My experiences in Nanchang and Nanjing cracked me open to a deeper, more confident version of myself. Not only was I making authentic connections in the local community, but I started preserving the magic of the world through an old DSLR camera.
In 2021 I launched Petals & Lace Boudoir to not only reclaim my own narrative, but to capture real women as they reclaimed theirs too. In four years we: made art in our own skin, built a community of bad AF women, renovated my old house into a studio, and spread our message beyond Memphis.
So much so that this bold business’ legacy started to feel bigger than just me. After slowing down with her, I knew that we needed to shed old skin and sink our teeth into our highest calling yet.
For the first time, I fell in love with the woman I was becoming. & I knew this was just the beginning for her and I.
Upon my homecoming, I moved to Memphis to finish my schooling. It didn’t take me long to fall back into the motions and old ways of thinking. My busy calendar overshadowed the new love affair with my camera. The new love affair with myself.
That is until I had a health scare that jolted me awake in 2018. After enduring, healing, and resurfacing stronger than ever; I decided that this life and how we choose to move through it in every moment matters. & l was no longer going to be the thirteen year old little girl that was too afraid, too shy to bet on herself fully.
Unveil our venoma.
xx Shelly
