Meet Laura Beck | Photographer and Owner of The Siren Boudoir Studio ®

We had the good fortune of connecting with Laura Beck and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Laura, what is the most important factor behind your success?

Trustworthiness. My ability to show up for people where they are in the moment and gently push them towards self acceptance and if we’re lucky body positivity by showing them how beautiful and unique they are through someone else’s eyes definitely affects my brand’s success. Boudoir is empowering and emboldens people to face themselves, celebrate themselves, accept themselves in ways that can be deeply healing. It isn’t always life changing for everyone, sometimes they just end up with epic photos of themselves that they love and feel proud of. By all means that is enough of success in my eyes. But when you get clients that have their world shift entirely after their boudoir experience because of the positive ways it influenced them, that is so impactful both for them and for me. All of this hinges on my trustworthiness. People allow me to show up for them and show them how beautiful they are because of the long standing reputation that I have. Being trustworthy is important not only so that the client feels safe, is able to open up and fully express themselves in their photoshoot, which allows me to create high quality luxury images that stand out- but also because it’s just good business practice. It takes so much courage to face yourself, to even show up for a boudoir shoot, and it’s much more likely that you’ll have people support your brand if you have that trustworthiness, rock solid reputation, and excellent reviews to back their decision to try a session out. My studio is located in Gainesville Florida, which is in Central North Florida. People from Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, all travel to see me in my space because I have built that reputation of a safe place where my clients will feel seen, heard and respected no matter who they are, what they look like, who they love. I focus on individual, couples and maternity boudoir specifically as my niche so it’s my life’s work and so deeply important to me. Beyond that part of the experience I work very hard to always stick to my word and get things done in a timely fashion for my clients. To have integrity throughout all aspects of my business helps my brand to continue on more than anything else because of the way it makes my clients feel. They are investing in themselves and they know that my history shows them that my goal is for them to have a great session.

Please tell us more about your business. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today business-wise. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?

I always knew I was going to be an artist. I grew up with a wildly supportive set of grandparents and my grandfather encouraged me to take photos every chance that I got. He would always develop the film and return back my work to me. This influenced me tremendously. I ended up going to art school for a little bit but then returned back to my hometown and got a job at a local studio as an associate wedding photographer. Through my own life and the trauma’s that inevitably pop up I relied on my camera to not only help me remember but to help me reconnect to life, find meaning, connection and healing. My first son died as a newborn in 2011 and to say that loss shattered me in an understatement. I had a very difficult time existing and struggled with connecting to other people afterwards. A friend of mine came to visit me and show their support and while she was visiting asked me to take nude photos of her in the redwood forest. The work I produced during that session was on a different level than any other work that I had ever produced. I quickly realized that not only was my work higher quality in this genre but the emotional healing that I was providing for my clients by encouraging them to face themselves and accept their unique beauty also providing emotional healing and connection for me as well. It was sacred space, sacred time spent with women where I could show them how special they are and their reactions to my work reminded me how special I am too. I can truly say that without my work I wouldn’t have been able to get through that time in my life.
That’s the more emotional artistic side but I have been very lucky in that I knew from the beginning that building solid business practices would help my business survive long term. Even with moves from California, to Texas, and now to Florida, my business has been able to maintain itself without much set back at all even when needing to start from scratch. Which I think is pretty unique since starting over tends to be very hard for businesses. I have learned that the business side is just as important as the creative side.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love all of Florida, this state has my heart because it’s so filled with striking nature. But the place that feels home to me is the Florida Keys. I spent time living down there in 2009 and 2010. It was the best years of my life for sure. Any chance that I can get I am down there. But here in Gainesville FL- I love going to the free concerts at Bo Diddley Park, walking around in Micanopy, and we love hanging out in the local springs. All of downtown is so great, so many lovely businesses, shops and restaurants. We especially love The Auk Market for shopping and Germain’s for lunch.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Major shoutout to my family who have always cheered me on, specifically my husband Jeff. I’m always asking him to hang something, paint something, move something for me over at the studio so he’s a major behind the scenes support. And of course a major shoutout to all my Sirens who have trusted me to photograph them in the past. You all believing in me and supporting me as a local woman-owned small business means everything to me. Without people spreading the word about my business and choosing to support me, my camera would be hung up by now. Especially want to thank the clients who travel from all over the US to shoot with me or book me for my travel dates. That makes me feel very special that people go out of their way to book with me or are excited when I’m in their hometown. Thank you all for keeping me going.

Website: www.TheSirenStudio.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sirenboudoirstudio/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSirenStudio https://www.facebook.com/TheSirenBoudoirStudio www.facebook.com/groups/sirenboudoir/

Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@studiosiren https://www.tiktok.com/@sirenboudoirstudio

Image Credits
The Siren Boudoir Studio ®, Photographer Laura Beck