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Cette peur m’empêchait de vivre. Si je mourais demain, quels seraient mes regrets ?

Si je ne m’étais pas écoutéE, je ne serais jamais devenue la femme que je suis aujourd’hui.

Je suis une personne têtue qui a la fâcheuse habitude d’écouter son intuition et prendre des risques. C’est pour cette raison que je préférais vous raconter trois petites situations dans ma vie où je me suis écoutée moi plutôt que la voie logique et qui sont devenues des moments décisifs dans ma vie.

 
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Départ de chez mes parents

Je viens d’une famille pour qui le travail est plus important que n’importe quoi d’autre. J’ai donc commencé à travailler très tôt en hôtellerie comme femme de chambre à 15 ans et ce pendant 8 ans. C’est ma mère qui m’avait trouvé ce job puisqu’elle y travaillait aussi, mais comme cuisinière.

Toutes les discussions de famille tournaient autour de cet hôtel. Ma réalité était de plus en plus difficile, car j’y étais très malheureuse et depuis longtemps.

Je n’osais pas partir, car j’avais peur de la réaction de mes parents. Mon seul moyen de quitter ce boulot sans devoir justifier ma décision était de quitter le nid familial.  Je n’avais pas beaucoup d’argent ni aucun meubles à moi à part ceux que contenait ma chambre. Afin de me ramasser rapidement des fonds pour réaliser mon projet, j’ai vendu ma voiture et je suis partie avec une amie en colocation février 1999. En avril 2000 j’ai quitté mon emploi.

L’année qui a suivi cette décision a été plus difficile, je travaillais à temps partiel dans une boutique de vêtements, mais j’étais “LIBRE”.

Libre de la pression de mes parents, libre d’un travail qui me rendait malade, mais surtout, libre de devenir exactement ce que j’avais envie de faire et d’être tout ce que je voulais. Je n’ai jamais regretté cette décision et mes parents ont fini par comprendre que j’avais envie d’autres choses dans MA vie.

Déception amoureuse, perte d’un ami et réalisation de mes rêves d’enfances

Durant la même période, j’ai vécu un échec amoureux difficile. Sans entrer dans les détails, la peur, la faible confiance en moi-même et mon manque d’outils en amour ont été à l’origine de cet échec. Cela ne m’a pas seulement brisé le cœur, mais ça m’a aussi rendu malade physiquement.

Je n’ai jamais eu besoin d’ennemies dans ma vie, la peur était suffisante en elle-même. Elle m’a empêché de vivre une belle histoire et réaliser ce rêve d’avoir quelqu’un près de moi, ne serait-ce qu’un moment.

J’ai également perdu un ami. Un homme qui, le premier soir de sa retraite, est décédé d’un anévrisme. Cet homme avait travaillé toute sa vie pour faire vivre sa famille qu’il ne voyait pas très souvent parce qu’il était dévoué à son travail. Les jours avant sa mort, il me racontait à quel point il avait hâte de se reposer, d’aller “couper du bois” à son chalet, prendre du temps pour sa famille, etc. Il n’a même pas eu la chance de vivre un seul de ces moments, car il est décédé tout juste avant. J’ai eu un choc.

Travailler fort, faire exactement ce que l’on attend de moi et avoir tout le temps peur m’empêchaient de vivre. Si je mourais demain, quels seraient mes regrets ?

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Il y avait trop de rêves non réalisés derrière cette réflexion. Alors, je suis prise en main, j’ai déménagé toute seule dans mon propre appartement et j’ai trouvé un travail qui me permettrait de réaliser 2 de mes trois plus grands rêves: chanter et voyager. Le troisième, trouver mon partenaire de vie n’est encore qu’un rêve, car les choix de vie que j’ai fait par la suite ne m’ont pas encore permis de le rencontrer. J’espère y arriver un jour. 

Quitter ma région, ma famille et mes amis

Au milieu de la trentaine, j’avais l’impression de tourner en rond. Même si l’on me répétait que j’avais tout ce qu’il fallait pour être heureux, j’avais une rage de vivre. Cette même rage qui m’a souvent donné le coup de pied dont j’avais besoin pour avancer. J’ai alors décidé de tout quitter. Quitte ma famille, mes amis et ma sécurité d’emploi pour aller voir ce qui se passe ailleurs. Ç’a été très difficile, surtout sur le plan social: à 35 ans, on ne se bâtit pas un réseau aussi facilement qu’à 20 ans. Mais je n’ai pas abandonné et j’ai travaillé très fort afin de me construire une vie à moi. Ça fait maintenant 8 ans que j’ai quitté ma région et je ne l’ai jamais regretté.

La vie nous envoie des défis et moi j’aime m’en créer. C’est bizarre non, c’est un peu comme-ci les évènements de la vie quotidienne ne me suffisaient pas.

Les gens pensent souvent aux grands évènements de la vie comme le mariage ou la venue des enfants avec une bonne idée de ce qu’ils veulent, le modèle de la robe, les prénoms de leurs futurs enfants, leur maison de rêve, etc. moi, je veux deux choses : que la chanson à mes funérailles soit “My way” de Franck Sinatra et que mon épitaphe funéraire ressemble à quelque chose du genre “Ouf! C’est enfin terminé. Merci de ne pas me réveiller”.   

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Camera Roll - April 2018

We made April rhyme with ORGANIZATION. We managed to do SO many cool things in the span of 4 weeks, I feel like we deserve a solid high five here.

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We caught our creativity back with Jessie Lam & Carla Catherwood

Remember, we wrote a post about how we were feeling in a funk because we were so caught up in administration duties. We were lucky to meet two beautiful ladies and create very cool shoots with them. Jessie Lam is a yoga master who let us cover her in flower and Carla Catherwood is the fantastic CEO of Army Of Sass and we made her fly.

ChoqFm welcomed us in their studio

We had the great opportunity to talk on the radio with ChoqFm and it was played every day for a week during rush hour, and that was pretty sweet. Thank you Ami for this! (Interview in French)

We got our first branded goodies!

Deanna Colosimo, our illustrator extraordinaire, striked again and helped us create our first branded tote bags. We are so thankful and we feel so proud to walk around with our Scandaleuse tote bags. Thank you Deanna!

We hosted our first bridal workshop: So you're Engaged, now what?

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After weeks and weeks of putting this together, we finally made it to the big day with our wedding division. We rolled up our sleeves, gather a great team of vendors, gathered our courage and spoke in public again. It wasn't easy, a lot of sleepless nights were involved but these split seconds of intense pride watching everything getting together because of us were magical. The after-show wine was the best ever.

The Boudoir Circus got new babies!

After the aerial silks, we got a chance to capture aerial hoop, chains & contorsion with 3 stunning ladies. Can't wait to show you all of these!

We started vlogging and the first two are out!

I have a more or less secret passion for vlogs and it was about time we did our own. It gives you a chance to get to know us a little better and , honestly, even though they're not perfect, I am so glad we did it, they make such a great keepsake of our adventures

France, here we come!

We are starting to plan a trip to France to meet all of our French Scandals! And while this is just at the "let's figure it out" stage, we are getting pretty excited and are really hoping to make it work!

Can't wait to see what May has in stock for us. The one thing we know, is that we're ready. And we're going on girl road trip at some point.

Thank you for your support, couldn't happen without you!

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When your passion is your job: the 'Meh' syndrome

Turning your passion into a full-time job. It's a lot of people's dream. Everyone deserves to wake up energized, ready to conquer their day with a smile and be happy to start working. We are part of the "lucky" ones, we've made it happen by opening Scandaleuse full time a year ago. Yet, being a photographer full-time (or any creative careers for that matter) can also burst your creative bubble.

 
"Submerged: Pisces / Aquarius" by Deanna Colosimo

"Submerged: Pisces / Aquarius" by Deanna Colosimo

 

Meet your Little Muse

I like to think that we all have a little muse that follows us around. I picture mine as a mini-me who throws ideas out of nowhere. She's the one that's like "hey let's cover that model in pink glitter and put her under the rain okay? It'll be awesome!!". She has taken me on some glorious photoshoots, and sometimes, I have had to ignore her because seriously, this idea was way too insane. But the thing with muses is that if you shut them up too often, they just go somewhere else. See you sucker.

We wrote a blog post a while ago about dealing with creative funk when you are doubting your work and feel like you can't seem to produce anything good. Well this is a different kind of funk: it's the "meh" syndrome. Your drive has been AWOL, like it's on a vacation in Mexico or something. And Fanny and I have contaminated.

The "meh" wall is silently building itself.

Without you noticing. Sneaky SOB.

Truth is, we have been insanely busy with both of our boudoir and wedding divisions, working our first wedding workshop, booking sessions, finding new locations, taxes, admin tasks. There is no one else but us behind Scandaleuse, so naturally we have to take care of the not-so-fun stuff on a regular basis. No surprise here, welcome to Managing your business 101.

Anyway, it felt like something was wrong but I just didn't know what it was. I have been feeling constantly tired, my excitement for our current projects was close to the ground. The energy I had for new projects was slowly being shattered by real life, unnecessary stress and unreliable people (YES I SAID IT!), making the process a lot less enjoyable. Picture your little muse pulling on your sleeve to get attention and you flicking her away because, hey, you don't have time, alright?!.

The "oh sh*t" moment.

I was sitting in my living-room/office, scrolling through Instagram & Pinterest and I realized I was dodging any beautiful and creative posts from other photographers. Why? Because it gave me a weird feeling in my stomach that I had been shutting down for a little while. The ugly truth is that I was feeling envious. Envious of artists showcasing their awesome work when I felt like mine was just "meh". I was not looking at other peoples' work because I didn't want to see better work than mine. After all, we pride ourselves to push our own creativity limits here and this made me realize that we hadn't done it in what felt like an eternity. I mean reeeeally done it.

We had just stopped putting our creativity first. Which is super ironic, considering that our creativity is our bread and butter. It is why people hire us to begin with.

But life got in the way, we are dealing with other things that, yes, need to be done, but have been taking all of our time, leaving no room for brainstorming crazy ideas like we used to. The only moment my drive was back was when we were actually shooting with a client, I guess Little Muse is responsible for that too.

 
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It is time to grab the bull by its horns.

We have been thinking outside the box our entire lives and there is no way that Scandaleuse becomes "just" a job with standard quality. We swore to make it exceptional for every session (that's actually why we shoot in different locations) and we lost sight of it for a second.

Making your passion your career involves turning it into something quite commercial to appeal to the masses. Because hey, you gotta make some $$$, your work needs to be consistent, and not everyone wants an insane photoshoot concept.

But we need to make a crazy idea come to life once in a while. We need to do shoots for fun and more importantly: we need to make time for it. So I started my own list of super cool ideas for shoots that may not happen immediately, but are here when I will need them. I have put one into place already, and I had forgotten how much fun putting together different photoshoot styles is. It is thrilling and I know I want to live my life that way.

Little Muse is back, baby, and she's ready to rock.

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A boudoir shoot in Winter Wonderland

If you live in Toronto like us, you know that unexpected snow storm, while very annoying, can also be spectacular. And when something is spectacular, you can make sure your Scandaleuse ladies are there. 

 
Now picture us running outside when Fanny said "THERE ARE DEERS!"

Now picture us running outside when Fanny said "THERE ARE DEERS!"

 

We met the beautiful Jewelz on Instagram and we were blown away by her confidence. She describes herself as a body-positive and life extremist, which suits her pretty well. She's strong-minded, very kind and her smile lightens the entire room. Shooting with her was an absolute pleasure.

To make this session even better, we had our lovely make-up artist Nicola Peel tagging along to create a bold look, just like Jewelz's personality.

 
 

Last but not least, we were lucky enough to be able to shoot at the Bob Rumball Manor in Northern Toronto. Oh my goodness, the pictures of this place you can find online do not do it justice. Full of character and natural light, we couldn't get over how beautiful this manor is. If you are looking for a event venue (weddings too!) close to the downtown core, make sure to check it out. The owner Joanne is one of the nicest people on Earth. (If you are as lucky as we were, you might bump into some deers running around the manor)

We really appreciate having so many talents behind us for our sessions. It makes your experience amazing - which is why we shoot boudoir at the first place - but it also gives us the drive to keep going and keep creating shoots, bigger & bolder. Thank you.

You are making us unstoppable and we want to return the favour.

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Boudoir Bash or meeting 5 wonderful human beings

We put together our first Boudoir Bash: 5 women, 5 sessions for one day only. A boudoir marathon. And a pretty successful one. We had the perfect combo between a gorgeous place and five amazing personalities.

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To be completely honest, when we first started Scandaleuse, we weren't sure about booking multiple shoots a day. Since we are all about creating individual experiences, we were a little worried that it would lose authenticity and creativity. We first thought "how can you be 500% creative after 5 hours in the same space?"

Then, we had a little contest on our instagram and it made us realise that so many women who couldn't afford a VIP session were dying to try it still. And we had an opportunity to shoot in a very special location. Everything started getting together. It kinda looked like a sign so we decided to follow it. I am glad we did.

One house.

Before talking about the wonderful models, we need to talk about the location. We got extremely lucky to have access to a full house, recently renovated with modern touches and full of variety. We could never thank the owners enough. Thanks to them, our concern of potentially lose creativity during the process faded.

Two brains.

The fact that there are two of us made the entire day a lot easier. I took one shoot, Fanny took the other one, which gave us a chance to "recharge" between two people. We were also able to shoot the video below simultaneously while one of us was shooting.

 
 

Five models.

Within a few weeks, all the spots were taken. We knew practically nothing about our models. For our regular sessions, we always take our clients for a coffee to discuss location and vision, but in this case, since the location was set, we were ready to roll after sending them a few tips & tricks. Frankly, we expected our girls to bring similar outfits from one another. We were pleasantly surprised by the thoughts the girls put into their props and outfits.

We saw beautiful nightgowns, vintage bras, sophisticated bodysuits, gigantic feathers, delicate robes and so much more. Each of them have a very distinct personality which made the whole process even nicer. And the standard was already pretty high!

A challenge for all of us.

Usually, the challenge during a boudoir session is stronger towards the model, since she/he is likely the one not being familiar with it. Don't get me wrong, we do challenge ourselves by thinking outside the box for every shoot, but let's face it, the one getting naked is taking on a bigger step. This time however, we were seriously on the line too. Boudoir Bash forced us to adapt ourselves quickly and think 4 or 5 steps ahead so each of the girls would get something special. I am happy to say that the mission was accomplished.

Boudoir Bash gave us a chance to open our doors to models we wouldn't have necessarily met otherwise. It broadened our horizon and challenged us. I do believe that this little adventure made us better photographers and we are seriously considering doing it again. We are always so proud of each of our Scandals who have reached out to us to try this new experience.

What changed since we opened Scandaleuse?

Five months ago, Fanny and I took the decision of changing our lives and get on the entrepreneurship boat towards new adventures. We have had a great start so far. Thank you for following us on our instagram and our facebook page, we are building a nice new community of butt cheeks we are very proud of.

 
 

While we’ve always wanted to create our own company, we never actually took the plunge. My life was more about reading books and testimonials from people who actually did it and then tell myself the ”I will do it too someday”. Then I turned 25. Then Fanny got her working visa, which allowed us to legally get into a partnership. And it clicked. I quit my job and 4 days after, our shaky fingers finally showed Scandaleuse to the rest of the world from the Toronto Reference Library.

Quitting your full-time job to follow what you really believe in and give yourself a chance wasn’t easy. But oh boy is it worth the risk.

Being photographers, we were already quite far from the 9-5 office job, we were used to long, odd hours and last minute requests. Maybe it helped with the full time business women transition. We have always been organized, hustlers and not scared of hard work. More importantly, we have each other. It's a no-brainer that jumping into something like with someone is easier.

Here are our 5 best perks of running Scandaleuse and many many other projects. Don’t worry, we are not giving you the usual  I-work-from-home-so-that’s-awesome that you can find online. Here we go:

 
 

1)    We are not paid less because we are women.

This had to be my first point. I am blown away that in 2017, women are still earning less than a man for the same exact job. A lot of companies take advantage of it. So yes, one of the biggest perks of running your own business is that you price yourself the way you want to. So, no less dollars because we have vaginas. BOOM.

2)    We don’t have to deal with creative frustration.

You want to work on a brand new project? Well then do it. No approvals to get, no time wasted. Of course, all the work is on you, but since we are kind of organization ninjas, it’s definitely not an issue. Now, on top of shooting, we are about to start giving workshops and being keynotes speakers at events and that’s pretty sweet. (The amount of terrible jokes people will hear is unreal. Sorry.)

3)    We are very good company.

I was a little scared of getting lonely and getting bored working from home. Hell no. Fanny and I work together face to face multiple times a week and from our places the rest of the time. I am seeing my apartment a little more (only a little, because seriously, we are always out somewhere) and I am loving it.

4)    The constant learning position

We are the kind of people that need to learn constantly. We are naturally curious. After working at the same job for a couple of years, I started being unhappy because I felt like I wasn’t learning anything anymore. This was when I realized I needed to go. Building your own thing teaches you something new all the time.

"Once you stop learning, you start dying.", right?

5)    The Brownie Points

Everyday is a new little victory. It could be from booking a shoot, working on a new idea, fixing the website or finalizing a project. That sweet feeling of "Damn, we did it” is so good!

This could sound like we live in a world full of unicorns and glitter, and trust me, we don’t. Consider us just well-prepared and determined to make things work. We have our tough days, a crap ton of stress and disappointments. Would I go back to working full-time for someone else? Not anytime soon.

For the road

  • If you expect to start business without knowing a minimum what you are doing, think twice. Read, go to seminars, get as much information as possible
  • While having a business bestie is awesome, pick the good one. Fanny and I have known each other for 8 years and have worked together on multiple occasions before officially doing it on paper. Trust your gut.
  • Have savings. Business don’t pick up right away. We are lucky to have projects on the side and savings to save us from sleepless nights. Don’t start your business being broke.

Now, go YOU!