Chicago Boudoir with Liz Hansen: Safe, Empowering, Unapologetically You

Chicago boudoir photography meets radical self-confidence in this conversation with photographer Liz Hansen. If you’ve ever wondered what actually happens during a boudoir session—and why so many women call it life-changing—this episode is your backstage pass. “Sexy is a vibe, not a size” sets the tone for a body-positive, age-inclusive approach to portraits that feel like you.

About Liz:
Liz Hansen is the owner and photographer at Chicago Boudoir Photography, a boutique studio that empowers women to feel confident in their bodies, relationships and lives. Liz opened her commercial studio in 2018 and has since photographed more than 2,000 women. She has been featured on the TEDx stage, on National Public Radio and with the Association of International Boudoir Photographers. Liz holds a BA in Art and an MA in Education. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband and two teenage daughters.

Takeaways:

• How a guided boudoir session rebuilds self-trust and visibility
• What safety, consent, and privacy look like in a real studio
• Wardrobe, hair/makeup, and posing tips for real bodies
• Retouching ethics and why “perfect” is not the point
• Why midlife is the perfect time to step in front of the camera

Index of Key Topics:

• Chicago boudoir | client experience | safety & consent
• Wardrobe planning | hair/makeup | posing micro-coaching
• Body neutrality vs. body positivity | retouching ethics
• Midlife visibility | self-image | legacy portraits

Liz's Website: https://chicago-boudoir.com/

Social Media links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chicagoboudoir 

VIP Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/VIPChicago 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chicago.boudoir/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chicagoboudoir

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-hansen-9aab35173/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChicagoBoudoirPhotography

TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9bkhCXpmIE

Free e-book: https://chicago-boudoir.com/free 

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Transcript

Chicago Boudoir with Liz Hansen: Safe, Empowering, Unapologetically You

[00:00:00] 

For many women, Liz Hansen turns I could never into. Oh my gosh, that's me. We cover why sexy is a vibe, not a size, what actually happens during a boudoir photo session, and how one photo can rewrite the story in your head at any age, any season. It's empowering, it's fun. And yes, there may be a tiny Malort cameo at the end.

Here is Liz Hansen.

[00:00:58] Penny Fitzgerald: Good morning, [00:01:00] Penny. How are you? I'm good. Thanks for having me. Thanks for hopping on. What do you have? Just 

[00:01:08] Liz Hansen: some, uh, lime sparkle. 

[00:01:11] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. It looks like a margarita. 

[00:01:15] Liz Hansen: It does well, 

[00:01:16] Penny Fitzgerald: but I wanted to come prepared. I love it. It's his Breakfast of champions. Exactly. Yeah. Thanks for having me.

I love what you do. So tell my audience, about you. What, um, you're Liz Hansen and you're in Chicago, right? Or the Chicago area. Yeah, that's right. I 

[00:01:32] Liz Hansen: live in Chicago, just, uh, north of Chicago, in the north suburbs, and I run, uh, the Chicago Boudoir Photography studio.

[00:01:41] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. So what does that mean? What does that entail? Like how did you come to that? 

[00:01:50] Liz Hansen: what it means for me is that I provide a safe space for women to come and get sensual, sexy photos taken [00:02:00] and to leave the studio feeling empowered.

And that they can celebrate their life and their bodies. So I've been doing this about 10 years full time. I love what I do running this business, and I also have this broader mission to help women reclaim their own power. 

[00:02:16] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. Okay. So how, how did you find this niche? Or how did you, I mean, were you always thinking of this type of photography or how did you get started?

What, what drew you to this? 

[00:02:33] Liz Hansen: So I started out as a a, what I call a regular photographer doing babies, families, weddings, events, senior pictures. Yeah, exactly. And then, um, at a certain point, about 10 years ago, I got a job at a photo studio. 

And they did some boudoir there, and I had never heard of boudoir. I'd never experienced it. I didn't know what it was, but what I started to see was women who came into the studio for a boudoir photo shoot, they walked [00:03:00] in nervous, a little apprehensive, but when they walked out of the studio, they were radiating.

They were talking about what a joyful experience this had been, how much fun they'd had, and how they felt transformed by it. So I got excited by that. I did my own boudoir photo shoot, which is was a transformative experience for me. And then I decided seven years ago to open up my own boudoir boutique and specialize in boudoir and offer this.

And I've since photographed almost 2000 women and really enjoyed every minute of it. Every 

[00:03:30] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay, so are you comfortable telling us a little bit about your experience? I mean, what. What about it felt transformative? I mean, how did that feel? 

[00:03:40] Liz Hansen: So I grew up really in a pretty conservative household, and I'd been socialized from my family to kind of believe that good girls didn't do stuff like that.

Right, right, right. Mm-hmm. Good girls didn't do a boudoir photo shoot. Good girls weren't sensual or sexy. Right? That wasn't what good or 

[00:03:57] Penny Fitzgerald: even loud or even seen or [00:04:00] heard, or. 

[00:04:02] Liz Hansen: Exactly right. So for me to sign up for a boudoir photo shoot was really stepping out of my comfort zone and into sort of a new role.

It was the first time I really felt like I did something like that. And because it was so out of my comfort zone, I was really nervous when I first walked in. I mean, I remember trying to s clasp the bra. Behind me, my back and my hands were shaking so bad. I couldn't get the clasp to go to hook to hook together, you know?

But as I started doing the photo shoot, the photographer helped me relax. And I was like, wow, I, this is me. I can embody this. This can be part of my life and my experience too. And it felt exhilarating. And I did end up giving the album to my husband as a gift, and he loved it. He said it was the best gift anyone's ever given him.

But the whole experience was more for me. It was more for me to kind of claim something to walk into a role that I had never really experimented with before. [00:05:00] And I see that for a lot of women who come into my studio. some come in for happy reasons, like they're getting married, they're having a baby, they are celebrating their 30th birthday.

And some people come in for kind of like harder reasons, like maybe they are, feeling like they wanna celebrate after a divorce or maybe they've gotten a breast cancer diagnosis or. Maybe they've had some other kind of health scare or a surgery or something like that. Maybe they've left a domestic violence, um, relationship.

So there's a lot of reasons why people come to the boudoir studio and they're all great reasons, and each person who comes in has like sort of their unique reason for being there and wanting to do boudoir. 

[00:05:43] Penny Fitzgerald: So For you, the, the transformation was empowerment.

Is that a, an accurate term, 

[00:05:52] Liz Hansen: Yes. It gave me a dose of confidence. Okay. It kind of let me know that there were things that I hadn't tried before that [00:06:00] were available to me. 

[00:06:01] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. Um, 

[00:06:02] Liz Hansen: and that even if it was scary, I could. I could try it and come out stronger and better on the other side. Okay. Um, it allowed me to tap into some sensuality and sexuality that I think I had been afraid to express.

[00:06:18] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm. Interesting. 

[00:06:19] Liz Hansen: And I see this for a lot. You know, we live in a society that for a lot of women, really emphasizes. Thinness in youth, You can only be beautiful and sexy if you're young and thin, And a lot of us have internalized that. Even if we can't say those words, we kind of know it deep in our soul, that that, like that's

What we should be, or if we wanna be beautiful, that's what we have to be, And boudoir is the opposite of that. Boudoir doesn't say, just come. If you're thin, just come. If you're young, boudoir says, come as you are and we will celebrate you just as you are. You are beautiful and sexy. And fabulous and worth being documented exactly as you are.

Wow. 

[00:06:59] Penny Fitzgerald: we're [00:07:00] constantly bombarded with media, with, with commercials, with products that help you look younger, help you get thinner, help you not have wrinkles or to mask them or whatever. But man, I've earned every single one of them.

[00:07:14] Liz Hansen: Yeah, and I love to say sexy is not a size, Sexy is not determined by how small your waist is, how tall you are, your shoe size, anything, your cup size, right? Sexy is an attitude. Sexy is a vibe. Sexy. I think that every woman, regardless of size, shape, age, color, should. Be able to feel sexy and beautiful.

I mean that's, you're right. You are beautiful. You are a goddess. You are inherently valuable just because of being a woman and a human. 

[00:07:45] Penny Fitzgerald: And 

[00:07:46] Liz Hansen: what I wanna do in the boudoir studio is help you feel 

[00:07:49] Penny Fitzgerald: that deep down. Wow. So do you feel like that translates after the session too? Like into anything? Like into the way you carry yourself, into the way that [00:08:00] you show up or into.

Your confidence level in general does, do you feel like that helps after the session? 

[00:08:08] Liz Hansen: Yeah, absolutely. And that's my whole goal, right? So my business is boudoir and of course I'm gonna create beautiful photos for you and you can get a beautiful album or hang a picture on, on the wall. But my whole goal is that it's just more than a photo shoot, right?

Mm-hmm. It helps you in other areas of your life too. So, and I have some things in my business that help to kind of bolster that mission. So for example, I've have a Facebook group where I have more than 10,000 women in the group, and the whole. Purpose and mission of that group is to help women feel empowered in their relationships, their careers, and their lives.

So I post a question in there, a conversation starter in there every day to get people thinking about their own place in the world and their power. I interact with that group to try to help women really recognize, 'cause I feel like powerful women when they under, when we understand our real power and our real role.

Mm-hmm. Powerful [00:09:00] women are gonna change the world. 

[00:09:02] Penny Fitzgerald: I so agree with you. Yeah. Do you feel that feeling sexy is a piece of that, or do you feel like it's necessary to be able to, to change the world, to be able to feel empowered that it, that's, that's a piece of it, or is that something that kind of a spark and helps women, you know, take the next step in finding more confidence in other areas too?

Or how, how would you define that? 

[00:09:27] Liz Hansen: Yeah, it's interesting. I think a lot of times we think about sexy in terms of a partner, right? Like, am I attracting the right kind of people? But for me, sexy is something just independent that you can have by yourself. Sexy is feeling good about yourself, feeling good about your body, feeling confident, feeling ready, feeling like I.

Have a body and I don't hate it. Right. Like, we have so much shame. Oh my gosh. Yeah. You know, that's for sure. There's so much shame around our bodies. And so, um, sexy is not about, to me, it's not about having sex. Mm-hmm.

You can feel [00:10:00] sexy without a partner, without having sex, and that's what I'm trying to tap into with boudoir as well, I know what I do is a little bit taboo. We get into some crazy conversations right off the bat, but.

What I want women to know is that their body, they're not in a war against their bodies, You don't have to hate your body. You can speak kindly to your body. You can wake up and enjoy being in your body.

You can enjoy looking at yourself in your body. You can celebrate your body. You can be in photos, you can document yourself. You are worth it. You are valuable. so many of us, we take pictures of everything we eat, beautiful sunset, our kids, right? Yeah. But when are you in the photos?

Yeah. When are you documenting you? And we, a lot of times, women, we, we play small, we hide, we're not in pictures. Mm-hmm. And I wanna turn that around. Yeah. 

[00:10:51] Penny Fitzgerald: I see so many women that I work with, When I go to their profiles, their social profiles, there are pictures of their kids, pictures of their families, but they're [00:11:00] not in any of 'em.

It's very difficult to find some of them, and like you said, we're playing small. we don't wanna be seen, we don't wanna be criticized. Maybe we don't feel comfortable about something within ourselves. You know, just being comfortable in your own skin would be just so empowering for so many women.

Exactly. 

[00:11:17] Liz Hansen: And so many of us live our lives hating the very vessel we spend our lives in. Right. Oh wow. And I think that's kind of a shame. You, you know, I, you, you, you're always gonna be with yourself, so. Be your best friend. Treat yourself well. Engage in some self care. Ask yourself, what does the little girl in me need today?

I was told recently to put a picture of myself when I was five years old, little picture of myself on my phone, and ask myself every day, what do I need to do to today to take care of this little girl? 'cause think about it. Would you ever let that little girl [00:12:00] stay up on a five-year-old, stay up all night to work on a project?

No, you would tell her, get some rest, pick it up in the morning. You'll be more effective in the morning. Mm-hmm. Would you have let, let that little five-year-old girl go to school without breakfast? No. You'd be like, you need to eat breakfast before you go, and yet, sometimes we go to work without eating breakfast, 

Would you ever tell her you're fat and ugly? No, you would never tell a five-year-old that no, never. You'd say you are beautiful and valuable and full of potential. So when you can see yourself like that, sometimes that can help you. You deserve that kind of self care and that kind of self-talk the way you would talk to a beautiful little five-year-old.

'cause guess what? That beautiful little five-year-old girl is still, you still inside you. 

[00:12:41] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. Yeah. We've squashed her down. That's, that's something interesting I share with my clients as well to. find a picture of yourself when you were that little girl and write a contract to her.

 what do you promise her? She had a voice and you squashed it. you've decided to become small and not allow her voice to be heard. [00:13:00] You know? And it's the same way, looking forward, your future self wouldn't want you where you are now to be struggling with anything we would want the best for.

This version of ourselves as we're, as we're aging, our older, wiser self, wants to bring us with her or to her instead of, putting ourself last or stopping those dreams or stopping dreaming even. You 

[00:13:27] Liz Hansen: know what? Something you said, just maybe I could feed a current picture of myself into AI and say, make this look like an old lady.

[00:13:34] Penny Fitzgerald: I did that. Did you do this? I did that. Yep. Because you 

[00:13:37] Liz Hansen: did write a contract to your future old lady, self too. Yep. 

[00:13:40] Penny Fitzgerald: Absolutely. Absolutely. I did 

[00:13:42] Liz Hansen: that. How did you feel when you saw that old lady picture of yourself? 

[00:13:46] Penny Fitzgerald: I thought. If I look like that when I'm 80, I'll, I'm okay with that. I love that. That's great.

And like she looks wise, she looks sassy, she looks, you know, all the things that you would hope [00:14:00] looking back on where I am now, what would she want from me? She would want me to do what I can so that she can live her best life when she's 80.

You know, what can I do today that's gonna move me towards her? And don't you 

[00:14:15] Liz Hansen: think 80-year-old self would say, don't hate your body. Your body is doing awesome right now. Enjoy that thing. Because now I'm exactly, my hips don't work. Right. I feel like 80-year-old self would be like, stop complaining about your body right now.

Stop 

[00:14:28] Penny Fitzgerald: it. Stop it. Yeah. Go have a cocktail and just wise up.

Cheers. Cheers.

Oh gosh, Liz.so explain the process. So what, how does someone find you? And how do you make them feel comfortable? 

[00:14:43] Liz Hansen: So it starts with a phone call. Everyone who comes in for a photo shoot, we talk on the phone first.

Okay. 'cause I wanna make sure you know what, what we're doing and what your goals are. When you show up at the studio, the first thing we do is professional hair and makeup. So you just show up with clean, dry hair and we take it from there. You don't have to [00:15:00] get ready, right? I'm gonna, I have a beauty team that's gonna give you airbrush, makeup lashes like you make you look fabulous for the camera.

And then we're gonna do a wardrobe consult, uh, where we look at the items you've brought, the items I have at the studio, and pick out what you're gonna wear for the shoot. I love that part. It's playing dress up. We can do some accessories. I've got shoes, robes, all kinds of things. Then you're gonna go into the studio, and when you're in front of the camera, I'm gonna tell you exactly what to do and how to pose.

The great thing about boudoir is that you don't have to know what you're doing. You don't have to practice in front of a mirror. Just show up as you, and I'm gonna take it from there because you are already fabulous and beautiful just as you are, and you don't have to know anything or do anything different than just be you.

I'm gonna create beautiful photos, and I do something kind of cool at my studio that a lot of photographers don't do, is that right after we take the pictures, you're gonna get dressed and I'm gonna create a slideshow of the pictures I took for you to see right then and there before you even leave the studio.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. [00:16:00] So this is really fun, instant gratification, and also importantly, I want you to see yourself without a filter and without Photoshop. Because I believe you are beautiful just as you are. I don't have so many women say to me, I can't believe I love the photos, and they're not even photoshopped.

So that's an important moment of recognition right Now. Of course, if you want a little Photoshop, I'll take some blemishes off or whatever. You know, you got a bruise from an IV last week that's not gonna be in your album. It's fine. But I want you to have that initial moment of seeing the photos of appreciating them without the filter, without the Photoshop, because.

We live in a filtered world, right? Every magazine you've ever seen is all photoshopped up, right? Oh yeah. I want you to know and appreciate yourself just as you are. And so many women sit down in front of that slideshow and say to me, I have never seen myself like this. I've never seen this version of myself.

And that is where the transformation starts. 

[00:16:57] Penny Fitzgerald: Have you ever had [00:17:00] someone not. Put on makeup or not get their hair done or not, um, do lashes and that sort of thing. I mean, can you, do you feel like you could create the same transformation without any of that? For sure. 

[00:17:14] Liz Hansen: There are some women who want to do that.

I had a woman in the studio recently, I remember her name was Michelle, and she was very into yoga. She was a yoga instructor and she had a super fit bod and she's like, you know, yoga's not about the makeup, it's about my body. And I was like, great. So we did a photo shoot and she did a lot of shadows.

Oh wow. Its And darks of her body in various shapes. And it was really, really cool and really fun. So, yeah, each um, photo shoot is tailored to you and what you wanna do. You wanna wear like sparkly eyeshadow and a bright red lip. I'm here for you. You wanna go very natural. That's great too. You wanna do full nude?

Great. You wanna be more covered? Perfect. You wanna have like a really light and airy bridal tool, like fun, [00:18:00] flirty session. Gotcha. You wanna do something more like deep traumatic, moody, sultry, shadowy. We can do that too. So that's where the phone consult comes in. That's where me talking to you during hair and makeup in the wardrobe consult to really achieve the look that you want to get in the photo shoot.

That's where that comes in. I've got lots of backdrops with the studio, different lighting furniture, so. We can really tailor it to you and what it is that you wanna feel during your photo shoot. Wow. 

[00:18:28] Penny Fitzgerald: I imagine, some women don't know what would look good or feel good, or I.

Make me feel more empowered. How do you help women come up with that? for sure and, and suggestions. I would say that's 

[00:18:41] Liz Hansen: most, most people, right. Okay. That's, most people are like, I'm just here. I don't know what I'm doing. And that's fine. I've got you. Interestingly too, sometimes women. Think they know exactly what they want.

Mm-hmm. It it, it changes. So for example, just yesterday I had a woman in the studio, we were doing the photo shoot and during hair makeup, she's like, I don't want any pictures of [00:19:00] me smiling. I want dark, serious, moody, sensual. I was like, okay. But I said to her in hair, makeup, listen, I'm gonna take a few pictures of you smiling just because.

You might wanna see humor me. Yeah. Yeah. Humor me. And she's like, yeah, but it's not really what I want. I was like, okay, but listen, it's digital photography. If you don't like the pictures, we just delete 'em. It's no big deal. And at my studio also, you don't pay until you see the pictures, I have this a hundred percent happiness guarantee where you're not just absolutely blown away by your pictures.

You don't have to buy them. So there, there's no risk here, right? So we go into the studio, we take the pictures. I take mostly dark, sensual, you know, looking away pictures, eyes, tune this kind of right, but then took her over to my white bed and we did a few kind of fun, flirty things. She she'd brought, um. Her husband's jersey that he used to wear when he played sports.

We took a few of that, and guess what? She loved those pictures too. She just didn't know that she wanted to see both sides of herself, so 

[00:19:59] Penny Fitzgerald: [00:20:00] wow. 

[00:20:01] Liz Hansen: I always take a few pictures every session. That might be the opposite of what you ask for. because you just never know until you see the creation.

What might kind of hit you. So you tell me you want all fun and flirty. I'm gonna take a few deep shadow, essentially sensual pictures too. There. Let's just do it. Let's take some right. And the flip side, The only thing, of course, is that how much skin you show is entirely up to you. I would never ask you to take nude photos if that's not what you want to do, 

 I'm never gonna push that envelope. I will say though, I've often had women say to me, I wish I'd just gone ahead and bared it all while I was there. Why didn't I do that? But I've never had someone come back and say, I showed too much. 

[00:20:44] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh wow. Interesting. 

[00:20:46] Liz Hansen: So yeah, that's always my recommendation to people.

Just go ahead and take the nude photos. You're here, let's do it. If you don't like 'em, we delete 'em, but you're never gonna probably do this again. So let's just try it. Hmm. See what interesting. You know, 

[00:20:59] Penny Fitzgerald: [00:21:00] so many metaphors for life in there. You never know unless you try. And you don't always know what you want until you try it.

Until you take that step, you may change your mind. So what. It's okay. Just so many lessons. Okay, so then you, you take the pictures, you show them, and then, um, have that session where, uh, they get to see themselves for the first time, and that's where the transformation 

[00:21:28] Liz Hansen: There is definitely a moment there in the studio, Uhhuh, and then it continues onward afterwards too.

So I always recommend that people make some plans after their photo shoot. You're gonna look great. You're gonna have a lot of good energy, so make some plans. Go out with some girlfriends, plan a date. Go do something Go dancing. Do something you don't normally do, right, because you've already stepped outta your comfort zone.

You got your answers done, you're gonna feel great. So go do something fun that night. And then in a few weeks, um, you'll get your final products. So if you've ordered an [00:22:00] album or maybe you've ordered a frame to put over your bed or in your bathroom, I love it when women put a picture of themselves in their closet or in a place that they'll see every day, maybe right when they wake up to remind themselves of how fabulous they are.

Mm-hmm. Because you're gonna see that picture and think that you're fabulous, but also you're gonna remember the moment when we took the pictures and how you were feeling. So that can bring that, the experience. Mm-hmm. 

[00:22:23] Penny Fitzgerald: Wow, that's great. If we all woke up and saw something that inspired us or something that made us feel empowered or strong or ready, what a great day that would be.

[00:22:36] Liz Hansen: I think it can change you. I think it can change views if you view yourself differently, you view the world differently, right? Things right around to start to change when things within you change. Right? So absolutely. If you're walking around with a lot of doubt and self-doubt and self-loathing of some kind, it can change how you treat other people, how you interpret the world around you, 

 Once you [00:23:00] start speaking kindly to yourself, loving yourself, celebrating yourself, having some self-care routines in your life, that can change how others respond to you, and your whole world can change. 

[00:23:12] Penny Fitzgerald: Well, how you show up in the world too, like how present you are, how comfortable you are. you're comfortable, if you take the if, well, even if you're not comfortable today, but you're taking steps to become comfortable or you're taking steps to feel better, then yeah, you do show up differently.

You show up differently for other people and for yourself. A hundred percent. Mm. Love it. Okay, so you've gotten the, the album or you've gotten a picture, Then, you remember that transformation and you're able to show up differently for others in your life and for yourself.

Do you have people come back, later and wanna do another shoot? 

[00:23:50] Liz Hansen: Yeah, absolutely. And I love, I love it when that happens. So sometimes I have women, for example, come in and do a bridal bir photo shoot, and then I see them again for a maternity boudoir shoot. [00:24:00] And how fun is that? Oh, that's very fun. I've also had women come in like, come in.

I've done this long enough now that I've had women come in for like their 35th birthday and then again for their 40th birthday. Okay. And I love that they have not stopped celebrating and loving themselves just because they're getting older. Um, I've also, I have, I have one client who comes in every year for her birthday.

I mean, I just think that's such a fun, cool way to celebrate. Mm-hmm. I have a lot of women who come in the first time and they keep it kind of tame and they're a little scared. Second time around 

[00:24:36] Penny Fitzgerald: Katy 

[00:24:36] Liz Hansen: bar the door, right? They're willing to do more. Right? And so that's really fun. Um, they're bringing new outfits.

I have women who bring things to the studio to really personalize their shoots. So maybe it's, um, like I said, the jersey from, you know, a husband or rep. Maybe it's something that represents. Something that you love. So I've had women bring in, let's see, a Harry Potter wand, a favorite book, [00:25:00] a TaeKwonDo belt, um, boxing gloves.

the day before yesterday. Had a gal with. Ice skates? Um, ice hockey skates. 

[00:25:09] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my, 

[00:25:09] Liz Hansen: yeah. Ice hockey. And she brought her some of her pads and stuff and we did some Really? That sounds dangerous. Yeah. She skated with a, a, a female ice hockey team here in Chicago. Okay. And the logo.

Of the female ice hockey team is a gal standing with skates on wearing fishnet tights. And she's like, obviously we don't skate like that, but I wanna take a picture of me that looks just like the logo. And I was like, we're gonna do it. So she brought fishnet tights. It was so fun. So fun. 

[00:25:36] Penny Fitzgerald: They should do a calendar.

[00:25:38] Liz Hansen: They should do a calendar. I love that idea, Penny. Yeah, you should pitch that to 

[00:25:43] Penny Fitzgerald: her. 

[00:25:44] Liz Hansen: Great idea. Bring 'em all. Get 12 spreads. I love that. Mm-hmm. Yes. That's what I'm talking about. See, she's a woman. Who is she? She never played ice hockey until she was 38. She joined. She's like feeling it. So I mean, dang. I know.

I [00:26:00] love it when women, especially in their, you know, thirties, forties, fifties and beyond, are doing new things. Trying new life does not end in your twenties. I think a lot of us kind of felt like it did. You know, like, well, that was my youth. But these years, 20s, 30s, forties. This is 

[00:26:15] Penny Fitzgerald: a prime. Okay. That's funny to me.

'cause Okay. 60 here and I'm thinking back to when I felt my healthiest, my strongest, my most empowered, well first of all, I'm feeling more empowered every day now. But looking back when I was strongest physically was probably in my early forties. And just, you know, that's when I felt sexy in, in the terms of like.

I can walk into a room and just feel comfortable in my own skin, which is, you know, and it just changes over time. It come, you know, kind of as a rollercoaster ebbs and flows, and I don't think you are ever too old [00:27:00] to feel that. Nope. No expiration date. No. No. 

[00:27:04] Liz Hansen: I've had women in their seventies come into the studio to do Oh, that's 

[00:27:07] Penny Fitzgerald: fun. 

[00:27:08] Liz Hansen: Yeah. So I would love to get like a 90-year-old in, I've just gotta find her. But, um, I just think women, I mean, we, we are really sold this bill of goods that, Hmm. That our value goes down as we age, and I just don't believe it.

You know, there's just this idea, you know, you see Leonardo DiCaprio always dating a woman till she turns 26, and then picking up a new 19-year-old New York since she's 26. And I think some of us have bought into that story, right? That like 19 to 26 is our prime and once we fall off that cliff, it's over.

I don't believe that at all. I think, I think if you can embrace your power, you can continue to find that decade after decade. 

[00:27:47] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. My wheels are turning now because I have good friends in their eighties and um, into almost 90 who I would in a heartbeat, I think do this [00:28:00] if we can get 'em to Chicago.

[00:28:01] Liz Hansen: There you go. Or there may be a boudoir photographer near you. Yeah, 

[00:28:05] Penny Fitzgerald: yeah. Well, they're, just so vibrant. I look at. The women in my life and how, what a great example they are, you know, still living life, very vibrantly and very fully, and showing up and being present and helping others and feeling strong and capable.

It's just so amazing to see that example and I wanna live up to that. You know? I wanna grow into that and be that for someone else. 

[00:28:37] Liz Hansen: I mean, I'm feeling this too. I didn't start my business as my, so I didn't. I, I, I used, in my twenties, I was a teacher, so I, uh, started out as an English as a second language teacher at ESL.

Oh, really? Yes. And then this is now, you know, a second act for me, Uhhuh being a small business owner, running a boudoir studio, and I don't think I could have predicted that in my twenties, but I'm so glad. [00:29:00] That the journey has brought me here and I've, I've really enjoyed being a small business owner.

It's challenging, but that's what makes part of what makes it fun, right? There's always something new happening, and I believe I'll probably have a third chapter, a fourth chapter, a fifth chapter. This isn't the end of my story now either, but I, I think so often we think, well, the career you chose when you were 18, you started college.

Like now, that's the rest of your life. I don't think that's how the world works anymore. Absolutely not. And especially as women, I think we need to embrace these different seasons of life. Maybe you're in a season of child rearing, maybe your children have flown the nest. Right? And so your story's different now, but that doesn't mean you have less value or less power, or less ability to change the world.

It just means your new chapter might look different than your last one. 

[00:29:46] Penny Fitzgerald: Exactly. Yeah. And it's never too late to dream more. Dream bigger, or remember some of the things that used to light you up that. You know, before you were caring for everyone else, what did you love to [00:30:00] do? You know, and it's, it's so interesting 'cause this podcast came about just a year and a half ago.

And I've been wanting to do it for several years and I just wanted to do it, you know, I wanted to share women's stories, I wanted to share fun with women, and somebody drew it to my attention that when I was a little kid. With one of my cousins. We used to make tapes together. We back in the day when tapes were a thing.

Yep. We would record each other doing silly stories and interviewing each other and it was like, wow, I forgot all about that. Yeah. You were podcasting before there were podcasts. I love that. It's just, you know, when we take the time to think back or to allow ourselves to be creative again. 'cause you know, little kids, we, they just play all the world is, you know, just.

Something that they can create with, they can call a rock a spaceship if they want you. You know? 

[00:30:56] Liz Hansen: That means I probably need to go, Jo, go join Cirque de Soleil. [00:31:00] Because me and my sister used to make little, we had a trampoline in our backyard and we used Uhhuh to have routines, like for hours in the backyard, in the trampoline bed.

Oh my gosh. And then perform them for our family members too, of course. Oh yeah. Make them sit in a row and yeah. Oh yeah. I'm not sure that I am gonna do any flips on a trampoline this year, but that's a fun idea. 

[00:31:20] Penny Fitzgerald: That is a fun idea. Yeah. Um, some of those things are, little dangerous,

so fun. Oh my gosh. Well, and that you were creating with your sister, that's fun too. Yeah. If we could find a way to get creative and remember or try new things, I think the more new things you try triggers little pieces of us that we had forgotten or maybe reignite or, or just starts 

A spark of something like, oh, this is kind of fun. I should try this. Or taking in a different direction and allowing ourselves that space to create and to be just playful and enjoy things. I mean, the worst that can happen is [00:32:00] you're having fun for a couple of hours.

So what are some fun things that you like to do outside of work? 

[00:32:06] Liz Hansen: Well, I live in Chicago and we live very close to Lake Michigan, one of the Great Lakes, and I can walk there from my house and I go to the lake as often as I can. In the summer, of course I enjoy the sun and swimming in the water, but even in the winter.

I love to go to the lake. It's just the most beautiful place to me. It, it feels so, it's a place that rejuvenates me, just being there. 

[00:32:25] Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. Nice. I have two 

[00:32:27] Liz Hansen: teenage daughters. Oh. And they keep me busy running them around all the time. Mm-hmm. Um, and we have a giant dog, like 127 pounds. Oh. 

[00:32:39] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my gosh. Yeah.

That would, um, yeah, that would make you busy. Keep you busy. Um, so you're in the north part of Chicago? Northern Chicago? 

[00:32:49] Liz Hansen: Yeah, I'm in the northern suburbs. It's up this part's called the North Shore my studio's name is Chicago Boudoir Photography, but we are located in the suburbs of 

[00:32:57] Penny Fitzgerald: Chicago.

Okay. Our, [00:33:00] um, son and daughter-in-law and three grand babies live in Rolling Meadows. So I was kind of curious about, you know, where are you from there? 

[00:33:07] Liz Hansen: Yeah. Next time you come visit you'll have to come say hi. 

[00:33:11] Penny Fitzgerald: How fun. Yeah, we could. We have a real margarita. There you go. Okay, so what, what have I not asked you that you would love to share with my audience?

[00:33:21] Liz Hansen: I would just love to say if there's something in your life that's kind of like a little piece of your brain that's like, I would love to do this. Maybe it's, I would love to start a business. Maybe it's like, I'd like to put myself out there artistically again, like, I'd like to start painting again, or I'd like to, you know, show up a little bigger at work.

Or what if there's something kind of in your brain that you are wanting to do, don't suppress that. Like, engage with it, see where it takes you. Um, I, for me, change and risk is really hard, so it's hard to try new things and take risks, but every time I do, I'm glad I do. Listen, I [00:34:00] started my business and I've made like a hundred mistakes.

Like I. Starting a small business is not easy, right? Mm-hmm. But I'm so glad that I didn't not start the business because I was worried about the mistakes, you know? Mm-hmm. And each mistake helped me get closer to refining my process and running the business the way I wanted to run it. So I. I, I just would encourage you to not sit back and wait for the perfect time or to feel ready, but to just get started and do some things right where you are because you have everything.

We live in a time, I mean, you got YouTube, you got ai, you got ChatGPT you can figure stuff out. You can learn to do stuff, and if there's something that you've been wanting to do, I just think go for it and I'm here to cheer you on. 

[00:34:47] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, absolutely. No one starts out. Nothing starts out perfect right outta the gate.

You have to practice. You're gonna be bad at whatever it is that you choose for a while. It's just, and it's okay. [00:35:00] You won't know what you want until you take those steps and start trying it and get a coach, you can exactly spur you on and give you inspiration or like help keep you on the right track Account.

An accountability buddy, a friend that wants to do something new too. 

[00:35:15] Liz Hansen: I have really benefited from coaches and accountability people. Mm-hmm. I'm an extrovert. I love talking to people and I love to mm-hmm. My plans. So I just, I think that's so valuable. 

[00:35:27] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. I agree. Totally agree. And you know, even for the introverts out there, well maybe especially for the introverts, you know, find a friend who is supportive so often I, you know, our friends and our family, they mean well, but they try and keep us safe too.

Our own nervous system is trying to keep us safe and our friends are like, you know, are you sure you wanna do that? Or, Ooh, you know, it's that break on creativity that you know. Okay. Thank you for that. You trying to keep me safe, but no, this is something I really wanna try. I feel 

[00:35:58] Liz Hansen: that I did not have anyone [00:36:00] who told me it was a good idea to open a photo studio except for my husband.

[00:36:03] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh wow. 

[00:36:04] Liz Hansen: Everyone that I shared it with was like, don't do that. You'll never stand. Everyone has an iPhone. No one wants to hire photographers. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. Oh, everyone. Wow. And, um, the only person who was like this, it'll, you'll do fine. It was my husband and, you know, which I'm really grateful for.

But, and I mean, I get it. They, like you said, they wanna keep you safe. They didn't want me to see, they didn't wanna see me fail. They didn't wanna see me lose money. Mm-hmm. And yeah, I get that on paper. Maybe a photo studio where you take boudoir photos, nude photos. Sensual photos. Maybe that doesn't seem like the best business idea in the world, but here I am still in business seven years later.

[00:36:40] Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Well, from the outside looking in, it to me doesn't look like it's a boudoir photography business. It is a, a business where you empower women and your mission is bigger than the pictures. 

[00:36:53] Liz Hansen: Yes. 

[00:36:54] Penny Fitzgerald: Absolutely. And that keeps you going and that makes it build and grow and [00:37:00] that it, it's from the heart and that comes out, you know, that comes out in your product too, I'm sure.

Yeah. Okay, so, um, flipping it around a little bit to something fun, we've already talked about margaritas. What's your favorite beverage, your favorite cocktail? 

[00:37:17] Liz Hansen: Well, I wanted to tell you, I didn't know if you were gonna ask, but I wanted to tell you two stories about beverages at the studio.

Oh, please, yes. Okay. So two stories. The first one is a woman brought a glass, one of the reasons, a glass that looked a lot like this. That's a 

[00:37:30] Penny Fitzgerald: beautiful glass. 

[00:37:31] Liz Hansen: And she wanted to take specifically a picture of her holding the glass between her toes. Can you imagine this? So she had her legs crossed. Oh my.

And foot up. And then Uhhuh. Put that picture on my website if you wanna go see it. Okay. Okay. We filled it with wine. Fabulous picture. It was a kind of an inside thing between her and her boyfriend. And anyway, that was, I've, I've only ever had one client in the studio who wanted to take a picture of herself holding a glass with her [00:38:00] toes, but I.

That those 

[00:38:02] Penny Fitzgerald: are some strong toes. 

[00:38:04] Liz Hansen: Yeah, it's a great photo and I'll never forget it. And then the second story I have is, um, I don't know if you've heard of Malört, but it is a liquor. Yes. Or in Chicago. 

[00:38:12] Penny Fitzgerald: A Chicago thing. Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

[00:38:13] Liz Hansen: And I'm here in Chicago and I, you know, Malört is not tasty. 

[00:38:18] Penny Fitzgerald: No. It's kind of like the limb burger of booze.

[00:38:22] Liz Hansen: Right. People say it tastes like a battery acid or something, you know? Oh god, 

[00:38:25] Penny Fitzgerald: it's awful. 

[00:38:26] Liz Hansen: Right. But I've had several Chicago natives come in and wanna do a boudoir photo shoot holding a bottle of Malört. 

[00:38:34] Penny Fitzgerald: Okay. 

[00:38:34] Liz Hansen: Because it talks, you know, that's their roots and, yeah. Okay. Right. So if you wanna do a Malört photo shoot here in Chicago, I'm your girl.

[00:38:46] Penny Fitzgerald: Well, you should require them to take a shot of it first. There you go. Exactly. There you go. Then get the, get the shot of the face made after having the shot. 

[00:38:56] Liz Hansen: The other fun thing we've got going on right now, my 15-year-old daughter [00:39:00] is, um, she actually helped, um. Make this for me today for this interview.

Aw. She is a drink master, obviously mocktails. She's 15. I love it. But we got her a soda stream, which is, um, you can do carbonation at home and she is making us fabulous drinks all the time. So she'll, um, put like mangoes in the blender and make. Mocktails she's, mixing it with like apple cider vinegar, lime juice, all kinds of things.

Yeah. So we are being treated at home with the most fabulous mocktails, courtesy of my 15-year-old daughter every night at dinner. It's just been great. It's been a fun. Oh, how 

[00:39:36] Penny Fitzgerald: fun. Oh my gosh, that's fantastic because you know, there are so many. Fun drinks you can make without alcohol and mocktails are having a moment.

So if you can enjoy,whatever, whatever your favorite beverage is, and well make something up, get creative and try something new. I love that. so what's a favorite memory [00:40:00] shared with a mocktail or a cocktail with girlfriends and having fun with them? 

[00:40:05] Liz Hansen: I come from a big family and my parents, I mean, this is just last week, my parents and my brother and his family, they both live in London and we hadn't seen them.

I know we hadn't seen them for a while, Uhhuh. And so my whole family, we flew over to see them in London and that was really fun. Yep. My teenagers have never been over there and we had one night with my whole family together for dinner and. Everything. And that was just, I looked around and I was like, this is really cool.

We're all here in the same place, the same time. I have two sisters and three brothers, and they're all married and have kids, so there were 35 of us in a restaurant. Oh my gosh. I know, right? It's a lot. But we were all there. And we were all together and that just means everything to me. My, my family's so important to me.

[00:40:53] Penny Fitzgerald: Gosh, that would be fun. I, I can imagine the stories and the laughter and [00:41:00] just sharing that experience with your family. So fun, and I 

[00:41:03] Liz Hansen: love that the next, next generation was there, so my kids and my nieces Uhhuh were there. And so I know, you know, I'm close of course with my siblings, but I love seeing that next generation getting to know each other and bonding those connections as well.

[00:41:16] Penny Fitzgerald: Oh my gosh, of course. My husband's family's really big and we, we do a family bike ride every Father's Day weekend, and all the cousins and their kids cousins together. You know, it's just so fun to interact with everyone and you know, we only, well, for a long while, we only saw each other on that Father's Day weekend, but some of us have now.

Expanded that and now we get together on like the, the Friday after Thanksgiving for, you know, fun family lunch or what, you know, it's just fun to be able to get to know them better and you know, we share so much in common anyway. And then to keep that family tie going. Love that. And in London too. [00:42:00] I know it was pretty special.

I'll never forget it. Yeah, I'm sure. Oh my gosh. 

[00:42:04] Liz Hansen: How long were you able to be there? We were just there a week, um, a week. Some people were able to stay a little longer. We had to get back for work. But, um, you know, it was cool. We went, we toured some castles, we did some r but then we also just sat around and played some games and, yeah.

So it was really perfect. We had beautiful weather and you know, London is a fantastic city. Mm. A lot of great food and drink there. And, um, it was really real nice. I don't know, you know, when all 35 of us will be together again soon. 

[00:42:34] Penny Fitzgerald: So it 

[00:42:35] Liz Hansen: was something 

[00:42:35] Penny Fitzgerald: to really enjoy. Yeah, that's really good. Take advantage of that when you can.

Oh, that's awesome. Gosh, Liz, this has been so fun and very enlightening and. I love the mission of your company and what you've built and how you're lifting and supporting women. That's amazing. 

[00:42:52] Liz Hansen: Well, thanks Penny. I've really enjoyed chatting with you. 

[00:42:54] Penny Fitzgerald: Yes. Well, and I will include your links in my show notes so people can find you and can look at your [00:43:00] website 

Okay, great. And I can't wait to share it with my audience. Yeah. Fun. Alright, well have a 

wonderful day. 

[00:43:05] Liz Hansen: Thanks so much Penny. You 

[00:43:06] Penny Fitzgerald: too.