Episode 3: The Branding Bestie: Courtney Ricca's Path to Women Empowerment
Mar 08, 2024Episode 3
Michelle Smock, Courtney Ricca
Today's Small Business Bestie is Courtney Ricca!
In this heartening episode of Small Business Bestie, your host Michelle welcomes the inspirational Courtney Rica, a passionate boudoir photographer and the founder of Courtney Rose Studios. They unfold a tale of resilience, branding wisdom, and the beauty of forming genuine connections.
Key Highlights: - The Power of Ambiance: Courtney emphasizes the significance of a calming ambiance in branding and storytelling. - Entrepreneurial Journey: From losing her studio in Florida to traversing the US in an RV, Courtney shares her poignant story leading to the establishment of her new studio in Lexington, KY. - Building Connections: Michelle and Courtney bond over their shared experiences of business losses, RV travel, and their love for Kentucky's charm. - Social Media Mastermind: Learn how Courtney leverages Instagram and Facebook to rebuild her client base and how her partner mastered the art to help boost their online presence. - The Art of Self-care: As they discuss plans for 2025, Courtney highlights the importance of self-care and her desire to expand her branding and marketing services. - A Session to Remember: Get a glimpse into the unique and creative experiences offered by Courtney, including her infamous Teletubby themed shoot and lavish add-ons like champagne dripping. - Community and Growth: Find inspiration in how Courtney finds her tribe in women's groups and plans for future community involvement.
Stay tuned as we dive into these stories and more, all while celebrating the spirit of women entrepreneurs. Don't forget to follow Courtney Rose Studios on Instagram and TikTok, join her private Facebook group!
Remember to subscribe for weekly episodes, and if you're a woman entrepreneur with a story to tell, submit your request to be a guest on Small Business Bestie. Until next time, keep fostering those essential connections and supporting each other's dreams!
In this heartening episode of Small Business Bestie, your host Michelle welcomes the inspirational Courtney Rica, a passionate boudoir photographer and the founder of Courtney Rose Studios. They unfold a tale of resilience, branding wisdom, and the beauty of forming genuine connections.
Key Highlights: - The Power of Ambiance: Courtney emphasizes the significance of a calming ambiance in branding and storytelling. - Entrepreneurial Journey: From losing her studio in Florida to traversing the US in an RV, Courtney shares her poignant story leading to the establishment of her new studio in Lexington, KY. - Building Connections: Michelle and Courtney bond over their shared experiences of business losses, RV travel, and their love for Kentucky's charm. - Social Media Mastermind: Learn how Courtney leverages Instagram and Facebook to rebuild her client base and how her partner mastered the art to help boost their online presence. - The Art of Self-care: As they discuss plans for 2025, Courtney highlights the importance of self-care and her desire to expand her branding and marketing services. - A Session to Remember: Get a glimpse into the unique and creative experiences offered by Courtney, including her infamous Teletubby themed shoot and lavish add-ons like champagne dripping. - Community and Growth: Find inspiration in how Courtney finds her tribe in women's groups and plans for future community involvement.
Stay tuned as we dive into these stories and more, all while celebrating the spirit of women entrepreneurs. Don't forget to follow Courtney Rose Studios on Instagram and TikTok, join her private Facebook group!
Remember to subscribe for weekly episodes, and if you're a woman entrepreneur with a story to tell, submit your request to be a guest on Small Business Bestie. Until next time, keep fostering those essential connections and supporting each other's dreams!
Welcome to the small Business Bestie podcast, where we celebrate the journey of women entrepreneurs in the heart of central Kentucky and beyond. I'm your host, Michelle, and my mission is to create a podcast and community for us each week. Join us as we sit down with a different small business bestie to dive deep into their stories, sharing the highs, the lows, and everything in between. We will meet friends who are brand new in business, veterans in business, and maybe even the occasional dreamer. So grab your favorite coffee or cocktail, get cozy, and let's meet this week's small business bestie, Courtney Rica. Thank you so much for coming in this morning and taking time out of your life to spend with us and tell us a little bit about your journey and your experience and your vision and your dreams. Yeah, thank you for having me. Absolutely. I have been in Lexington since September. We just put a new studio here. Studio as in I am a full time boudoir photographer, so I have been photographing women for seven years, just empowering them through the lens and bringing back sparks. Mainly for moms, women who have lost confidence, moms who are looking for their sexy. I'm going to pause you for a sec. I've been following you on social media, and if that's your goal, you're nailing it. Yeah, your images are spicy and I love. So it is a good time. Thank you for following me, too. Yeah, it's been a huge transition between moving from Florida, being solely based there for five years, and word of mouth keeping me completely booked. And then I lost my studio. When I was four weeks postpartum, I walked in and my entire studio was flooded due to the negligence of my landlord. So that's when Ben and I decided that we had a four week old. We decided we were going to pick up and travel like we initially wanted to. So we traveled the entire us for a year with a baby and four dogs in a 40 foot rv. And that was a full time job in itself, on top of being a new mom, on top of running a business. So I feel like if I could make it through that year, then Lexington, I'm coming for you. I feel like I got it. Courtney, you and I have so many interesting parallels in our know, we're different ages at different stages in our life and all of that, but I think it's really interesting because I also lost my business that was in a different state, not due to landlord negligence, but instead due to a global pandemic. And our response was to buy a 39 and a half foot class A rv and travel around the country. We have a class a, too. Our daughter was a little older. She was a year and a half. Okay. So we had a ten year old son, a year and a half old daughter, and we traveled to trying to figure out what's the next thing for us. Where do we belong? Where is home? Okay, so then how did you land here? Because that's my most asked question. Out of all the places you went, how did you end up in Kentucky? Well, we landed here. My husband actually grew up in Danville, and he left Danville right after high school, joined the air force, and the air force took him to Oklahoma, which is where we met. That's where I grew up. So he had some ties to Kentucky. He doesn't really have a lot of family here. He's got a sister and a few cousins. But we had come to visit before the pandemic. We had made trips out here, and I fell in love with Lexington immediately. Yes. And I was like, if we ever leave, like, Lexington has it all. There's so much to do. You're so close to great hiking and all of these beautiful things, and the community is very similar to where we came from. So that's how we landed here. Tell me how you landed here. So, honestly, something similar. My fiance was born here. He moved to Florida when he was five. We got together, and he brought me to Lexington. We stepped off that plane, and I was like, the air smells so good. And he was like, yeah, that's a thing here. And then we started talking to people, and people were so nice. I come from Florida. People are not nice. Yeah. And I was like, oh, my God, I'm in love. Like, I never want to leave. And I've always had the dream to have, like, a little downtown studio in a historic building. It drive 20 minutes to our rolling hills and our farm. So I saw that when I landed here, and I was like, oh, nothing compares everything compared to Lexington. And that's how I knew that. Lexington. Oh, that's such a beautifully eloquent way to put, like, everything had to be compared to how it was against Lexington. Right? That's beautiful. Well, I don't know about your rolling hills farm, but I do know about your studio. I was able to go to your grand opening last weekend and kind of see that firsthand. The studio is gorgeous. And is it correct that your husband built that wall of bookshelves? The bookcasing? Yeah. He did all of the hard work in there. So I would keep Maddox, and he would go to the studio from morning till dinner time. And he just put in all that work. He repainted everything. And then, yeah, he custom built the kitchenette in the very back in my wardrobe room, and then he custom built that bookcasing, and now everyone's like, oh, my God, can he custom build me one? And I'm like, sure, I guess he's available for hire. But I mean, he loves doing stuff like that. He's very meticulous about it, so it always turns out beautiful. He renovated our entire last space, too. It was 4000 Florida. Wow. He built me an entire rain room. Like, the water just dropped, like a huge shower through this whole room. So much more. Like he does a lot. The studio is gorgeous. Thank you. What has it been like for you with the transition of going know a completely booked out schedule in Florida where everybody knew your name and I'm sure you were just the buzz around town. It was easy in Florida, I always say. I was so spoiled. I mean, it was my hometown, so I was born and raised there. So once I started doing it, yeah, like, word of mouth just kept me completely booked. And then when we lost the studio, I was like, oh, my goodness. We lost our instagram because community guidelines, the nature of my business, they took my Instagram one morning. Shortly after that, we lost the studio. So it was very big hesitation to like, is this going to work to travel now that we don't have nearly as much of a reach? But honestly, I just put my faith in it, and now I feel like people look for me for my travel shoots, so I got to reel them back in. And we're in Lexington now, guys. I didn't build this gorgeous studio to keep traveling, although I did. We're going to keep traveling for the remainder of this year. We have a few more spots, and then we're going to go international in 2025. So we'll be in Lexington solely for states girls, and then I have a lot of Europe girls who really want to shoot. So I was like, I'm coming to you guys. Coming to you guys. Wow. So as hard as it was to get established here and get the word out, I still have a lot of people who fly in just for me traveling and them wanting to come now to studio. Wow. It's a lot of marketing. It's a lot of behind the scenes. My assumption would be that social media is your biggest platform of marketing. Is that true? Absolutely. And Instagram specifically Instagram. And I have a really good women's Facebook group, so it's just a private group for women only. And I talk to them. I let them know more of me than I do. I share raw, vulnerable mom things in there more than I do on Instagram. But I feel like my Facebook group and Instagram definitely bring in all of my girls actually really get Google. I don't really get Google inquiries or anything like that. Yeah. Thinking about it or word of mouth. Well, now that I think of it, if I were a consumer interested in a boudoir shoot, I'm probably not going to go to Google for that. I'm going to go to a girlfriend that's done it, or I'm going to go to Instagram and start searching there. And do you manage all of your own social media? Yeah. So my man is a man of many traits. I taught him how to do social media when we first got together. So we got to a point where I was like, listen, he wanted to be a stay at home dad, and I was just like, I don't have that in me as much as I want to be that stay at home mom. I get bored and I have too much drive, and I feel guilty when I'm not working, and I feel guilty when I am working. So we're working on that balance. But I was getting so overwhelmed, and he was like, let me just do it. I was like, what? You're going to run my social media? And he was like, yeah, why not just teach me everything that you do? I was like, okay. So I ended up teaching him. He's way better at it than I am, and he sounds just like me. So that was why I never hired out, because I felt like my social platforms were my voice. And that's how I have a lot of clients who say, oh, I feel like I already know you when they're walking in. And that's how they feel comfortable with me because that's just how I talk online. He sounds just like me. Nobody even knows. I would have never get no right. I'm like, did I write that or did you write that? He's like, no, I wrote it. I'm like, okay, get out of my brain. What? But, yeah, so he does a lot of that, too. Okay, so he's like, Chat GPT that happens to be a real, live human. Yeah, Chat GPT for Courtney. Awesome. He's great, though. He's great. Let's talk about the nuts and bolts of moving a business from one state to another or traveling business. Some of the legalities or any issues like that that you may have run into. I was able to keep my LlC in Florida while I traveled because I had a few months of Florida girls. So I went back to Florida and shot 15 girls in a row. And then I would leave and then I would go back and do it again. So still, because majority of my clientele was in Florida while we traveled, I could keep my LLC there. Right now that we are stationed here, and I did just open a studio. We are transitioning our LLC to Kentucky, which is well overdue because taxes are way better. But so I'm in the middle of that. We're just trying to get know taxes for last year, and then I'll work on finding a new accountant CPA. So what about insurance? All business has to have a general liability insurance. But for things like you're doing specifically, is there anything that has to be considered because you're working with such sensitive documents or sensitive material for some women, is there anything in that realm that's considered for boudoir? I mean, I have business insurance and I'll always carry that, but I have all of my girls sign contracts. So the contract is obviously there to protect not only myself, but also my client. I mean, it really breaks everything down. And I'm very understanding with my girls. Like, if you don't want your photos on the Internet, I'm not going to push you to put your photos on the Internet. This is your thing and I am here for you. So they get to decide how their images are shared. They'll sign their contracts, and in it it says, like, if you trip and fall in the rain room, you can't hold me responsible, right? I'm going to tell you 500 times, please don't fall. Please be careful. Put some non slip. Yeah, at one point we totally had those because I was like, oh, God, no. And honestly, knock on wood, I've really never had any issues just because once my clients get into my dms, we chat. We are best friends. Before you even show up, I've already planned all your outfits with you. You've asked me 500 questions. You've received prep guides. So I would never feel like any of my clients would walk in and be like, oh, I'm coming after you for, right, I slipped and got a bruise. Absolutely. Nice. And I'm upfront about it. It's like glorified yoga. It's hardcore. And you might get a bruise, especially if you're on the hoop that's hanging in the air or the fabrics and stuff. Just depends on you and you know your limits. So I might push you a little bit out of your comfort zone. But, like, in the best way. Right. Thank me later. Not try to sue me. Nothing crazy like that has ever happened. But I do carry insurance and contracts. I stress that to all my mentors or my mentores. Mentees. Mentees. There we go. Which I think is a weird word, but I think that that's how you say it. Hold on. I think mentees. Okay. I stress to all of them that you should have contracts in place. I mean, for any business. Absolutely. Protect yourself and them. They also will feel better about it. Yeah. I think. Not to get too over bureaucratic about things in your business, but I do think that you're right. It gives people such a sense of peace to know that you've thought through what ifs on their behalf. What if? Oh, I know what if, because I've thought through this. So I do think that it helps people to feel more at ease to do business with you, especially doing something that can feel so vulnerable. Not to overshare, but that's what I do. I love it. So I've had a few boudoir sessions before, and I'm wondering, because each time I've done it with three separate photographers, I've loved every experience, but every experience has been very different from the last. Right. And I know that that's, like, personality of the photographer experience and all of that. Oh, gosh. Yeah, I'm definitely about to overshare. Ready to go? Okay. So there was one of the shoots that I went in, and I had brought some items from home that I wanted incorporated in to the session. And when she saw them, she was like, oh, I'm not sure how we can do this. So my question is, I'm leading all of this to say, are there any experiences you can share with us that are, like, best of moments from the studio? Because I can imagine there are so many interesting experiences that you have. I pride myself on the experiences I give my girls. So we always leave with something funny. But I do have this one babe who I was going through her bag, and I always tell my girls, I'm like, you can bring props. I'll do my best to snag one or two shots of something if it really means something to you. You know what I mean? Right? I pull out this teletubby. I'm like, girlfriend, what is this? Please tell me, like, this is for your child or. Oh, no, no. She was like, I knew you were going to see that and not understand. And I was like, okay, you want to let me know what it's for? And she pulls up this rolling stone magazine of Britney Spears holding the Teletubby and the pink phone. Well, the pink phone was already in our space, so she was like, I really wanted to create this magazine cover when I tell you, I was about to die when I saw this teletubby. And I was a huge teletubby fan growing up, so it was full circle, like child. Now I'm an adult, still playing with a teletubby, but shooting nudes with it. How did this come back around? But that was probably my most off the wall one. Yeah, well, it worked. I mean, the photo came out great. It definitely looked like the COVID So I was like, you know what? You go on with your bad self. That's wild. I dance. I don't think I've ever seen that photo. No, worse with a tele. Oh, my gosh. I will totally have to show you. Yeah, that might be, like, the COVID art for this episode. I love it. I love it. Let's see. I'm wondering also with your process of booking people, when you book, how long of a session session do you usually plan for, or is there, like, different package levels? I provide the same experience all around. The only thing that changes the price is the products that you purchase on the back end. So your session fee is paid up front. And that takes care of our entire experience. Professional hair and makeup, champagne when you come in the door, if that's your thing, charcuterie. And then by that time, we're all, like, warmed up. Me going through your wardrobe, styling it, I do that during hair and makeup, and then we shoot for honestly and as long as you can. I'm an overshooter, but I just feel like I stopped doing back to back sessions because I felt like I was so rushed. And now that it's just we have as long as we want. Usually my girls shoot for about an hour and a half to 2 hours, and that gives us plenty of time to get comfortable, get all of the outfits done that they wanted, like, usually three to four. And then it leaves me room to be creative. I'm not like, oh, my God, we're so stressed on time, and that takes all of that out. So where I'm like, let's just try this. Or what if we try this? So I would say you probably spend about 4 hours with me from start to finish, unless you have, like, add ons. So I always give my girls the options when they're booking to pick, like, a honey add on or the champagne so you can drip champagne down your body. Those take a little bit longer, and as you pick them on your add on, you'll see it add time to your session. I see. When you were doing travel photography, were you subleasing other people's studios? So I would use peerspace, which I actually just recently put mine on peerspace. So I'm really interested to see if other photographers come in the area or come into my studio and what they create. I feel like that's just so exciting. But I would use peerspace or Airbnbs. The only thing that sucked about Airbnbs was that you would have to always ask for permission to shoot on property, and then they would ask the nature of the photo shoot. And then I felt like it was just weird because then they knew what we were doing, which is fine, but how do I know you didn't set up cameras or anything? You know what? So I just stepped with pure space where it lays it all out for you, like, whether they have cameras or not. And if they did, we would cover the ones on the inside when we were shooting, and host would be fine with it. So there were a lot of things, but I also shot a lot in national parks. We shot a ton of national parks, actually, out in the wild, so it was. Shooting in the wild is not for the week. Yeah, it is totally different. You added all nature elements, and it's for both you and the Nile, right? Yeah. We were on the salt flats for one girl. I brought a sex swing out into the salt flats, my honey burdette one with, like, this whole set up. And we drove a couch out there, too, but it started snowing on her, and she's, like, butt naked on this swing, just, like, spread. Like she was having the time of her life. Like, we would run back and get in the jeep and warm up, and then she'd switch clothes, and then we'd go back out and snap, snap, snap. And before we got out of the car, we'd be like, this is what we're doing. This is what we're doing. I'll coach you. But, yeah, it was a good time. Wow. Yeah, it was a good time. That's incredible. So were there ever any passerbys when you were shooting in national parks that got a little curious as to what are you doing with that device, man? So I rented a 1966 cadillac, and we shot in the valley of fire, which is in Vegas. That is really the only time I had people stop us, and it was mainly men, because they wanted to talk about the. Oh. And I'm like, I just rented this. I know nothing about this car. I really just need to leave. But, yeah, there were definitely times where I'd be like, okay, cover up. We'd always have a rogue or something close. But as far as the salt flats, you know that it's very open. You would think that you could see. No, there were people, like, other photo shoots happening way down the salt flats, and they look like little ants to us. So I'm like, there's no way they could tell that we're naked out here, or she's naked, so not really. That car. That car gave us the most interaction. That is hilarious. Nothing about this car. Guys, I'm so sorry, and I'll help you. So when you guys decided to stop traveling, did you bring it up to your, like, how did you guys come to that decision? That, okay, it's time to go settle down in Lexington. What was the catalyst? I think we were both just tired. We were here for family event. I think. I think something was happening with family, so we were coming back here anyways. Yeah. And we actually took out a couple states when we got here because we were like, we just need a break. And it just turned into us starting to look for a house. And then we were supposed to be in New York, so we traveled to New York, and then we finally found a rental, and we were, oh, man. Like, should we get this house now or should we ride it out a little bit longer? Poor dogs and a baby who's now on the move in the rv, we were like, we need room now. The room. So it kind of just happened organically, I think we both were like, yeah, we're good here. We love it. You don't have any family here, do you? Does your husband have family here? He has some aunts and some cousins, and his grandma is here, but my mom and his mom are both in Tennessee, so they're not too far. Oh, that's fun. Yeah. What was your favorite place that you guys traveled to? Oh, my gosh. I love this question. Utah. Our campsite was on the edge of the great salt lake, so the sunrises and the sunsets were absolutely stunning. It was antelope island. And I'll tell you, site 39, it has the best view of both the sunrise and the sunset. And you don't have any other campers in front of you, so you get the whole view of the salt lake. We rode on a winter storm there, so that was a little scary, but it was amazing. And then the redwoods is my second. Sure. We absolutely love the redwoods. So much that I'm going to shoot back there in, so. Oh, that's awesome. It was really pretty. Our favorite place also was in Utah. We were in canab. Okay. So we were down in the desertist, like southern Utah, but it was just a beautiful place to be because not only was it, the landscape there was gorgeous, but you could go like 2 hours and be at like five different national parks. So we stayed there for some time and did some exploring, and we were like, maybe we could live in knab. Did you guys have a tow behind? No, we were going to do a tow, and then we just didn't feel safe, like, on travel days. With our daughter being a year and a half, she was in a more upright car seat, and we had done a complete renovation of the inside of the rV. So we bought an old RV and renovated, and so we just had a couch that we could strap her to. But we weren't feeling really confident that that was the safest spot for her. So we decided instead of towing our car that I would just drive nice, our car. So the kids rode with me in the car. My husband drove the rV, which was good because we were able to feel safer that way. But it was really terrible because we're like, you drive into this beautiful vista, and I want to share that with my husband. He's like three cars ahead of me. And so neither one of us are really able to experience the beauty as we're driving because we're both having to concentrate on driving. But pros and cons, just like anything Ben had put in between our two seats, he had. I don't even know how he did it, but he basically put the car seat base there, right? So, like, anchored it. Yeah, he was anchored in the middle of us, and then the car seat sat on top, did pretty good. And I was know to be, like, handling that so he wasn't bothering Ben while driving, but towing is. It was interesting time. Do you think you guys will do more rving in the future? I honestly am actually looking to sell it. Really? Oh, you still have it right now? I still have it, yeah. I thought about renting it out to my girls who fly in, like, just kind of make it inclusive because, I mean, it's a newer rV. It's a 2017, I think it is. It's really nice. It's really nice. And we redid some of the inside, so I hate to see it go, but I felt like my girls who fly in it would be cheaper than them booking a hotel. I can set them up at the horse park and make it all bougie and cute, and I just haven't gotten that far. Yeah. So the other part of me is like, we can just sell it and save myself some stress, but it would be really cute and bougie. Right. That's what I'm saying. I guess to make it, like, the full Kentucky experience, we laugh about it because when we decided to settle here, we were living in an rv. So we drove into town in our rv and we lived at the horse park for a month. We had the hot spots. Yes. They kicked you out after, like, whatever. Five days, 14 days. Yes. Yeah. It was a thing, but, yeah, we lived there while we were trying to find a place to live and our car had been severely damaged in a hailstorm. Oh, no, here. No. Well, it actually happened in Oklahoma. Okay. And so we left our car in Oklahoma at one point, and then we were all in the rv because we had no other choice because the car had to go in the shop and it was going to take way longer than we could afford a rental for. It ended up taking like four months for our car to get out. So then we were in the rv with no actual vehicle. So we decided we were going to settle down in Lexington. We parked at the horse park and then we were like, I mean, I guess we're going to go get groceries in the. Don't. How do we do this? After about. I don't know, we might have been there. Gosh, I don't even know, maybe a week. And I was like, I'm done with this. Take me to a car dealership. I'm buying a car. Because I could not. It is very limiting because. Yeah, what are you going to do? Go tote that rv around town? Yeah. And, you know, packing everything in, even to move sites. It's a half a day of labor. Just packing up a site over that is what got me. Like, come on. If I just stand out here and talk to the person who's supposed to pull in, be like, hey, right. Do you want the one next to you? Next to. Right. That's crazy. When were you guys living at the horse? Well, you just got here in September. Yeah, last year. Okay. So we were here, but like I said, we would base from here. We would try to spend as much here as we could. We were probably, well, September, August through September. And then our rV went in the shop. It's actually just finished. Okay. We were missing. We blew a leaf spring that was like, back ordered. So it just was finished. We actually had to go pick it up. We were probably there for all of August of 2023. Okay. And then some of September until we got our house. That is just the funniest thing. It's so funny. Are there things that you're looking forward to in Lexington? Are there places that you haven't been able to experience that, you know, are like on your Lexington bucket list or anything like that? So I guess what I'm most excited about is building that community that I had in Florida. Yeah. I feel like, especially since people are so much nicer, like, I had a really good group of girls in Florida and I just feel like I want to recreate that and build those relationships again with small business women around me. But as far as activities, I honestly haven't had the time. There's just go, go from the minute we've got here. So right now we are just now winding down and he wants to go to mammoth cave and all the stuff, scenery stuff. Yeah, we're into all of that. But as far as activities, I'm going to get established with my brow girl and Botox and all my self care stuff, I still have to get those. But other than that, I'm just okay with chilling for the moment. Yeah. I'll take this opportunity then to talk about a couple of the ways that I got plugged in here in Lexington because I'm new ish here. Not quite as new as you, but I've only been here about two and a half years. Some of the ways that I got plugged in here to super supportive women, like the best women. There's a group that I was invited to pretty early, I think I just posted in a Facebook group and was like, I'm new. I don't know what I'm doing. I started a business. Help. Rachel Bullock, who's now a friend of mine, invited me to come to a networking group that is women only. It's called ladies leads. Lex. They are fantastic. It is like a seat specific or category specific group. So it's kind of limited on the membership there. But all of the women that I know from that group are very supportive. So even if anybody that's listening, even if you can't join, because that category is already taken in that group, reaching out to the members of that group and asking to have coffee or lunch and just getting connected with them because they are, like I said, the most supportive for women kind of gals that you could meet. And another group that I've been lucky enough to get involved with is women leading Kentucky. Women leading Kentucky, it is not a membership based group at all, but they just host monthly ish events. Okay. So several months out of the year, they do a luncheon where they feature a guest speaker, and I'm talking, like, high quality, high value women that come and share a message or teach something. Yeah. It's like, the type of stuff that sets my soul up. Yes. Gets me, like, hyped. Yes. Last month, they had the conductor of the Lexington Philharmonic. I mean, I just learned so much from her. Hearing her story of how she overcame all of these adversities to be able to get the position that she has now or the stature that she has now in such a male dominated world was really inspiring. But every month is like that. Every month is just, like, mind blown by these women who have overcome and faced the challenges. But I think that for me, that was something that was completely foreign to me in my past life. I didn't even know what the word networking like that wasn't on my radar at all. And so coming to Lexington and people like Rachel Bullock and the other women who are like, hold my hand, come with me. I'm going to take, you know, those are girls. Girls. Yes, girls. You. And it has been the most powerful thing. Regardless of what impact it has or hasn't had on my business, it has been the most powerful thing for me. I have grown as a woman and as a friend and as a business owner and a mom and all of these things because I now know so many really inspiring, beautiful, strong women who aren't caddy and aren't trying to tear me down, and they are literally trying to lift each other up. So I'd love to try to share some of those communities with you and with anybody that might be listening that I feel like that's like my mission statement. Yeah, I belong there. Exactly. We all belong there. And that's the thing. That whole thing of know you deserve a seat at the. You. You have a seat at the table, and that's how you feel when you're with these women. It's like we're all in this together and we belong. And so is there anything else that you feel like you would want everybody in Lexington to know about Courtney or about your work or anything like that? I'm always dark and moody, so if you're looking For DARK and MoOdy, I am definitely your girl. And if you're just looking for a built in Bestie here, I am, too. Like I said, I just pride myself on those experiences. We also are launching our branding series, so I love the branding and marketing side of business, the thing that I've just always found is that anybody who shoots branding, it's always bright and airy. Well, I have a very luxurious business and I want to portray that in my headshots and branding. And your branding tells your story. So if you have, like, a Moody business and then your branding is all bright and airy, it just doesn't really make sense. So I am trying to bring dark and moody into branding. I actually have a session tomorrow, so I'm so excited to get started on this. So she has a moody brand, luxurious branding. She's actually a markEter. So we're going to shoot her whole session in the style of her branding colors. So it's going to be like, dark and moody and still professional, not boudoir like. We're keeping it classy. But I am definitely excited for that to launch and I think that'll be such a fun little new series. Oh, that is awesome. My prior business was a spa, and most spas have branding that's like very bright green and white and very opium. Ours was a little more subdued and a little darker because that's the way it feels in the spa, right? Like, it's dim lighting. Everything is trying to calm the nervous system instead of, like, the bright colors that lift it. So all that to say, man, if I had my spa, I would be all over that. I know. I've been looking for girls with that type of mood, just so I've got the girl for you. What I can totally bring to their brand and storytell through their website. Before people even hit their DMs, they're like, oh, my gosh, look at the ambiance of this space. That's what I want to capture for my business. Women that come to me looking for branding is storytelling. So that's it. THat's all me. All right, well, where can we follow you on social to keep up with everything that's going on with you? I am at Courtney Rose studios on Instagram and on TikTok and on Facebook. Courtney Rose studios. And then you can find my links to my private women's Facebook group within any of my bio links. It goes to my link tree with everything. Okay, and you're saying Courtney Rose Studios. Studios. Yeah. Okay, CourtneyRose. Okay, studios. Is Rose your middle name? Yeah, I actually have two middle names, but I took the first one was like, yeah, we're going to go with it. It's beautiful. Thank you. Thank you so much for talking with me. I learned so much about you and I excited to know you. We have so much in common. All right, we're going to go have lunch together. Bye, guys. Well, that's it. Friends. Before we go, just a little reminder that I'm your host, Michelle, and I'm the proud co owner of cultivate accounting, where we help small businesses with accounting. And I hope besties like you go from idea to launch and beyond with personalized small business coaching. No matter what phase of the journey you're in, I'm here to cheer you on every step of the way. Connect with me on Facebook at Michelle Smop. Five 20 new episodes of the Small Business bestie podcast drop each week, so hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode. Do you want to be a bestie on the show? We'd love to hear from you. Just head over to smallbusinessbestiepod.com to submit your guest request. And till next time, keep dreaming, keep going. And remember, do it even when you're scared. Thanks for hanging out with us.