How this Former Wedding Photographer Found her Passion and Built a Thriving Boudoir Studio
Real-Life Relaunch Story
Cynthia Loaiza, Founder and CEO, Silk & Lace Boudoir
“As scary and as painful as it is today, it will be so much more painful down the road if you don't take a leap. That fear and that question of, ‘What if?’”
Just a few years ago, Cynthia Loaiza was waiting tables and photographing weddings when she experienced a “heart-wrenching” divorce. After treating herself to a boudoir photoshoot, she discovered a passion for this empowering style of photography.
Today, Cynthia is the founder of Silk & Lace Boudoir, a 5-star women’s empowerment photography studio in Washington, D.C., with a mission to “inspire, empower, and celebrate every woman who walks through our doors.”
I spoke with Cynthia about her path to finding her passion and how she grew a successful business out of it.
Q: What did you do for work before starting your business?
I always had an interest in photography—I think a lot of people do. Growing up, my mom always had a big, chunky SLR. She took a lot of photos of us, and I grew up being really comfortable having my photo taken and just really loving photography.
In my early 20s, I was living in Northern Utah and ended up getting a job in a photography studio. That was cool because I got to see how an entire studio operated. After that, I worked at a printing lab. This was in 2010, when labs were dying. I still really appreciate that experience because I got to learn the printing side of photography.
Fast forward a couple of years, and I ended up moving to the D.C. area. I had heard that this area has one of the largest—if not the largest—wedding markets in the country. It was a super easy way for me to get a foot in the door as a photographer.
At first, I just worked with photographers for free, shadowing them and helping them out at weddings. I eventually started charging and then shooting my own weddings. I was a wedding photographer for about five years and also waited tables.
Q: How did you know you needed a change?
In the middle of photographing weddings, I got divorced. It was an awful time, and it was emotional to be at weddings. During this time, I signed up for a boudoir shoot. It’s something that I had wanted to do for a really long time. I don’t think I fully understood what I was getting myself into. I got glammed up, and I got photos taken. It was a really fun day.
About a week after my photos were taken, I got to go and see them. And in that process, I saw someone that I had never seen before. I knew it was me, but I really didn't recognize myself. Now clients say that to me all of the time!
Q: How easy was it to pivot from wedding photography to boudoir?
It was easier in some ways because I had the fundamentals of photography down. I had learned how to photograph people and work with people from weddings, and I had some foundation of directing and posing. It wasn’t easy to develop a completely new clientele. I was starting from zero in a way.
But it was a lot easier, because it aligns with what I love to do so much stronger. I don’t think weddings were ever my passion. Once I started doing boudoir, I dove in head first and it just kind of all blew up.
Q: How did you actually get started with your business?
I would just reach out to my friends to start. I rented a hotel room and I hired someone who I knew to do makeup. I basically had all of these girls agree to come in and would shoot them back-to-back. Those are the images I used to start my website.
Facebook ads were a highly successful way to build my business. That's where I found about 80% of my clientele that first year in 2018.
At first, I would shoot in my 600-square foot apartment, where I lived with my partner and my brother. I’d have to kick them out whenever I had a shoot. It was not sustainable. I knew I really couldn't scale.
As I was getting more and more clients, it was turning into a full-time job. I started looking for studios, but not expecting to find anything. Then I found a Craigslist ad for a studio in Woodley Park. It definitely needed some work but oh my God, it was a beautiful space. It wasn’t cheap by any means, but it was right next to the Metro. I came up with three different backup plans in case it didn’t work out. But we never actually ended up having to use them.
At the time, though, I didn't know if I could get enough business to pay for that space and to support myself. That was the scariest part. That was the leap of faith.
Q: What is the most important thing you’ve learned from starting and growing a business?
There is only so much you can do by yourself. You can grow fast by yourself, but really you're going to top out pretty quickly. You’re really going to need help, and you're really going to need to learn to trust other people, to hire the right team members.
Q: What role do you think our self image plays in confidence, and how does boudoir photography help build confidence?
I think boudoir has the ability to very quickly deliver a boost of self confidence. When you go through this experience, it's incredible. Every woman who comes in my studio has all of my respect. They're coming in, meeting with a perfectly good stranger, and taking off all their clothes. That takes an insane amount of vulnerability. My clients are the most amazing human beings in the world for doing that. They come in, they go through this entire experience, and then they see their photos. It's this really surreal experience to see themselves like that. There are often tears involved.
It's the peak of the entire experience when you finally see your images. In that way, it has the power to affect her confidence instantaneously.
And then, looking at those images every single day, almost like a visual mantra, on a deeper level you’re delivering the message to your brain that it is, in fact, you. It’s powerful. That’s what boudoir is about. It’s about so much more than beautiful pictures. It’s something that you have to do yourself, too, to truly understand it.
Q: What would you tell someone who is thinking about launching a side hustle that they hope can grow into a full time business like yours?
I think you really just have to go for it. This might sound a little bit dark and morbid, but I tend to fast forward a lot to the end of my days because I know they're coming. I’m 34 and I know that before I know it, I'll be 90-something.
As scary and as painful as it is today, it will be so much more painful down the road if you don't take a leap. That fear and that question of, ‘what if?’
I've noticed a lot of my clients are 50 and above. I recently photographed a beautiful woman who was 62 years old, and we were just having this conversation. She had never done a shoot and she was like, ‘I want to do it now. I don't want to hit 90 and wonder, what if I had done that?’ It’s the same thing with starting a business.
Check out Silk & Lace Boudoir’s website and stay in touch on Facebook and Instagram.