RALEIGH, N.C. — For Katelyn Guild, feeling comfortable in your own skin is all about loving yourself as you are.
What you need to know
Katelyn Guild believes feeling confident starts with loving yourself
Her goal is to make boudoir photography accessible to everyone, regardless of your financial position or body type
Guild said life is too short not to embrace who you are
“When people stand in the mirror, most of the time we’re going 'oh my god what happened here, oh my gosh what is this… where did this come from, right?' That is not what the world sees," said Guild.
Guild’s father gave her her first camera at 4 years old. She learned a love of capturing the best kinds of moments. When he passed away, Guild said they had just scheduled their first family photo shoot.
Scott Guild was 56 years old.
“When we spread his ashes, I bought my first professional camera with his life insurance money, and every day I get to honor his legacy by helping individuals get in front of the camera," said Guild.
Guild opened her photography business "Katelyn Scott" in 2016 moving from weddings and events to something a little more intimate — boudoir photography.
“I love it because you get to see their quirky little personality and all the things that make them so gorgeous that they don’t even realize they have or exist with," she said.
Her goal is to make boudoir accessible to everyone regardless of their financial position or body type.
“My whole life, I struggled with my body," said Guild. "I just don’t find clothes that fit me, so I always thought I was the problem. Society is failing us because they don’t have clothes that fit us.”
Feeling sexy and confident is something one of her clients, Melinda Ewbank, craved especially in quarantine.
"I put on lingerie at my house sometimes to like clean or do the dishes, or something and even just that small act makes me feel great," said Ewbank.
As a homework assignment, Guild often tells her clients to unfollow social media accounts that you compare yourself to or just don’t make you feel good about yourself.
She said even putting on some cute lingerie at home, taking photos of yourself, or simply forcing yourself to stand in front of a mirror, all can make a big difference.
“You are stunning. Like this is the person that people see. Really, really spend time normalizing your body to yourself because that’s how you get from body hatred to body liberation to body love," said Guild.