Be Courageous. It's Contagious.

It started with one picture. It turned into an idea. Which lead to a plan. One unforgettable event followed. Ripple effects are still being felt.

*Image taken from Suicide Girls, not taken by DNdark

We're a boudoir group. We love booty! Naturally, this image instantly peaked our group's interest when one of our boudie babes, Carley, shared it with us. As beautiful as these women are, we couldn't help but notice the lack of body-type diversity in the image. It wasn't even an option anymore, we HAD to recreate this image with our own boudies! What started a simple, fun image recreation has turned into a mission: we all need to get naked and take booty pictures together more often.

Here's our beautifully brave boudie booty crew (minus 2 late boudies;)

It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there (literally and metaphorically) like these ladies did that night. What gave them the monstrous amount of courage and confidence to do this?! "Going through a break up I wanted to do something adventurous and go outside my comfort zone."- Sara "I chose to do this because I am the biggest and most self conscious I’ve ever been. My fiancé tells me I’m beautiful but I don’t always believe him. I wanted to do something completely out of my comfort zone to help me realize that I am beautiful." -Alicia "I really wanted to finally come out as I've really loved the live video's full of such a supportive, informative panel of women that participate."- Sarah "For the past 3-4 years I've severely struggled with my self esteem especially after escaping my abuser. His words still very much echo in my mind and most days I can beat it but some days I cannot and I feel lower than low. This to me was empowering. This built confidence and bravery. In a nutshell, to heal." - Jenn Just because they had the courage to do this, doesn't mean they were all 100% comfortable and confident right off the bat. The overwhelming consensus when asked how they felt right before we started taking photographs was "nervous", "anxious", and "excited". I knew this would be case, it always is. Instead of diving head-first into full nudie booty shots, we slowly and gradually waded in with some other shots first.

Because who can resist making this shirt the centerpiece when you're surrounded by such a great group of women?!

Getting naked in front of 10+ other women that you've never met before sounds terrifying. In this case, peer pressure was a lovely thing. EVERYONE WAS DOING IT! The playing field is leveled. Everyone is equally as naked, nervous and vulnerable-feeling.

Once you've bared it all to everyone physically, bearing it all socially/emotionally doesn't seem very difficult anymore. Throw in a couple drinks and a fun party game immediately after and you have yourself a recipe for quite the incredible night of female bonding! The ripple effect continues.

Everyone is posting about how amazing and empowering the photo was, but more importantly: how great the people were. Real connections were formed that night. Inside jokes were made. New friendships blossomed. Positivity flooded through all social media platforms that weekend. It reached out and touched so many more people. It makes people think about how amazing these specific women are for doing this but I'll tell you a secret: it's definitely not limited to just these women. I've interacted with so many different women through this career and I can honestly say each and every one has been amazing in her own way.

Breaking down those barriers. Leveling the playing field. Not fearing judgment. When you get down to it; we all just want to be accepted and feel a genuine connection with others. Keep the love, positivity and compassion radiating my beautiful tribe♥