We were lucky to catch up with Chloe Bovia recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Chloe, really appreciate you opening up about a very personal topic with the hopes that it can help someone out there who might be going through it. What can you share with us about your journey with postpartum depression and how you overcame PPD? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
As a photographer, I’ve found that I love helping other women feel confident and bold. After I had my baby, I found myself totally lacking any of those same feelings. I felt so low – I thought I was failing as a mother, I felt like I had no creativity, and I was constantly angry. I learned that I had postpartum depression and I’m so grateful I had family and access to the medical care I needed to treat it. Overcoming PPD started with prayer for me. I’m a Christian, and I knew I needed God to lead me to what I needed in those moments. I was afraid of medication, but I had friends and family give me the reassurance I needed to make the right choice. I wanted my life back and to be fully present as a mother. I wanted to feel at peace again, and I needed a lot of support to get there. Looking back now, I realize God was showing me how to ask for help, how to set aside my own pride and fears so that I could heal mentally and physically. For any woman that’s going through PPD or even afraid they might experience, ask for that help. Even if you think people are too busy for you, or they have bigger issue, ask! You can’t make that decision for people, and you have to want the healing more than you’re afraid of anyone’s reaction. And keep praying. It’s a humbling experience, and God hears.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m a maternity and portrait photographer in Maryland, and one of my favorite things about my work is helping women feel seen and honored. Maternity photography especially is such an exciting focus because this is a once in a lifetime moment, no matter how many kids you may already have. I’m a mother of one myself and I remember how exciting and life-changing the whole process of birth was, from conception to delivery. I didn’t do maternity photos myself – I had planned to do self portraits, but I kept procrastinating and totally missed my opportunity. I think that’s part of why I choose to focus on maternity photoshoots. My body was changing so rapidly that I barely even recognized it, but I didn’t take the time to really honor and appreciate that process, so I want to make sure other women take that chance when they have it.
I also do portrait photography for women in general, for many of the same reasons. I find my clients typically come to me for a photoshoot when they’ve overcome something in life and want to celebrate, and I love that! They’re looking to see themselves in a new light and reignite the confidence they feel like got lost in the shuffle of life. I think my brand of photography is perfect for that too because I love the stories behind photos, and I’m adamant about honest photos. I mean honest in the sense of retouching. Women come to me because they know I give images that look true to the person – you have pores, you have scars, you have rolls, and all of those things are beautiful. They don’t need to be enhanced or removed.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I’ve only been in business as a photographer for a few years now, but the things I’ve learned have been incredibly impactful for me, and have helped me persevere those early stages of barely getting clients:
For one, you absolutely have to detach your personal value from the business. It’s so easy to think that someone saying no to your services, especially over price, means they don’t think you’re valuable as a person or as an artist. The reality is that we all make these decisions all the time. If we think something is “too expensive,” it’s because we don’t value it in the same way as someone who would pay that price, and that’s ok. I think as business owners we have to stop vilifying the people who don’t value our services, and we need to stop tying our sense of personal worth to the business itself.
That takes me right into my second piece of knowledge that helped me: I really don’t believe in the phrase “charge your worth,” it’s giving money too much power. I advise folks to charge based on what they need and want, and communicate the value you’re giving. If you just enjoy photography as a hobby and want to make enough to pay your Adobe subscription, charge for that! If you want to make this a full-time career, charge for that and do the work to attract the customers that will pay that.
My last piece of advice is to do the boring admin stuff, especially if you can’t yet afford to outsource. Being an incredible artist doesn’t mean you’re an incredible entrepreneur, so you have to put in the work on the business side too. For me, it means answering emails on time, setting up my customer workflows, calculating my cost of doing business, setting up ads, and all that kind of stuff. I don’t have the funds to hire other folks for that work, so I do it myself. I know how hard it is to squeeze that all in when you’re working full-time and also just trying to live, but the work is necessary. You’ll find your own ways to manage the time and focus, but don’t let those things fall to the wayside. I see so many photographers feel bitter about their “less skilled” competitors getting more clients, but the reality is we have no idea how much work they’re putting into their business.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I would love to collaborate with more women and organizations that focus on Black maternal health. I want to share the beauty of birth and motherhood, especially for Black women who are afraid of the birthing process. I want to create beautiful moments for expecting mothers, but I also really want to connect them to people and resources that can help them create the network of care that is so essential for motherhood. So if you’re a Black birthworker or an advocate for Black maternal health, let’s get together!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.boviaco.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/boviaco.maternity
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boviaco.photography
Image Credits
Judith LaFrance Chae Natonyia Laeda
