Conversations with Teryn Byrd

Today we’d like to introduce you to Teryn Byrd.  

Hi Teryn, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi! I’m Teryn. 

I’m a taco-loving, condiment connoisseur, napping expert, BTVS (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) binge watching for the millionth time, fur mom and wife. I was born in Michigan, grew up in Tennessee, and moved back to Michigan in 2011. I used to be an extrovert and somewhat of a party girl, now turned introverted, socially awkward nerd that would rather spend a Friday night at home in my jammies and snuggling with my fur babies. I started my journey into adulthood working third shift at Burger King-I can smell the memories and fry grease- and then branched out into bartending. I ended up in the property management industry and eventually finished my 4-year Bachelor’s Degree in Businesses Administration, 8 years later. I am still in the property management industry working full time alongside empowering individuals to embrace their true selves through my photography. 

What started out as a hobby taking photos of nature and wildlife, blossomed into a passion for making people feel good about themselves and showcasing what matters most to them by telling their story through my photography. And of course, what better time to learn a new craft and start your own business then in the middle of a pandemic-thank you 2020. As if working full time and running my own business wasn’t chaotic enough, the pandemic sent all of us one curveball after another, but after getting through it (for the most part) I learned so much about myself and my business. I learned that there are two major themes to my photography: empowerment and life. I like to consider myself an Empowering Life Artist. Where & when life happens, you’ll find me empowering individuals to tear down their insecurities, capturing precious moments shared with family and friends, showcasing the love between two people, and embracing the milestones of small businesses. 

Oh, and I hate Jell-O cause it wiggles. 

But seriously, I understand what it feels like to avoid looking in the mirror. And, on the flip side of that, I understand how amazing it is to embrace “feeling myself.” (In the slang sense and not the literal sense) A Boudoir Session is an intimate self-expression of reconnecting with your mind, body, and spirit and it is a hell of an empowering ride! You want someone that will accentuate all of your good angles and help you to overcome your insecurities while showing a side of you you’ve never seen before or knew was there all along, but needed guidance discovering yourself again. Regardless of your why, you want someone that understands your why and has the expertise to bring your Boudoir Session to life. And, I’m just the person to help you achieve it all! 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
To be honest, I don’t think I ever have a moment where I don’t feel like my life isn’t the hot mess express. Working a full-time job and trying to start and run my own business is exhausting. There are so many things that I didn’t know about when I started my business, that I wish I had because now I’m backtracking to get the business-end administrative things in place, while actively taking clients. In the beginning, I think I struggled with my “why”. Why get into photography? Why start your own business? Originally, I started my business to earn some extra cash to pay off my student loans faster, but the more I focused on the money aspect, the more money blocks I put in my own way. Focusing on my photography business for the sole purpose of making extra income wasn’t necessarily bad, but it didn’t give me that spark that made me passionate about photography. And then I started to struggle with my own self-image after weight gain from COVID quarantine. I had rented one of the studios I use for a session with a model to grow my portfolio and they were a no show. I didn’t want to let the rented space go to waste, so I took my own Boudoir self-portraits. After that, I felt empowered to help other individuals overcome their own insecurities and to embrace who they are, right now. I went through another “funk” in my business after my grandfather passed away. And it was around that time that I completely rebranded, and changed my Boudoir Studio name to Teryn It Up Boudoir. For me, this was a full circle rebirth. My nickname for the longest time in high school and college was Teryn It Up and it didn’t always have the nicest connotation with it. I struggled with alcoholism for years. Making Teryn It Up a positive expression to represent rebirth and self-discovery just made so much sense to me, for myself, my business, and my brand that I wanted to put out into the world. 

The struggles have gotten easier to manage through hard work, developing better time management skills, and asking for grace from time to time. My life is still ridiculously chaotic, but it’s a constant battle that I’m learning to handle as I go. Again, working full time and then having my own business to run isn’t easy at all, but I’m in a much better spot than I was when I first started out. I’ve learned so much and I finally found individuals and mentors in the photography industry that do provide community over competition. 

I’m also learning how to sew couture skirts, robes, and dresses for photoshoots, and then I want to branch out and start a dress rental aspect of my photography studio. I bit off a little more than I can currently chew with this goal, but I’ve got a great friend, Stephanie, who is also my assistant and she’s now been tasked with the teaching of sewing. Send her prayers for that task! 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Currently, I solely specialize in Boudoir Photography. I’m actively working on building my Elopement portfolio to also do Elopement Photography. Both genres of photography hold special places in my heart. My husband and I wanted to elope. but didn’t to appease my family. Don’t get me wrong, I am beyond grateful for the wedding that they gave us, but I really wanted a private experience and it quickly became more about what my family wanted and said I should do as opposed to what my husband and I wanted for our wedding day for our marriage. I really want to help others overcome these obstacles and focus on the love between two people and make the day all about them and just them! 

Boudoir Photography is such a rush of emotions and feelings and reckoning of self-love and self-discovery that I knew from the very first shoot, I was home in Boudoir Photography. All of my work in Boudoir, I am so proud of and I’m constantly trying to evolve, master my craft and learn new things. I absolutely adore all of my clients. Watching someone transform in front of your eyes from self-doubt, low self-esteem, no confidence or maybe a little confidence or maybe a lot of confidence and then seeing how beautiful on the inside and outside that they truly are, during and after their photoshoot- I mean the entire process and experience is just truly amazing. Those moments are why I love shooting Boudoir Photography. Having women tell me that they have never felt more beautiful, or they never knew they could look like that, or how they have overcome their biggest insecurities little by little thanks to having a photoshoot with me- and there are times when tears and very emotional moments happen where my clients have been very raw and vulnerable with me; I am so grateful for those moments and that’s what I am most proud of! 

I love that my work is never duplicated. Every single session is completely different. Oh sure, my editing style for the most part is the same, dark & moody with high contrast, but I like to switch it up and have each session really match what each individual client is looking for. I’m constantly learning new posing techniques so my poses are not all the same. And, I honestly love renting studios in different areas. I am able to reach a wider audience and my sets are constantly changing. And while all of that does set me apart from others in the industry, my client experience also speaks for itself. I really do work with everyone on making their Boudoir Photoshoot happen because my number one goal is to reach as many individuals as possible-everyone should experience a Boudoir Photoshoot because of how transformative it really is! I also don’t have a “one size fits all” approach to my Boudoir Sessions. I don’t require hair and makeup. If Boudoir means to you all-natural, let’s shoot! If Boudoir means to your modesty and subtly, let’s shoot! If Boudoir means to you, bare it all and go fully nude, let’s shoot! If Boudoir means to you somewhere in between all of those, let’s shoot! Everyone has their own definition of what Boudoir means to them and that’s my approach to my sessions. 

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I would love to see the industry really start to embrace bodies of all shapes and sizes more than it does now. Yes, there are photogs out there that make it their goal in their Boudoir business to do this-I being one of them, but across the board, I just don’t see it happening. I think societal standards and social media’s “standards” are a big problem in this. It’s like there are still “filters” on self-love and self-expression because only certain body types are being targeted or marketed to on a big picture scale and that’s not the big picture. If we want everyone to embrace who they are, embrace their body, embrace their insecurities, embrace their uniqueness, then we have to showcase and provide representation of all bodies. 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @terynitupboudoir
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terynitupboudoir

Image Credits
Stephanie Dalton
Rebecca Dexter