These show notes are going to look a little different, because this episode felt a little different to record.
This isn't a typical guest interview. It's much more of a storytelling episode, one where I'm sharing pieces of my own story through the experiences I've had with my guest, Rozalind Panasuk, over the last year.
It started when I was getting ready to fly across the country for a weekend of video content creation with my team. I was feeling pretty uncomfortable with the idea of spending that much time in front of a camera. So naturally, I booked a boudoir shoot with Rozalind the day before I left.
My reasoning was pretty simple: rip the band-aid off. Lean into the discomfort. If I could do this, hopefully the rest of the weekend would feel easier by comparison.
What I didn't anticipate was that this would be the beginning of more than a year of working with Rozalind. And yes, I was driving three and a half hours each way to do it. There was the boudoir shoot. Two very different branding shoots. And eventually, the Reclaim Yourself retreat in the mountains.
Over that year, these experiences became part of a much bigger season of identity work and personal growth for me, around being seen, showing up, and taking up space.
But I was also paying attention as a business owner.
I noticed Rozalind's pricing. Her boundaries. Her systems. The very clear container she created for me as a client, and how much safety that structure actually gave me when I wanted to overthink, analyze, and ping-pong around inside the experience. And there is a lot here that I think those of us building service-based businesses can learn from.
In this episode, we explore:
▶️ Being seen, not as we're told we should be, but as we actually are
▶️ Body image, visibility, taking up space, and some of the narratives we inherit about how we're supposed to look
▶️ The identity work that surfaced as I moved from a private boudoir experience into showing up publicly as a CEO
▶️ How strong pricing, boundaries, and a clear container can contribute to the experience we create for our clients
▶️ How systems can do some of the heavy lifting when empathy and compassion make boundaries difficult to hold
▶️ The unexpected path from that first photo shoot to the Reclaim Yourself retreat, and what I've learned through a year of showing up in front of Rozalind's camera in very different ways
My hope is that somewhere in our conversation, you recognize a piece of your own story. Or maybe you hear something that gets you thinking differently about how you're showing up in your work, your business, or your life.
Connect with Rozalind:
Instagram: @rozalind.art, @rozalind_photography
Website: www.rozalind.com
Facebook group: Rozalind Boudoir
~ Melissa & the OTGR Podcast Team
