A Colorado Self-Love Branding Session in the Mountains
I first met Celi during an extended family session the winter before, fifteen minutes on a cold day near the mountains, her family gathered close, making quiet magic together. Not long after, she reached out again, this time with a different idea.
She wanted a session where she would be the focus.
Not a traditional headshot. Not something stiff or polished. She was looking for a non-traditional branding session, something honest and grounded, imagery she could use for her blog and her real estate work, but more than that, something that felt true to who she is.
As I do with every client, we scheduled time to talk before her session. Celi wanted to meet in person, and I’m so glad we did. We sat together at Loyal Coffee and talked for over an hour, about life, about timing, about her why.
That conversation mattered.
Celi shared that she has spent much of her life as a caregiver, tending to parents, siblings, children, holding space for others with a full and generous heart. She spoke about it with love. And she also shared that she was standing at the edge of a new season. One where there was finally room to turn inward. To refocus. To rediscover herself.
That was her why.
And it shaped everything.
During our session, she danced to mariachi music, wrapped herself in a sarape, wore clothing that honored her Mexican roots, and incorporated her sister’s pashmina, layers of meaning woven into every movement. This wasn’t about posing. It was about presence. About embodiment. About allowing herself to take up space.
Near the end, I invited her to sit quietly and reflect on what she hoped for herself in the year ahead. She shared one of those hopes with me, that our lives don’t exist only for ourselves, but to intersect with others. To share our stories so we feel less alone. More connected. More human.
She cried. I cried.
This session took place just before the world shifted, before distance became the norm, and in many ways, it feels like a deep inhale before everything changed. What remains is this: Celi, in her truth. In her culture. In her softness and strength.
This kind of work lives at the intersection of personal branding and self-portraiture, created for women who want imagery that reflects who they are, not just what they do. Self-love doesn’t have to be loud or performative. Sometimes it looks like choosing yourself, gently, in a quiet mountain space.
