What It Actually Feels Like to Be Seen: A Brand Photography Experience with Laughing Lotus Wellness

Brand photography for women’s wellness coaches and entrepreneurs in Minneapolis

Jen is a women’s mentor, energy healer, and retreat facilitator who has spent over two decades helping women come back home to themselves. She runs Laughing Lotus Wellness, a practice built around one core belief: you don’t become who you’re meant to be. You remember it.

So when she was ready to invest in brand photos that would tell her story before a single word was attached to them, she needed more than a photographer. In other words, she needed someone who could hold that energy and actually capture it.

Here’s how that day went.

How Jen Found Mycah Bain Photography

Jen had been through a major evolution in her business. After 22 years as a clinical social worker doing traditional psychotherapy, she shifted into energy healing. Then, about a year ago, she felt the pull again. Another level up. A move across the country. A rebrand around what she calls the “revolutionary woman” identity.

She wanted brand photos that reflected all of it: the sacred, grounded, quiet side of her work, and the high-energy, full-blast empowerment side. Not one or the other. Both.

As a result, she started researching photographers and asked ChatGPT for a recommendation. Mycah Bain Photography came up.

“I just felt such a good connection looking at what she’d already done and who she was,” Jen said. “I was like, this is my vibe. This is who I want doing my photos.”

The consultation call happened while Mycah was at a cafe on a retreat in another country, hair blowing, drink in hand. Jen laughed telling this story: “She’s like, sorry if I have bad service. And I’m like, of course she’s at a retreat. Of course.”

They felt like soul sisters from the start.

The Preparation: A Playlist That Told the Whole Story

One of the things Jen kept coming back to was the preparation process. Mycah’s intake is detailed. There’s a questionnaire, a vision walkthrough, a Pinterest board, information about where the business is going and what feeling the photos need to carry.

And then: Mycah asked Jen to make a playlist for the shoot.

“I don’t think people understand how much that one thing changed the whole day,” Jen said.

She created a playlist that moved through every energy she brings to her work. The morning started with shamanic, spa-like music. Sacred, soft, meditative. Perfect for the shots in her home and her healing studio.

By the end of the day, when they moved into the bright professional studio for her business photos? Rap. Full energy. Basically a rave.

“The team was probably like, what just happened,” Jen laughed. “But that was exactly the point. I wanted someone to come in and see the full spectrum of me.”

The photos captured every layer of it. The quiet, the sacred, the meditation work, the Reiki space. And then the high-energy, bump-and-grind empowerment side that she brings to retreats, corporations, and group coaching. When she got the gallery back, she said Mycah “absolutely nailed each and every layer.”

Four People, Four Locations, One Unforgettable Day

The full-day shoot had a team of four: Mycah, Amanda, and Willow working alongside Jen.

When Jen first heard it would be a team, she was skeptical. Why would she need three photographers?

By the end of the day, she said she could never imagine doing brand photos without that kind of support again.

The team moved through four locations: Jen’s home, her healing studio, a nature setting with retreat vibes, and a bright professional photo studio. Multiple outfit changes. Multiple energy shifts. Moving parts in every direction.

Having a full team meant everything was seamless. For instance, Willow kept Jen hydrated and handled logistics in the background while Amanda was calling shots, suggesting angles, and managing the frame. Nobody was standing around waiting. As a result, Jen got to stay fully present and in her energy the entire time, rather than worrying about the next transition.

“It took a whole group to make it seamless,” she said. “And we nailed it. I was amazed at how much we did in one day.”

The Part Nobody Talks About: You Leave Energized

A full-day brand shoot sounds exhausting on paper. Multiple locations, dozens of outfit changes, being on camera for hours.

But both Jen and Mycah walked out of that day energized.

“When you feel so empowered by other women, you just look beautiful,” Jen said. “You’re being hyped up all day. And you just leave feeling brilliant and connected.”

For Jen, it also went much deeper than that. She described the experience as “an entire day of being truly seen.” Essentially, it was an entire day of other women helping pick out the aspects of her and her work that would go out into the world and show people exactly who she is.

In fact, she compared it to a boudoir photo retreat she attended years ago that, in her words, “cracked her soul open.” That moment of women seeing themselves in beautiful, artful, authentic ways. This was the same thing.

“To me, the experience was worth it on its own,” she said. “The photos were the cherry on top.”

The Results: Photos That Speak Before the Words Do

When Jen got her gallery back, she sat with it.

Every facet of who she is was in there. The quiet, sacred side that holds space for healing. Next to that, the professional who walks into boardrooms teaching meditation and team building. Then the retreat leader running events in Sedona, and finally the version on stage in full energy, hyping up rooms full of women.

“The multifaceted nature of the photos allows potential clients to see me the way I want to be seen before they ever meet me,” Jen said. “That’s really kind of the juice I was looking for.”

For a women’s mentor whose entire philosophy is about helping women remember who they already are, having brand photos that actually show all of that is not a nice-to-have. Ultimately, it’s the whole point.

Is a Full-Day Brand Shoot Right for You?

If you’re a coach, consultant, healer, or entrepreneur with more than one dimension to what you do (which is most of us), a single-location, two-hour session probably isn’t going to cut it.

Shooting across multiple locations gives you range. Beyond that, different looks give you versatility, and having a team means the logistics are handled so you can stay in your zone. Above all, a full day gives you the time to actually settle in, get out of your head, and let the real version of you show up.

The women who get the most out of a brand session are the ones who come in knowing who they are and what they want people to feel when they land on their website or scroll their Instagram. In short, the prep work makes that possible.

If you want to see what that looks like in practice, explore our brand photography work here.

About Jen and Laughing Lotus Wellness

Jen is a women’s mentor, energy healer, clinical social worker, and retreat facilitator. She works one-on-one with women, hosts retreats (including an upcoming event in Sedona, Arizona in fall 2027), and runs a free community on the School app where women come together around energy, empowerment, and building a strong feminine foundation. She also works with corporations teaching meditation, self-care, communication, and team building.

Her core belief: women don’t become things. They remember the magic and divinity that already exist within them.

You can find Jen and Laughing Lotus Wellness at laughinglotuswellness.com.

Ready to Book Your Brand Session?

If you’re a Minneapolis entrepreneur, coach, or business owner ready for brand photos that actually look like you, start here.

Want to see more brand photography work? Browse recent sessions:

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Mycah Bain Photography is a Minneapolis-based multi-photographer studio specializing in brand photography, senior portraits, weddings, families, and boudoir. Serving clients across the Twin Cities and beyond since 2011.