Who's that Gal: Stef Streb, Photographer and Host of The Babesment Podcast
Name: Stef Streb
Occupation: Photographer
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Currently reading: Break the Good Girl Myth by Majo Molfino
Favorite quarantine activity: Stress baking and rewatching shows I’ve already seen 76 times.
I never leave home without____: My water bottle, chocolate in my pockets, and a face mask!
Favorite music to dance to: Lizzo is my ultimate hype up dance jam artist for sure.
Tell us a little about your work? How did you get interested in photography?
I first picked up a camera when I was 14 years old, an old film Nikon of my dad’s, and I was instantly in love. I was in an intro to photography class in my freshman year of high school, but my dad is really the one who taught me how to shoot. He always loved photography, he even had a darkroom in our basement when I was little. And I think I inherited my love of picture-making from him. The long, winding path of getting to the work I do now involves getting my BFA, living in New York for a couple years, working in fashion and retail as a brand photographer, and eventually starting my own business and creating Goddess Sessions in early 2018. Goddess Sessions are hour long portrait experiences for women to be photographed and feel comfortable, confident, and celebrated in their bodies. My mission is to show women their truth, so that they can heal their relationship with their body and step into their power. Now, and in the rest of their lives.
What inspires you about the work you do?
The women who come to do sessions are my ultimate inspiration. The transformation I get to witness and help create in my hour with them is absolute magic. Women are usually super nervous when they arrive, I mean who wouldn’t be? But after we get that first shot, and I show them the back of the camera, and they see their incredible, beautiful, real selves reflected back at them and I squeal “this is you! This is you right this minute!” and it happens. They see it. They see the truth. Their truth. And it’s truly an incredible honor to get to witness that moment for so many women. That’s what inspires me.
How did you decide to focus on images of women?
The work I do was really inspired by my own journey to heal my relationship with myself and my body. I lived in disordered eating and I carried a lot of shame in my body for most of my life, and when I started working to pull myself out of that world and into one where I felt at peace in my body, I started challenging myself to do things I thought I “couldn’t” do in this body. And the biggest one was the very first portrait I took of myself in my underwear. I was standing in the room that would eventually become the Goddess Studio, and I had that moment I described watching other women experience during their Goddess Sessions. I saw myself in the back of my camera, really saw myself for the first time, and I liked what I saw. I liked the woman staring back at me, and I knew that she was true. And that moment changed everything. I felt how powerful that shift was for me, and I knew it could be for other women as well. So I think I’ve felt tied to working with women because so much of what I do is tied to my own life experience. That being said, Goddess Sessions are open to any and all humans who feel called to them. Healing and celebrating ourselves is not a gendered activity.
Do you have a favorite piece you’ve created? Can you tell us about it?
Oh wow, this is a hard question! I love every photo I take because they’re so much about the spirit of the people in them. I think one of my favorite pieces is from a Sisterhood shoot in September 2019. Sisterhood is my (currently on hold due to the pandemic) ongoing photography project where any woman can volunteer to come participate in a group shoot. And the images are always so lovely but what’s even better are the bonds and love and support these women, most of whom are complete strangers, create with each other. And my favorite piece is one from my biggest Sisterhood shoot, 32 women, standing in a V formation. It’s really a simple pose, but they all look so powerful. So strong and magical in their togetherness. Looking at them feels like looking at a mountain. They’re something magnificent.
Tell us more about what you do day-to-day. What do you love about your job?
The day to day of my job is always different, which I love. But running a business as a one-woman show means I do all the things myself, so actual shooting and making photos is what I spend the least amount of time doing. I spend a lot of time editing photos (I’m very anti-editing of bodies, but I have to pull selects and do color processing for everything), answering client emails, doing bookkeeping, researching new techniques or poses or locations so I don’t get lazy, and I spend a lot of time working on marketing and on Instagram. Instagram is where I get to share my work and my words, and how I get most of my clients and connect with the people who enjoy and experience my work!
I love that my job is to help people feel connected to themselves. I’m very lucky that I get to create art that creates healing. I get the most beautiful notes from people on Instagram who I’ve never met, who have felt a change in their lives because of the work I create. Which still just totally blows me away. Not everyone gets to do their passion for their job, and not everyone gets to love something as much as I love what I do. And I’m always so grateful for every single person who invests in themselves by investing in me.
What’s hardest about the work you do?
Taxes. Haha. Actually, I think creating boundaries in my work was really hard. Because Goddess Sessions are such a healing space, a lot of my clients share a lot of really hard things with me. And I’m so glad they feel safe enough to share with me in those moments, but I’m an empath and for a while I had a hard time not carrying the things that were shared with me. It can even be that way with my community on Instagram. I get a lot of big feelings and hard things sent into my DMs, because people feel safe to share with me or want to express how my work has helped them. Which is completely beautiful, and I love to know about it. But I also have to protect my own energy and make sure I set boundaries so that I can hold space for those things without taking them on as my own. Snaps to my therapist for helping with that one!
What skill is most important for you to be successful? Why?
I think knowing your Why is the most important key to success. Why you do the work you do, why it matters to you, why it matters to the world. Your Why will keep you inspired, keep you wanting to grow and do better, keep you dedicated and determined. Your Why will keep you going when things get really hard, which they will. Your Why will help you pick yourself up and keep going when something fails. Your Why is why you don’t give up.
How has COVID-19 impacted the work you’re doing?
Covid has had a huge impact on all small businesses, especially independent artists and services like me. While we were under Stay Home orders, I had to shut down entirely. I’ve been able to resume working with lots of precautions in place, but with so many people out of work and so many people afraid, Goddess Sessions have definitely taken a hit. And for safety reasons, I have had to put my Sisterhood project on hold indefinitely. I’m hopeful for my business, because I believe in the work that I do and I know other people believe in it too, but there’s always a chance things could not go my way. Supporting small and independent businesses is so crucial right now, we really need you!
You also have a podcast, The Babesment. Can you tell us a bit about that? What inspired you to start it?
I do! The Babesment is a podcast that celebrates the lives of incredible humans and the bodies they’ve lived them in. With my co-host Julie Ohlemacher, an intuitive eating coach, we interview guests about their journeys to overcome diet culture, their relationship with their bodies, and about how they got to be the person they are today! Most of our guests are doing really awesome work out in the world, and everyone has a body story, so we get to have some really beautiful conversations.
The Babesment actually started as a live conversation series here in Columbus called Girls Night. Julie and I met in early 2019 for coffee because we’d been friends for a couple years (she was my cycle instructor!) and we both started our own businesses and realized that our missions were super aligned. We ended up there for hours talking about body image and diet culture and how we have the same conversations with our clients one-on-one all the time, and we thought it would be so powerful and awesome to open up that conversation with a room full of women! Diet culture tries to convince you that you’re alone in it, that you’re the only one struggling, when it’s actually all of us! So we came up with Girls Night. 30 women in my living room, having an open discussion about body image. Tickets sold out in 6 hours. And we knew we were on to something. That turned into five more live events (before Covid made them a no-go), a body positive pool party in August 2019 called Sun’s Out, Tums Out! which hosted 110 women and was absolutely my favorite day ever, and eventually the podcast! We just want to make this conversation bigger and bigger. And so we launched The Babesment in February of this year, and we absolutely love getting to share these conversations with people all over the world instead of just in my living room!
How can JUGs readers support you and your work?
Book a Goddess Session! Come feel the magic for yourself. If you can’t swing a session, I totally understand! I have a patreon where you can sign up to support my work monthly starting at just $3, to help keep this goddess train running. And a huge way to support that is absolutely free is by spreading the word! My business lives on word of mouth, so following on Instagram and sharing my work there or telling people you think may connect with what I do make a huge impact!
Any words of wisdom for other professional ladies?
Don’t wait until you feel 100% ready to do the thing you want to do, because you will be waiting forever. You’ll never feel all the way ready, sometimes you just have to jump and figure out the landing on your way. Also, that success can be defined however you want it to be. It does not look the same for everyone and there is no right way or right time to do whatever you want to do. Also, failure is not the end, failure is a part of the equation to getting there.
How can JUGs readers learn more about you and your work?
Come hang with me on Instagram at @stefstreb! That’s where I share the most. And you can find out about all the things I do and how to work with me on my website, stefstrebphoto.com!
You can also find The Babesment on Apple podcasts or Spotify, on Instagram at @thebabesmentpod and on our website thebabesment.com!
Love reading about inspiring women?
Lindsay Gardner is an Instructional Designer living and working in Boston. You can follow her on Instagram @lindsaygardner09.
You May Also Like
