I’ve been wanting to blog Aly’s session since we shot it last year. I kept telling myself I was avoiding writing it because I wasn’t sure how to share her story. But honestly, I think it’s just because her story is so similar to mine that it hit a nerve. Aly has had body issues, namely with her weight, since she was little. She always felt like she was bigger than everybody else thought she should be. At age 10, she was compared to a pregnant co-worker of a family member. When she was 13, she was sexually assaulted by a “friend”, which lead to a spiral of self-worth and sexual crises. She was with men who “liked” her, but never for her personality, just for what she was willing to do for them. For a long time, that’s all she felt like she was good for. To top it off, people told her that her abuse wasn’t “rape”, that she was just a “slut”. She’s suffered from depression and continued struggling with her weight, saying that at one point she felt like she lost enough weight to be “attractive”, but has now gained a lot of it back.

But that’s not where Aly’s story ends. She’s over here kicking ass, happily taking up space in the world. She’s healthy, has a great job, does what she loves & has even learned to love her body exactly the way it is. She also rocked the hell out of her empowerment session, because she’s amazing inside & out.

I, too, have struggled with my weight for almost my entire life, often being bigger than I “should” be. I, too, was sexually abused as an adolescent by someone close to me & was later told by people that it "wasn’t as bad as I think”. I attached to men who used me for my body because that’s all I thought I had to give. Aly’s story definitely rung a bell for me, so it was an honor to capture her beauty, strength & power.

When Aly told me why she wanted to do this session, she said, “I've fought through a million things in my life that would have knocked weaker people on their ass. I've been raped, abandoned by a parent, stalked, and still came out on top, doing what I love and living my best life.” Amen, sister. Amen.