The 2020 Women's Empowerment Pin-Up calendar is a retro-themed photography fundraiser project about women's empowerment and feeling beautiful in your own skin.
This started as another creative meet-up, something I do on a semi-regular basis for the sake of my personal sanity. Sometimes non-stop work for clients can become draining and may eat away at all the fun parts of my job, so hosting free/inexpensive meet-ups for fellow creatives is one of my favorite ways to stretch my creative muscles, challenge myself, and keep my work feeling fresh. Meet-ups are also my favorite way to build new professional relationships, which has proved to be extremely beneficial in serving my clients -- a full-circle!
The evolution of this project into 150+ copies of an actual, physical product is a result of the persistence of my business partner Marie March. She's got an uncanny business sense and a relentless desire to support the community and those in need. With her help, I was able to make the project profitable. Thanks is also due to John Wilburn of Hokie Real Estate for his donation to the project.
This project is designed to benefit the Women's Resource Center. I was able to bring in a little revenue from both the photography service portion of this as well as calendar sales, so donations will be made on all sides. I'm already able to make a donation with the revenue I've brought in, plus the participants will be able to make additional donations using profits from calendar re-sales.
Some of the participants/pin-up girls are my friends, some are local business owners, and some are new clients who found out about the project on Facebook and wanted to treat themselves.
As far as I'm concerned, all my goals for this product have already been accomplished. 1) I met some new people and had lots of fun. 2) This is not only a great promotional opportunity for the business owners involved, but also a way for me to serve some of my friends and clients with a unique product and service. I'm confident that I made all the participants, friends old and new, feel like the bad-ass beautiful woman that they truly are. Photography has the power to give people a new perspective on the face they look at in the mirror every day. No Photoshop or magic tricks were required here -- just 12 gorgeous, powerful, and independent women. 3) The donation I'm able to make personally is far larger than I had originally anticipated it would be!
So far the response has been overwhelmingly positive. It's been a year of many transitions for me, so it feels extremely satisfying to wrap up the year with such a dynamic project! I am already taking reservations for next year's calendar.
The calendar is available for online pre-order for $13 until Tuesday, December 17. After pre-orders close, there will be a limited number of calendars for sale for $20 on my website and at the following locations:
Bear Dance Market in Christiansburg
Fatback Soul Shack in Christiansburg
Due South in Christiansburg
Blue Ridge Fudge Lady in Pulaski