Who Baddie Summer Is For (And Who It's Absolutely Not For)

Some brands try to be for everyone.

This one doesn't.

I'm going to do you a favor and tell you straight up whether Baddie Summer is for you or not. No fluff. No "this is for every woman who has ever existed." No fake inclusive marketing that tries not to offend anybody and ends up meaning nothing.

Here's the actual breakdown.

BADDIE SUMMER IS FOR:

The woman who's tired of shrinking

You know the feeling. The hunching when you walk into a room. The smiling smaller for the family photo. The dimming yourself at work meetings so the men feel comfortable. The constant low grade exhaustion of making yourself easier to digest.

If you've been doing that and you're DONE doing that, this is for you.

The mom who forgot what hot felt like

You haven't been photographed in five years. The last picture of yourself was a phone selfie at a kid's birthday party. You can't remember the last time you put on something that made you feel like a person, not a parent.

This is for you, babe.

The 40, 50, 60, 70 year old who's just getting started

Society told you that you peaked in your 20s. Society is wrong. You know more now. You have more confidence now. You have less time for bullshit now. You are objectively a more interesting woman than you were 20 years ago.

This is for you.

The recently single / divorced / unpartnered

You're rebuilding. You're figuring out who you are outside of who you were with someone. You want photos that prove you're still in here. That you're not done. That this chapter is the start of something, not the end.

This is for you.

The girl who's never felt seen

Maybe you've never felt photogenic. Maybe you've never been the one in front of the camera. Maybe you've spent your whole life being the person taking other people's photos. Maybe you grew up being told you weren't the pretty one.

This is REALLY for you.

The woman in a turning point

Big move. New job. Kids out of the house. New diagnosis. Big loss. Big win. Any moment in your life that feels like a before and after.

This is for you.

The woman who's been called too much

Too loud. Too quiet. Too soft. Too intense. Too sensitive. Too cold. Too anything. If someone has ever tried to make you smaller because you made them uncomfortable, you're in the right room.

BADDIE SUMMER IS NOT FOR:

People who shit talk other women

Not her body. Not her choices. Not her divorce. Not her kids or lack of kids. Not her face. Not her job. Not her relationship. Not her era. Not her age.

If you talk like that about other women, this isn't your space. The whole foundation of this thing is women not tearing each other down. If you're not in on that part, the rest doesn't work.

People who want to play small

If you want a photographer who's going to soften you, hide you, slim you in Photoshop, make you smaller, more palatable, more like everyone else, I'm not your girl. I will not do that. Not even if you ask. Not even if you beg.

My whole brand is built on you taking up space. Hire someone else if you want to keep shrinking. With love.

Trend chasers

This isn't a fad. If you're here because Baddie Summer is trending and you want photos that match this month's aesthetic, this won't fit. The women I photograph are the ones who would have booked me without the campaign because they're already living it. They're just relieved I named what they already are.

Anyone looking for a basic photoshoot

You want a quick session in a sunflower field? Cool, but I'm not the photographer for that. You want family photos in matching khakis at a park? Not me.

Not me. Not now. Not this season.

People who told someone to calm down

If you've ever told a woman to be less, to take up less space, to be quieter, to be smaller, to lower her voice, to dress more appropriately, to act her age, to settle down, or to be more grateful, this isn't your room.

Go in peace, bestie.

HOW TO TELL WHICH ONE YOU ARE

Read the Baddie Code. It's a manifesto I wrote that basically runs my whole life now. If you read it and feel seen, you're in. If you read it and want to argue, you're not.

The Code is simple. We don't shrink. We hype out loud. We don't compete, we recruit. We take up space and hold the door open behind us. We print the photo. We wear the outfit. We play the song loud. We don't talk shit about other women. We believe there's a way. We were never going back to shrinking.

That's the whole test. If those ten lines sound like you or like the woman you're trying to become, the door is open.

THE LAST THING

Being clear about who I'm for isn't gatekeeping. It's the opposite. It's so the right women feel SEEN. So they don't have to wonder if they belong. So they can stop questioning whether they're "enough" of a baddie to book.

If you read this whole post and you saw yourself in the "is for" list, here's what I want you to do.

Stop wondering.

You're in.

Come find me.

Say yes,

Jess

P.S. If you read the "NOT for" list and felt called out, that's information. Sit with it. The door is still open if you want to do the work. We were all the wrong version of ourselves before we became the right one.