Client Story: Adele Cretien
Photographer & Founder, By Adele Branding & Boudoir
From self-consciousness and invisibility to embodied confidence, visibility and creative authority.
“I’m not hiding anymore. I’m fully okay with being looked at, with people noticing me, with standing out.”
The Shift
Adele came to the True Style Journey during a major personal and professional transition.
Although she was already building her photography business and supporting other women through transformation, her own visibility felt limited. Her style was casual and undefined, and much of her energy went towards hiding - physically, emotionally and professionally.
At a deeper level, this period also marked an important rite of passage in her identity: moving from a younger version of herself into a more grounded, embodied and self-defined womanhood.
Together, we worked to build a visual identity that reflected both her femininity and creative authority. Through colour, structure, silhouette and styling, she began moving away from dressing to disappear and towards dressing with intention, confidence and self-expression.
What initially felt restrictive became deeply liberating.
As her relationship with herself shifted, so did the way she showed up in her work. She stepped fully into visibility as both the face of her brand and the founder of two aligned photography businesses centred around empowerment, embodiment and transformation.
Today, her work helps women feel seen in the same way she learned to see herself - with confidence, softness, strength and self-acceptance.
Testimonial
Before working with Leesa, I was in a huge transition both personally and professionally. I was moving away from being seen as a social media manager and stepping fully into being a photographer and business owner, but I still felt like people saw me as young and inexperienced rather than as the woman I had become.
Personally, I had very little sense of style and was hiding a lot because I felt insecure in my body. I wanted to feel confident, feminine and fully seen.
What surprised me most about the True Style Journey was that it had very little to do with fashion trends and everything to do with identity. It was about understanding who I was becoming and how I wanted to show up in the world.
Leesa helped me stop dressing to disappear. For the first time, I began wearing clothes that truly reflected me and celebrated my shape rather than hiding it. Even when I initially resisted certain ideas, she always saw something I couldn’t yet see for myself.
The process completely transformed the way I saw myself - not just externally, but internally too. Doing my branding shoot afterwards anchored everything into place. It felt like stepping fully into a new version of myself: confident, feminine, visible and aligned.
That shift became foundational in helping me launch the boudoir side of my business and step fully into my work as a creative founder.
Now, being visible feels easy. I no longer hide. I feel fully comfortable being seen, standing out and expressing myself through how I present both myself and my work.
Three years later, the impact of this work is still with me - in my wardrobe, my business, my branding, my confidence and how I move through the world.
The True Style Journey changed far more than my style. It changed how I see myself.
