Meet Sandy Grigsby of Brio Five in Santa Monica

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sandy Grigsby.

Sandy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m a confidence catalyst and an empowerment photographer. It’s a completely different type of photograph and this is how I got here. When I started working with women and doing their portraits, I noticed all of them dealt with some sort of insecurity regardless of how high up they were in their positions, how successful they were or how confident they appeared. Once I noticed this, I had to take a different approach in evoking who they truly were at their core and bringing THAT person out into their photos. It was more than posing, smiling and good lighting. It was about calling out their inner creature, their attitude, their joy, their passion, their power and the things that they knew about themselves to be true, fun, valuable and worthy. In working with these women, I was able to my discover areas where I, too, was failing, falling behind and not being authentic. It pushed me to look deeper into who I was and how I was showing up for the world. You can teach one thing but unless you are actually doing what you teach, you aren’t serving yourself or others 100%.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a bumpy, tumultuous, roller-coaster of a road. When I started doing empowerment lifestyle photography, I didn’t understand why such fascinating, talented, beautiful women were having trouble with simple things like accepting that they are beautiful and then I realized that I, just like all of these women, dealt with the same issue: a diminished view of their own self-worth. They might know that they are good at sales or business development or even that they are amazing moms, but due to some past experience, they didn’t accept or appreciate how beautiful they truly were, inside and out. I saw this in myself and in others, I knew I could no longer stand by and watch so many women suffer. I could not watch them have trouble with loving themselves or valuing themselves and their gifts. I love that there is such a strong movement among experts like Brendon Bruchard and Chalene Johnson, who help people love themselves, be authentic and take charge of their lives. I am helping in a different way, in my own way. I think people’s insecurities come out in front of the camera, and once I help them in front of the camera, life becomes much easier.

Brio Five – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Brio Five is a personal branding and empowerment photography business where we take industry experts to the next level by authentically showing who they are so that they can reach a bigger audience.

I am a confidence catalyst who empowers women through my photography. I create a comfortable space for women, and I listen to them speak about their passions and about their lives before I even begin photographing them. Everyone is a unique human being to me and I want to know who they are. I want them to know who they are and how powerful they are, how much they need to value themselves for everything they have accomplished and everything they have endured. Then, I begin photographing them. But I must mention, there are make-up artists and hair stylists involved in my process, so I’m doing this with the help of a team as well. I want people to feel like they are at their best, emotionally and physically.

What sets me apart is that I work with people and help them realize how they are hindering themselves. I help them understand that they can achieve their goals, even though they may think it’s too late. It isn’t. They have already accomplished so much. I will show them their beauty and they will believe it. It can be an emotional experience at times, but it is such a beautiful thing. I have rebranded the experience of photography. This is my gift to the world. And these women, along with their stories, are a gift to me.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
When I helped this magnificent woman take time for herself by dedicating a small two-hour per-week time slot exclusively for her. It doesn’t seem like much, but it was huge in her world. She went to the gym and not only did it change her body, it changed her relationship with her children because she was healthier, which gave her the confidence to go on a beach clean-up day with her 10-year-old son. This was something she had never done before. He was so excited to have his mom there and so proud of her because all his friends told him how much they loved his mom. He told her that was the first time he had that “feel-good” feeling in a long time.

We see the word “wellness” everywhere. Almost every magazine has a section called health and wellness. It’s becoming a thing now. And the reason is that we are overworked, anxiety-ridden and stressed out. Nobody has taught us how to take care of ourselves mentally. But there are answers and when I see the effects of the practices I teach, I become so proud. I have learned from my predecessors and now I am passing the torch. Every time I hear a success story where a woman has implemented a simple routine into her life that I have taught her, I am overjoyed and grateful, it is a confirmation to me that I am on the right path.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sandyinfocus.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @sandyinfocus
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandyinfocus
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/brio-five-los-angeles
• Other: www.briofive.com

Image Credit:
Brio Five

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