From Battlefields to Boudoir: How Confidence Became My Mission

Oct 2
3 min read

By Marie Malvoisin

A defining moment in my life came when I stepped away from a twenty-year career as a U.S. Army Logistics Officer and chose to create something entirely new. An art studio that would empower women to see themselves differently.

For two decades, I was trained to lead with discipline, precision, and pragmatism. On the outside, I wore the armor of authority. But underneath the uniform, I carried the same doubts so many women face: Am I enough? Am I the best? Do I deserve to be seen? Confidence, for me, was never about how well I performed under pressure. It was about the quiet, persistent question of worthiness that lingered when the noise of duty faded.

After retiring from the military, I realized that confidence isn’t about how others perceive you. It’s about how you choose to perceive yourself. How you act on that belief. That realization led me to my next mission: founding Bohemian Visions Studio & Gallery, a bespoke, high-end boudoir photography studio in Richmond, Virginia.

Many people thought it was an odd leap, from war zones to a photography gallery. To me, the mission was seamless. In the Army, I served my country. Through Bohemian Visions, I now serve women. Helping them confront insecurities, rewrite their stories, and step into leadership in their own lives.Helping them through their emotional journies of self discovery and self love.

I remember one client vividly. She walked into the studio hesitant, almost apologetic, saying she felt “unworthy” of being in front of a camera. I recognized myself in her. During the session, I guided her gently, showing her how to hold herself, how to breathe, how to let go. When I revealed her portraits, I saw her transform before my eyes. She broke down in tears because she didn’t believe it was her. She didn’t just see photographs, she saw herself, powerful and radiant, in a way she hadn’t before. She left not only with images, but with a new sense of self that carried into her career, her relationships, and her confidence. Her words still live rent free in my mind and echoes with other clients. “That’s me, I am so pretty.”

That moment confirmed what I had always believed: when women reclaim their confidence, they create ripple effects that extend far beyond themselves.

For me, confidence propelled me into entrepreneurship with no safety net. It pushed me to raise my voice in advocacy as Vice President of Advocacy for NAWBO Richmond. It continues to drive me toward goals that once felt out of reach, like building Bohemian Visions into a brand rooted in empowerment.

I have come to see confidence as the bridge between ambition and action. In the Army, leadership often meant command-and-control. But in my second act, leadership means creating space for others to rise. It means redefining visibility, worth, and beauty on women’s own terms, not the ones imposed by society.

Through Bohemian Visions, I have witnessed what happens when women allow themselves to be seen. They don’t just transform in front of the camera. They take that strength into boardrooms, into relationships, into community work. Confidence becomes a kind of activism, a quiet rebellion against a culture that thrives on insecurity.

My journey has taught me this: when women own their confidence, they don’t just change their reflection in the mirror, they change their world. And that, to me, is the legacy worth building.