Rising Stars: Meet Haylie Keppler of North Canton

Today we’d like to introduce you to Haylie Keppler.

Hi Haylie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Hi! I am an entrepreneur through and through! I love growing businesses and helping others succeed alongside me. I also love making others feel confident and beautiful, which is the center of both of my businesses. I have been a hairstylist since 2015 and a photographer since 2020. I opened my little salon, Self Love Studios, in Canton in 2022. It’s tiny and quiet, perfect for myself and my crazy life. I have a few renters in my studio with their own private rooms that are on their own business journeys as well. I absolutely love being a hairstylist. My clients are also my friends. I get the opportunity to grow string connections with so many people and watch them on their life journey, through their highs and lows and milestones. It’s amazing, honestly. It’s extremely rewarding to me. Photography for me stemmed from these two passions, life connections and helping others feel confident.

I started out as a boudoir photographer in 2020, after I had my first daughter and was extremely self conscious of myself. Boudoir helped me learn to love myself again and to feel confident in my body. I wanted to give others the same opportunity to have a safe space to be vulnerable with themselves and explore their own self love. Which is why I created Self Love Boudoir. It has been an honor helping women and men see themselves from another perspective where they can see their beauty and really learn to love every part of themselves. I also had the opportunity to photograph my clients and friends milestones such as maternity, newborn, and weddings.

Last year in 2024, I opened up the studio of my dreams, The Photo Depot, in North Canton. I have now dove head first into all sorts of photography, family, children’s, newborn, portraits, and creative sessions. It is so amazing getting to see people grow, from engagement sessions, to maternity…. Photographing their pregnancy announcement and gender reveals, to getting to meet their little one and then watch their little one grow up as their family continues to grow. It quite honestly is the greatest job in the world.

My photography studio is also available for fellow local photographers to rent hourly so they also can capture people’s lifes important moments in a beautiful space. It is so awesome getting to see my studio through different photographers lens and the artwork that they create.

At home, I have 2 crazy little girls. They are my entire world. When i’m not working and being a busy business owner, I’m with them, enjoying my own milestones & watching my little ones grow up!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s definitely been a crazy road, for sure. With hair, I have bopped around from salon to salon trying to find my home. When I became pregnant with my first daughter, I took a huge step back with hair and had to basically start over again. I worked hard over the next 2 years until I was ready to make the jump into booth renting my own little room at a salon. This was a terrifying move for me because I officially was my own boss, and everything fell on me from there on out. When I started my photography, I rented out other studios hourly. When I opened Self Love Studios, I made the two tiny rooms in the back my own private boudoir studio where I photographed out of for 2 years.

Through all of this, we bought our house the same time that covid hit, and I was out of work for 3 months with a new mortgage. We got through it with a ton if support from our family. In 2023, we suffered a miscarriage which made it extremely hard for me to find enjoyment in making others feel good. But, I am so fortunate to have the most loving and supportive clientele who stayed by my side and helped me through that tough time. Now, I am going through a divorce and learning shared parenting and running business and the household on my own. I am a hard worker who always perseveres for my daughters. I always say “life is lifein.” But nomatter the financial struggles, home struggles, or business struggles, I always find a way to keep moving along and finding the way to the next big thing life has to offer.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In Photography, I specialize in Boudoir Photography. I think it is so important to feel confident in your body, feel strong, empowered, beautiful. And dare I say… sexy. I work with women and men to learn how to look at themselves with a kinder heart, and to love who they are. My sessions are fun, silly, empowering, and vulnerable. I am so proud of the brand that I have been able to build, and the trusting community of women and men who are all on their own self love journeys and empowering others along the way.

I grew my boudoir through Tiktok, where I have over 1 million followers. There, I use a silly, fun, and educational way to show others how to take their own photos at home, posing ideas, and I share some of my work as well. It has been an honor to have people from all around the United States travel to Ohio to work with me. It’s weird when someone tells me that their starstruck… I’m just a random girl, nothing special! Right?!

In hair, I would actually say I’m not very “known.” And I like it that way. I have a small, loyal clientele of people who have become my friends. I have laughed with them, cried with them, cheered them on, gave advice and listened to advice. Hair for me is my therapeutic outlet where I get to help others feel confident on the outside, but I get to talk to them their entire appointment and help them feel confident on the inside as well.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Self Love is important. In my opinion, it is one of the most important things in life. Our mental health, our confidence, taking care of our needs, carving out time for hobbies…. All of these things creates a happier ‘you.’ And when you are happier and your best version of yourself, you have more of yourself to give to those around you.

Pricing:

• New haircolor clients receive $20 off first visit
• Boudoir Sessions start at $250
• Family, Maternity, Newborn, Children’s, Portrait, and Couples sessions start at $99

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.selfloveboudoirphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hayliekepplerphotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/selfloveboudoirphotography
• Other: https://selflovestudio.glossgenius.com/