Wandering Roots

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Strong Women are Stronger Together series - Elise Kutt edition

Strong Women are Stronger Together series - Elise Kutt Edition

Meet Elise Kutt. She is a beautiful and incredibly talented human that is on the brink of launching her SECOND business on October 20th: Grand Rapids FIRST European inspired lingerie boutique cheekily named Naughty Bettie (P.S. You are all invited to the opening party HERE!)

I first met Elise through my friend Jenn. Jenn works alongside Elise in her first business Mod Bettie. Mod Bettie is a portrait studio whose mission is to provide a safe and supportive environment for female self-expression. Through the development of the business and photographing women of all sizes, Elise realized that her clients were having a terrible time finding quality lingerie for their boudoir shoots. Her electric encouragement alongside her mission to empower women through fempowerment and body-positivity can be found throughout both of her businesses and especially her private FaceBook group for female identifying, LGBQT and non-binary: Join #SquadBettie for fempowerment and love!

For a couple years, I watched Jenn post photos of Elise’s clients and I kept thinking “I wish I could do that, it looks so fun.” Once I finally realized that I could, in fact, do a photo shoot and that I was the only one preventing myself from booking it, I met Elise! I’m not sure if it’s because she’s one of the most positive people I’ve ever met or if it was the fact that my shoot was a dream and I felt incredible during and after it, but we instantly became best friends. She helped me with the launch of Red Cedar Landscapes. She created our logo, built our website, took several of the landscape project photos and most of all supported and encouraged me constantly. I do not think that Wandering Roots would exist without her. After leaning on her so much for Red Cedar, I knew I could rely on her support for my next business venture. Besides for all of the tangible things that she has done for me and Wandering Roots (so many photos, logo, website, marketing, retreat photographer, just to name a few) she has always been my personal cheerleader. She constantly cheers me on and believes in me even when I don’t believe in myself. I love her so much and cannot picture my life without her! She is incredibly inspiring and I love how her work is to help serve others.

If money were no object, what would you spend most of your time doing?

Elise: Traveling with my boys! There are so many places I want to see (with and without the camera) and even more than for myself I dream of giving my boys opportunities to try new things and learn new cultures. Whenever I travel alone I always find myself thinking, “Man I wish the boys were here to see this!”

What inspires you?

Elise: Many, MANY things! In my daily life I would say the people I’m surrounded by. I’m such a people person, human contact fuels my soul. All of my closest friends are women that are doing amazing things for themselves, other women, their communities and their families. It’s no accident that we’ve found each other. I truly believe that your vibe attracts your tribe and I seriously have THE BEST #SquadBettie! They inspire me by being leaders, breaking rules, embracing failure and loving hard.

I hope you will join us for the launch of Naughty Bettie on October 20th. Get you tickets HERE.

Elise is also up for the SHEvents “Bossbabe of the Year” award. I can’t think of anyone that deserves this more, so do me a favor and vote for her here…


Images by Personal Branding Maven Elise Kutt at Mod Bettie Portraits

My name is Anna VanAgtmael, and I am a certified yoga instructor with a passion for yoga, travel, and connecting with others.

I believe in trying everything once. My values lie in collecting memories over things. Though we desire adventure and authentic experiences, naturally our fear holds us back.

My ambition is to inspire and encourage you to unmask your fears and jump into the unknown.

Anna VanAgtmael | Yoga Enthusiast | Trip Planning Wizard