# BOUDIEFUL Studio Bus
## Title
BOUDIEFUL by Megan • www.boudieful.com
Farmington, New Mexico / Four Corners • 505-608-4566
BOUDIEFUL
Mobile Portrait Studio
The downtown studio closed in early 2025 and every session since has been on location. This is the room that travels: a full-size school bus becoming a parked pop-up set, dark, moody, editorial, and built by the community that will shoot in it.
| Label | Value |
| --- | --- |
| The asset | 35–40 ft International, gutted to bare metal |
| The look | Matte black, dark walnut, velvet drape, gold |
| The product | Four seasonal sets in one shell |
| The funding | Founding memberships, sponsors, barter, pre-sold sessions |
## One Brand, Two Rooms
One brand, two rooms
The bus is not a second business. It is the mobile arm of the same one.
| Label | Name | Status | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| The room that stays | WHIMSY & WOO WOO | Next chapter — not yet leased | The boutique studio: the Dress Closet on the wall, a Reiki room in the back, a permanent address again. It needs a lease, a build-out and somebody else's yes before a single client walks in. |
| The room that travels | THE BUS | Shell paid for — in Stage 0 now | A parked pop-up set that needs a floor, a curtain and one light. It opens without a landlord, without rent, and without waiting. Phase 1 is parked at the family property and clients come to it; actually taking it places is a later, separately funded phase. Then it pays toward the room that stays. |
What both rooms already share
| Icon | Item |
| --- | --- |
| :icon-shirt: | 150+ gowns, XS–5X |
| :icon-hand-heart: | The Reiki table |
| :icon-lightbulb: | The same lights and backdrops |
| :icon-users: | The Big Cyster community |
| :icon-calendar: | One client list, one calendar |
| :icon-shield-check: | One LLC, one insurance policy |
Nothing gets bought twice. Every dollar spent on the bus is wardrobe, lighting, fixtures and habit that walks straight into the studio the day the studio happens.
## The Asset
The asset / current state
A bare metal tube with a five year head start
https://d6yvfl55smr7u.cloudfront.net/assets/dr163wth-1788558230272-bus-tour-video.mp4
Actual gutted interior photo & video walk-through
Video tour
Interior photo
| Label | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Vehicle | Full-size International school bus, roughly 35–40 ft |
| Interior | Gutted to bare metal. Floor stripped, seats and rubber out, surface rust and old adhesive, wheel wells exposed |
| Sat idle | About five years, currently parked at family property |
| Mechanical | Unverified after sitting. A $150 diesel look-over comes before any interior spend |
Everything above is a starting point, not a problem. The shell is the expensive part and it is already paid for.
## Walk-Through
Unedited walk-through / filmed inside the bus
Bare metal, full length, nothing staged.
Real footage of the actual interior — not a render
https://d6yvfl55smr7u.cloudfront.net/assets/dr163wth-1788558230272-bus-tour-video.mp4
Sound is off — tap the speaker to hear the walk-through
Sound on — drag the bar to set the level
:icon-play:
:icon-pause:
:icon-volume-2:
:icon-volume-x:
## What's Real, What's Assumed
The honesty ledger
Three columns. Only one of them is allowed to sound like a fact.
The rule for every conversation about this bus: say the left column as fact, say the middle column as a plan, and answer the right column with "I don't know yet." Guessing out loud is how a real project starts sounding like a pitch — and the left column is strong enough on its own.
:icon-chevron-left:
:icon-chevron-right:
| Key | Icon | Label | Blurb |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| true | :icon-check-check: | True today | Owned, published, or already happening. Verifiable at boudieful.com or by walking up to the bus. |
| plan | :icon-pencil-ruler: | Planned or assumed | Reasonable, thought through, and completely untested. Say these as intentions, never as results. |
| unknown | :icon-circle-help: | Unknown | Real open questions with a cost attached. Every one of these has to be answered, not assumed. |
| Bucket | Fact |
| --- | --- |
| true | The bus is owned outright, gutted to bare metal, and parked on family property. |
| true | The downtown studio closed in early 2025. Every session since has been on location. |
| true | Published rates: portraits from $525, Signature $750, branding from $550, bundle $1,200, $1 per mile past 30 miles. |
| true | Reiki is an offered service at $333 per hour. |
| true | The client closet is owned: 150+ gowns and statement pieces, XS–5X, already traveling to sessions. |
| true | Founding Memberships are live at $99 for the year, capped at fifty. |
| true | Sponsor tiers are live, from Little Spark at $25 to Legacy Sponsor at $500 plus. |
| true | The calendar is deliberately capped at one photography session and one Reiki session per week. |
| true | The Stage 0 work is underway: leak test, rust grinding, measurements. |
| plan | Every bus price — $225 mini, $475 founding, $625 signature, $850 with glam, $250 half-day rental — is a proposal. None has been listed or sold. |
| plan | The four seasonal sets are concept renders. Nothing has been built or photographed inside the bus. |
| plan | The roughly $1,580 Phase 1 list is estimated from retail prices, not from quotes in hand. |
| plan | No barter agreement is signed. Jade Energy Services, Design Surfaces by Floor Trader, a welder, a sign shop and a seamstress are targets, not partners. |
| plan | No venue has agreed to host a session day. |
| plan | 8–12 clients filling a single mini-session day is an assumption based on other markets, not on a day that has run here. |
| plan | Rental demand from other photographers is unproven. So is per-piece closet rental pricing. |
| plan | Volunteer build days drawing eight to ten people is a hope, not a headcount. |
| plan | WHIMSY & WOO WOO has no lease and no address yet. |
| true | Farmington averages a 93°F summer high and a 19°F winter low, per NOAA. Insulation and climate control are requirements here, not upgrades. |
| plan | The full eight-phase budget of $1,545–$2,765 is a range built from retail and thrift estimates, with no line item quoted. |
| plan | Two versions of the roadmap disagree on the total — an earlier pass said $1,745–$2,505. The newer per-phase breakdown is the one used here. |
| plan | Phase 1 is a parked studio at the family property. Travel to venues is Phase 2, and Phase 2 is neither funded nor legally cleared. |
| plan | Phase 2 roadworthy prep at $2,000–$5,000+ and Phase 3 mobile at $2,000–$6,000+ are placeholders. Neither has a quote or a date. |
| unknown | Whether the title is clean and fully in your name or the LLC — no liens, no salvage branding. Not yet confirmed with MVD. |
| unknown | The GVWR number on the door-frame plate has not been read. It decides the entire CDL question. |
| unknown | Whether a USDOT number is required for intrastate commercial use in New Mexico. One call to NM PRC answers it. |
| unknown | Finished ceiling height after insulation and flooring. Most builds land 72–78 inches, and taller clients need the real number. |
| unknown | Mechanical condition after five years parked. No inspection yet — that is the $150 gate before any interior spend. |
| unknown | Whether the roof leaks, and how badly. The hose test has not been run. |
| unknown | How much sound floor is left under the rust, and whether any panel needs replacing. |
| unknown | Whether the property's zoning allows clients to visit a parked commercial vehicle. |
| unknown | Real commercial insurance cost — parked first, then driven, then with clients aboard. |
| unknown | New Mexico's rules on pre-sold session expiration, and how barter income is treated at tax time. |
| unknown | Whether volunteers on a build day are covered by any existing policy. |
| unknown | Whether the bus can be registered and driven at all, or stays a parked set indefinitely. |
## Why This Works
The governing principle
Drivable and shootable are two builds. Only one of them takes photographs.
| Label | Name | Cost | Amount | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Path A — conventional | Drivable first | $4,000 – $6,000 | 6000 | Tires, brakes, fluids, batteries, injectors, registration, commercial insurance. Necessary eventually, and none of it makes a single photograph. |
| Path B — ours | Shootable first | $1,100 – $1,800 | 1800 | Floor, wall, curtain, light in the rear third. That is one hundred percent of what a client sees and what gets sold. |
The sequence
Make it shootable → sell from it → then make it drivable.
## Pick One Model First
Business model / pick one, not three
The bus can earn three ways. It only has to earn one way to be worth finishing.
What this model requires
+$3,000–$10,000
Realistic added cost to go from parked studio to a touring one: commercial auto insurance, mechanical reliability, the CDL question, USDOT registration and per-event permits — on top of the interior build.
Build Phase 1 as Model A only. Once that feels easy and is earning, layer in Model C for select elopements. Only consider Model B if you actively want the grind and have the capacity for event logistics. Model A is the first real win, and it is enough.
| Code | Name | Stage | Verdict | Detail | Risk |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Model A | Parked Studio + Billboard | Phase 1 — build this one | now | The bus lives at the family property. Clients come to it. It doubles as content set for BOUDIEFUL and WHIMSY & WOO WOO, and as a visible sign from the road. Lowest cost, lowest regulatory headache, no commercial driving beyond getting it onto the property. | The first real win, and it is enough. |
| Model B | High-Volume Mini-Sessions | Later — optional, maybe never | caution | Drive to high-traffic events: art walks, the Shiprock Fair, RV parks near Balloon Fiesta, parking deals at markets. Ten to twenty minute minis stacked back to back from inside or just outside the bus. | The biggest revenue engine, and the model most likely to fry you. |
| Model C | Elopement Basecamp | Later — the preferred upgrade | later | The bus becomes a VIP changing suite and cool-down room at trailheads, glamping resorts, wineries and mountain towns. Couples get privacy and climate control; the ceremony and portraits happen out in the landscape. | Slower pace, higher ticket, and it fits the way you actually work. |
| Model | Icon | Need |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Model A | :icon-plug: | An outdoor outlet and a heavy-gauge cord |
| Model A | :icon-map-pin: | Permission to park where it already sits, with clients visiting |
| Model A | :icon-shield: | General liability and a policy that covers clients aboard a parked vehicle |
| Model A | :icon-wrench: | Nothing mechanical beyond getting it onto the property |
| Model B | :icon-truck: | A roadworthy, fully inspected, commercially insured bus |
| Model B | :icon-file-text: | Event permits and vendor fees, roughly $0–$500 per event |
| Model B | :icon-id-card: | The CDL question answered, and possibly a USDOT number |
| Model B | :icon-battery-charging: | Off-grid power, because event lots do not have outlets |
| Model B | :icon-activity: | A nervous system ready for full-throttle days |
| Model C | :icon-truck: | The same roadworthy, insured bus as Model B |
| Model C | :icon-handshake: | Written agreements with trailheads, resorts and wineries |
| Model C | :icon-battery-charging: | Battery or generator power for locations with no shore power |
| Model C | :icon-mountain: | Public-land rules checked per site — some need a commercial use permit |
## Where You Can Stop
Phasing / three gates, not one project
Every phase is a place you are allowed to stop and still have won.
If you stop here
The point of phasing it this way is to keep the bus from becoming another unfinished shrine to "I should be doing more." Phase 1 is the whole promise. Phases 2 and 3 are optional, they are not funded, and neither one has a date.
| Stage | Name | Cash | Low | High | Stop here |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Phase 1 | Parked Studio MVP | $1,545–$2,765 | 1545 | 2765 | You have a fully functional studio on wheels, parked, earning, and finished. This is the only phase this plan is asking anyone to fund. |
| Phase 2 | Roadworthy Prep | $2,000–$5,000+ | 2000 | 5000 | The bus can now legally and safely reach selected in-state locations. Venue days become possible instead of theoretical. |
| Phase 3 | Truly Mobile | $2,000–$6,000+ | 2000 | 6000 | Off-grid, all-season, branded outside. This is the version people picture first, and it is the last thing that gets built, not the first. |
| Stage | Icon | Item |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Phase 1 | :icon-shield-check: | Rust treated, windows sealed, roof leaks patched |
| Phase 1 | :icon-layers: | Insulated walls and ceiling, panels up, floor down, interior painted |
| Phase 1 | :icon-plug: | Shore power inlet, breaker box, outlets, LED strips |
| Phase 1 | :icon-thermometer: | Window AC and a space heater — good enough, not perfect |
| Phase 1 | :icon-shirt: | Curtained changing nook, mirror, gown racks, seating, storage |
| Phase 1 | :icon-map-pin: | Lives at the family property. Model A only. |
| Phase 2 | :icon-wrench: | Full mechanical inspection by a trusted shop |
| Phase 2 | :icon-circle-gauge: | Brakes, tires, steering, suspension, lights and fluids brought to road safety |
| Phase 2 | :icon-file-text: | Commercial registration completed and commercial auto insurance activated |
| Phase 2 | :icon-id-card: | CDL or driver plan settled, and a USDOT number if required |
| Phase 2 | :icon-triangle-alert: | Budget depends entirely on what the mechanic finds — this range is a guess |
| Phase 3 | :icon-sun: | Generator or solar and battery for locations with no outlet |
| Phase 3 | :icon-thermometer-snowflake: | Mini-split heat pump instead of a window unit, $800–$1,500 |
| Phase 3 | :icon-paintbrush: | Exterior paint or full wrap, plus an awning or entry styling |
| Phase 3 | :icon-route: | Model C elopement basecamp itineraries across the Four Corners |
## Four Seasonal Sets
One shell / four sellable products
Structure is built once. The set changes with the season.
Right side is a concept render — art direction, not a photograph. Nothing here has been built or shot inside the bus yet.
Bare metal today
Concept set
Drag the gold line to reveal
:icon-move-horizontal:
| Tab | Season | Name | Props | Render |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dark floral | Signature / year round | Dark Floral Boudoir | Red velvet armchair on black velvet, burgundy and blush floral mural panels, gold skull vessels holding peacock feathers, gold filigree folding screen. |  |
| Blue + gold | Spring / editorial | Blue and Gold Lounge | Sapphire velvet tufted sofa against a navy and gold agate mural, mustard bolster and rust throw, hammered gold pendant, rattan poufs. |  |
| Botanical | Summer / greenhouse | Botanical Bath | Black and gold clawfoot tub with bubbles and white orchids, cascading ivy over the windows, leather butterfly chair with sheepskin, jute rug, brass lanterns. |  |
| Book wall | Winter / holiday | Winter Book Wall | Open vintage books in a lit grid with gold ornaments and evergreen garland, fairy lights, clawfoot tub in white bubbles trimmed with garland, deep green velvet. |  |
## Build Scope
Scope discipline
Build ten feet, not thirty five.
Front two thirds — raw metal, gear staging
Rear 10–12 ft — the camera frame
Every reference photo is shot from the rear door. Ten to twelve feet in is the last thing in focus.
One blackout curtain across the bus at the twelve foot mark reads on camera as the end of the room.
Halving the span halves nearly every material quantity, and none of it is wasted. The same track, panels and methods extend forward when the bus has earned it.
| Item |
| --- |
| Rear 10–12 ft of subfloor and finish floor |
| Wall panels and matte black paint, same span |
| Aluminum curtain track both sides plus rear |
| One swappable backdrop panel on cleats |
| One track lighting run and one power circuit |
| Welded step platform with rails both sides |
| Item |
| --- |
| Bare metal floor, sealed but unfinished |
| Unfinished walls and original ceiling |
| Gear staging, prop and panel storage |
| Off-duty backdrop panels stored flat |
| Blackout curtain wall at the 12 ft mark |
| Built out later, from revenue |
## Climate Reality
Climate / the line item that was missing
A bare metal bus is an oven in July and an icebox in January.
Outside, Farmington average
Inside, bare metal
Inside, insulated + powered
| Tab | Outside | Bare | Built | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| July | 93°F | 110°F+ | Tolerable | 93°F is the Farmington average summer high, per NOAA. A sealed metal tube in direct sun runs well past 110°F inside. Nobody undresses in that room, and no amount of good art direction fixes it. |
| January | 19°F | Near outside | Tolerable | 19°F is the average winter low. Uninsulated steel holds no heat at all, so inside sits within a few degrees of outside. A client in a gown lasts minutes, not a session. |
| Icon | Spec |
| --- | --- |
| :icon-layers: | Rigid foam board on walls and ceiling. Polyiso runs R-6 per inch, EPS R-3.85 per inch, so polyiso buys more warmth per inch of lost width. |
| :icon-wind: | A used 5,000–8,000 BTU window AC and a ceramic space heater on shore power. Good enough, not perfect. A mini-split at $800–$1,500 is the later upgrade. |
| :icon-fan: | One roof vent fan for airflow and condensation, so the room does not fog or smell closed up. |
| :icon-cable: | Electrical goes in before the walls close. Wires buried behind finished panels is the one mistake on this build that cannot be undone cheaply. |
This is a correction to the itemized Phase 1 list, which covered floor, wall, curtain and light but not wall and ceiling insulation or climate control. Adding both is roughly $630 to $1,150 more in cash. Insulation is not a comfort upgrade on this build, it is what makes the room usable in a Farmington July, and the honest number has to carry it.
## Three Gates Before A Dollar
Pre-spend gates / before paint, floor or curtains
Three questions that can end this project cheaply.
The call
Green light
Stop and regroup
:icon-circle-check:
:icon-octagon-x:
| Tab | Question | How to check | Pass | Stop | Call |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Title | Is the title clean and in your name? | Confirm the title is fully transferred out of the school district or prior owner and into your name or the LLC. Check for liens, and for salvage or branding you never agreed to. | Clean title, no liens, your name on it. Build, barter and volunteer days can all be scheduled. | If the paper is messy, that gets fixed first. No build, no barter deals, no Founding 15 work day goes on a calendar until the title is clean — you do not insure or improve a vehicle you cannot prove you own. | NM MVD — bring the VIN |
| Rust | Is the skeleton sound, or just ugly? | Get under it, or pay a mechanic to. Check floor ribs and crossmembers, wheel wells, frame rails, and the metal around the rear emergency door. Then use a screwdriver. | Surface rust — orange and brown, but the metal is still solid under it. Wire-brush, treat with rust converter, prime, keep going. This is the expected outcome. | Structural rust — flaking layers, holes, or metal you can push a screwdriver through. That is a mechanic's opinion before another dollar, not a weekend of grinding and hope. | Any diesel shop — roughly $150 |
| GVWR | What does it take to legally drive it? | Find the GVWR plate on the driver's door frame or the VIN plate. Full-size school buses generally land between 23,500 and 36,000 lbs. That number decides the whole licensing question. | Over 26,000 lbs used commercially can require a CDL. Under 26,000 lbs a regular license often works — but commercial use can still trigger extra rules either way, so the number gets confirmed, not assumed. | If the answer is CDL, that does not kill the plan. It means the bus stays a parked set at the family property while the driving question gets solved separately, on its own budget. | NM MVD — ask about a converted school bus used as a mobile photography studio |
The win here is catching a hard no before sinking $2,500 and two hundred hours of donated labor into the wrong bus. All three answers are free or nearly free. None of them has been gotten yet.
## Phase 0 — Assessment
Phase 0 — this month, under $300
Nothing gets finished over rust.
:icon-check:
Checked off
Phase total
Tasks
| Task | Cost |
| --- | --- |
| Leak test: hose on the roof, lights off inside, mark every drip | 0 |
| Seal what you find — lap sealant and Sikaflex | 60 |
| Hammer-tap the whole floor, chalk the soft spots | 0 |
| Measure and write down every dimension | 0 |
| Grind rust — flap discs and wire cup | 40 |
| Rust converter and encapsulating primer, back third | 90 |
| Seam sealer over rivets and panel joints | 40 |
| Respirator and cartridges | 45 |
| Photograph every stage on your phone | 0 |
| Diesel shop look-over before any interior spend | 150 |
Measurements that matter most: interior width at the narrowest point, wheel wells both sides, ceiling height at center and sides, window sill height, and the rear door opening — the one people forget, and the one that decides which sofa you can buy. Then re-measure ceiling height **after** insulation and flooring go in: most builds land around 72–78 inches, and the true number is what lets you pose taller clients comfortably and set that expectation in the client guide before she arrives.
The rust rule while you grind: orange and brown with solid metal underneath is surface rust — treat it and keep going. Flaking layers, holes, or metal a screwdriver goes through is structural, and that is a mechanic's call before another dollar goes in.
## Phase 1 — Cash List
Phase 1 — the shootable back third
The whole studio, itemized.
Full list
Stripped to the bone
Cash outlay
| Item | Qty | Full | Lean |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 3/4" exterior plywood subfloor | 4 sheets | 200 | 200 |
| Self-tapping screws, construction adhesive | — | 40 | 40 |
| 1" polyiso rigid foam, floor only | 3 sheets | 60 | 60 |
| Aluminum ceiling curtain track + carriers | 40 ft | 200 | 200 |
| Blackout drape by the bolt (velvet / poly) | 60–70 yd | 250 | 150 |
| 1/4" luan wall panels | 4 sheets | 120 | 0 |
| Flat black paint, primer, rollers | — | 90 | 90 |
| Electrical materials — Jade Energy Services installs | — | 250 | 200 |
| Track lighting + 4 dimmable heads | — | 120 | 120 |
| Flameless LED candles, bulk | 40 ct | 60 | 40 |
| Backdrop panel: plywood, cleats, mural vinyl | 1 | 120 | 0 |
| CO detector, smoke detector, extinguisher | — | 70 | 70 |
Two things are missing from this list on purpose. Flooring material and install sit on Design Surfaces by Floor Trader's side of an unsigned barter — if it falls through, add $400–600. Wall and ceiling insulation and climate control are not here either, and they are not optional in a Farmington July: add roughly $630–$1,150 for the honest all-in number.
About $1,580 in cash buys the surfaces a client will pay to be photographed against. It does not yet buy a room they can stand in comfortably in August.
Poly drape instead of velvet, black-painted ribs instead of panels, a book wall instead of a mural. Nothing lost on camera at f/2.8.
## Eight Phases, One Budget
Minimum viable usable bus / eight phases
The whole build, low end to high end, with nothing hidden.
Low end
High end
Cash out of pocket
Traded, if both deals land
| Phase | Cash low | Cash high | Barter low | Barter high |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Safety & structural — rust, seals, roof leak | 100 | 150 | 0 | 0 |
| Insulation & walls — foam, furring, panels | 450 | 800 | 0 | 0 |
| Flooring — underlayment, subfloor, finish | 150 | 250 | 300 | 600 |
| Electrical & lighting — shore power, outlets, LED | 300 | 500 | 500 | 1000 |
| Climate basics — window AC, heater, vent fan | 180 | 350 | 0 | 0 |
| Furniture & storage — gown racks, seating, bins | 140 | 265 | 0 | 0 |
| Changing nook — track, curtain, mirror, hooks | 50 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| Decor & branding — paint, signage, textiles | 175 | 350 | 0 | 0 |
The low end assumes aggressive thrifting, surplus foam board, and both barter deals landing. The high end assumes retail prices and a few surprises. Neither number is a quote. Add $200–$300 of contingency for the stripped screw and the wrong-size fitting, because there will be one.
## Funding The First Phase
Funding Phase 1 · tap a source
The build is cheap. The question is which of these actually shows up.
Phase 1 target
$1,545 thrifted
$2,765 retail
Still short by
Covered — stop adding obligations
| Icon | Source | Amount | Value | Status | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| :icon-users: | Founding Memberships | 16 × $99 = $1,584 | 1584 | Live · none confirmed | Already open at $99 for the year, capped at fifty. Sixteen of them cover the thrifted build outright. |
| :icon-badge-dollar-sign: | Sponsor Tiers | $25 → $500+ | 750 | Live · none confirmed | Little Spark at $25 through Legacy at $500 plus. The $750 here is a mid guess, not a pledge. |
| :icon-camera: | Pre-sold Sessions | 6 × $475 = $2,850 | 2850 | Not listed yet | Cash now against calendar later. Every one sold is a session you owe, so keep the number small. |
| :icon-handshake: | Barter Offset | $1,200 in labor | 1200 | Nothing signed | Not cash. It only lowers the bill, and only if Jade Energy and Design Surfaces both say yes. |
| :icon-wallet: | Your Own Cash | $300 | 300 | Only you know this one | The honest line. Put the real number in, then size every other source around what is left. |
Cheapest honest path: your own small stack plus sixteen memberships. Pre-sold sessions raise the most and cost the most later, because they spend a calendar you have capped at one session a week.
## Interior Layout
Interior layout / front to back
Five zones in a tube seven and a half feet wide.
Roughly 30–35 ft of interior length • about 7.5 ft wide • measure before ordering, interiors vary by model year
| Icon | Tab | Position | Name | Phase | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| :icon-clipboard-list: | Check-in | Front — driver's area | Check-in | Built later, from revenue | The driver's area stays minimal and becomes the consultation spot: a small thrifted desk, a laptop, a charging station. It is the first three feet a client sees, so it has to read as organized rather than under construction. |
| :icon-shirt: | Gowns | Front-middle | Gown closet & seating | Phase 6 — furniture & storage | Rolling racks along the street-side wall carry the 150+ gown closet in XS–5X. Curb side gets a bench or two folding chairs on a rug. This is where a nervous client sits, breathes, touches fabric, and stops being nervous. |
| :icon-camera: | Shooting | Middle — the largest span | Shooting space | Phases 2–4 — the Phase 1 build | Clear floor, clean walls, controlled light. Bus windows curtained or diffused, supplemented by LED strips and strobes. Backdrop panels store rolled against one wall. This is the only zone a camera ever sees, which is exactly why it gets built first. |
| :icon-square-split-horizontal: | Changing | Mid-rear | Changing nook | Phase 7 — changing nook | Curtained floor to ceiling in opaque fabric, with a full-length mirror, hooks for gowns and a small stool. Positioned so window light reaches the mirror while the curtain fully blocks the view from the shooting space. Privacy here is not a nicety, it is the product. |
| :icon-package: | Storage | Rear — through the back door | Storage & climate | Phases 5–6 | Shelving and bins for lights, stands, backdrops and props. The window AC or heater mounts here with the roof vent above it. The back door stays functional for loading gear, which means nothing permanent can block it. |
This is the finished layout, not the first one. Phase 1 finishes the shooting space and the changing nook, because those are the two zones a paying client actually occupies. Check-in and the built-in storage come later, out of money the bus has already made.
## Shore Power First
Power strategy / Phase 1
This is not an off-grid skoolie. It is a parked studio with a plug.
Two things that are not negotiable
Phase 3 luxuries — not now
None of this gets bought until the bus is earning and actually needs to leave the property.
| Icon | Label | Detail | Cost |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| :icon-house-plug: | House outlet | A standard outdoor outlet at the family property, or a venue's exterior outlet later. That is the entire power source for Phase 1 — no generator, no battery bank, no fuel. | $0 |
| :icon-cable: | 30A cord | A proper heavy-gauge extension cord rated for the load. This is not the place to use the orange cord from the garage — undersized cord is a fire risk and a voltage-drop problem for lights. | $50–$75 |
| :icon-plug-zap: | Shore inlet | A 30-amp RV-style shore power inlet mounted through the bus skin, so nothing gets run through a cracked window and nothing is left to improvise on a session day. | incl. |
| :icon-square-power: | Breaker box | A small breaker panel with breakers, so the AC, the heater, the lights and the chargers are on separate circuits and a space heater cannot take the shoot down mid-session. | $40–$60 |
| :icon-zap: | Outlets + LED | Six to ten outlets along both walls, warm-white LED strips for ambient fill, a dedicated outlet for strobes, one for climate control, and a couple of USB ports for client phones. | $130–$200 |
| Warning |
| --- |
| Wiring goes in **before** insulation and wall panels close up. Coordinate the electrical day so the wire is pulled while the walls are still open — burying it is the one mistake this build cannot undo cheaply. |
| The work has to be permitted or inspected to the level an insurer will accept. Insurers can and do deny fire claims on DIY or unpermitted electrical. The inlet, the panel and the outlet runs need to make both an inspector and an underwriter comfortable. |
| Item | Cost |
| --- | --- |
| Solar panels, charge controller and battery bank | $1,500–$3,000 |
| Mini-split heat pump instead of a window unit | $800–$1,500 |
| Generator for event lots with no power | varies |
| Bluetooth sound system for session music | $100–$300 |
## Shopping Runs
Five store runs / rear 12 feet
The list you shop from, not the list you read.
Full scope, all five runs
$2,430–2,530
Measure before ordering: interior width at the narrowest point, rear door opening, both wheel wells, floor length to the 12-ft mark, ceiling height at center, sill height, and linear feet of ceiling rib. Bus interiors run 90–96 inches wide and vary by model year.
Check secondhand first, every run. Tres Rios Habitat ReStore, 815 W Broadway in Farmington, 505-444-1211. Habitat La Plata ReStore, 50 Design Center Rd in Durango, 970-382-9931, Thursday to Saturday 10–6 and Sunday 12–6, stock at 20–70% off retail. Surplus rigid foam turns up on Marketplace and Craigslist too — one builder found 40 sheets for $400, which is half the insulation budget in a single pickup load.
| Key | Run | Subtotal | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| r1 | Run 1 — Home center / lumber | ~$1,155 | The heaviest run and the one that makes everything else possible. Template the wheel wells in cardboard before a single sheet gets cut. |
| r2 | Run 2 — Curtain and drape | $395–495 | Order track from a theatrical drape or hospital cubicle supplier, never a home center. Buy fabric by the bolt from a wholesaler — retail panel pricing runs about 3x per yard. |
| r3 | Run 3 — Electrical materials | ~$375 | Confirm the exact list with Jade Energy Services before buying anything. Let the licensed electrician spec their own materials — the barter is labor, not guesswork. And the wire goes in before the walls close. |
| r4 | Run 4 — Light, safety, hardware | ~$505 | The cheapest run and the one that makes the space feel finished. Detectors and the extinguisher mount by the door, not in a bench. |
| r5 | Run 5 — Flooring (barter) | $0–400 | 120–150 sq ft plus ten percent waste. Ask Design Surfaces by Floor Trader at 5017 E Main, 505-278-0859, specifically for discontinued or remnant stock in dark walnut or espresso, plus offcuts. Planks run lengthwise. If the trade falls through, $250–400. |
| Run | Item | Qty | Est. |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| r1 | 3/4" exterior plywood, subfloor | 4 sheets | $200 |
| r1 | 3/4" and 1/2" plywood, bench boxes and tops | 4 sheets | $180 |
| r1 | 1/4" luan wall panels, 2×2 furring | 4 + 10 | $160 |
| r1 | 1" polyiso rigid foam, floor | 3 sheets | $60 |
| r1 | Screws, adhesive, foil tape, spray foam | — | $94 |
| r1 | Seam sealer and Sikaflex-221 | 5 tubes | $60 |
| r1 | Rust converter and encapsulating primer | qt + gal | $82 |
| r1 | Flat black latex, bonding primer, spray enamel | — | $140 |
| r1 | Rollers, tape, flap discs, respirator, knee pads | — | $179 |
| r2 | Aluminum ceiling curtain track | 40 ft | $160 |
| r2 | Carriers, end stops, splices | 120 | $60 |
| r2 | Blackout velvet or blackout poly, 54" wide | 20–24 yd | $150–250 |
| r2 | Pin hooks or grommets | 120 | $25 |
| r3 | 30A shore power inlet | 1 | $45 |
| r3 | 30A breaker panel and breakers | 1 | $90 |
| r3 | 10/3 and 12/2 wire | — | $70 |
| r3 | Flexible conduit and fittings | — | $35 |
| r3 | Boxes and outlets | 8 | $40 |
| r3 | 50 ft 30A cord and household adapter | 1 | $95 |
| r4 | Black track lighting and dimmable heads | 8 ft + 6 | $150 |
| r4 | Inline dimmer | 1 | $25 |
| r4 | Flameless LED candles with remote | 40 ct | $60 |
| r4 | Battery lanterns | 4 | $40 |
| r4 | Hinges, latches, corner protectors, french cleats | — | $105 |
| r4 | CO and smoke detector, 2A:10B:C extinguisher | — | $85 |
| r4 | Leveling blocks | 1 set | $40 |
| r5 | Dark walnut or espresso vinyl plank, remnant stock | 150 sq ft | barter |
| r5 | Underlayment and transition strip | — | barter |
| r5 | Installation labor, one weekend | — | barter |
| r5 | Fallback if the trade falls through | — | $250–400 |
## Prop Hunt
Props / nothing bought new for six months
Fill the frame for almost nothing.
Where to hunt
What each set needs
The one rule
Measure the rear door opening and write it at the top of the list. A sofa that will not fit through the door is the most expensive prop mistake in a bus build.
| Source | Best for | Timing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Library discard sales | Books by the box | Spring and fall — check the branch calendar |
| Estate sales, final day | Furniture, frames, brass | Half-price or bag pricing on the last day |
| Habitat ReStore | Tub, doors, fixtures, furniture | Weekly drop-ins |
| Marketplace, free filter | Sofas, armchairs, tables | Check weekly and move fast |
| Church rummage sales | Velvet, drapes, screens | Seasonal |
| School and city auctions | Cabinets, shelving, odd metal | Occasional, watch the notices |
| Your own inventory | Roughly half of the above | Already paid for, twenty years deep |
| Founding 50 members | One prop each, brought to a work day | Work days |
| Set | Props |
| --- | --- |
| Universal | Flameless candles in quantity (the one new-buy exception), brass and gold vessels, lanterns at mixed heights, empty gold frames, a folding screen, full-length mirror, pedestals, fur throws, jewel-tone velvet pillows, dried florals. |
| Dark floral boudoir | Red velvet armchair and ottoman, tall peacock feathers, gold skull or bust vessels, dark floral mural panel, black velvet drape. |
| Blue and gold lounge | Small-scale blue velvet sofa (measure the door first), mustard bolster, rust throw, hammered gold pendant, rattan poufs, navy and gold agate mural. |
| Botanical | Salvage or fiberglass clawfoot tub repainted black and gold, trailing ivy in bulk, white orchid stems, leather butterfly chair, jute rug, brass lanterns. |
| Winter book wall | 150–250 hardbacks, evergreen garland, gold and mercury glass ornaments, warm fairy lights, deep green velvet, dried orange slices. |
| Fixes that make wrong things right | Velvet spray dye, matte black over cheap-reading brass, gold leaf pen for hardware and tub feet, adhesion promoter on fiberglass, and a steamer for every drape before it hangs. |
## 90-Day Timeline
The 90-day version
Twelve weeks to open bookings.
Cash through here
Twelve-week total
| Week | Work | Cash | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Wk 1–2 | Leak test, seal, measure | 200 | Hose on the roof with the lights off, seal every drip, record every dimension, and get the diesel look-over on the calendar. |
| Wk 3 | Launch the pre-sale | 0 | Founding-rate mobile sessions, limited quantity, redeemable when the bus opens. This is the money that buys the plywood. |
| Wk 4–5 | Rust, seal, insulate | 200 | Grind, convert, prime, seam seal, then polyiso between the ribs in the back third. The one phase where cutting cost costs the build. |
| Wk 6 | Subfloor and flooring | 240 | Plywood screwed to the ribs, seams staggered, then Floor Traders lays dark walnut plank lengthwise. |
| Wk 7 | Jade Electric | 250 | 30A inlet, breaker panel, six to eight outlets in the bench boxes, one dedicated lighting circuit, conduit run, inspection-ready. |
| Wk 8 | Track and drape — work day #1 | 450 | Aluminum track into the ceiling ribs both sides plus the rear, then hang and hook the blackout drape. |
| Wk 9 | Paint, light, book wall — work day #2 | 270 | Matte black below the window line, black window frames, track lighting on a dimmer, and the book wall the volunteers will want photos in front of. |
| Wk 10 | Props, styling, safety | 130 | Thrifted furniture in, flameless candles everywhere, CO and smoke detectors and the extinguisher mounted by the door. |
| Wk 11 | Test shoot | 0 | A friend or a Founding 50 member. Find the gapping curtain and the outlet in the wrong place while they are still cheap to fix. |
| Wk 12 | Images out, bookings open | 0 | Real photography from the finished set becomes the campaign, and the studio starts paying for the next phase. |
Roughly $1,740 of cash across twelve weeks, most of it recovered before it is spent.
## Barter Strategy
The barter playbook
Vague trades are how good local relationships get damaged.
| Who | Status | Scope | Given |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Jade Energy Services — Aztec, NM | Unsigned • worth $500–$1,000+ | 30A shore power inlet, breaker panel, six to eight outlets along both walls, one dedicated lighting circuit, LED strips, conduit run before the walls close, inspection-ready. Licensed in NM, CO and WY. | Given: a brand package — logo work, social templates or a brand portrait session — plus session gift certificates at stated face value, capped redemptions per quarter. |
| Design Surfaces by Floor Trader — Farmington | Unsigned • worth $300–$600 | Vinyl plank or laminate to cover roughly 200 sq ft, plus any offcuts or returns headed for the dumpster. Material and install, laid lengthwise. Family-owned in Farmington since the 1970s. | Given: a brand package — logo refresh, social templates or a mini brand shoot for their showroom — plus $100–$200 in family holiday gift certificates their staff can hand to customers. |
| Welder | To recruit | Welded step platform with rails on both sides, plus an exterior generator mount. | Given: a full session, or business and equipment photography. |
| Sign shop | To recruit | Cut vinyl wordmark, letterspaced caps and floral motif for the exterior, printed mural vinyl for backdrop panels. | Given: product photography for their portfolio. |
| Upholsterer / seamstress | To recruit | Hem, grommet and pin-hook 60–70 yards of blackout drape. | Given: headshots or a session. |
One page per trade, signed by both
| Rule |
| --- |
| Exact scope in writing. "Inlet, panel, six outlets, one lighting circuit, inspection-ready" is a scope. "Some electrical" is not. |
| What you are giving, itemized: how many certificates, face value each, expiration, transferability, session type covered. |
| Stated fair market value of both sides, written down. |
| Timeline and who supplies materials. |
| Redemption caps per quarter so ten certificates cannot land in one busy month. |
| Both signatures. |
Every trade on this page is unsigned. These are the businesses to ask and the exact scope to ask for, not agreements in hand — do not present any of them as secured, to an audience or to yourself, until a page is signed. Together they are worth $800–$1,600, and the electrician's labor is the single biggest cash saver in the build. Barter is also taxable income on both sides at fair market value; verify the bookkeeping treatment and New Mexico's gift certificate expiration rules with your accountant rather than guessing.
## Founding 15 Build Days
Founding 15 — the local build crew
The cheapest labor in the plan is a perk you already sold.
| Rule |
| --- |
| Cap it at eight to ten people. More than that on a bus and they are standing in each other's way. |
| Post specific jobs in advance, never "come help": sanding, priming, painting benches, cutting fabric, hanging curtain hooks, gluing the book wall, sorting props. |
| Prep the night before. Materials staged, cut list done, tools laid out. Volunteer time evaporates while people wait. |
| Three to four hours, not eight. Feed them. Music. End on time. |
| The book wall is the perfect volunteer job: no skill, no tools, visually dramatic, and everyone wants a photo in front of what they made. |
| Sign-in sheet with a simple liability waiver, and confirm guest coverage with your insurance agent first. |
| Shoot the work day. It is content, and it is your own real photography. |
One work day, at the crew size you set
Labor hours
Value at $25/hr
Day length
Repeat it three or four times across the build and volunteer labor could be the largest single non-cash contribution to the studio. It is a projection at a rate you chose, not money and not a promise anyone has made yet.
The Founding 15 is the Farmington and Four Corners subset of the Founding 50 — the ones close enough to show up on a Saturday. Memberships are open at $99 a year with behind-the-scenes access promised. However many sell, a build day is one honest way to deliver that promise, and it moves the bus forward the same afternoon. Nobody has committed to a date yet.
## Four Build Days
The Founding 15 build plan
Four Saturdays, in order, each one finished before the next begins.
What a volunteer gets, stated up front
| Day | Crew | Tasks | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Prep & insulate | 3–4 volunteers | Rust treatment and sealing. Foam board cut and fitted to walls and ceiling. Furring strips mounted. Pizza, drinks, playlist going. | The dirtiest day and the one nobody will photograph. Stage every material and finish the cut list the night before, because volunteer time evaporates while people stand around waiting. |
| Walls & electrical | 3–4 volunteers plus the electrician | Shore power, outlets and LED strips go in under a licensed electrician's direction. Volunteers install wall panels over the insulation behind them. Subfloor prep starts. | This is the day with a hard sequencing rule: wiring before the panels close. Anything buried behind a finished wall costs three times as much to reach later. |
| Floor & furnish | 2–3 volunteers | Finish flooring installed. Gown racks assembled and positioned. Changing nook curtain hung and mirror mounted. Storage shelving up. | The first day it stops looking like a project and starts looking like a room. Worth shooting for content, even half-finished. |
| Paint day | 5–8 volunteers — the big one | Interior paint in the finish palette. Signage applied. Textiles, rug and pillows placed. Decor styled. Group photo in the finished bus, and the names of everyone who showed up go on the wall. | The perfect volunteer job is exactly this: no skill required, no tools to own, visually dramatic, and everyone wants a photograph in front of the thing they made. |
| Icon | Item |
| --- | --- |
| :icon-camera: | First dibs on bus mini-sessions, free or steeply discounted |
| :icon-pen-line: | Their name on the "Built by" wall, permanently |
| :icon-ticket: | A membership perk applied: workshop credit or boutique discount |
| :icon-pizza: | Pizza, drinks and good music every single day |
## Revenue Model
Funding it from revenue, not savings
No phase begins until the last one paid for it.
Founding-rate pre-sale
sessions at
Price per commitment — $99 membership, $225 mini, $475 founding session, $625 list rate
That covers Phase 1 outright, with margin for the props and the safety gear.
Short of the $1,580 Phase 1 list. Raise the count, raise the rate, or run the stripped-to-the-bone version.
Pre-sold sessions are deferred revenue, not profit. That money is a liability until it is shot, and it is already spent on plywood. Against a one-session-a-week calendar, fifteen is a full quarter of bookings — sell fifteen, not fifty. Fifty memberships at $99 raise $4,950 and cost far fewer calendar hours to honor.
| Milestone | Unlocks | Figure | Threshold |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Pre-sell the founding-rate sessions | Unlocks the Phase 1 build | $2,000–3,000 | 2000 |
| Test shoot and marketing images | Unlocks real pricing and real bookings | no cash | 2400 |
| First ten sessions shot in the bus | Unlocks the mechanical inspection and service | $3,000+ | 3000 |
| Season one revenue | Unlocks tires, brakes, insurance, registration | season | 4000 |
| The bus goes mobile | Unlocks venue partnerships and higher rates | season | 5000 |
| Season two | Unlocks the build extending forward, and exterior paint | season | 6250 |
## Four Revenue Streams
What the bus sells
Most people build a mobile studio and sell one thing out of it.
The calendar is intentionally capped at one photography session and one Reiki session a week, and dates are booked to January 2027. That makes rental, closet and mini-session days the important products: they earn out of the same parked room without spending the one weekly slot behind the camera.
| Product | What it is | Time label | Load | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Mini-session days | 30-minute slots, one set, 8–12 clients in a single day at a partner location | Your time — high, one day | 85 | The engine early on, and the only honest way to serve volume against a one-session-a-week calendar. It converts strangers into clients, fills the portfolio fast, and is the easiest thing to pre-sell before the bus exists. |
| Bus signature sessions | The BOUDIEFUL experience shot in the bus: 90 minutes, two sets, 25–40 edited images, gallery in 2–3 weeks | Your time — high | 100 | For the existing audience and referrals, at $625 against the $525 on-location rate. Glam adds the same licensed hair and makeup that the $750 Signature Session already includes. |
| Event and brand bookings | Bus parked at a wedding, festival, market, or conference, plus branding work on site | Your time — high, host pays | 80 | The host carries the cost and brings the crowd. Branding already starts at $550 and the bundle at $1,200, so the bus becomes the set for the commercial work rather than a second business. |
| Bus rental | Other photographers, videographers, and brands rent the styled space | Your time — almost none | 18 | A styled, lit, weather-independent set. I have not found another one for rent in the Four Corners, though I have not surveyed the market and rental demand here is unproven. A half-day costs a setup and a handoff, plus a cleaning checklist, a signed agreement, and a certificate of insurance naming BOUDIEFUL as additional insured. It never spends a weekly session slot. |
| Client closet rentals | 150+ gowns and statement pieces, sizes XS–5X, hung and rentable on board | Your time — none | 10 | The collection is already owned and already travels to every session, so this stream needs no purchase. Racks in the bus would turn it into a rentable wardrobe, as the Dress Closet is planned for the new studio. Nothing has been rented out yet and per-piece pricing is still to set. |
## Three Ways The Room Earns
One parked room, three bookings
The set does not care which service is on the calendar.
What it needs that the build already gives it
| Icon | Mode | Rate | Label | Detail | Needs |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| :icon-camera: | Camera day | $625 · $850 with glam | Bus signature session | Ninety minutes, two of the four seasonal sets, 25–40 edited images. It sits just above the $525 on-location rate because the client is paying for a built room instead of a hotel window, and glam brings in the same licensed hair and makeup the $750 Signature already includes. | Blackout drape, one lit backdrop, a rack to hang from. That is the whole Phase 1 list. |
| :icon-hand-heart: | Reiki day | $333 per hour | Reiki session on board | A dark, quiet, windowless room is exactly what Reiki wants, and the bus is that by construction. It uses the one Reiki slot already on the weekly calendar instead of asking for a new one, and it means the bus earns on days the camera never comes out. | The same curtain wall and dimmable track light. Drop the drape, kill the light, move the table in. |
| :icon-shirt: | Closet day | Per-piece rental | Client closet on wheels | The closet is real and already travels to every session in tubs: 150+ gowns and statement pieces, XS–5X. Hung on rails inside the bus it could become the reason another photographer books the space, and the Dress Closet planned for the studio starts earning before the studio exists. Per-piece rental pricing is not set yet. | Two ceiling rails in the front two thirds — a short extension of the same track on the Phase 1 list, roughly fifty dollars more. |
Three products, one floor, one curtain, one light. Which one is booked on a given Saturday is a scheduling question, not a build question, and that is the entire argument for finishing the back third first. To be clear about what is proven: the photography and the Reiki are established services with published rates; on board, all three are untested.
## Pricing Ladder
Pricing framework
Price the bus above the on-location rate, not below it.
Current on-location portrait rate
The live BOUDIEFUL rates are the anchor: portraits from $525 for 90 minutes and 25–40 edited images, the Signature Session at $750 with hair and makeup, branding from $550, the Branding Bundle at $1,200, travel $1 per mile beyond 30 miles of Farmington. Those are published and being paid. Every bus price below is a proposal — not published, not listed, never sold, and worth testing on ten real clients before it is printed anywhere.
| Tier | Price | Includes | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bus mini | 225 | A 30-minute slot in one set, 8–12 edited images, print release, closet access. The entry door that lets every price above it hold. | Only sold on mini-session days, where the setup cost is spread across eight to twelve clients. |
| Bus signature | 625 | 90 minutes, two sets, client closet, 25–40 edited images, private gallery in 2–3 weeks, full print release. Same deliverables as the $525 on-location session, in a set nobody else has. | One hundred dollars over the on-location rate. The bus is scarcer and more experiential than a location shoot, and it does not depend on weather. |
| Bus signature + glam | 850 | The signature session with licensed hair and makeup, mirrored on the existing $750 Signature Session structure where glam is a real $225 add-on. | Same margin logic as the studio package. Glam is paid straight through to the artist, so it is priced at cost plus the extra hour on the bus. |
| Founding rate | 475 | The bus signature session, capped in quantity, sold before the doors open. This is the money that buys the plywood. | Deferred revenue. A liability in the books until each session is shot, not profit. Redeemable the season the bus opens. |
| Rental, half day | 250 | The styled, lit set rented to another photographer or brand. Deposit required, cleaning fee if returned unstyled, certificate of insurance naming BOUDIEFUL as additional insured. | Highest effective hourly rate on the sheet, and the only product that does not spend one of the limited weekly session slots. |
## Founding Sessions
The pre-sale that funds the build
A founding rate, not a gift certificate.
Founding sessions,
capped and said out loud
Offer copy, adaptable
The bus is real and it is not finished. It is parked, it is gutted to bare metal, and it is becoming the mobile studio for BOUDIEFUL by Megan.
Founding Memberships are open at $99 for the year at www.boudieful.com, capped at fifty. This is the companion offer: a capped run of bus sessions at $475 instead of the $625 rate I plan to list, sold before the doors open.
You get build updates as it happens, first pick of dates, and the session at the founding rate. Cash App, Venmo or PayPal $BOUDIEFUL, note **Founding Bus** and your name, then text 505-608-4566 so Megan can register you.
Same honesty as the sponsor page already live on the site: this funds a privately owned business, it is not a donation, and Megan will tell anyone exactly where the money went.
| Term | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Quantity capped | Say the number out loud. At one photography session a week, fifteen founding sessions is already a full quarter of the calendar. |
| Redemption window | Opens when the bus opens, expires a set number of months after. Check New Mexico's rules on expiration dates first. |
| Refund promise | Match the site: refundable in full at any time before the bus opens, and refunded if it never opens. Transferable to another person, not redeemable for cash. |
| Itemized inclusions | 90 minutes, two sets, client closet, 25–40 edited images, print release, gallery in 2–3 weeks. Written down so there is no argument at redemption. |
| Quarterly redemption cap | Stops ten certificates from all landing in the same month against a one-session-a-week calendar. |
| Deferred revenue | This money is a liability until it is shot. It is not profit, and it is already spent on plywood. |
| Sponsor lane | For the people who do not live in the Four Corners: the existing tiers from Little Spark at $25 through Legacy Sponsor at $500 plus, applied to bus materials. |
## Venue Partnerships
Venue partnerships
It's a swap, not a rental. Nobody writes a check.
The outreach
Settle before the day
Send it as written
Hi [name] — I'm Megan Kilpatrick, a portrait photographer here in Farmington (www.boudieful.com). I'm converting a school bus into a mobile portrait studio, and I'm lining up session days for [season], once it's finished.
I'd love to park at [venue] for a day. I'd be booking 8–12 clients into 30-minute slots, so that's 8–12 people coming to your location, most of them for the first time. You get photographs of your space and product to use however you like, and I promote the day to my list with your name on it.
No cost either direction — I need a level spot and a few hours. Can I send you the plans and the interior progress so far?
Written for where the bus actually is. Do not describe it as finished until it is finished, and do not promise a partner that clients will buy from them. Promise what you control: bodies on their lot, photographs of their space, and their name in your promotion. And know the sequence: a venue day needs the bus **roadworthy, registered and commercially insured** — that is Phase 2, and it is not funded. Phase 1 is a parked studio at the family property. Line these up as warm conversations for later, not as dates you can commit to now.
Before the day is booked
Targets around the Four Corners
What makes a good spot: a wide level lot with room to swing forty feet of bus, power if possible, and a partner with an audience of their own. That last one is where the marketing comes from.
| Item |
| --- |
| Exact parking spot and arrival time |
| Power access or written generator permission |
| Restroom access for clients |
| Who promotes to whom, and when |
| Weather backup date, in writing |
| Their certificate-of-insurance requirement — have your PDF ready to attach |
| Venue |
| --- |
| Wineries and tasting rooms |
| Lavender and flower farms |
| Boutiques with parking |
| Wellness studios |
| Salons |
| Gyms |
| Garden centers |
| Ranches and event venues |
| Farmers markets and festivals |
| Durango, for the Whimsy & Woo overlap |
## Session Day
Session day operations
Forty-five minutes from arrival to first frame.
Slots offered / expected to fill
85 percent fill rate
Have a second person. Someone to greet, manage the queue, handle paperwork, and keep the next client comfortable. Running intake and shooting at once is where mini-session days fall apart.
| Time | Step | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| −90 min | Arrive and level | Park on the agreed spot, set the leveling blocks, plug into shore power or site the generator where its noise is not in the room. |
| −60 min | Unload and style | Props out, set dressed, backdrop panel onto its cleats, curtains straightened and re-hooked wherever they were pulled. |
| −20 min | Light and test frame | Track heads aimed, dimmer set, one strobe placed, and a test frame shot from the rear door so you know the room is ready. |
| Slot 1 | 20 on, 10 off | Twenty-minute slots with ten-minute gaps. The gaps are not optional — they absorb lateness and let you reset the set and yourself. |
| Midday | A real break | Eat, sit, drink water. Quality drops before you notice it does, and the last client paid the same as the first. |
| Slot 8–12 | Stop at twelve | Twelve slots is the ceiling before the work suffers. Book fewer and sell the day out rather than more and deliver thinner. |
| +45 min | Strike and checklist | Run the cleaning checklist, close and latch the bench lids, collect the candles, power down, lock up, and shoot the condition photos. |
## Build Payback
Payback math
When is the bus paid off?
Total to recover
Stage 1 cash build
Deferred mechanical — tires, brakes, fluids, service
Commercial insurance, year one
To recover
Fifteen founding sessions at $475 collects $7,125 up front, which covers the Stage 1 list several times over. It is also fifteen sessions owed: deferred revenue, not profit, and a quarter of the calendar already spent.
Set a monthly mix
Net per month
Months to payback
None of this has happened yet. It is arithmetic on proposed prices and a guessed volume, not a forecast and not a track record — no bus session has ever been sold. It excludes your own labor as a cash cost, plus storage, maintenance, prop replacement and taxes, so it answers when the build is paid off, not what the business earns. Barter has tax consequences worth an accountant's eye.
| Key | Product | Net |
| --- | --- | --- |
| mini | Mini-session days per month | 722 |
| signature | Signature session days per month | 405 |
| rental | Rental months (2 half + 1 full) | 922 |
## First 90 Days Open
The first ninety days after opening
Three answers decide what phase two is.
By the end of the window you know
| Weeks | Focus | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Weeks 1–2 | Redeem the founding sessions | The people who paid for the floor shoot first. Fix whatever breaks while the audience is forgiving. |
| Weeks 3–4 | First venue day | One partner, one set, a full slate of mini sessions, and a backup date already in writing. |
| Weeks 5–8 | Second and third venues | Different sets at different locations. Each day produces both revenue and the images that book the next one. |
| Weeks 9–12 | Open rentals, book the season | Other creatives in the space on days you are not shooting, and next season's calendar filling behind it. |
| Question |
| --- |
| Which set actually sells |
| Which venue type converts |
| Whether rental demand exists here |
## The Way In
The one place we do not cut
The way in decides who gets to book you.
| Option | Detail | Verdict |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Three steep bus steps | Factory stairwell and a single narrow rail. Quietly turns away anyone with a mobility limit, a flare day, or a bad knee. | no |
| Welded step platform, rails both sides | Low rise, generous tread, a rail to hold on either side. Built in Phase 1, as a trade, not as a purchase. | keep |
| Note |
| --- |
| The community built around Big Cyster includes people living with chronic illness and mobility limits. They are the audience, not an edge case. |
| Everything else in this plan says cheaper, smaller, later. This is the line that holds. |
| It belongs in Phase 1, not "later." A welder trade covers it for a session. |
## Inside The Session
Client experience aboard
What they remember costs almost nothing.
The promise on the website is consent-centered: every pose guided out loud, the client closet in sizes XS–5X, and the client choosing how images are shared. The bus has to keep that promise in a space eight feet wide, and every item below is cheap compared to the floor.
The changing area runs on the same curtain track already going in, behind the blackout wall at the twelve foot mark. Nothing extra to build.
| Icon | Item | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| :icon-shirt: | A real changing area | Curtain, rod, hangers, hooks for robes. Not the other end of the bus. |
| :icon-shopping-bag: | Client closet on board | A rack section of the 150+ gowns in sizes XS–5X, so the closet stops living in the back of the car. |
| :icon-scan-face: | Full-length mirror | Framed, secured to the wall, positioned out of frame. |
| :icon-lamp: | Vanity light that flatters | A small surface with neutral light for hair and makeup touch-ups. |
| :icon-battery-charging: | Phone charging | One outlet in the bench box near the changing side. |
| :icon-glass-water: | Water, tissues, robes | Stocked before every session day. Restocked after. |
| :icon-lock: | Belongings out of frame | A closed bench box, and a door that locks from inside. |
| :icon-eye-off: | Privacy film | Mirrored or frosted on the lower window band. |
| :icon-ruler: | Leveling blocks | A crowned lot tilts the bus and every prop on the benches slides. |
| :icon-cloud-rain: | Weather and restroom plan | The venue's facilities or a rented unit, decided before the day. |
## Safety & Insurance
Safety and insurance
A metal tube full of fabric has rules.
| Icon | Name | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| :icon-flame-kindling: | No open flame | Flameless LED only, everywhere, forever. The good flickering ones are indistinguishable on camera. |
| :icon-bell-ring: | Detectors | CO detector and smoke detector installed before the first session, not before the first inspection. |
| :icon-fire-extinguisher: | Extinguisher | 2A:10B:C mounted by the door, visible, and checked. Venues will ask to see it. |
| :icon-wind: | Ventilation | Roof vent fan pulls hot air and hot lights out with three or four people aboard. |
The one line item that can end the business
Commercial insurance before the first paid client steps aboard.
A personal auto policy will not cover a client injured during a session, parked or not. Tell the agent exactly what this is: a stationary studio with clients aboard for two to four hour sessions, relocated between venues.
Verify locally, do not guess
| Item |
| --- |
| Title and registration: bus versus motorhome or commercial designation, and what each costs. |
| Licensing: whether the GVWR and intended use require a CDL in New Mexico. |
| Venue requirements: proof of insurance, extinguisher, generator noise limits. |
| Parking and zoning at family property and any long-term storage, including clients visiting. |
| Barter and deferred revenue treatment with your accountant at year end. |
## The Regulatory Layer
Regulatory layer / verify every line locally
The boring page. Skipping it is how a good build becomes an expensive mistake.
$250–$400 / mo
Realistic ongoing insurance once clients are aboard — before fuel and maintenance
High-level framing, not legal or tax advice. Every figure here is a published ballpark, not a quote. Confirm registration with NM MVD, coverage with an insurance agent, and barter and deferred-revenue treatment with a CPA before repeating any of these numbers as yours.
| Icon | Name | Headline |
| --- | --- | --- |
| :icon-file-badge: | Title & class | Treat it as a commercial vehicle from day one. |
| :icon-shield: | Insurance stack | Four separate policies, and the bus needs its own regardless. |
| :icon-map-pin: | Permits & land | Every location needs its own written permission. |
| :icon-accessibility: | Access | A bus with steps is not wheelchair accessible. Say so first, in writing. |
| :icon-receipt: | Barter tax | In New Mexico, a trade is taxable gross receipts on both sides. |
| :icon-lock: | Boudoir | Careful public language, appointment-only, images stored tight. |
| Topic | Fact | Figure |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Title & class | Retitling as an RV usually requires cooking, toilet and water amenities that are not being installed here. | n/a |
| Title & class | Even titled as an RV, running paid sessions is commercial use and can still trigger commercial rules. | |
| Title & class | Over 26,000 lbs GVWR in commerce can require a CDL. Under it, a regular license often works — states differ. | 26,000 lbs |
| Title & class | Crossing state lines commercially in a heavy vehicle usually needs a USDOT number. The FMCSA application itself is free. | $0 |
| Title & class | New Mexico can also require USDOT registration for some intrastate commercial vehicles. Worth a sanity-check call to NM PRC. | 505-827-4519 |
| Insurance stack | Commercial auto for the bus, depending on weight, age and use. | $150–$300/mo |
| Insurance stack | General liability for the photography business at typical $1M / $2M limits. | $30–$50/mo |
| Insurance stack | Inland marine or equipment coverage for cameras, lenses and lighting moving on and off the bus. | $40–$50/mo |
| Insurance stack | A business owner policy can bundle liability and studio property — but the bus still needs its own commercial auto policy. | $50–$60/mo |
| Permits & land | Private lots and venues each need a written agreement. Fairs, markets and festivals need vendor applications and fees. | $0–$500 |
| Permits & land | Under the EXPLORE Act, many small commercial shoots in National Parks no longer need a permit: eight people or fewer, hand-held gear, public areas. | 2025 |
| Permits & land | BLM land, including around Moab, still requires a commercial use authorization. | required |
| Permits & land | Events on Navajo Nation land, like the Shiprock Fair, require Navajo Nation business licensing and event approval — plus lead time. | $50–$100 |
| Access | Under ADA Title III the expectation is access where readily achievable, which for a bus means offering an alternative rather than a ramp. | |
| Access | The accommodation: outdoor or on-location sessions for anyone who cannot safely board, documented in client materials and on the website. | |
| Access | Keep the interior clear enough that a client with a cane or limited mobility can move once aboard. | |
| Barter tax | Trade $500 of brand work for $500 of electrical labor and both sides may owe gross receipts tax on $500. | both sides |
| Barter tax | Gross receipts rates around Farmington sit in this band, so budget tax per major trade. | 5–8% |
| Barter tax | Write down a fair market value for every trade at the time it is agreed, then confirm treatment with a CPA. | $40–$100 |
| Boudoir | Some jurisdictions have adult-business ordinances that can technically sweep in a boudoir studio. Farmington is unlikely to, but the language on public signage and ads stays careful. | |
| Boudoir | Sessions strictly by appointment, with a strong written privacy policy. | |
| Boudoir | Images stored securely with explicit, specific consent about how and where they may be shared. | |
## Paperwork
Paperwork / verify locally
Four documents. One of them is usable today.
| Key | Document | Status | Warning |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| barter | Barter agreement | Usable after one attorney read | Section 1 is where trades go wrong. "Some electrical work" is not a scope. Write it until a stranger could read it and tell you whether it is finished. |
| session | Session agreement and release | Outline only — attorney required | This one carries your liability exposure, and an internet template is not written for New Mexico or for a client standing on bus steps. |
| rental | Rental agreement | Outline only — attorney required | The certificate of insurance naming you as additional insured is the single most important clause in the document. Do not draft that from a template. |
| cleaning | Cleaning checklist | Ready to print | It doubles as the rental handoff document, which is why it is worth being boring and complete. |
| Doc | Clause |
| --- | --- |
| barter | Exact scope of what each party provides, specific enough that both know when it is done |
| barter | Stated fair market value on both sides — bartered services are taxable income |
| barter | Redemption terms: expiration, transferability, quarterly cap |
| barter | What happens if either side cannot finish, valued proportionally |
| barter | Scope changes agreed in writing before work begins |
| barter | Independent parties, each carrying their own insurance and licensing |
| session | Fee, retainer, balance due, and what is extra |
| session | Rescheduling, cancellation, and how many reschedules are allowed |
| session | Weather clause — your right to move the date for wind, heat, or unsafe conditions |
| session | Access: entry is by steps with rails, and mobility needs disclosed in advance |
| session | Conduct: no open flame, no alcohol aboard, no children left unattended |
| session | Image usage, opt-in and specific, with the children policy stated plainly |
| session | Gallery delivery, storage, privacy, and limitation of liability |
| rental | Rental period including their setup and strike, with an overtime rate |
| rental | Deposit, refundable window, and a separate damage deposit |
| rental | Certificate of liability insurance naming you as additional insured |
| rental | Occupancy limit as a number — bus interiors feel bigger than they are |
| rental | Prohibited: open flame, smoking, alcohol, glitter, adhesive on walls, moving props |
| rental | Condition photos before and after, by both parties, and supervision on site |
| cleaning | Floor swept and damp-mopped, props returned to marked positions |
| cleaning | Curtains straightened and re-hooked where pulled |
| cleaning | Candles collected and switched off, bench lids closed and latched |
| cleaning | Backdrop panel secure on its cleats, trash out, steps clear |
| cleaning | Power disconnected, doors locked, condition photos taken |
## Brand Standards
Brand standards
What goes out publicly, and what does not.
| Rule | Why |
| --- | --- |
| Public-facing promotional imagery is my own real photography. | No generated or stock imagery in campaign material. The whole promise of this brand is that a real person photographed a real person, and the studio itself cannot be the exception. |
| No alcohol or drinking imagery in campaign content. | Empowerment work brings people in from a lot of different places. The imagery stays welcoming to all of them. |
| No identifiable images of clients' children posted publicly. | Model release or not. Faces blurred, cropped, or made non-identifiable before anything goes out. |
On the renders in this deck
They exist to test a color, sanity-check a layout, and show a barter partner what is being asked for. They live in the build folder, never in the feed.
## Calls & Gates
Before the first dollar
Three phone calls, in this order.
Write down what would make you stop
A decision gate set now is worth a great deal when you are eight weekends in and tired. Either answer means park it and reassess, not push through on savings.
The honest risk
It isn't money. It's attention. This build wants twelve consecutive weekends and a fair bit of your head, alongside everything else already running. Decide deliberately what gets put down, rather than discovering at week six that everything slowed by a third.
Track every build receipt from day one — the bus is a business asset and the build is capitalizable. Barter gets recorded on both sides at fair market value. Set the folder up before the first hardware run, not in April.
| Who | Why |
| --- | --- |
| Your dad | Confirm the bus can stay parked, with clients coming and going, through next season. The entire plan rests on that one answer. |
| A diesel shop | A $150 look-over tells you whether the bus is worth finishing before you spend anything on the floor. |
| Your insurance agent | Their answer may shape how you register it, and no paid client comes aboard before the policy is in force. |
| Gate |
| --- |
| The mechanical report says the frame or the engine is gone |
| The pre-sale does not reach ten sessions |
| The bus cannot stay parked where it is through the build |
## If It Stalls
The downside, on purpose
If the bus never rolls, what do you still have and what do you still owe?
| Key | Label | Summary |
| --- | --- | --- |
| keep | What you'd still have | Almost nothing on this list is bus-specific. It all walks into WHIMSY & WOO WOO or into the next on-location session. |
| owe | What you'd still owe | This is the real risk. Not wasted money — unkept promises. Keep this column short and it stays survivable. |
| Side | Icon | Item |
| --- | --- | --- |
| keep | :icon-bus: | The shell. Insulated and floored, a gutted bus is worth more than a rusty one, and it stays sellable. |
| keep | :icon-shirt: | The closet. 150+ gowns, XS–5X, still earning at every on-location session. |
| keep | :icon-lightbulb: | Lights, backdrops, drape and props — all portable, all usable in a rented room or a client's house. |
| keep | :icon-wrench: | Tools bought for the build, plus the skills and the trade contacts you made asking. |
| keep | :icon-camera: | The build content itself. Grinding, framing, painting — that footage sells the brand whether or not the bus finishes. |
| owe | :icon-camera: | Every pre-sold session. If the bus stalls, those get shot on location or refunded. Both cost you. |
| owe | :icon-users: | Every $99 membership year, honored in full, bus or no bus. |
| owe | :icon-badge-dollar-sign: | Sponsor recognition you promised in writing — logo, feature, thank-you post. |
| owe | :icon-handshake: | Barter already received. If Jade Energy wires it, they get their shoot even if the bus never leaves the lot. |
| owe | :icon-receipt: | Gross receipts tax on barter value and on presale income, in the period it was received. |
This is why Phase 1 stays under $2,800 and why presales stay capped. At that size, a stall is a delay and a story. Ten grand deep with thirty sessions sold, the same stall is a debt.
## Where We Stand
Current phase
Stage 0. Leak test, rust prep, subfloor materials.
Under $300 of cash and a lot of grinding. Nothing else gets ordered until the roof is dry and the floor is sound. Meanwhile the calendar stays at one photography session and one Reiki session a week, booked through January 2027.
| Label | Item | When |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Next milestone | Finish the Stage 0 assessment, then open the founding-rate bus sessions alongside the $99 Founding Memberships already live at boudieful.com, where the cap is fifty. | This month |
| Decision to close | Confirm the bus can stay parked and be visited by clients through next season, and check what the property zoning says about that. | This week |
| Gate before Phase 1 | A $150 diesel shop look-over. It answers the only real question: is this bus worth finishing? | Before spending |
| Trades to paper | One signed page each for Jade Electric and Floor Traders, plus a welder recruited for the step platform. | Weeks 1–3 |
| Sequencing | Spring 2027 dates open in December. Bus sessions should be sellable into that release rather than competing with the on-location calendar already booked. | By December |
| Tie-in to hold | The bus stays the mobile arm of the same brand: the Reiki slot and the 150+ piece closet move on board, so nothing gets bought twice when WHIMSY & WOO WOO finally has a lease. | Ongoing |
## Get Involved
How to get involved
The bus gets finished by the people who will shoot in it.
| Icon | Who | Ask | Link |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| :icon-hammer: | Founding Members | The fifty $99 Founding Memberships already include behind-the-scenes access. Build days start in week four, capped at eight to ten people, three to four hours, food and music included. Specific jobs posted ahead of each one. Bring yourself and one prop from your own collection. | See the work day plan |
| :icon-handshake: | Trades and partners | Still open: welder for the step platform and generator mount, sign shop for cut vinyl, seamstress for the drape, landscaper for a level gravel pad, nursery for live plants. Come with a scope and a value and it goes on one signed page. | See the barter list |
| :icon-heart-handshake: | Sponsors, near or far | The sponsor tiers already live on the site apply here too, from Little Spark at $25 to Legacy Sponsor at $500 plus, with a personalized thank-you package over $25. Cash App, Venmo or PayPal $BOUDIEFUL. | See the sponsor tiers |
| :icon-camera: | Future clients | Founding-rate bus sessions at $475 instead of $625 open at the end of Stage 0. Limited quantity, redeemable the season the doors open, refundable until then. | See the pre-sale math |
Every hour and every dollar lands in the same place: a room that shoots, holds Reiki, and carries the closet, and that keeps earning after WHIMSY & WOO WOO opens its doors. This is a living plan. Feedback, ideas, and offers to trade all change what happens next.
Megan Kilpatrick • BOUDIEFUL by Megan • www.boudieful.com
megan@boudieful.com • 505-608-4566 • Farmington, New Mexico