Beyond the Frame with Amber and Scotti

Growing Up Mormon and Coming Out Later in Life

In this episode, we're getting into some of the stuff that shaped us long before we found each other and started a photography business.We both grew up in the Mormon LDS church. We both came out as gay later in life. And we both spent years not even seeing it as an option. In this episode, we open up about how our upbringings quietly silenced our own voices and what it took to finally get them back.We also get into what it's actually like being two strong-willed women in a relationship together. The control struggles, the synced menstrual cycles (yes, we go there), and the ongoing work of building something real — a business, a partnership, and a more honest version of ourselves — when neither of us is exactly the "go with the flow" type.It's candid, a little chaotic, and very us.In this episode:• Why we both came out later in life — and how religion played a role• Growing up Mormon in two very different worlds (Amber from suburban Orange County, CA and Scotti from small town Battle Mountain, NV). • Losing your own voice and learning to trust it again• What happens when both partners need to be in control• The synced menstrual cycle struggle no one warns you about and navigating a lesbian relationship as two alphas0:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA] – Intro0:34 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=34s] – Who we are: wife and wife photography business owners2:13 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=133s] – The synced cycle struggle: a third of our relationship we genuinely can't stand each other3:04 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=184s] – How we handle hormones completely differently 4:10 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=250s] – Synced menstrual cycles5:42 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=342s] – The need to be liked7:21 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=441s] – Amber's story: growing up so conditioned to please others she couldn't even pick a movie8:20 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=500s] – Both raised Mormon, completely different cultures — small-town Nevada vs. Southern California11:20 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=680s] – Scotti knew at age five something about the church didn't add up12:37 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=757s] – Amber's exit from the church 17:20 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=1040s] – Scotti's adolescence: growing up naive in a small town 19:32 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=1172s] – Amber's memory as a Mormon and how she viewed gay people21:18 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=1278s] – Amber at 18: wrote "could I be a lesbian?" 22:00 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=1320s] –Amber checked all the boxes, getting married… and never looking back. Until she had to.24:43 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=1483s] – We both came out later in life, and the Mormon church is why we didn't see it as an option25:05 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=1505s] – Scotti's anger toward the church: feeling trapped and controlled on every front29:03 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=1743s] – Our biggest relationship challenge30:50 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RhYchXTcxA&t=1850s] – Closing: hormones brought us in, hormones take us out. Connect with us:📸 ezellimages.com📷 Instagram: instagram.com/ezellimagesBeyond the Frame is brought to you by Ezell Images located in Reno, Nevada with all recordings happening in our Ezell Images studio.

Sobriety, Small Business, & Living Intentionally | Ft Melissa Meneses | Ep 3

What does it really take to rebuild your life from scratch — not once, but over and over again?Episode 3 of Beyond the Frame welcomes Melissa Meneses: Reno, NV native, real estate agent, co-founder of FM Cab Lab, mom of three, and a woman who has turned radical honesty into her most powerful business tool.This one gets real. Really real.Melissa opens up about finding sobriety after years of struggle, the moment her husband walked in the door with a box and rage-quit his job to start their own company. They also dig into the pressure of comparison culture, ditching New Year's resolutions, and why the best habits often start in the middle of the year.No agenda. No script. Just real conversation.In this episode:— Starting a business in 2020 with kids at home and a Walmart pool in the backyard— Nine lives: law, real estate, and what comes next— Four years sober — and the rock-bottom moment that made it possible— Breaking generational cycles and being the parent you needed— Snowboarding at Thanksgiving and building new traditions after loss— Why Reno's tight-knit community makes everything easier— The importance of living ONE DAY at a time About Melissa: Melissa Meneses is a Reno-based Realtor and co-founder of FM Cab Lab, a custom cabinet fabrication shop based in Reno, NV. She's been in real estate for nine years, spent over a decade working in law, and is one of the most well-connected people in the Reno community. She's also te Washoe County Director on the board of Sierra Nevada Realtors, a mom of three, and a believer in living fully one day at a time.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⏱ TIMESTAMPS━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━0:33 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHo4oEXZM40&t=33s] – Intro & meet Melissa1:15 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHo4oEXZM40&t=75s] – Nine to five: life in real estate2:17 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHo4oEXZM40&t=137s] – Nine lives & the experiences that shaped her2:39 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHo4oEXZM40&t=159s] – On motherhood & what matters most4:04 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHo4oEXZM40&t=244s] – The rage quit that started FM Cab Lab8:03 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHo4oEXZM40&t=483s] – Sobriety as a foundation — and finding joy in the present18:20 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHo4oEXZM40&t=1100s] – The sobriety journey: rock bottom and the light coming on26:23 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHo4oEXZM40&t=1583s] – Future vision: intentional living & what comes next34:21 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHo4oEXZM40&t=2061s] – The Reno community39:48 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHo4oEXZM40&t=2388s] – Day by day ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ABOUT BEYOND THE FRAME━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━Beyond the Frame is hosted by Amber and Scotti — the team behind Ezell Images and Bijou Photo, photography studios based in Reno-Tahoe. This podcast is about having honest, unscripted conversations we were already having off-camera.Half of the episodes you'll hear from just Amber and Scotti, providing a view into their entertaining dynamics as wife and wife business owners, wile the other half they will sit down and get real with guests from various backgrounds - all willing to get real.We're brand new and figuring it out as we go. Subscribe to follow along as we grow.🌐 https://www.ezellimages.com [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbTljMGVZdnhGbTJ2Vk8yZHhGRl9ma0dEN0FlQXxBQ3Jtc0ttTE9HeHU5cUhNajRjRnpKY2tYSGpQVWp4NU1GSV9Gc2NNWk9NQ0kxejdSeTlnSVZ0S3VKYVA4VUFuOERpWUI4OWJIYzctc1lJRzhNMkotZ1NENFJ4N0FnaGxDVWZkTDlFd2lDdE1kay1pMFVnVFRZNA&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezellimages.com%2F&v=XHo4oEXZM40]🌐 https://www.bijouphoto.com [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbHVsTXkxSXJocTNjYjNhV25uanlCN0pTVkgwQXxBQ3Jtc0tueno0SkxwYm9rVkN0RXJJUVJwTUttWktqN2c2NUk3b2dURE1iLVhldzVnUURnRGhnaTNSeUFRcEFLUFA4TXoyZFdLTnBzbEZsWTdGNDI4WFlzaUlnQVFONkF4VmM4Z2pTbVRtUjQxLXd1MUNkcDNXaw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bijouphoto.com%2F&v=XHo4oEXZM40]📸 / ezellimages📸 / bijouphoto.nv

Why AI Can't Replace Human Connection | Ft Jill Rutherford | Ep. 2

We came in to talk digital marketing and ended up with marriage advice, waterbed confessions, and a conversation about what home really means. That's kind of the point of this podcast. Episode 2 of Beyond the Frame welcomes Jill Rutherford. Jill is the founder of OCG Creative, a Reno digital marketing veteran of 30+ years, and one of our favorite people to just... talk to. What starts as a conversation about AI and entrepreneurship takes a few detours through Battle Mountain, NV, a carpet-on-the-wall basement bedroom, a 29-year marriage, and why some things will never be replaceable — not by technology, not by automation, not by anything.No agenda. No script. Just real conversation. In this episode: -The best marriage advice from a 29 year marriage - Growing up in small-town Battle Mountain (and feeling very differently about it)— -Stumbling into a career, pivoting through a recession, and learning to love what you didn't plan for - How AI is actually being used in digital marketing — and where humans still win -Why a real portrait session hits different than an AI headshot ever could -Empty nesting, aging parents, and the bittersweet feeling of a childhood home Jill Rutherford is the founder of OCG Creative, a full-service digital marketing agency based in Reno, NV. She's been in the marketing world for over three decades — from traditional media buying to navigating the rise of digital marketing, to now AI. Find OCG Creative: https://ocgcreative.com [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbG54X0dtLWtXMVZPRXVFdWQtV3RaeUUxM1lld3xBQ3Jtc0tsR1luYVd5Tjg1elIwT1dLbXZTck5ZSmtEUmJ0RTBiWktjTGY0NVBxdVZ3cURBZmIySVdMdFdpNDFBSTBuTnFYY1prSExVQVktMkI5MlhMX0RRVFRSR1Fjb1l2SDFpOENHZFl1OEtDbnMzQW5MNHZ1bw&q=https%3A%2F%2Focgcreative.com%2F&v=1UGJ5CjWHTc] Follow Amber and Scotti: instagram.com/ezellimages

Building a Business as a Married Lesbian Couple | Ep. 1

Welcome to the very first episode of our podcast! 🎙️ We're Amber and Scotti — wife and wife, and co-owners of a photography business in Reno, Nevada. In this debut episode, we're pulling back the curtain on who we are before we bring on guests, because if you're going to trust us with your stories, you should know ours first. We cover: -How Amber went from building a camera out of an oatmeal box in 4th grade to running a full-time photography studio -The winding road through Spanish teaching, finance jobs, and a divorce that finally led to taking the leap into photography full-time -How Scotti went from gold mining in rural Nevada to photo editor, studio manager, and now photographer -What it's actually like running a business with your spouse (the good, the annoying, and everything in between) -How COVID, a cross-state move, and a blended family all collided to create the business we have today This podcast isn't about business — it's about the personal stories behind the business. Expect honesty, a little chaos, and a lot of laughs. Subscribe so you don't miss our next episode!