When your subject is far from the wall and you have a decent light source coming from the bottom angle lighting just that subjects face (especially light skin tones), then there’s more light on the face then anywhere in the photo. If you increase the contrast in post processing, the background will go to black and the face will brighten up. You can make this pop in this style from a slight s curve as well.

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I let my clients know they can go to a professional retoucher to do things that either I don’t have a lot of experience in, or just can’t do. I would give the retouched photo and a less retouched photo, so if she’s not happy, she can send it to another retoucher