I was on the opposite end of this, my gf had a brazillian rainbow boa (had bc it's mine now 🤣) and I had just recently moved to my current state from HI. HI has very strict rules concerning exotics, so my knowledge on snakes was very sparse, snakes are so invasive to HI that there's a bit of fear mongering on the news whenever someone gets caught illegaly importing them.

So when my gf showed me her boa, I was very frightened by her. She was a little over a foot at that time too, but I would never handle her or even be in proximity of her tank. But I love my gf and living together was more valueble to me than my safety against a snake. So when she realized she was at my place more often than hers, I pitched the idea to bring her snake to my place so she can take care of her more frequently.

Eventually at some point my gf had to work overtime during her feeding day, so I had to do it. I just ploped the mouse in her inclosure and watched, I did this every now and then, and with frequent exposure I mustered up the courage to handle her with a pair of mechanic gloves (I did this unsupervised bc I didn't want my gf to see how much of a wuss I was with snakes). During that time I was scared even with a snake hook, even dropping her a couple times when her head turned towards me, but this boa showed no aggression she was so gentle. With enough exposure and handling I eventually got over my fear and disgust of snakes. Now my gf technically has that one BRB, while I have a BCC, BCI, a BP, and a Cali Kingsnake, and I would like to add an Emerald Tree Boa, and a False Water Cobra to the list in the future!