05/11/2026
As I sit here photoshopping drool off of a backdrop (living the dream) I wanted to share a milestone I recently hit at Paw Culture. This past month was the first time (since signing the lease in October 2024) that I was able to pay for my studio rent exclusively from pet portrait bookings. In addition to pet portraits, you might know me as . I photograph weddings full time, and Paw Culture became my beloved side project a few years back.
If you’ve never started a business, you might not know how much risk is involved on the front end. Building something solid takes time, a lot of money, and so much patience. I’ve been DIY from the start - from early days of pop-ups under borrowed tents back in 2020, to furnishing my entire studio with entirely secondhand items. I am so proud of that - it felt like it took forever. I wanted to avoid taking out any loans when I opened the studio. We were preparing to buy a house at the same time and when you’re self employed, having any kind of debt makes buying a house pretty difficult. I paid for almost everything you see here in cash, off marketplace or at estate sales. For the first year and half the studio rent was paid for out of my own pocket. If you brought your dog in here prior to the past few months, I was basically taking a loss on every session just to have a portfolio. 😂 It wasn’t easy but we’ve finally hit our stride and I can say with some confidence that this little pet portrait studio of mine wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
If you’ve ever referred me, booked your pet a session, or even just sent encouraging words from afar, thank you. Word of mouth is as good as gold and I could never have done this without a village of dog-lovers lifting me up. ❤️
LIFE IS SHORT. FIND SOME JOY WHERE YOU CAN. BOOK YOUR DOG SOME GLAMOUR SHOTS.
