Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Olson
Hi Lisa, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Hi, My Name is Lisa Olson, the owner of Pets R Family
Certified dog trainer, award winning certified photographer and certified in pet psychology (understanding pet body language)
These days, when I think about it, I have come a long ways since I was young. I was bullied in school for how I looked which left me with little to no friends, this gave me insecurities, social anxiety, and depression. Not only was I bullied for my looks, I am partially deaf, have dyslexia, and a speech impediment.
It’s easy to say I got along with animals easier than I did with people when I was young. Dogs and other animals showed me love and acceptance without the hurt and pain people gave me.
When I became an adult I got the help I needed to think differently about myself and my life. Photography brought me back from being knocked down and at the lowest point in my life. It gave me joy, took me on adventures and an opportunity to learn something new.
I started with landscape photography and learned all I could on how to use my camera. It was a lot more challenging then I thought it would be but persistence paid off.
After learning landscape photography, I moved onto portraits which gave me a lot more to learn! I started to study lighting techniques, the art of posing people, photography set building, editing, retouching, composition, compositing, photoshop, and the list goes on and on… I found out there is a lot more to taking pictures than just pushing the button.
I started doing creative women portraits after I found a passion for being creative and making unique headdress and designer photo shoot sets. I wanted to help women escape everyday life and do something different. I also wanted to show women how beautiful they are, because we are our own hardest critics.
I was always a very shy and socially awkward person so I know how an amazing picture could give you a big self confidence boost. I launched my first photography business Custom Design Portraits. My goal was to help others step outside their comfort zone and be creative.
In 2020 when COVID hit, my portrait business, went out of business. This was a perfect time for me to search my heart and discover what I really wanted to do with my photography business. I decided to rebrand my business to what I have always loved and that was working with pets. I studied and received my dog training certification and pet psychology certification.
Pets are such a big part of my family it helped me think of my new pet photography business name, Pets R Family. I truly believe Pets R Family and belong in photos too. Pets love us unconditionally and a pet photo shoot is a great way to capture the love of your pet for all time.
In 2022 I combined my two passions of encouraging women and working with pets. I now offer specialized photo shoots for women with their dog. I give them a judge free zone to be themselves and be as creative as they want to be. I challenge them not care what others think and do it for themselves and be who they want to be.
It’s not just a photo shoot it’s a journey of self discovery with their dog by their side
My life’s journey, with all its ups and downs, has helped me find my mission in life. I want to encourage women like me who may not always have confidence, women who would rather spend time with animals than people most days, and women who want to feel beautiful.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of my most recent struggles was while I was doing an internal dog photography called Emerge challenge with Unleashed Education.
Over the past 6 month doing the Emerge challenge I was catapulted out of my comfort zone and into an opportunity to grow as an individual and a photographer. I was guided through this amazing learning experience by two world renown leaders in the pet photography community. Craig Turner-Bullock and Charlotte Reeves.
At the beginning of the challenge, I struggled to achieve a Top 10 image in the first 3 challenges. My mind set of “good enough”, “This is the best I can do”, “I’m sure the judges wont notice” (little hint, they notice EVERYTHING) was simply not going to help me reach my goals of being in the Top 10 in each challenge.
I had to change my mindset and prove to myself I could do it and ‘good enough’ isn’t going to get me there. The feedback videos from Craig and Charlotte every two weeks, that lasted about an hour, are extremely helpful. They look at every image that was entered into that photo shoot challenge category individually and talk about what is great, what is good and what could have been better. To me the feedback videos are priceless and motivated me to continue to improve my photography skills, creativity and editing techniques.
It’s a long story so I wrote a blog about it just a few days ago
https://www.mypetsrfamily.com/post/journey-to-award-winning-images
One of my biggest business challenges was switching from creative women’s portraits to dog photography when COVID put me out of business. Switching to dog photography took a lot of work to completely rebrand my business, find new clients, build my website, build a new portfolio, learn a new style of photography, new social media and more. I had to start all over again building a business but it was the best decision I ever made with my business
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My dog photography is for pet parents who believe Pets R Family and belong in photos too
Specializing in puppy portraits and dog photography while encouraging dog moms to step outside their comfort zone and have a creative photo shoot with their furbabies.
International award-winning published professional dog photographer, certified dog trainer and certified in pet psychology (understanding animal body language).
Pets R Family photography was voted Best Of Northern Utah in 2022 and 2023.
Pets R Family dog photography studio is located in North Ogden, Utah and is designed to help dogs feel comfortable, safe and relaxed. On location photo shoots available throughout Northern Utah from Logan to North Salt Lake.
Recently 3 of my pictures took first place in an international dog photography challenge. My portfolio took third place over all in the Emerge Challenge with Unleashed Education.
https://www.unleashed.education/blog/emerge-awards-2024-winners
I created a new style of dog photography photo shoots I call ‘Watercolor series’. I use a rain/water system to create colorful unique pictures of dogs in water. It’s a safe alternative to the trending holi powder photo shoots that can be hazardous to a dogs health. My new safe photo shoot alternative uses only water and gel lights. (Blog post coming soon on my watercolor series)
Keeping dogs safety in mind I also researched, designed and handmade a new prop for dogs called Lolli-PUP pops.
I researched material that could be used to make the lolli-PUP Pops that are non-toxic, durable, washable, shatter resistant, pet friendly and safe to use during the photo shoot.
The lollipop props have been such a big success with other dog photographers, I sell them on Etsy.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/lollipropshop
I would have to say what really sets me apart is my studio photography with dogs, puppies and props.. I work with a dogs personality and use positive reinforcement throughout the photo shoot to help them get use to the studio equipment and props.
https://www.mypetsrfamily.com/puppyphotographer
https://www.mypetsrfamily.com/dogstudio
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success isn’t a destination, it’s the journey and who you become along the way.
Success is also having goals you work towards, celebrate when you achieve them and always make new goals to work towards.
Pricing:
- I have a variety of package options available. There is no minimum purchase requirement and there are different packages to fit a variety of needs. Plus you get to see the images before you decided what package you would like
- https://www.mypetsrfamily.com/price
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mypetsrfamily.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pets.r.family
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/my.pets.r.family
