We recently connected with Karolina Pora and have shared our conversation below.
Karolina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
Thank you for the opportunity to showcase my work. The idea for my business came to me when my first son was born. I had my little baby who I was crazy about, and I couldn’t imagine leaving him and going to work every day. I thought why can’t I try to do something that would allow me to be a stay at home mom and at the same time make money. I had a very basic DSLR camera and a very basic understanding of photography, but I knew I liked playing around with the settings and taking photos. I decided to take a leap and I opened my LLC. I took some in person and online photography classes. I asked a few friends if I could take photos of their families so I could practice more and build my portfolio. I started my business social media and created the Ka’Oli Photography website, so clients could find me online. I was shooting quite a bit and studying editing techniques every day. When my husband saw that I was serious about my business he decided to buy me a professional camera and more lenses, which I didn’t know how to use properly, but I kept shooting… I took a lot of photos of my child and my husband, a lot of landscape and architectural images so I could understand photography a little bit more. A friend recommended I start with real estate photography, and that’s when my business started to slowly move forward. English is my second language and at it was challenging at times to soak in all the information but seeing progress in my work was very rewarding.
Karolina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m a mom to two wonderful boys, I am originally from Poland, and I moved to the States in 2014. I have a bachelor’s degree in Business Psychology. I’m a lifestyle and portrait photographer and I’m immensely grateful to have many returning clients. I love doing photography and I can’t think of doing anything else for now. I can easily say I love my job, from taking photos to the editing process, I love it all. Moving to a new country was an adjustment for me. I was 28 years old, I got married, and at first I thought I would go back to sales but after having a baby I realized I wanted to be with my son, and at the same time do something for myself, have a flexible schedule and have an income. That’s how the idea to be a photographer was born. I’ve always loved candid photos and that’s how I introduce myself to my followers. When you look at my social media you can see a lot of movement, love and laughter at sunset.
Being a mom entrepreneur has taught me to be very disciplined. I know how little time I have sometimes and I don’t want to disappoint my clients, so I work as fast as possible. I love to give them the most amazing experience and I want them to feel like they just got together with a friend who takes photos of them.
I’m still taking classes, workshops and courses because that helps me grow every year to be better at my work.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I’m a military spouse and that means we have to move every few years. I started my business while we were living in Hawaii, and a large part of my work there was real estate photography. In 2019 I relocated with my husband and two kids to North Carolina where I had to rebuild my business. Photographing houses was difficult for me because you have to be very flexible in that industry and with two little ones I found it very challenging. I dove more into lifestyle and portrait photography instead and I’m loving it! Interiors are an addition to my business for now. I enjoy doing it and hopefully in the future I’ll have more opportunities to photograph beautiful spaces. Shooting portraits allows me to be creative and more flexible with my schedule. I always shoot at sunset, which not only offers the best light, but then my husband can stay with the kids while mommy is at work.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
As I mentioned before, I’ve learned to be very disciplined and systematic with my work since I’m a mom and an entrepreneur. I love my clients and strive to make them happy with my service, so I always answer emails and send contracts within 24 hours, and I deliver the final product within two weeks. I try to post regularly on my social media. I love being a friend to my clients and many times I go over the time with my sessions, because we are having fun or I’m trying to get kids to cooperate with the camera. I’m sure my customers who are reading this now are smiling because that’s probably their kid, but I’m not complaining, I absolutely love doing it. I get a lot of referrals because my clients typically enjoy the experience. That is very rewarding.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kaoliphoto.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/kaoliphotography
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaoliphotography/