We recently connected with Paula Luu and have shared our conversation below.

Paula, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

Over 13 years ago, after graduating from college and getting married, I had a major change in what I wanted to do with my life and career. Since I was 9, I had always helped my parents with their businesses and translated all of their business meetings and contracts. So naturally, I was planning on going to law school after I finished college. You could say all of my life from age 10-21, I was determined to go to law school. However, I was always passionate about music, theater, and fashion. I knew I had to get a bachelor’s degree before I could go to law school.

Learning piano and taking voice lessons was a very typical thing to do in my family and our community of Vietnamese Christian immigrants. It served as a hobby but developed discipline and skill but wasn’t meant to be a career. Because one was my passion while the other was how I was going to make a living, I ended up getting a music degree as well as a political science degree. After I took the LSAT and did some internships at different law firms, I ultimately decided it wasn’t for me because I hate writing and reading. So I gave up on the whole law school idea and took various positions where I worked as customer services and translator. I hated that too! I was pulling my hair out and my health suffered from all the stress of the job. Then my husband said, “Why don’t you teach piano or voice lessons? You are good at both and have a degree for both.” So I started giving private lessons to a few students after my morning shift. A few became 10, then 15, and 20. So my husband asked, ‘Why don’t you just teach?”

At first it was very scary, to leave the security of a steady paying job with insurance and other benefits. I didn’t know how I would be able to find clients or where I would even teach them. But I never looked back and my students grew through organic referrals. Teaching private lessons was a huge step for me. I learned so much from it.

By 2016, I was well established in my community and had a long waiting list for new students. My hobby had turned into my job. And my husband said, “You have quite an eye for photography. I wonder what will happen if we get you a real camera and not just an iPhone to take pictures for fun.” I don’t know if I have my husband is to blame or to thank for all of my success but that hobby also turned into a job and was really the birth of Houston Creative Space and. Paula N. Luu Photography.

By then, I had some really talented students who were singer/songwriters or musical theater students, who needed album covers, headshots, senior pictures and so on. So I started photographing my students for their different needs and fell in love with it all. I finally felt like I belonged and that I’d found what I should have been doing all of this time.

I wouldn’t really change much. I think I am where I am because of all the experiences and education that I had. Everything that has happened in my life prepared me for this role. As much as I love piano and singing, there were always limitations and struggles, but with portrait photography I am able to do it all.

Paula, 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 Paula N Luu a portrait photographer specializing in editorial style portraits for individual and family. My goal is to reveal & elevate the essence of each person in front of my camera.  I believe the best portrait captures the many facets of one’s personality, interests, and affections. Sometimes women do not see their own beauty. Sometimes, men do not realize their charm. My greatest joy is to bring these images to light so that people, whoever they are can see the best version of themselves.

No matter what genre or portrait style I am shooting branding, individual portrait, senior or family, I like to bring a little bit of fashion into each photoshoot that makes you feel like a model or celebrity while helping you see yourself in a different way.

Most of my clients are normal people who don’t know how to draw out that side of themselves but it’s my job to pair you with the right glam team to make it possible for a day.

My favorite quote is from Elliott Erwitt: “To me, photography is an art of observation… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” With that in mind I help everyday people look and feel their best by capturing how I see them. I love that my job allows me to focus on the best in everyone and I believe it is my mission to build confidence in the world.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had known about the financial side of running a business. As a business owner you have to think about cost of good plus your value and then add tax. That was one of the biggest lessons I had to learn. You can operate on a salary-based mentality but that means taking what you are willing to get paid and then adding more – because as your own boss, Uncle Sam will take 1/3 of whatever you get paid. So price accordingly and don’t under value yourself.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The two most rewarding parts of my job as a photographer are freezing time and helping people build confidence. What I’m doing is capturing moments that are already gone, and allowing my clients to cherish them for a lifetime in a way that lets them see themselves in a new light, and help them feel beautiful. On another note, I also love that it never gets boring. Every client is different. Every photoshoot is different. And there is always more to learn.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.paulanluu.com
• Instagram: paulanluu
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Paulanluu/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/paulanluu

Image Credits
Photographer: Paula N. Luu Hair and Makeup Artists: Rhonda Jackson, Ashley Boudreaux, Kim Burton, and Tammy Harper All dresses beside the red dress are from Chloe Dao Collection Photographer Assistants: Angel Brites