Meet Pat Koler Liana Abreu | She & Her Photography

We had the good fortune of connecting with Pat Koler Liana Abreu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Pat Koler, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
The love of photography seems to run in the family. Pat originally became interested in photography in her 20’s. She did quite a bit of travelling throughout the years (she’s been to 44 states). And throughout her travels she began to photograph it. Throughout documenting her trips through photographs, it wasn’t only something to look back on it became a creative outlet that she was passionate about it and good at!

Liana found photography shortly after giving birth to her set of twin boys. She wanted nice camera to capture all the new, fast growing memories with her babies. Shortly after that she began photographing her friends and that also became her creative outlet.

When Liana gave birth to her second son, in 2014, there was no doubt there would be a newborn photo session happening. After looking through the photos, a conversation started happening between us about starting a photography business together. The one thing that gave them both the courage to start a business together, was thinking back when Pat’s mother was still alive (Liana’s grandmother) and thinking how she would always remind them life is short. It sounds cliche, but when we thought about how we wanted to live our lives, what we wanted that to look like since time is fleeting and we only have one life to live, we decided we had to pursue a business together that was fueled through a love and passion for photography and with a goal to give families something to look back on smile.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
What set’s apart from other portrait photography companies is we are an autism friendly company. We’ve been certified through FAU CARD as a Autism friendly business. We have personal experience as well as trained experience on working with individuals on the spectrum. Liana has twin boys on the spectrum and we found throughout the years it can be hard to feel heard and understood in regards to someones autism exceptionalities. We wanted to provide a service to families with children who may not be typical and who may shy away from the camera, or bright lights, or taking directions and working with them instead of expecting them to work with us.

It definitely wasn’t an easy road. As with anything in life, growing takes time. We’ve learned to be patient. We’ve learned to be easy on ourselves. We’ve learned the true meaning of being human, making mistakes, and if it’s not working, how to fix it and do better next time.

We would love for the world to know that our brand/business/company/story are all about connection. It started with the strong mother/daughter connection we have. It flourished into sharing a connection with our clients. And it ends with our clients being able to look at their photos and feel the connection and love of the people in them.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
A week long trip to South Florida isn’t long enough! We would have to take them to the beach, of course! We always go to those spots where not a lot of people know about. Ocean Ridge Park in Boynton Beach has limited parking and you have to walk through this beautiful trail covered by trees and vines. We would definitely take them to Colee Hammock Park in Ft. Lauderdale for a picnic with a view. We love those places that aren’t crowded and it’s such a quaint little park that faces the intracoastal. You could spend hours just sitting and watching the boats go by. We love spending the weekends visiting farmers markets and our favorite is the Swank Hydroponic & Sustainable Produce Farm in Loxahatchee. They have the best food vendors and offer the freshest produce! You can’t miss it!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We know we wouldn’t have been able to have been successful without the support of our families. They’ve given us advice and feedback, sometimes not asked for, throughout this journey that has helped us tremendously. And since becoming a successful business, the continued support of our clients has always been in the forefront. We are always grateful when previous clients reach out to book another session.

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