When my husband and I were about to get married, we knew we were moving to the south for his continuing education, and I began looking for a job myself. I was having the hardest time finding any positions and it seemed like all the jobs I was applying for were either going to pay next to nothing, and wouldn’t even be jobs that made sense with my degree or experience.
 
A little back story–I was a pretty creative kid, and when I got my first little kodak point and shoot, I would have my best friend over, get her dressed up and we would have photo shoots in the back yard for fun. This became a regular occurrence for us, and now as I reflect, it is so telling to what my life would become. As I got older, the interest and hobby just evolved—I’d bring my camera on family trips, take it to school events, offer to take pictures of cousins, regularly share photos on IG, etc.

When I was approaching this huge life transition (marriage and moving across the country), and felt so defeated and confused about not finding work, my sweet husband suggested that I start my own photo business. Photography wasn’t something I had ever considered monetizing as it was always a hobby to me, so I dismissed his idea until I still hadn’t found a job and was ready to explore that as a legitimate option myself.

Luckily enough for me, our new home in the south was absolutely full of creative small businesses. I ended up meeting a few amazing creative business women who pointed me in the right direction and mentored me a bit and helped me gain more experience and in order to build up my portfolio to eventually take on clients of my own.

All that to say the name PHOEBE O AND CO comes from my name (Phoebe Oyler) and the co is a nod to my husband for pushing me and believing in me enough to do this work. It’s so special and I truly believe it’s what I was meant to do. 
Similarly, my relationship with my husband has been my biggest inspiration, allowing me to experience it myself and recognize it in others so that I can intentionally document “being in love” in real life. How it looks newly engaged, a few years married and throughout various seasons of life. 

We were married at one of our favorite places on a tiny lake in Tennessee surrounded by thirty of our closest loved ones. For lack of a better explanation, our day felt like us, inspiring me from then on to cultivate a similar experience for my couples.