Good Neighbor Podcast: Port Saint Lucie
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Port Saint Lucie. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Benjamin John helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Port St Lucie, Florida.
Is your business serving the residents of Port Saint Lucie? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpPSL.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Port Saint Lucie
E315: Pet Portraits and Love: A Unique Perspective
What makes Marco Esposito with Pups Mobile Photography Studio a good neighbor?
A heartwarming look at how pet photography fosters deep connections between pets and their owners. Marco Esposito, the founder of PUPS, discusses his journey into mobile pet photography, his collaborations with shelters, and the joy of creating lasting memories.
• Introduction to Marco Esposito and PUPS mobile photography
• How PUPS supports local shelters and promotes pet adoption
• Breaking common myths about pet photography with real experiences
To learn more about Pups Mobile Photography Studio go to:
https://pupsphoto.com
Pups Mobile Photography Studio
772-874-3207
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Benjamin John.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to the Good Neighbor Podcast once again. Hey, I want to ask you are you in need of a good photographer for, yes, your pet? Well, there might be someone who actually specializes in that closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of having a conversation with Marco Esposito. How are you doing, marco? Doing great, benjamin. How are you? I'm doing really good, yeah, thank you. I'll tell you what I'm very fascinated with your business model, and I think the community is as well. So let's just start off. Tell us a little bit about the company.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so Pop-Up Photo Studios, the acronym is PUPS. We are a mobile photography studio that we're able to go pretty much anywhere in South Florida, servicing Orlando to Miami. Go right to your door, pop up our studio, have professional lighting and take those beautiful portraits of you and your dogs, any of your pets, your cats. We just love to see the bonding, the connection I know. I have two boxers and my wife and they're my whole world, so I love creating artwork around that and looking at it every day, just loving and showcasing our dogs.
Speaker 2:Okay. Well, this is such a unique business model and I'm very curious to know how did you get into this business?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I've been a professional photographer since about 2009. I work in weddings, portraits, sports, and kind of got this crazy idea networked with a guy out in Colorado that was doing it, shout out to Fetch Photo, went out there, kind of saw what he was doing, fell in love with it. And one big part around our mission is to get dogs adopted. So we volunteer once a month at local humane societies, work with different shelters, take photos of their dogs to try and get them adopted as well, because a lot of times when they come in they're really scared. They get a picture on an iPhone that's kind of what goes online.
Speaker 3:So we love to go in, volunteer our time just to get these dogs adopted, because a lot are just beautiful, beautiful dogs and cats. So we bring them into the trailer, make them feel super comfortable. We have different colored backgrounds, lighting and really just try and showcase their personality. So we spend a little bit more time with them, throw them treats Everybody loves the treat catching photos where their mouths are open, catching those treats in midair, the treat catching photos where their mouths are open, catching those treats in midair, yeah, and just really show off who they are and be able to present that online Instagram, facebook and really get the community involved to showcase those dogs and get them adopted.
Speaker 2:That's really cool. I love the first of all. I like your passion for your, your love for dogs, and then I love hearing about the collaboration between you and the animal shelter. It's such a again another unique approach to your business. I love that, thank you. What are some myths or misconceptions that you found within doing this?
Speaker 3:A lot of people say, oh, my dog won't sit still, my dog is too rambunctious. Listen, I've got two boxers, the most rambunctious dogs you can get. But once we get them into the trailer a lot of the adoptable dogs, you know we show them so much love, give them so many treats, that once they calm down, once they figure out, oh this is kind of fun. Calm down once they figure out, oh this is kind of fun. Peanut butter is kind of my secret weapon. So to bring them in, let them feel comfortable in that environment and you know, sometimes I do it for me just as much, just to give these dogs some love.
Speaker 3:So myth number one my dog will not sit still for a photo. Well, we definitely have our little tricks and and that we do inside the studio to to really get them involved and relaxed and then showcase their personalities. Some other myths that we have that some of the dogs just won't sit still, and again that kind of goes back to having them relax and enjoy the experience and just show them that they're loved and that they're in a very safe environment. We've done dog photography outside and that's a little bit more chaotic. So having them in the trailer where they're just sniffing around. They want to see what's all in there, and once they figure out, the guy with the treats is there and they all kind of behave a little bit more because they want those, those treats.
Speaker 2:A little incentive for them, yeah.
Speaker 1:To behave.
Speaker 2:Exactly, very cool. Well, I think I know the answer to this question, but maybe there's other customers that I'm unaware of, so I'll just ask you who are your target customers and how do you attract them.
Speaker 3:Yeah, definitely anybody with a dog who loves them enough to put them up on the wall to showcase that love. You know, dogs just aren't around long enough, so we love photographing them in the puppy stage, in the teen stage and even our older puppies when dogs, when they they're part of the family. So that's really who we we are geared towards is someone who wants those long lasting bonds and relationships and can look back at their photos when they're not puppies anymore and remember them in that puppy stage or even later on in life when they passed, and be able to have them on your wall in an album to look back and just look back fondly of those memories. And you know, it tugs at my heart a little bit because I know my boxers are turning four and six and boxers just they kind of have a 10 year lifespan. So it's just to think that, oh my gosh, in a few short years they might not be around, but with the photography I'm able to encapsulize that and keep them fresh in my memory and mind and every time I see them I just love the photos.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, anybody with a dog that they love more than life and just are their whole world. Um, I know the the word dink comes to mind dual income. No, kids, I never heard that. People that, um, you know, might not have kids, or even if they do, we love doing the family photos with them. So anybody who's just, if you take your dog to a park, if you walk them, if they're the ones who sleep in bed with you, that cuddle up on the couch. We want those relationships to be forever photographed and memorialized, even in our photography.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, you're completely right, they're family members, and what you've created captures moments just like children and a family member, and so I would say that's a huge value to what you bring to the table with that business. Absolutely, yep, yep, all right. So outside of work, what do you like to do for fun?
Speaker 3:Ah, my wife and I love traveling. We are, uh, we're big cruisers. We got married on a cruise. Um, we went to Europe last year. Uh, anything outdoor, taking the dogs involved. We love going to farmer's markets, the beach, uh. Comedy shows are really big on our list, so anytime there's a comedy show local, I love to laugh Concerts. So we're pretty active and involved. Anything on a boat, anything on a motorcycle, I'm down for Any sort of adventure. Sign me up. If I've never done it, I want to try it out.
Speaker 2:Oh, I like that. I like that approach and that mindset, and I probably might see you at the farmer's market, if I haven't already. I like going to those as well.
Speaker 3:They're great. We have so many great local ones in Tradition, the Port St Lucie Green Market. We actually go there, we pop up. We don't normally do photography there, but we're there showcasing what we do and just meeting people in our community. People bring their dogs out, so it's great for me because I get to meet all the dogs yeah, so it's great networking and just meeting people in our community.
Speaker 2:Very nice. All right, I'm going to switch gears on you here a little bit. Can you describe a hardship or a life challenge that you've went through and made you stronger?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. My wife is a two-time survivor of cancer. She had thyroid cancer before we met and then, after we got married, it came back. So just being with she's good now, all good, we're in the clear. But about two years ago it was really really tough just getting that diagnosis but being able to be beside her and go through all the doctor's visits, the surgeries I never knew I had that depth to me.
Speaker 3:I've never really been in a circumstance where, wow, this is the person you love most in this world and they're sick.
Speaker 3:So to be there for them, taking that weight and responsibilities you know a little bit more than your normal life goes through, but it's really helped us out on our journey through health. I've lost about 40, 50 pounds recently, so you know, getting back in the gym, eating, right, so it's all those culmination of I don't know where I'd be if we hadn't gone through that to see like, yeah, we, if we can beat cancer, let's, let's go. Like, what, what's the world got that we can't beat? So definitely a hardship that we went through, but we're stronger, we're closer and you don't take life for granted as much. When you've been through something like that You're like, hey, let's travel, let's love our dogs every day, let's do the things that make us happy and, like all the other stuff, the fluff that we get involved with in our life that it just doesn't matter as much. So definitely going through that, being there for her really has helped me grow as a person.
Speaker 2:Wow. Well, thank you for sharing that with us, and I got to say I'm really happy to hear that she's doing well and you guys are, you know, focused on the blessings and the positive side of that experience Really happy to hear that. Thank you, Thank you. Uh, so yeah, uh, Marco, please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about pups. Mobile photography studio.
Speaker 3:One thing you should remember, one one love your dogs every day, give them treats, spoil them, pet them. You are their world and vice versa. My dogs and my wife are my world. So to be able to photograph and capture those memories and put them up on my wall and have an album just to cherish them, just to represent that loyalty and that love, is something that I love to do, and I'd love to provide for people in our community and check out the shelters. There's some amazing dogs out there. Please go, give them love. Even if you can't adopt, volunteer, uh, show up for them, because those dogs are little angels on this earth and the kitties and they just deserve all the happiness in the world.
Speaker 2:Nice, well, I like that. You gave a shameless plug to the animal shelter as well, so that says a lot about you, absolutely. Um, okay, and how can our listeners learn more about pups? Mobile photography studio as well.
Speaker 3:We're on instagram pupsphotos. Our website is pupsphotocom. We're at tradition market. We're at the Port St Lucie Green Market. Come see us. We try and get involved a lot. We are having an event at Ocean Republic Brewery with Mabel's Mission where we're going to raise some money for her mission and just try and get dogs adopted and out of the shelters. So we're having mini sessions. So check our website, follow us on Instagram, like, share, comment post. It just really helps build the community around these adoptable dogs. And yeah, thank you for having me on. This has been fantastic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, and to you as well, marco. I really appreciate you making the time coming on here and sharing a little bit more about your business, and we wish the best for you and your company moving forward. All right, thank you, so so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPPortStLucycom. That's GNPPortStLuciecom. That's GNPPortStLuciecom, or call 772-303-1036.