Life & Work with Linda & Sia Lor

Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda & Sia Lor. They and their team shared their story with us below:

Linda grew up in her family’s nail salon with a big heart for everything creative.

Being at the nail salon for hours, Linda spent her childhood drawing, painting, and making MySpace layouts to pass the time. In high school, she decided to photograph her friends’ senior photos and received her first check. It changed her perspective on the arts: you can make money doing art! The business continued growing throughout college, and she expanded into weddings, events, families—everything.

In 2018, Linda was at a point of burnout and was ready to leave the photography industry. At the perfect time, Sia slid into Linda’s DMs, asking if he could learn photography from her. She genuinely thought, “This guy is a total f*ckboy,” and told him to watch YouTube videos (yes, really). Sia was patient and eventually landed a date with Linda! We fell in love, and months later, Sia asked again if he could learn photography—so he became serious about photography.

After two years of shooting weddings and portraits, we launched Lauj Company (pronounced low or lor), named after Sia’s Hmong last name. We found our passion and strengths shooting together and have been inseparable since. After falling in love with how photographers have the ability to transform how people view themselves, we became the hype duo here to calm those nerves and build your confidence during your photoshoot.

Today, we own Lauj Company & Lauj Booth! Lauj Co. is our wedding & portrait business, specializing in capturing fun and stylish couples in an artful and film-like look. We’ve been fortunate enough to be not only in Kansas City but also in worldwide destinations, such as Banff, Napa Valley, NYC, and the Hawaii islands.

In February 2024, we launched Lauj Booth, our editorial-style portrait photo booth company. Unlike a traditional photo booth where a machine takes your photos, you get Linda and Sia to capture you—two photographers who guide you and your guests. Guests leave the booth with a beautiful portrait they’ll want to share on social or print and hang on their walls. We have exciting pop-ups and collaborations with local companies in the coming months, and we look forward to seeing you in our booth!

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
In 2020, we moved to Kansas City from Springfield, Missouri, and launched our rebranded business, Lauj Company. As with most businesses during COVID, we experienced a lull in work and lacked the opportunities to truly network and get our name out there. In our first two years, we spent every weekend driving back down to Springfield to photograph weddings, portraits, and other milestones.

In 2022, we still felt like a small fish in a large pond and decided to partner with wedding shows in Kansas City. We were able to formally introduce ourselves to couples and fellow wedding vendors face-to-face, and it felt like a breakthrough for us.

We overcome obstacles every day with our businesses, especially as we continue to grow and bring new ideas to life. In 2024, when we launched Lauj Booth, it was truly something we pursued on a whim. We weren’t too familiar with the photo booth market. We spent many nights dreaming of the idea until one day, we fully leaned onto each other’s trust and support and ran with our photo(shoot) booth business. Or, really, I sprinted with the idea. We agreed to launch on Lunar New Year, which, at the time, was in 2 short weeks.

For Lauj Co., we had a marketing plan in place, social media planned, the website up, and all of our guides done before the launch. For Lauj Booth, we ordered and learned all of our equipment while building the necessary assets to make us look like experts.

In February, we joined Café Cà Phê’s Lunar New Year Night Market, and both of our businesses have been on an upward trajectory since. Our booth pop-ups boast long lines and collaborations that we, once upon a time, have only dreamed of doing. We are so thankful to Jackie Nguyen at Café Cà Phê and our Kansas City community for welcoming our newest baby, Lauj Booth, and for continuing to support Lauj Company.

Truthfully, overcoming obstacles and our success would not have been possible without the support of our family, friends, and clients, whom we proudly now call our friends—near and far. We’re able to do what we do because of their words of encouragement, sharing our name and work, and even being extra hands-on shoot days. Lauj Company and Lauj Booth are built not only by us but also by the community that stands behind us and cheers for us every single day. We are forever grateful for our people.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We’re people photographers. Through Lauj Co. and Lauj Booth, we have the honor of immortalizing special moments, people’s stories, and everyone’s individuality. We’re known for being the best hype crew, whether it’s on the best day of your life or “just because” (does there really need to be a special occasion to be celebrated?).

We celebrate everyone who steps in front of our camera and aim to photograph your most true, beautiful, authentic self. We’re here to make deep connections, not quick ones, and we strive to make our space feel safe so that people can be themselves in every photo shoot. We’re proud of each person we’ve connected with behind the camera, the places we’ve been to, and the partnership we built with one another as husband and wife and as photographers.

The trust and lifelong friendships we’ve built with those in front of our cameras are our most cherished memories. We have the privilege of being in the front row on the best days of our lives. We get to see what makes them smile, the people that make them who they are, what makes them tick, what makes their hearts flutter, and their stories. We get to learn this in a matter of minutes, hours, or days. We also get the privilege of going and capturing destinations we used to dream about.

From Banff, to the Hawaii Islands, to NYC, and places in-between—we are blessed, truly. The best part is that we get to experience these magical moments, places, and people together. Truthfully, we are better and stronger as photographers together, and that’s what sets us apart. We each have different backgrounds, strengths, and personalities, which is the perfect recipe for Lauj Company.

We lean on each other during busy times and share and reminisce about our favorite memories during our downtime. We remind each other often how far the business has challenged us to grow, learn, and evolve as a couple and as individuals. Lauj Company and Lauj Booth are parts of us. We’re constantly growing together, and it’s incredibly special that we get to do it hand in hand.

What changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
The photography industry will forever grow and change for decades to come, and, honestly, trends are unpredictable! Every photographer is different, and every person’s taste is different. For ourselves, we strive to continue to learn and evolve as styles continue to shift.

More importantly, we’re constantly learning to unlearn. If you’re a photographer or want to get into photography, we encourage you to experiment, shoot, and never lose that childlike passion. We’re excited to see what’s to come and what will inspire us in the coming years.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lauj.co
• Instagram: @lauj.co & @lauj.booth
• Facebook: facebook.com/LaujCompany & facebook.com/LaujBooth

Image Credits
Aventi Weddings Photography, Lauj Co., and Lauj Booth