I have news! I’ve been working on something for the past few months that I can finally announce: I’ve just started my own business! And that’s not what you would expect of me. Hell, it’s not even something I ever expected myself to do. I never thought I would ever start a business in this industry. What industry is that you ask? It’s technology! I started a software – Klaia . I know, let’s back down.
How sofiasolisb.com started
I founded sofiasolisb.com in 2017. I was extremely bored waiting for college, so I decided to start a blog. For me it was an opportunity to unleash my creativity, but it was also a business decision. From here I’ve expanded Instagram and have had the privilege of collaborating with Coach, Victoria’s Secrets and even Ralph Lauren. It all started with wanting the choice of either creating content full-time after graduation or getting a job in my field. Turns out I didn’t make that choice either. I went another way – the start-up founder way.
But Sofia, aren’t you in fashion school? Yes, I am. In fact, I’ll graduate in May 2022. I still love fashion and maybe in the future I will work in the fashion industry. Who knows!
Why I decided to start Klaia +, here is a little background story
Anyway, let me tell you about my startup. It’s called Klaia and it’s a software management tool for content creators. Throughout my journey as a content creator, I’ve always had to balance studying full-time, internships, part-time jobs, and working as a content creator. It was hard.
I got to a point where I didn’t enjoy creating content anymore. Something I started out of passion became something I felt compelled to do. I was exhausted, burned out, overwhelmed. But I wasn’t ready to stop just yet. So I looked for ways to reduce the administrative burden I was taking on so I could get back to creating and still earn an income. I signed with an agency, which was a total failure. I tried some software programs but they didn’t meet my needs. I kept trying different things until I considered quitting.
During the pandemic I gave up creating. I just didn’t have it in me anymore. But I felt guilty. I felt like I was somehow betraying my younger self by giving up something that we had put so much energy and love into. So I decided to look for another solution and so I decided to develop my own software – Klaia.
There is so much work behind content creation. Each blog post I publish takes at least 3 hours of work. From planning the post to publishing it involves writing, editing, keyword research, creating images, searching for graphics and applying on Pinterest and social media. And that’s just the creation, then there’s the administrative work. This includes replying to emails, interacting with your audience, negotiating branded contracts, reading 10+ page contracts, sending invoices, tracking expenses, and more!
And the reality is, many content creators have to balance all of that with a full-time job or college degree. As a content creator, you put so much time and energy into something without even knowing if it’s ever going to happen. Not knowing if you’ll ever make a dollar out of it or if it’ll go anywhere. And that’s also what keeps many people from creating something: investment of time and fear of failure.
Get Klaia on her feet
It’s been a crazy journey since I made the decision to start Klaia. First, I had no idea how to even create software. I didn’t know anyone who would have done anything remotely similar. i was lost Literally.
I will never forget the day I told my mom about my crazy idea. She knew I wanted to start my own business someday, but never thought it would be a tech company. I’m sure she envisioned the thousands of dollars she spent on college tuition going down the drain.
My mom can be a typical Latina mom, but if there’s one thing she understands, it’s that you have to take risks to make money. That’s the only thing she always understood and instead of resisting me starting a business in an industry I had no experience in, she fully supported me.
Anyway, I had to start working and figure out how the heck to launch a piece of software without any technical expertise or knowledge. I needed a co-founder. And I found something amazing. His name is Val and he always reminds me: “Sofia, you are very lucky to have me.” Yes, Val, I am very lucky to have you on board. Once Val was in, we got the ball rolling. And we gently launched Klaia just a few days ago!
I’m excited and also scared to see where this goes. Will we succeed in giving content creators the opportunity to grow their business? Or will we fail? To be perfectly honest, I have no idea. Stay tuned to find out I guess.
If you’re a content creator, sign up for Klaia to manage your brand partnerships – it’s 100% free! And if you are interested in becoming a content creator, we share content creation and monetization tips on Klaia’s blog .
The future of sofiasolisb.com
Some of you have been following this blog since the beginning and I will be forever grateful for that. It’s crazy to me that something that started out as a journal during college brought me here.
Don’t worry, this blog remains active and I will do my best to keep posting content here. I will continue to post about college, fashion, beauty and now entrepreneurship.
