From Fashion Blogger to Tech Startup Founder: Meet Klaia!

I got news! I’ve been working on something for the past few months that I am extremely excited to finally announce – I just launched my own company! And it isn’t something you’d expect from me. Hell, it isn’t even something I would have ever expected from myself. I would have never thought I’d be launching a company in this industry. What industry is it, you ask? It’s technology! I launched a software – Klaia. I know, let’s back up.

How sofiasolisb.com started

I started sofiasolisb.com in 2017. I was extremely bored waiting for college to roll around, so I decided to create a blog. It was a way for me to have a creative outlet, but it was also a business decision. From here, I expanded to Instagram and I got to work with Coach, Victoria’s Secrets, and even Ralph Lauren. All began because I wanted to have the choice to either create content full-time after graduation or to get a job in my field. Turns out, I didn’t choose either. I went yet a different way – the startup founder way.

But Sofia, aren’t you in fashion school? Yes, I am. I’m actually graduating in May 2022. I still love fashion and maybe in the future, I’ll work in fashion. Who knows!

Why I decided to launch Klaia + a bit of a background story

Anyway, let me tell you about my startup. It is called Klaia and it is a software management tool for content creators. Throughout my journey as a content creator, I’ve always had to balance being a full-time student, internships, part-time jobs, and being a content creator. It’s been hard.

I got to a point where I was no longer enjoying content creation. Something I had started doing out of passion became something I felt forced to do. I was tapped out, burnt out, overwhelmed. But, I was not ready to quit yet. So, I started looking for ways to reduce the amount of admin work I was taking on, so I could go back to focus on creating, while still making an income. I signed up with an agency, which was a total failure, I tried some software, but they didn’t meet my needs, I kept trying different things until I was considering quitting.

During the pandemic, I gave up creating. I just didn’t have it in me anymore. But, I felt guilty. I felt like somehow I was betraying my younger self by quitting on something we had put so much energy and love into. So, I decided to look for another solution and that’s how I decided to create my own software – Klaia.

There’s so much work that goes behind creating content. For every blog post I publish, there’s at least 3 hours of work. From planning the post to hitting publish – there’s writing, editing, doing keyword research, creating images, looking for graphics, and promoting it on Pinterest and social media. And that’s just creating, then there’s the admin work. Which is replying to emails, engaging with your audience, negotiating brand deals, reading 10+ page contracts, sending invoices, keeping track of expenses, and so much more!

And the reality is that a lot of content creators have to balance all of that with their full-time job, or full-time college classes. As a content creator, you put so much time and energy into something, without even knowing if it’s ever going to pan out. Without knowing if you’re ever going to make a dollar out of it, or if it will lead somewhere. And this is also what stops a lot of people from creating – time commitment and fear of failure.

Getting Klaia off the ground

It’s been a crazy journey since I made the decision to launch Klaia. First of all, I had no clue how to even go about creating software. I didn’t know anyone who had even done something remotely similar. I was lost. Literally.

I’ll never forget the day I told my mom my crazy idea. She knew I wanted to eventually have my own business, but never imagined it would be in technology.  I’m sure she was picturing the thousands of dollars she spent on college tuition going down the drain.

My mom can be a typical Latina mom, but if she understands one thing, it is that in order to earn, you have to take risks. That’s the one thing she has always understood and instead of leaning against me creating a company in an industry I had no experience in, she gave me her full support.

Anyways, I had to start working and figuring out how the f*ck you’re supposed to launch software without any technical expertise or knowledge. I needed a co-founder. And I found an amazing one. His name is Val and as 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 just soft-launched Klaia a few days ago!

I am excited and also scared to see where this goes. Will we succeed in empowering content creators to grow their businesses? Or will we fail? To be completely 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 is 100% free! And if you’re interested in becoming a content creator, we are sharing tips on content creation and monetizing on Klaia’s blog.

The future of sofiasolisb.com

Some of you have been following this blog from the start and for that, I’ll be forever thankful. It is crazy to me that something that began as a journal as I went off to college, lead me here.

Don’t worry, this blog will still be live and I will do my best to keep posting content on here. I’ll keep posting about college, fashion, beauty, and now entrepreneurship.