We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sophia Vega a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sophia, thanks for joining us today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

There are so many conversations going on about AI and how it will change SEO and Content Marketing right now. The technologies inspire awe and also dread. At the surface level, AI is being touted as a technology that can make our work better and faster. That is where the dread comes in because “Will this AI replace us all?”

As with many new technologies, fear of the unknown is real and keeps many from embracing and learning about it. Here’s the thing AI is not HUMAN. And sometimes what we think is AI isn’t. Have you heard of Chat GPT? Did you know that it is not AI?

It is actually a language learning model (LLM). The way LLMs work is that they are trained on text. A program like Chat GPT is trained on the entire internet. Let’s think about that… the entire internet. There is plenty of good, reliable, trustworthy content on the internet BUT there is also, false information, lies, and opinions. Chat GPT synthesizes ALL this information with a speed that is mind-boggling.

However, we, humans give that text meaning. Let me give you an example. One of my clients is in the Data Compliance industry. Part of their SEO strategy is blog content. As content creators, we don’t always know the technical aspects of the content we are writing about. We have to do research. This client had been with me a while so I was pretty familiar with the data compliance language and definitions. I decided to “play” with Chat GPT and see what it would write for a blog.

What I got back looked great and if I read it and didn’t have any background knowledge I would have taken it at face value as trustworthy and truthful… good, quality content… right? Remember Chat GPT is a language synthesizer. It wrote a blog that was factually inaccurate because it assigned the wrong meaning to the topic! This gave me some peace of mind. I still have more skills than a machine!

My advice is to learn more about how to use tools like AI and LLM’s because they are useful and will change the way some things are done. It benefits us as SEOs and Content Strategists to know what they are good at as well as what they are not good at. We are humans, and that is not going to change, we too can synthesize information. We can also tell garbage from factually correct information. And most importantly we give words meaning.

Our roles will change, that is evident but we can learn about these new technologies, AI and LLMs. We can know what they are good for and use them to make us more efficient and productive. Always remembering that meaning is made by us, humans.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was a teacher for 15 years. I love kids. I love teaching. I called it my own private non-profit because as everyone knows, teachers do not do it for the money. I did not go to college with the plan to be a teacher. My major was Communications Studies, and I worked in Corporate PR and Marketing right out of college. Then I worked for a non-profit in PR and Development. This is relevant to what I do now. But then I ended up going back to college and getting my Masters in Bilingual/Bicultural Studies (I am a native Spanish speaker as well) and in tandem got my Elementary School Teaching Certificate.

Teaching felt good. I got to use my creativity, love of learning, organization and communication skills, strategic thinking, and heart. I married an Air Force officer and teaching allowed me to work during most of our 8 moves in 13 years. When he retired and we finally moved into our forever home, Covid shut everything down.

But the school must go on. I got a job teaching second-grade Spanish Immersion locally and set to work learning how to teach remotely and in person simultaneously. Covid was so hard. Those words don’t even come close to encompassing all that the pandemic did. I knew that the work we as teachers were being asked to do was not sustainable. Add to that the fact that I suffer from anxiety and I have taken medicine for most of my life.

By the second year, I had to add an additional medication and the feeling of never catching up was affecting me. My father unexpectedly died and my mom got diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. I knew my husband and kids were getting the leftovers and the leadership of the school just kept adding more. It was not a supportive work environment.

I ended up abruptly leaving teaching after having a nervous breakdown. It was a moment of reckoning with myself. As a teacher I was replaceable but for my family, I was not. I needed a reset, the ability to prioritize my mental health, and to be present for my family. A friend introduced me to the online business/marketing space and the rest is Sophia Vega Digital Marketing history.

I work with small business owners to maximize their SEO and organic marketing efforts. I develop strategic content marketing plans and also provide content creation services. My approach is different because I start with an SEO audit and keyword research. I then look for opportunities for my clients to become the answer to their ideal client’s search. The content creation is part of a data-driven strategic marketing plan so that all efforts are working together. By looking at their digital marketing holistically and using metrics to measure the marketing efforts I can be responsive and adjust accordingly.

What sets me apart from others is my heart. I am a helper by nature. This makes me want to truly connect with my clients as people and not just as a business. I am invested in my client’s success. I want them to have the best results and experience. I am knowledgeable and a strategic thinker and my clients have full access to that. I become part of their team and give them a sense of ease and support. I pride myself on my relationships with my clients.

I am most proud of my love of learning and my drive to be the best at what I do. It serves me well. I am constantly learning about new technologies and how to improve my digital marketing skills. I surround myself with peers in my field. When I work with a client I immerse myself in their business. I learn about what they provide for their clients and how they do it so that I can represent this in their digital marketing and produce quality content that gets them found by their ideal clients.

I only work with clients whose mission I can support. And those that respect me as a professional and value my work because I invest so much of myself in each project. I have committed myself to weekly therapy and prioritize my mental wellness. I am an advocate for mental health.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Networking has been 100% my best source of new clients. There is power in being in a supportive community. Brainstorming together, learning from each other, and also building each other up.

Through these relationships, I learn about the services others provide. I am excited when I can provide them with a referral. I don’t feel like there is a need for competition. There is enough to go around.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Entrepreneurship is a story of resilience, right? I am pretty risk averse and never thought I would start my own business because of this. My aversion to risk didn’t change when I had to abruptly leave teaching, What did change is my priorities. Having my own business was a solution where I could make my mental wellness a priority and refocus on my family.

I was not an overnight success. I have good months and bad months. Having your own business is hard work. There has been so much learning. Can I say that again? There has been sooooo much learning! I had to learn about how to start and run a business. I had to learn the tech to provide my services. I had to learn how to find clients and send them proposals. I tried out different services to figure out what I liked doing. I struggled with making so many decisions and imposter syndrome.

And there was the anxiety that led to my nervous breakdown. I did not stop having anxiety because I quit the stressful job. That was just the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. I was the queen of band-aid therapy.

That’s what I call it when I would get to a point where I felt out of control. I was having more bad days than good. This often led to depression and me going back to bed at every free opportunity. I knew I needed help. I would find a counselor. This. was exhausting because we were never in the same place for long so it was always someone new.

I am not only a good teacher. I am an excellent student. It became a cycle of sorts. I would start therapy. They would remind me of my coping skills, and give me a safe space to talk about my current situation. I would get motivated to use my coping skills and voila within 6 weeks I was good to go.

The band-aid wasn’t going to cut it this time. I not only had to deal with my present situation I needed to go back and look at my past, I had avoided that trauma for years. It didn’t get better in 6 weeks. It felt like I cried every week and ended my sessions worn out. Therapy is hard work. And sometimes it is not enough. It still feels too vulnerable to go into the details. I started seeing a psychiatrist too. He put me on a mood stabilizer. My emotions were just too big and I didn’t recognize the role that was playing until I started taking the medicine.

I am still seeing my therapist, the same one, weekly. It will be three years this fall. I am learning how to keep the priorities the priority. And along side it learning how to be a successful small business owner.

Contact Info:

• Website: sophiavegadigitalmarketing.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophiavegadigitalmarketing/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophiavegavirtualsolutions/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/svdigitalmarketing/