We were lucky to catch up with Sofia recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sofia, appreciate you joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I have been earning a living as a full time creative person since 2011.
In 2011 I got married and decided to start a new life with my husband at the time (ex now) in Greenville, SC. Before this we had been living in NYC. I absolutely love NYC and while it offered me many opportunities, it is a very difficult place to get more rooted with kids and own property. So we took a leap and moved.

I decided I wanted to run a wedding invitation company. My formal background as an artist was through a BFA I earned from Rhode Island School of Design with a major in textiles and a focus in printmaking. After my studies at RISD I learned letterpress printing at The Arm in Brooklyn and absolutely fell in love.

I saved up $8,000 and decided this was enough to start my business. This was a true leap of faith based on intuition alone. I did not even create a business plan.

I luckily found a print studio near where I moved, and eventually found my own printing press.
I was honestly never fearful with the process of starting a business. I simply felt it was something I had to do and I never looked back. I understand now that this is about listening to your intuition. If we learn to listen to our intuition, we can achieve so many things!

The focus of my business has changed over the years. I added on laser cutting services and invested in two industrial lasers. This meant that I could create other items larger than invitations, so I began to make business signage and ventured into B2B items using my creative brain as the thing that set me apart from the competition. I have found that knowing how to run a laser and a printing press is one thing, but knowing how to apply your creativity to what you can make using these machines is what has kept my business going through the years.

At one point my business did grow exponentially. I was raising two small children and had taken a step back from the business and let my husband at the time run it. We grew too much and some mistakes were made with hiring employees too fast. What did I learn from this? Looking back now I can say that I did nothing wrong because being a mom was (and still is) the most important thing to me, and my children needed me more when they were little than they do now. But if I did not have kids I know that I would have taken more control of the finances and been more careful with growth. The lesson for me is that I know I have always done my best for myself and my clients. Sometimes you gotta say “woops, that happened, but it didn’t kill me, now I am in a better place, and maybe it all happened for a reason!”

Sofia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Creativity is my main drive.
Creativity is what has set my business apart from competition over the years.
And creativity is what gets me fired up every morning to keep going.
I truly believe that it is my purpose in life to bring my creativity to the world.
How my creativity shows up has changed over the years with how I make money.
At first it began as a wedding invitation business, then it grew into laser cutting, and now I am moving back towards making things with my hands more intentionally through illustration and painting.
I am proud of this evolution and am very excited to see what future projects will come forth.
I just finished illustrating two adult coloring books that are being published with the British publisher: David and Charles.
There are set to be in stores in April next year and are zodiac and women’s mystical themed.
I am currently in the brainstorming phase of painting a number of murals outside at the 100 year old building where I have my studio, The Taylors Mill.
And I am actively expanding my illustration portfolio so that I can find an art agent. I would like to do more illustrative work for books specifically.
So it is all about evolution! Being open to it, yearning to grow as an artist and always do better for myself and my clients.
I still make wedding invitations and I still do laser cutting, but it has become more important to me to choose clients that are best for me that understand the importance of creativity in the process (those that are looking for a really unique and high quality product, and are opposed to copying what is already out there in the world are the best clients for me).
I feel the world currently has a creativity crisis. For too long now people have been copying each other’s ideas because of the pressure to be successful online and pay the bills…..instead of leaning into our ability to create and put forth new ideas into the world. AI has made the copying of ideas even easier. So now we are at a crossroads in which we as artists and humans need to be conscious of continuing to grow our unique creativity so that we can continue to evolve as humans. I strive to do this every day.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is when I am hired to create something really meaningful for a client, and then be able to see how happy they are with the results. Currently I am working with a bride who has terminal bone cancer. She is already married, but never had a dream wedding, and has been granted one. So she is planning a wedding in Liverpool, England in which the princess will be present, and she may even have Def Leopard as the band! I am working to create an invitation that reflects the venue of a gothic revival church and am putting many personal touches into the invitation suite. In this example, for me, the most reward comes from spending time connecting with my client, as she is an absolutely beautiful person I am grateful I have been able to meet her through my work.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Not giving up!
When my marriage was failing and I ran my laser cut business with my ex, I kept it going. I felt like everything in my life was falling apart, but I ploughed through. And I am so glad I did this because now my business feels more like home as I have been able to put more of my own personality into it by running it myself. I am finding myself through my art. I am discovering how much I love myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sofiamliotta.com , www.sofiainvitations.com , www.ppointlaser.com
• Instagram: @sofiainvitations