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

Sophia , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?

I personally don’t ask my friends & family to support my business, I present my ideas, passions and designs to my friends & family and also to the public and just let people organically support my work. I’m open to suggestions & ideas, see what the people like and make improvements. One of my biggest collaborations came from my friend wearing her AFRICA sportsbra to her Cycling class and Tunde Oyeneyin saw her top and asked where she got it from. Tunde was about to move from Los Angeles to New York and try out to become a Peloton instructor. Fast forward Tunde is wearing Top & Bottom AFRICA by SooFire sportwear to teach the 1st ever Afrobeats Cycling Class for Peloton. Tunde a women that I have never met before gave me one of my biggest boost in sales and everything happened organically. Don’t create work expecting support from your closest friends and family, sometimes your support could come from a complete stranger. Your art captivated them by being your true self. Have low expectations and do what will make yourself smile, no matter is someone claps for you or not.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

SooFire is a brand created by Sophia Woode a 1st generation Ghanaian American bridgeing the worlds between 1st & 3rd. SooFire is a brand that keeps AFRICA as the center point of unity. Growing up in America it was not cool to be African. I couldn’t find a single item in stores that had any African roots. The closest item i could find was JAMAICA on a T-shirt and that is because of the heavy influence of reggae and the legendary Bob Marley. Over the course of 20+ years America has changed and finally bit by bit the bridge to Africa is being crossed. I created this brand so that anybody that has Love for AFRICA will be able to to exude their pride in many different ways. I’m also a DJ, SooFire follows the path of her father who was apart of some of the first strives of pushing Afrobeats in America working with legends such as C.K Mann & A.B Crentsil. The creation of SooFire Music Publishing was also created to help Ghanaian artists collect their music royalties and the the education of music business through workshops in Ghana. SooFire is a lifestyle its everything thats proud about AFRICA. This brand bridges us together and the more we band togther the stronger we become.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

The capital that was raised to start my business was money that I had saved over the course of 4 years working at T.J Maxx and being a full-time student. SooFire.com started first as a jewlery & accessories brand. I use to go to fashion district and buy items whole-sale and resell. Between ebay, big cartel, & my own personal site I made my first sales. The profits was then used to created my first sample which was an AFRICA bodysuit. I’m continually seeking ways of funding for SooFire, especially for marketing & advertisement.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

The quality of my product is what helped my reputation within my market. Customers showing me products that was bought from me 3-4 years ago and they are still wearing it. This brings me so much joy that Im not contributing to fast fashion.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://SooFire.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/sophiasoofire

Image Credits

1. Victoria Kimani (Artsits from Kenya)
2. Sky Black