Today we’d like to introduce you to Sofia Medina.
Hi Sofia, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
An American girl transported to an Italian world. I packed up my life into 4 suitcases and left corporate America to move to Italy for love and live this idea of “La Dolce Vita.” Living and working in Rome for nearly 4 years as a freelance digital marketing consultant and English teacher, I started my YouTube channel, “Sofie’s World,” which now has over 100,000 subscribers. I started my YouTube channel as a visual diary for myself and to keep my friends and family in the know as I lived abroad. I found a passion documenting my experiences as a bilingual expat and sharing my love of Italian culture with others. I currently reside in Houston TX, with my Italian husband and 2 Italian pets we brought over from Italy where I work as a full time Social Media Manager for a large beauty brand (yes, back to corporate life!) while maintaining content creation and keeping up with this amazing internet community I’ve fostered on the side.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not at all! I started my YouTube channel because I was lonely and wanted something to visually document what I was going through; never in a million years did I think others would connect with my story and want to follow along. Although Italy paints this picture of “La Dolce Vita,” it’s an entirely different experience living there than it is going there on a romanticized vacation. There were definitely hard days, especially before figuring out my passion for content creation and social strategy. I would work all sorts of hours tutoring and teaching kids and adults English while pursuing my side hustle.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
While my day job is a Social Media Manager for a big beauty brand, I’m most known for my YouTube channel and social content surrounding the Italian lifestyle. What started as an American Girl living in Italy visual diary, turned to travel and lifestyle content. I found passion in connecting with others and creating this tight knit corner of the internet with like-minded individuals passionate about getting outside of their comfort zone and living life to its fullest. I try to keep it real and share the not-so-good days and not maintain this sugarcoated, unattainable standards which I think is so important this day and age. I love sharing my passion for Italy, Italian culture and language with like-minded “Italophiles” while balancing real life struggles such as the importance of mental health. Suffering from anxiety and depression myself, I want others to know they’re not alone and sharing the reality of life in general.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
The thing with Social Media is that it is constantly evolving and never stagnate. That’s what makes it exciting, but also can cause burn out real fast. What is trending now won’t be trending next week and what works in the algorithm this month will be entirely different next month. This year’s platform will probably be outshined by a new one next year, and the year after that. Trying to keep up and evolve with the constant evolution of Social Media is hard to pinpoint where it will be in the next 5-10 years. I do think Social Media and Influencer marketing is here to stay, but what that looks like in the future? Hard to say. I like to keep it day by day, while still constantly strategizing.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/sofies.world
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/sofiesworld
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@tiktoksofiesworld?lang=en
Image Credits
Giammarco Felici
Anh Phan
Sofia Medina
