Liz Giorgi, CEO & Co-Founder, soona
“We need visual storytelling to connect with our customers.”
Minnesota native Liz Giorgi fell in love with the news—more specifically, Barbara Walters—at a young age. “I wanted to be her and I wanted to be the one who decided what should be in the news,” she recalls.
This childhood infatuation eventually led to Giorgi enrolling in the journalism program at the University of Minnesota, where she quickly realized that being an on-camera talent wasn’t as appealing as she had once imagined. Instead, she found passion within storytelling and the technical parts of video production.
Now at the helm of the Denver photo and video studio, soona, Giorgi’s mission is to provide brands with professional-quality multimedia marketing content for less than the price of stock imagery—and all within 24 hours.
We talked with the innovative entrepreneur about the failures and victories of starting her new company, the worst advice she’s ever received, her go-to book for female founders and what the term “bitch magic” means to her.
What is your company solving for?
Today’s marketing demands a constant flow of content. No matter what you are trying to sell or communicate, we need visual storytelling to connect with our customers. But to get that level of quality and quantity—and get it quickly? It was impossible. soona makes pro level photo and video accessible TODAY starting at $39.
What’s one mistake you made when you started your company?
In retrospect, we launched with the wrong pricing. We have since changed the pricing, but we started with a menu that just did not make sense to people who don’t work in production.
And one big thing you did right?
Asking Hayley Anderson to be my co-founder. As our Chief Creative Officer, she has taken our product and brought it to life in a way that far exceeds anything I could have ever dream of on my own. She has a vision and a passion for the experience we are cultivating that really inspires me on a daily basis.
What are you currently reading/watching/listening to?
I am a power consumer of media. It is my first love after all. Reading: Michelle Obama’s “Becoming”. Watching: “Glow” on Netflix. Listening to: “Summer Girl” by HAIM.
What’s the worst advice you’ve ever been given?
“You have to pay your dues.” Good ideas and bold vision doesn’t have a career ladder to respect. Instead, it’s about being humble enough to know what you don’t know and cultivating a network of cheerleaders who can help you fill the gaps.