FEATURED FREELANCER: SOPHIA HITCHCOCK | SOMO STUDIOS

In honor of International Women’s Day we are excited to share with you our featured freelancer this month Sophia Hitchcock, owner and Lead Producer of SOMO Studios. Join us as we celebrate Sophia and all of the other women who freelance and run their own businesses, not just today, but everyday.

What do you do, and long have you been freelancing?
I am the owner and lead producer at SOMO Studios, a business I founded about 8 years ago, after quite a few years of freelancing for friends, family and local professionals. At SOMO we specialize in providing animation, motion graphics and custom illustration and design. With the help of talented contractors and friends I am able to offer customized video production services that support brands and businesses, leveraging video marketing to grow and chase down their goals.

SOMO Studios was inspired by my love of animation and motion design, entrepreneurship, and a deep desire to positively impact the people and communities that I am a part of.

What has been great and what has been hard about freelancing and running your own business? 
The greatest thing about freelancing is of course the flexibility it brings to my work/life balance. I am able to work from anywhere for anyone. The next best thing is being able to choose who I work with / work for. I have been able to work with some of the coolest companies, creating videos that I truly enjoy concepting and delivering. I’m so blessed to have a community that believes in me and supports my passion.

The hardest part about running SOMO is being the one in charge of all the “grunt” work. Believe me, even after 8 years I still dread tax season. I’ve figured it out along the way and try my best to use every resource available to me to make it easy on myself.

What advice would you give for other women who want to tap into the video production industry? 
For any women who aspire to get into video production / animation, my biggest piece of advice would be to get your hands dirty. Dig into the programs, practice, practice, practice. Take on some “passion projects” that allow you to get into the basics but also push you to try new techniques that excite you.

Lastly, we love to celebrate freelancers “wins” Share with us a “win” or something that you are most proud of.
Speaking of “passion projects,” I spent 2 years serving on the board of AIGA as the Director of Storytelling. This allowed me to help my community AND create some amazing video pieces that I had a lot of fun producing and that I’m truly proud of. One of these was a promotional event video that was used as the opener to the AIGA national conference that was being held in Raleigh, NC that year. After the video was played at the conference, the Mayor of Raleigh, Mary-Ann Baldwin was so impressed she asked for access to the video so she could share it with her networks as well. I was of course, overjoyed that it was so well received. Here is a link to the video!

Anything else you’d like to share?
Here are a couple more videos that I have produced for local companies in our community. You might recognize a few of them!

Bronto
Calvert Ice Sports
Glenwood South Tailors
Caroll’s Kitchen