By: Molly Chamberlain
It’s not often you meet a first-year college student with passion and determination as strong as Sophia Eid’s. Originally from Chicago, Sophia is majoring in Film & Television at Fordham College Rose Hill and has a clear vision for the future she wants. Her interests are spread throughout the vast, inescapable world of entertainment. Her experience spans many disciplines, including music, photography, media, songwriting—the list could go on. I sat down with Sophia to discuss her vision for her independent media group, Dadz Clozet Media, and here’s what she had to say.
Tell me about your musical background. How did this inspire you to start Dadz Clozet Media?
“I’ve been playing music since I was five. I started with piano, and then, when I was 14, I started learning guitar, but that was around the time the pandemic happened, so I had to stop going to lessons, and I just taught myself from there. And then also during the pandemic, I taught myself drums and the ukulele and the harmonica.”
Dadz Clozet Media Group—tell me about it.
“I just started the website for Dadz Clozet Media, and there are four or five different sections. There’s a monthly newsletter that me and my friends from Fordham are working on together. We’re doing a section about advice for personal development and growth. So, like anything from mental to physical health and overall life advice. Then, there’s gonna be an up-and-coming artist section for both musicians and artists and a podcast affiliate section. And then, with music, I know how to mix and master because I learned that over the time when I was learning music, and I want to help produce people who don’t have people who can produce for them. But obviously, I’m not professional yet. So, you know, we’re still still grinding.”
Who is your primary audience? Who do you plan to connect with?
“It’s easy to say people with similar goals to me, but basically people that don’t want to work in a nine-to-five setting and people that want to engage with different types of creative media. So, people that wanna work within multiple avenues and not just like, ‘Oh, I’m a musician’ or ‘Oh, I’m a filmmaker.’ I want to combine all those to make everybody’s goals come true. People who are self-starters. People who want to take their success and goals into their own hands and not wait for bigger companies to discover them.”
What challenges have you encountered? Do you feel that being a first-year student has placed you behind, or does this serve as a strong starting point for your future?
“I think I’m better off because, coming into college, I knew what I wanted to do, and I knew the goals that I had for myself. I write out tiny steps of what I’m gonna do—so find people who can write, find people who are interested in the same stuff, and then make the website. I plan it out.”
How do you balance your college responsibilities with building your brand? Have you faced any difficulties juggling both?
“Obviously, college comes first, but any time that I’m not spending on school, I like either figuring out new ideas or writing songs, or this sounds cheesy, but like, networking with other people, like finding people that have similar interests. I am naturally disorganized, so it’s easy for me to get distracted and then not think about schoolwork. But, within the last couple of weeks, I’ve figured it out because now I know my schedule. I know how long it takes me to get to my classes, so I can more effectively create a schedule that allows for both academic and career success.”
What is your ultimate vision for this creative network? When are you hoping to launch your website?
“Like in SNL, how they have a group of people and all of them write everything together, and they all act in everything together. Yeah, that. And they all do everything together. I want it to be like that, but I want it to be across different planes of work. I want it to be very egalitarian, like a worker’s co-op. For the website, I need to get a trademark for Dadz Clozet Media Group, so it depends on how long that takes. Hopefully by the end of the semester at the latest, but possibly sooner.”
What advice would you give to other college students who aspire to start their own ventures? Any lessons you’ve learned along the way that you’d like to share?
“I think what I’ve realized is that your success and ability to achieve what you want is much closer than you realize. I think it’s very easy for people to write off creative individuals like, oh, your head’s in the clouds, or you don’t know what you’re doing or how are you gonna make money? But, I think any business is hard, and being successful in whatever venture you decide to do takes time and effort and energy. Limiting yourself and saying it’s not achievable and just waiting for something to happen to you is what limits you. I could sit here and hope that I find someone who would let me write their movie or write their screenplay or write their songs or produce their music or whatever—but instead of doing that, I’m doing it myself. I know that I can do it, and eventually, with enough tenacity and dedication, you can make it happen yourself. Make your own opportunities.”
In what ways has this journey shaped you as an individual and as a student?
“I think it’s made me realize there’s less of a divide between being in school and being an adult. Don’t wait for what you can make happen now. The sooner you take action to make yourself independent, the more freedom you have, and then the more you get inspiration from yourself. When you set goals and accomplish them, they become less daunting, and then you have more confidence to go further and further. Instead of waiting until you get other people’s approval or opportunities, just do it yourself.”
If someone is going to make it happen, it’s Sophia Eid.
