Liz Giorgi – Wild Business Growth Podcast #276: Virtual Product Photography, Co-Founder of soona

Keep it simple – for your customers, your team, and yourself. That’s the story of this week’s Wild Business Growth Podcast guest, Liz Giorgi. Liz is the Co-Founder and CEO of soona. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and your other favorite podcast platforms.

• Episode Summary & Player
• Full Transcript
• Show Notes
• Wild Business Growth Podcast Summary

Episode 276: Liz Giorgi – Virtual Product Photography, Co-Founder of soona

Liz Giorgi, the Co-Founder and CEO of soona, joins the show to share her journey from producing for BTN (Big Ten Network) to making product photoshoots better than ever. Hear how to keep your pricing simple, keep your customers happy, quickly decide what to post on social media, how YouTube has changed over the years, and how Liz has changed as a business owner since becoming a mother. This episode covers everything from bootstrapping to Dinkytown. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:

• What content did Liz work on for BTN
• Shoutout, the Archivist
• What did Liz learn from her Mighteor journey
• Where did the idea for soona come from
• What was the inflection point for soona’s tech
• How has Liz been able to scale soona
• What surprised her about techstars
• KitKat

Connect with Liz at soona.co and on social media @LizGiorgi.

Enjoy the shoooooow! Check out the show notes below for much more detail. You can also find the full transcript here.

Show Notes

• Intro & BTN
  • [0:31] Email me at to save time with your high-quality podcast and use it as a business-building tool
  • [0:40] Connect with Liz at soona.co and on social media @LizGiorgi
  • [2:29] SpongeBob SquarePants
  • [2:57] What content did Liz work on for BTN (B1G Network or Big Ten Network)
  • [3:06] IU (Indiana University)
  • [3:12] SEC (Southeastern Conference)
  • [4:39] What did Liz actually do at BTN
  • [4:58] Shoutout, the Archivist
  • [5:58] PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), PBS YouTube
  • [6:24] Wild Business Growth Podcast
  • [6:52] What was it like turning PBS content into YouTube videos
  • [7:22] No idea what that was
  • [7:41] Appointment Programming
  • [8:18] PBS KIDS App
  • [9:33] Reality TV
  • [9:44] Content Creation, AI (Artificial Intelligence)

• The soona Story
  • [10:45] What did Liz learn from her Mighteor journey
  • [11:31] Facebook, Vimeo
  • [12:08] Wells Fargo, UnitedHealthcare
  • [12:16] P&L (Profit & Loss Statement), Balance Sheet, Payroll
  • [12:42] Bootstrapping
  • [12:54] Customer Satisfaction
  • [12:58] Revenue
  • [13:26] HR (Human Resources), Sales, Retirement
  • [13:41] Small Business
  • [14:03] What did I say?!
  • [14:11] Finance
  • [14:27] Tax, Estimated Payments
  • [14:48] Where did the idea for soona come from
  • [15:10] Direct-to-Consumer (DTC), eCommerce, Shopify
  • [15:39] Shoutout, Hayley!
  • [15:45] The Cloud
  • [16:40] Uber for Models
  • [17:12] techstars
  • [17:56] How did Liz’s conversation go with Hayley
  • [19:54] What was the inflection point for soona’s tech (technology)
  • [20:28] KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
  • [21:19] IP (Intellectual Property)
  • [21:48] techstars Boulder
  • [22:50] “They’ve gone to Plaid!” from Spaceballs
  • [23:08] How much of soona’s business is photoshoots
  • [24:24] Where does Liz spend most of her time on the business
  • [25:07] Amazon, Shopify, Canva
  • [26:15] How has Liz been able to scale soona
  • [28:31] Surprise & Delight (S&D)
  • [28:46] Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Storytelling Officer (CSO)
  • [28:57] LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter aka X
  • [29:21] Artificial Stalling (AS)
  • [30:05] Propoment aka Value Prop
  • [30:48] How do you stay focused ON the business
  • [31:21] Advertising, Publicity Firm (PR)
  • [32:12] Post-it Note
  • [33:57] Come on!
  • [34:10] Notes App
  • [34:33] The Wild Business Growth Podcast is on YouTube! Subscribe @MaxBranstetter to watch full video interviews with Wild entrepreneurs like Liz
  • [34:34] Sign up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter and receive How to Edit Your Podcast in Audacity. It’s where podcasting meets entrepreneurship – and terrible puns
  • [34:35] Such an honor speaking at Podcast Movement ’23 in Denver! Sign up to grab the slides from my session at MaxPodcasting.com/PM23

• Rapid-Fire Q&A
  • [35:40] What surprised Liz about techstars
  • [36:01] How has YouTube changed over the years
  • [36:39] Red Bull YouTube, MrBeast YouTube
  • [37:22] University of Minnesota
  • [37:45] Dinkytown, Kitty Cat Klub
  • [38:05] KitKat
  • [38:08] How has Liz changed as a business owner since becoming a mother
  • [39:04] Connect with Liz at soona.co and on social media @LizGiorgi
  • [39:25] Wordle
  • [39:38] What are Liz’s Final Thoughts
  • [40:20] Follow the Wild Business Growth Podcast and tell a friend about the podcast. And show love (or roast me) by leaving 5 stars on Apple Podcasts and/or Spotify
  • [40:25] Check out the Wild Business Growth Podcast on Goodpods, where you can see what your favorite people are listening to
  • [40:28] The Wild Business Growth Podcast is on YouTube! Subscribe @MaxBranstetter to watch full video interviews with Wild entrepreneurs like Liz
  • [40:30] Connect with me on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter (aka X), and Threads @MaxBranstetter and TikTok @WildBusinessGrowth
  • [40:34] Save time with your high-quality podcast. Email me at to bring your podcast to life and use it as a business-building tool
  • [40:43] Sign up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter and receive How to Edit Your Podcast in Audacity. It’s where podcasting meets entrepreneurship – and terrible puns
  • Theme music: Freestyle Percussion Magik – “Jungle Tribe” – provided by Jamendo

What is the Wild Business Growth Podcast?

Wild ideas. Wild growth. Every Wednesday morning a new entrepreneur joins the Wild Business Growth Podcast to share the wildly creative and unusual ways they grew their business – and teaches you how to do it, too. Hear the minds behind WordPress, Stacy’s Pita Chips, Drybar, NFL RedZone, Big Mouth Billy Bass, the voice of Bart Simpson, and more Wild stories. Hosted by Max Branstetter (that’s me), Founder and Podcast Producer at MaxPodcasting.

How do you start a podcast?

Interested in starting a professional-sounding podcast for your brand, but don’t want to deal with the time commitment of all those behind-the-scenes details? I’ve got you covered. Email me at to save time with your high-quality podcast and use it as a business-building tool.

Thanks for listening to Liz Giorgi on the Wild Business Growth Podcast. To hear more Wild stories like this one every Wednesday morning, follow the Wild Business Growth Podcast and tell a friend about it. And do something soona with them. Until next time, Let your business Run Wild…and Bring on the Bongos!!