Thomas Do views his job as a service to the business community.
“It’s my way of helping people, whether that’s generating leads for a small business or telling their story,” he said.
The finance senior started his creative service business, Dot Media, LLC. opens a new website, in 2019, offering marketing and creative services such as photography and video for small businesses.
A Birmingham-native set to graduate April 29, Do first picked up a camera six years ago and instantly fell in love. He always dreamed of having his own business, he said, often turning his hobbies into money-making ventures, like when he sold paintball equipment in high school. But his love for the camera has kicked his entrepreneurial plans into overdrive.
“It was just like, ‘OK, I love being behind the camera, so how do I turn this into a job and consistent revenue?’” he said. “Eventually, I just shot what I enjoyed shooting and then started networking.”
Inspired by his own fitness journey, he began shooting fitness content, and it became his largest market. He’s worked with Foster’s Fast Pitch, Telegraph Creative, 24e Health Club, several National Physique Committee bodybuilders, and other health-related businesses.
Do said he likes being able to provide photos that bring people back to a moment in time.
“It’s like living in the moment,” he said. “Phones are a big thing, especially at concerts. With a high-quality memory, you can relive that moment by bringing back the emotions.”
So far Do has been able to hire two employees, including a fellow UAB student. He said he uses lessons from his business courses daily as a small business owner.
“There’s a lot of things that I now understand from everyday business as far as what’s on the balance sheet and cash flow in and out,” he said. “The aspects of business that I know and learn is familiar instead of just getting someone else to do it and not knowing what’s going on.”
Do used more than just his finance courses to get his business started. He said a professional sales class especially helped him develop much-needed soft skills, such as networking.
“It exponentially helped the way I interact with people,” he said. “All of the classes I took that weren’t directly related to finance helped because they were all different forms of business that I could add to my bank of knowledge.”
Do plans to stay in Birmingham and continue running Dot Media following graduation.
“I plan to keep scaling the business and move my sales through networking,” he said.
Learn more about UAB's Finance major and Professional Sales Certificate.