Instagram Influencer Spotlight On: Miaow @yesmiaow

1) Tell us a little about yourself. What are you doing now and where do you come from?

I have been a DJ and musician in the Philippines for around 6 years now. As a brief background, I was a ballet dancer all the way from barely age 3 to age 18. Performance and entertainment is where my heart is, however I had to cut my dancer life short because of an injury. I was also starting to get too tall for professional dancer standards, so there’s that. I then searched for another avenue which I thought would fill the gap of wanting to entertain. Modelling seemed like it made sense, so I focused on that for a few years. I was the muse of top designers, and I became quite successful in that career, however, I started to feel the job was mechanical. I couldn’t fulfill this innate desire to express. I took interest in DJing and sought out a school to teach me the technicalities behind it. Music has always been in my system and I obsess over how it’s made, making it myself, how it affects people, and so on.
In terms of education, I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, majoring in Visual Communication. Given all that, one could say the arts are my strength because I totally suck at understanding sports 🤣 I’m now 29 years old and creativity is where I come from, where I am now, and where I am headed.

2) What are your topics of interest? What do you post on Instagram the most?

Majority of my gigs are related to my gigs. Getting ready for them, being at them, looking back on them and how I feel. I also post about equipment, how I use it and how people can use it. Once in a while I post about other little obsessions I have – makeup, skincare, hair care (for my ever-changing hair), fitness, and food. I guess I like posting about these things to balance out my work posts. See, with my line of work, there’s a quick misconception that we "party too much" and people fail to see it’s a fulltime job… it just has different hours and a different setting and making it look fun is part of it. I also travel a lot as part on my job, so I tend to post about that.

3) How did your Instagram name come about?

Well Miaow is my DJ name, and I want to go by that moniker for everything else as well. Miaow was taken tho, so I made a play on my real name which is Mia Ayesa (see what I did there? 😄)

4) What are some apps you use to edit your photos? Share with us your photo-editing routine!

I just use Photo Editor Pro for initial color grading, cropping, focus (if I want that) etc. and then I go into Instagram to put the same filter I use in other posts to make it look unified. When I have more time, I get OCD and go into Photoshop on my laptop and edit there before the final IG filter step. I used to even add little monster illustrations that I made myself with Photoshop and my Wacom tablet. I’m a nerd like that 🤓

5) Any Instagrammers whom you really like? Which Instagrammer inspires you the most?

I’m competely obsessed with @the_wigs_and_makeup_manager !!! I get excited when she teases at a new post and I check her account all the time because I’m a weird little stalker like that 🤣 But she’s so creative and her work is flawless. I’m also completely obsessed with @laurakalmakoff 😍😍😍 Stunning work and the mood of her feed is amazing. Most of the other people I follow are DJs and music producers. One of my favorite accounts is @dillonfrancis …that guy is hilarious.

6) If there’s one thing your fellow Instagrammers just gotta try now, what’s it gonna be?

Growing a plant from seed. I think everyone should experience that at least once in their life. Better if it’s a herb… the fulfillment you get seeing it go into your cooking and eventually contribute to your health is something else.

7) What’s your favorite part about being an influencer?

Being able to convince people to change the world for the better, one piece of trash or one plant at a time.

8) What are some of your top tips to brands for running campaigns? How do you maintain authenticity?

I think it’s important that brands try to reach the widest market possible, and to do this, it might be wise to reach out to influencers with an audience that will most likely be interested / find use in their brand but is different from their usual market…. to present a different angle of their product that people don’t normally see, thus reaching a different audience. Like say, a sunscreen brand reaching out to festival goers instead of their usual family / beauty / vacation / summer crowd. In line with this, I maintain authenticity in promoting products by finding ways to relate them to my own lifestyle and work.

9) What would your advice be on the importance of quality and original content?

With regard to technical quality, I think it’s difficult for someone just starting out on Instagram to pay too much attention to how sharp their photos are, or lighting and composition. It takes practice and I myself am still getting the hang of things. However, the important thing is to start somewhere and to try and do something (however big or small that something is) to make your images look different from everyone else’s. If you have product shots or flatlays that look exactly the same as every single ad there is, then what’s the point of making your own ad? How is anyone supposed to know you made it?

10) What do you like best about partnering with brands?

I think the thing that stands out most about me (along with the people I work tightly beside) compared to the vast majority of people in the same industry as mine is my constant desire to get into the intricacies and technicalities of my job, and everything I take interest in. And I take pride in this. I find formulas and patterns to make work more effective and smoother. I spend hours trying to understand the minute details behind everything.. details that other people wouldn’t bother to look into. I’m the type who researches one ingredient in skin care for two weeks, and then spend another two weeks deciding which brand to buy based on that ingredient. Like I said, I’m a nerd like that. And what I like most about partnering with brands is that I get to highlight these details that I find in these brands, and present them to people that wouldn’t normally see them, or realize their benefits.

Topics:

• Art
• Design
• Fashion
• Film, Music & Books
• Food & Drink
• Gardening
• Hair & Beauty
• Health & Fitness
• Technology
• Travel

Country:

Philippines