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Inspiration October 18, 2017
"Just listen to yourself. What's different about you, and how can you show that?"
The first thing you notice about Yuki is her long, striking blue hair.
But give her a second look and you’ll realize she has quite the resume. She was in the band Nylon Pink. She’s a model. She’s starred in music videos such as Little Mix’s “Black Magic” and “Bang Bang” by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj. She covered New York Fashion Week for Composure Magazine. And she has almost 50K Instagram followers.
Oh, and she has killer style. She showed up to our Los Angeles ENTITY headquarters in a long-sleeved, sheer black blouse with lace edges, a black and white patterned ascot, black trousers, strappy, red heels and absolutely flawless makeup. It didn’t hurt that despite her success and enviable looks, she was the most down-to-earth, good-natured person.
It’s no surprise, seeing as one of the most important things to Yuki is being real. “When I decide to follow someone or not, I look at their feed and I look at their photos and I ask myself, is this person real? Do I see character in her or his photos?” Yuki tells ENTITY. “In order to stand out, it’s important to keep yourself real in your content, but also don’t be afraid to speak out to the audience. People are on social media to connect.”
ENTITY sat down with the sage star to talk about her inspiration, how she handles haters and her tips to creating your own cohesive Instagram account.
ENTITY: Have you noticed your content change a lot as your following grew?
Yuki: Definitely. Being in the band, I feel that my content before was more into punk rock and edgy style and also Hello Kitty. But I definitely feel like I’ve matured over the years, and so has my audience.
ENTITY: You consider yourself more introverted, but you star in music videos. How do you overcome that to be able to perform?
Yuki: I define myself as an outgoing introvert, so I feel like my entire life I was struggling as an introvert to break out. And I did some theater in school and I feel that you know, once the camera’s on, you just kind of zone out everything, and just focus on the camera. Don’t be intimidated by it, but focus in a way that you can sort of own the camera.
ENTITY: How do you find what works?
Yuki: There are so many factors that go into it, but I would say, sort of make a list about what you like, do I like beauty? What makes you want to research? What makes you Google things? Keep that in mind, and make it yours.
ENTITY: Did you ever have a moment where you thought you might give up and do something else?
Yuki: Of course. I think everyone goes through that. I was heavily influenced by Harajuku fashion and I really liked it. I thought it was so cool, so unique. And I tried doing it, but I wasn’t quite happy with how I looked in it. I appreciate Harajuku fashion as this unique, urban sort of style that generated within a small community in Japan, but it didn’t quite fit me, you know? You just kind of know when you see it on yourself. If you don’t feel 100 percent comfortable in it, then it’s probably not right for you.
Also, I’m actually TEFL certified, which is teaching English as a foreign language. And I had two choices, either to stay here, pursue the entertainment industry, or to move to Japan or some other country and teach English. And it was really hard for me, and you know, I just decided, ah, what the heck? Japan will always be there, and my certificate will always be with me. So I’ll always get to do that later. That’s why I decided to pursue my current passion. So that’s my backup plan if things don’t work out well. I can always teach.
ENTITY: What advice would you give someone struggling to rebrand themselves?
Yuki: Don’t stress over it. I’ve hit those moments, those dark moments, where I’m sitting in my room, on the floor, cross-legged and I’m thinking to myself, “What am I going to do?” And I feel so lost. There are so many moments I feel so lost. And I’m looking at my Instagram and I’m crying over it. In moments like that you just have to listen to yourself. That’s the number one thing. I think I wasn’t listening to myself, and that’s why I wasn’t happy.
For me, I would say it took about a year for me to rebrand myself as @yukibomb, and my tips for that would be; take your time. It’s not a rush. It’s about you. And it’s about caring for this virtual you. And you have to develop it as best as you can. So take your time and just listen to yourself. What’s different about you, and how can you show that?
ENTITY: What are some things you wish people knew about influencers?
Yuki: We want to know the real you. We want to talk to people, too. We’re people, too. If you meet someone you really like, just treat them like another person.
And it’s not that glamorous, really. It’s not always just, oh, you know, I’m treated like VIP all the time. It’s a job, you know? We have more freedom and creativity, of course, and that’s the perks of it. And it seems like a glamorous life. But really I have tons of boxes in my room and blogger mail, everywhere.
So, you know, for example, if you see a lifestyle blogger and she’s drinking wine and eating pastries in a glorious room, well, in real life, I would say only that side of her room looks pretty. And the other side is like a tornado happened. So you have to keep that in mind.
And also, we get harassed a lot. I have to worry about where I tag myself sometimes. I have had a couple incidents where it wasn’t very pretty when I tagged my location. That’s one of the ugly things about it. You have to be aware and cautious everywhere you go.
ENTITY: Have you come across women who don’t want to help other women up out of fear of competition?
Yuki: Definitely. Not everyone likes to talk about it, but it does happen. I see it happen quite often, and I don’t support it at all. There’s no reason to be cutthroat. Just be real, in a positive way. If you don’t like someone, you don’t have to be friends with them. You don’t want to have people label you as fake. There’s a lot of nasty things out there and you just don’t want to associate yourself as that because you have to keep yourself and your brand in mind. And of course, you have morals, too. So respect yourself and don’t do that.
ENTITY: Have you had any awkward situations with advertisers, where you didn’t want to represent them because you didn’t support the product?
Yuki: Oh yeah, definitely. What I tell companies, I email them back, like, oh, I would love to try your product, and if I love it, I’ll post about it, no problem. But if I don’t like it, I’ll be honest with you. I don’t want to post it. You know, and if you are upfront about it in the beginning, then it should be fine. I’ve had no problems with it. As long as you tell them in the beginning.
Yuki is unapologetically who she is. And with an attitude like that, it’s not hard to see why she has so many followers. “I just look up to women who are going for their goals, but at the same time, keeping it real,” Yuki tells ENTITY.” Just sort of stay true to yourself. I value that a lot.” So do we.
