We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Krysteena Marteena Zumaya a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Krysteena Marteena, thanks for joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

The biggest risk I’ve taken is simply – being myself. I don’t conform to social norms or current trends. I cannot be contained within a box and stick to just one niche. I take inspiration from all aspects of life; mi cultura, goth subculture, style that’s avant-garde, my friends & family and anything/anyone else close to my heart that sparks my creative interest. It can be difficult to stay relevant in a society that prioritizes trends and the “latest and greatest”. However, I feel my best when I’m authentic and living up to my own standards. I am not defined by ‘cookie cutter’ categories. I am well rounded. I am best described as: “ a jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.” I dabble in many areas and enjoy being multi-passionate.

Krysteena Marteena, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have been a social media content creator from the age of 14. I actually started offering makeup services pretty early on. I was and still am well known for my extreme eyeliner and creative makeup looks. In high school I would accept donations to do my classmates eyeliner and makeup for dates and other after school activities. From there I began to explore my passion for fashion. At 18 years old, I became a fashion consultant at my first real job. Helping others put complete outfits together (dresses, tops, bottoms, accessories, shoes etc) was like a sport for me. I absolutely thrived in a creative environment that allowed me not only to express myself but to also tailor looks for others that best suited them. That was the beginning of my sales career. I learned quickly and realized that I was a natural sales person because of my passionate personality. I took everything I learned and applied it to myself and my everyday life. From there I flourished. Even throughout college I took time to learn new skills that were entirely different from my major. I taught myself how to cut, style, and dye my hair. During my time as an administrative assistant and college student, I would exercise my beauty skills on myself and create new hair styles, makeup looks, and outfit combos for work. From there I fell in absolute love with vintage hair styling and began making hair tutorials for social media (Instagram). Then followed the makeup tutorials, outfit building videos (which went viral and launched my career on Tik Tok), and fragrance reviews. I also began creating skin care content to help not only myself but others who struggle with acne prone skin. To sum this all up I basically motivate others to explore their creative sides through fashion, hair styling, clothing, and self care to achieve the best versions of themselves. I could say that I am proud of all of the magazine publishing’s I have accumulated over the years, being featured in art shows and having the honor of being a muse to various artists, the runway model features, tv appearances, music video appearances, big brand collabs, etc; but in all honestly I am most proud of how I make others feel. I am absolutely thrilled when receiving messages from others who I have helped in some form through my content creation. That’s what I do it all for. Even helping just one person feel more confident and happiest as themselves is the biggest return I could ever ask for. I enjoy what I do.
Being myself. I love to lead by example and show my audience, and those who are new to my social media platforms that being your truest self is the BEST thing you can be.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

In order to build a successful social media following you have to create content that’s true to you- something you’re absolutely, utterly, and madly in love with. If you force yourself to fit in and create content that is popular and currently trending – you’ll never be happy. It will feel like a chore and you will burn out quickly. I have witnessed so many creatives fall victim to this scenario and give up because their heart wasn’t in it. You really can build a following being yourself. Those who come across your content can see and feel authenticity. What I also suggest is not to feed into the “choose one niche and stick with it” rhetoric. You can be multi passionate and post about everything that brings you joy that you’d like to share with others. As someone who has tried to contain themselves to one niche – whether it was just hair, only makeup, or only fashion videos; it’s absolutely soul crushing. I had to make peace with the fact that I enjoy multiple aspects of beauty, fashion, and self care. If you’re someone who can stick to one niche, great! If you can’t, great! There’s no right or wrong answer. The secret to the sauce is simply loving what you do so that it doesn’t feel like work. I also recommend keeping yourself informed with algorithms, current social media features, and other changes that may occur to stay relevant and thriving. The only thing constant : is change. You must be flexible as it can get tricky sometimes. Skill building and staying informed are crucial to your success.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

If I could change anything at the start of my journey it would be my access to resources. There were so many times that I would talk myself out of an opportunity because I didn’t have a proper media kit. I would hold off on recording content because I didn’t have a fancy camera or laptop to edit on. I thought I needed so many tools before I was “worthy” enough to post. Start with what you have NOW!
You can record on your phone. There are various editing apps (many are free) you can use to edit your videos. There are also so many great creators out there who are willing to help others by educating and sharing their knowledge with building a media kit, how to pitch brands for collaborations.
Whatever you need help with – be proactive. The course of action is better than no action. Every step is a step in the right direction. Take the time to research and educate yourself. There are so many amazing resources you just have to apply yourself and look. The only thing holding you back, is yourself. If you ever have any questions and/or need guidance, don’t hesitate to reach out. I will share my knowledge with you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/KrysteenaMarteena
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/krysteenamarteena?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCzSwd7HuOwWwp5j3UXlXmSw
• Other: https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdrveYEx/

Image Credits
Sherman D Taylor Erin M Gigi Paris Rain