We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kasey Ma a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kasey, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

After 8.5 years of being a full-time content creator across all social media platforms and an influencer coach, I finally wanted to give back in a larger way. This year, I founded Untamed Agency – a management agency, community, and network of AAPI influencers and creators who excel through drive, passion, and merit. I help creators make money doing what they love to do in an industry that makes it tough to be successful as an Asian and Asian American. Every morning, I wake up extremely passionate about what I do, and I love helping others where I have a lot of expertise, so they can fail less, and succeed more with me in their corner.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a full-time content creator since 2015 with a combined following of 208,200 (verified as of 2022 on IG, Twitch, and Tiktok), Reality TV star on Amazon Prime’s “The One That Got Away”, and partnered Twitch streamer. I also am the Founder and CEO of Untamed Agency, an AAPI-focused influencer talent management agency in which I mentor and help creators make money, and also gain access to exclusive events, networks, and communities.

I started off in New York City with a corporate job in the fashion industry at retail conglomerates like Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, and eventually a consulting firm. Seeing I barely had any creative freedom at my job, and my time was mostly spent number-crunching, I launched my fashion blog and started going to New York Fashion Week every season, documenting the latest trends while also writing motivational content. Soon enough, I was able to make part-time income from being an influencer, way before the term was even coined. From my blog, TheStyleWright.com, I then launched my Instagram, Youtube, Tiktok, and then Twitch. With being able to successfully monetize from each platform, I now take my knowledge and give back to the community by inspiring others and mentoring them.

I’m hoping that for everyone who reads this article, that you feel inspired and believe in yourselves that you too, can be successful as a content creator. I have been able to do this full-time for over 8 years, and it has helped me land a lead role on Reality TV on Amazon Prime, and I’m now the CEO of my own company. The opportunities are endless when you put yourself out there.

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

As I had mentioned before, I was busy climbing the corporate ladder in the fashion industry. I wanted to become a singer back then, and I was too scared to start trying. Because I had 10-hour workdays, and I was being mistreated at the office, I had no energy left at the end of the night to write songs and sing. So, I decided to kind of do it backwards: build an audience online first, and then when I was ready, release my music. I started off by posting photos of my outfits on my Instagram and directing people to my fashion blog which also included motivational content. Eventually, I was getting invited to every New York Fashion Week, and before you know it, brands started to notice me and began to offer me money to model their clothing and share with my audience.

Within 2 years, I was able to grow to a following of 75-100k followers (not including the audience in my newsletters and website). And once I hit 100k followers, I quit my 3rd corporate job and took the plunge to do content creation full time. I thought to myself, “If I’m making part-time income now with part-time hours, what would happen if I put in full-time hours?” I was not married, I had no kids, so I decided right then and there was the right time to take that risk.

My advice to others: Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Don’t overthink. Be yourself, be authentic, be vulnerable. Your community will come find you and love you for who you are, not for who you’re trying to be.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I always try to be positive, and even though I only get paid when they do, I still give them a lot of opportunities even if I’m not monetarily compensated. On the other hand, I also make sure to expect them to be professional and deliver their deadlines on time. I try to come from a place of humility with constructive criticism and I try to be empathetic towards them. It is important to know that every person takes and receives the same message differently, so always be open to revising your words and catering to each persona. Occasionally, I have phone calls with them to check in and make sure they’re doing okay. And finally, I invite them to social events together so they can get to know one another, and I make sure that the team outings are fun! Team morale is key for any successful community.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thestylewright.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaseyma/
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/thestylewright
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaseysma/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaseyma__
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/kaseyma
• Twitch: https://twitch.tv/kaseyma

Image Credits
Getty Images, Amazon, (me)