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

Miranda, appreciate you 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.

Earlier this year I took the single most significant risk of my life- cutting back from my VERY stable full time job as a Doctor of Audiology to pursue my side hustle and passion- crafting!!! Yes, I know this sounds absolutely wild and was not a decision I made lightly, but I am so glad I did! Education has always been of the utmost importance in my family- I was raised to study hard with the intent of finding a reliable career path. My educational path led me to 22 years of school that culminated with a 4 year doctoral degree. For the last 6 years I have worked as a full time audiologist- a career that brings me great joy and fulfillment.

That being said, during the Covid shutdown I was laid off from my job for a few months and in turn I found another passion- DIY-ing anything and everything. While stuck at home I basically started upcycling all the furniture / clothing in my home using only things I had on hand. I began to post my silly little DIY tutorials on instagram. and to my surprise people were actually interested in following along! Shortly after I returned back to work but never stopped DIY-ing and posting my tutorials online.. I spent 4 years balancing my full time career with my (basically) full time side hustle… and here we are.. 4 years later and I have just now cut back from my actual job to have a full studio day making custom orders!!!

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.

My name is Miranda Miele and I am a DIY content creator and truly a maker of all things! Through my platform, Pineapple Princess Creations, I strive to show my followers the tips and tricks to DIY-ing a fabulous life, just like me!

It’s truly hard for me to categorize what it is I do because my platform is constantly evolving, in part because I challenge myself to learn every new crafty skill I possibly can with the goal of passing that knowledge on to my following! If I find a craft project or skill that I can’t do, it’s like a challenge for me, and I make it my mission to master that very thing the best I possibly can. Currently, I am a rhinestone artist, I make fake cakes, I disco-tile anything and everything, I design custom Halloween costumes entirely out of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos bags, I transform Dollar Tree Items into DIY home decor, I design custom painted and bedazzled sneakers and heels, and I even have four A-list celebrity orders under my belt: bedazzled boots for Sam Smith, a crystalized Versace robe for Mariah Carey, and custom sneakers for Nicki Minaj and most recently Janet Jackson!

My platform is a DIY tutorial page at heart, but has truly grown into more than I ever imagined it ever could. The fact that I now get paid to make custom orders for people was never the goal.. but here we are…and better yet, a lot of my clients even give me COMPLETE creative control to do what it is I love best- challenge myself to create a one-of-a-kind custom Pineapple Princess Creation.

How did you build your audience on social media?

POST POST POST!! Growing on social media can be SUPER daunting for those just starting out.. and it’s truly SO easy to give up when you see only 100 views on that reel you poured your heart and soul into creating and carefully crafting/editing for hours on end….. (trust me I’ve been there more times than I can count!!!)

I started posting my DIY content on Instagram at the start of the pandemic in 2020, and I truly had the same solid 300 followers for the first year (a lot of friends and family were included that list too lol). Honestly, it was a fun little community and I truly thank all those people for sticking with me through this journey! I had slow but consistent growth for the next two years and I was consistently posting the entire time- I can honestly say I’ve never gone a day without either working on a project, planning a project, or editing content from a project For me, I truly put in hours and hours and hours in before I saw any real major growth on social media, let alone ‘monetary results’- which I was OK with because I love what it is I do (and I have another full time career that funded all my craft supplies lol..) But let me tell you I spent many MANY late nights after my real job working on my DIY craft skills and 4 years later I now have a community of 85k on Instagram, 135k on Facebook, and 100k on TikTok.

I wish I had that one simple formula to help you turn your passion into an overnight success- for me consistency was key. I film absolutely EVERYTHING I make and post it as I go. Honestly, a huge social media following was never my goal- I was having fun creating things and showing others how to do the same and I’d like to think that just really resonated with people. Some creators swear by hopping on trends, a strict posting schedule, or really finding a small narrow niche to focus on.. but I never really did any of those things. I actually started finding more serious growth through my totally original voiceover tutorials on Instagram reels and Tiktoks, back in a time when we were told to only post quick 7s videos. (The exception to that rule is hashtags- that’s how people can search for a specific video and find yours in the process! Always use your hashtags!)

I have had a lot of people tell me they like listening to how ‘articulate’ my voiceovers are.. and I recently realized that I am totally transferring a skill over from my career as an audiologist… At work, I speak slow and clear ALL DAY LONG in order to ensure my patients with hearing loss can comprehend everything I am saying, and I subconsciously started doing this for my tutorials and I think it’s a pretty unique style that I am now known for. The moral of the story is- just be you, find your unique style, naturally that is, and go with it- people can tell really quickly if you aren’t being genuine online.

My platform is a DIY tutorial page at the end of the day, where all are welcome and no craft question is off limits! I want my followers to be able to hear my voice and relate to me on a more personal level, where they feel comfortable enough to reach out if they need help, or even better yet- inspired enough to get out there and get creative!!

(I try to reply to absolutely every comment and message I get. Truly, if you ever have a craft question- don’t hesitate to reach out!)

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

100% of my clients find me from social media!! If you guys could believe it… my very first client ever.. was the Grammy award winning singer/ songwriter- Sam Smith!!! Trust me, this didn’t just happen overnight..let me explain- I spent YEARS making custom heels for myself, and posting all my DIY tutorials on how I made them on Instagram and Tiktok. When I got married in 2022 I had a series following all the heels I made for the different events surrounding my wedding- one of those being a pair of Jimmy Choo dupes to wear to my wedding shower. This video absolutely BLEW UP on social media, and the Boston TD Garden actually found me through one of the hashtags on that video- #bedazzledheels. They inquired if I did custom heels (which I really hadn’t done for anyone but myself).. and commissioned me to create bedazzled boots for Sam Smith. Had I ever done anything like this for anyone else before? NO… but was I going to pass up this opportunity.? ABSOLUTELY NOT. From that moment on, my ‘custom order’ journey began!!

The TD Garden has since hired me to create custom pieces for a few other A-list celebrities- recently they commissioned me to make custom heels for Nicki Minaj- to which I suggested…why don’t we make her sneakers instead! Had I ever made sneakers like this before? NOPE….. and half way through completing them I was like why would I ever do this… but I guess I just can’t resist a new challenge!! Since Nicki’s sneakers in April 2024 I have gotten hundreds upon hundreds of emails inquiring about custom sneakers…truly it has shocked me. Presently, I am working my way through these emails trying to do as many customs as I possibly can, and the fun part for me is that with every custom order I do, I get to create a tutorial video of my process. These videos lead to even more orders- which is just an added bonus. At the core, my platform is a DIY page, so the best part of all this is.. if you don’t have the means/funds to order your own pair of custom sneakers- with my videos you now know exactly how to DIY your own!!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: pineapple_princess_creations
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069748016084
• Other: TikTok: Pineapple_princess_tok

  Custom Order Request Form: https://linktr.ee/PineapplePrincessCreations?lt_utm_source=lt_admin_share_link&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1ywvVOsnNxJl3Zsortwofh0KaL4qK4PSTHVCwi4rA_Uowu7dnU8_BkH24_aem_6I20hhxBYzRY3PoFUyZWMw#330196861