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

Mya, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today

If I were starting over, one thing I would do differently is the first camera I got and my willingness to not shoot free content. Once I got more intuned with my skills sets, I realized I was able to grow from the work I never got paid to do. The work I reached out to my friends or family about, simply because I was eager to create something for others to see and enjoy.

Mya, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Mya Abdullah, some know me as Mya Imani or just Imani, a girl from Cleveland, Ohio. Telling stories with a camera and a laptop. I currently attend school at Clark Atlanta University, where I was able to network and make connections that helped me land my first on-set jobs. Even going as to landing an internship with ESPN and meeting my idols like Spike Lee. People around me are more impressed and proud of the journey I’ve taken to get here. I still feel like there’s so much for me to achieve and work towards. Last year, I lost one of my mentors, whose work I really enjoyed and mimicked at times. Ever since his early departure I’ve had a new passion behind the camera. One that celebrates the people in front of it as well as behind it. Ultimately I consider myself someone who brings others dreams to reality.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

For me, photography and videography was initially going to be a hobby. Everyone always said how it wouldn’t be consistent enough to pay bills and be comfortable. By the time I was a sophomore in college, Covid sent everyone home. Leaving me to all of my thoughts, a camera and a small town with no name for myself. I always told myself that I would be someone influential and a big deal. But I couldn’t do it at home. I moved out my moms house in Ohio to Atlanta, GA right before thanksgiving. I got a temporary clock-in job, but would fly home every weekend to shoot free music videos for anyone who had a song. I even would dm Atlanta artists offering a free video so I would have content to post. Once I got invited to my first paid set job. I quit my other job and never stopped working and meeting people who would help further me.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

This is my favorite question, simply because most of my popular videos were the ones that took the longest time. Running around the city, finding different locations, shooting multiple scenes/songs in one day with the same person or people. My schools motto is to “Find a Way, or Make One” and that’s something I use everyday for anything I do. No extras? I’ll ask some of my friends, not the right location for the song? I know places all over to explore and try. I believe in being able to fully execute whatever is asked of you no matter how much you have to trouble shoot.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: mvaaaa.a
• Twitter: gwopmvmi

Image Credits
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