Today we’d like to introduce you to Airie Lomsak
Hi Airie, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I have always loved fashion, travel, the arts and things like that. Even as a child., I spent a lot of time writing and taking photographs, and continued to do so into my adulthood. Those are really the basics of how I came to be where I am now,, but when it comes to social media and vlogging, I entered that very organically as well.
I was in what would be the “second wave” of YouTubers and Bloggers in early 2010. This was before there were “influencers”, before there was Instagram or any of the like. I started my first blog as a project in a course I took at university as an assignment earlier in the 2,000’s; I was supposed to start a blog about activism.
This was really early in the 2000’s and I did not really know what a blog was because Blogger was relatively new. After a while, I let that blog go because I had only started it for that class, but I ended up making a YouTube Channel and then two more blogs years later (which are consolidated now under Fashiontolive + FashionableFoodiva) and the rest is history.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Honestly, I don’t think it is ever going to be a “smooth road” for most people and that phrase doesn’t resonate with me personally. I was always taught to take the narrow path. When I started out, I did not have my niche yet and I was getting “organic hits” on my blog and YouTube channel, but nothing big.
I had to ask myself “what am I bringing to the table” that is any different from everyone else. It was actually when I “big chopped” (which is a colloquial term meaning I cut all of my hair off and started over completely natural (free of chemicals) with a tiny afro) that I gained traction because it was a watershed point in n life which showed a very vulnerable side of my personality as I had always had very long hair and I just cut it all off.
I had a unique look, it showed my style better, I stood out and all of a sudden things did take off more. The kind of struggles I have now are more nuanced because now everything is about analytics , algorithms , over-saturation, being viral. You don’t have to really have a niche or something that makes you stand out, you just need to make those “numbers” and it’s hard to overpower that while maintaining authenticity; authenticity is what I care about the most.
So, in theory it is possible to have great engagement, but terrible work or great work and become successful and on the other hand, maybe lower engagement, but content is fire. I would rather have great content that shows my dedication to that art and what I believe in.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
.I specialize in creating content. Mainly that is photography and film, I put a lot of work into both of those areas over the years and I am most proud of my photography and content creation. What sets me apart from others is that no one is going to see what I see just like I can’t see what you see.
I share the world as I see it. I am sharing my world through my eyes so my photos (and videos) and my edits may not be what is trendy – I don’t care about whats trendy when it comes to the content I create, the clothes I style, my hair etc.
I am going to do what is ME and what authentically shares my vision and I have been like that since I was a child.
One of my specialties is food photos and in particular very up close and detailed food photos. That is all me, I want you the reader to see my photos of the food I have and think “Man, I really want to taste that”. It might be sea salt on chocolate dessert or the cilantro on a street taco, I am going to take that photo and my goal is to convey how much I loved it and then I am going to make you want it too.
How do you think about luck?
I don’t believe in luck when it comes to me because I haven’t gotten “lucky” ever. Everything I have done was because I was busting my ass and I mean doing research, networking, learning new software, hitting the streets etc. I wish I could say I had luck play a role in my business, but its a hard no. Do I wish I would get a lucky break sometimes, Yes, that would be very nice, but it hasn’t happened yet in over 10 years and I am not holding it breath waiting for it. What I am is dedicated and consistent and one day if the right person sees my work and they want to take a chance on me and my work, I will be there.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fashiontoliveflstyle.blogspot.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fashiontolive/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheFashiontoLive
Image Credits
I own all photos
