I was born and raised in the Philippines by my hardworking career-oriented parents. 

My mom moved us to the States when she landed a job in Los Angeles when I was 13 for a shot at the American dream. But a teenager immigrating from the third world to the first world? Best believe I’ve had my glass shattered many times about how misleading the “American dream” really is.

I started my influencer journey by accident while juggling a full-time job in 2012. I was fresh out of college and just started my career as a structural engineer for a huge company (fun fact: my dad and I worked in the same company!). My social media was nothing more than a creative outlet to express myself and my love for everything beauty-related. The more I posted makeup looks, product reviews and hauls on my Instagram, the more my account grew, and my audience started messaging me with questions about beauty tips

I was able to build a tight-knit community, reaching 30k on Instagram and 15k on YouTube.

I never looked at being an influencer as an actual career and didn’t want to make my education and my investment go to waste.

So In 2015, I decided to take a step back from my influencer career and focus on grad school and my engineering career instead. I loved my job as a structural engineer and had big plans to climb up the corporate ladder to become an engineering executive one day (it was why I went back to school). I had accolades and promotions building up, and there was a lot going for me.

At the end of 2017, I went on a 2-week vacation with my family to the Philippines. I had the time of my life in the first week, but felt miserable and stressed in the second. I was worrying about the amount of work I’d be facing when I got back.

 So instead of working hard towards building someone else’s dream, I wanted to

create real change

I gave myself 2 years to diversify and create new streams of income, and the influencer world sparked my exit strategy. I came back to Instagram with new intentions and purpose: I wanted to help others live a life of purpose and create real, deep impact in the world. That’s when Outside My Cubicle was born: because true impact happens beyond the four walls of your cubicle.

For the next 2 years, I completely rebranded my Instagram and created a platform where I am able to create value for my audience through my story. And I’m not gonna lie, it was not an easy journey. I learned and unlearned a lot of social media strategies and trends, and essentially had to find a new audience from scratch (I lost A LOT of followers when I changed my niche).

But through the growing pains, I also gained overflowing blessings out of it. I grew a new, more engaged audience up to 30k, made a lot of amazing new friends online, and mastered the art of working with brands where I earned $30,000 in brand partnerships in 2019, working with brands like Amazon, MLB, Sephora, Target, Disney and more.

ALL ON TOP OF JUGGLING A LEAD POSITION AT MY 9-5.

I came to the realization that climbing the corporate ladder was not what it was cracked up to be. I convinced myself that I was contributing to the world with my work and my craft, but, really, I was only adding value in my own pocket (or rather, my bills and my materialism). Worrying while on vacation is not the “American dream” I had envisioned.

I felt like I worked my ass off to get by and those two weeks were simply not enough. I knew I couldn’t do this for another 40 or 50 years.

that's when I had an

epiphany

In 2020, I was increasingly frustrated over many influencers who took their platform for granted.

Blinded by the numbers and the desire to land every brand collaboration that comes their way, I noticed many influencers have lost sight of the power they truly have and have turned into sellouts, obsessed with climbing up without purpose. With that frustration, I felt compelled to share my thoughts on an Instagram post that blew up. People wanted more.

My community wanted to learn how I’m building my influencer career with integrity. The more questions I got, the more I realized something: there may be a lot of courses and products out there teaching people how to become an influencer and monetize through brand collaborations....

But very few speak on it from a microinfluencer’s perspective who also happens to be a veteran.

And to be quite honest: a lot of people are teaching on the surface level.

There weren’t a lot of resources that teach influencers how to think from a business perspective and how to go a level deeper and create a human (not robotic) experience.

This spark came in right on time because in March 2020, news broke that my job was in jeopardy. So for the next year and a half, I found my footing in the influencer space: I wanted to help influencers and aspiring ones to master this first stream of income so they can create time for what they truly love: getting creative and nurturing their audience, and expanding their business as a result.

With the fear of losing my six-figure salary from my 9-to-5, I followed through with my own exit strategy and I’ve been able to: 

What I’m most proud of isn’t even the accomplishments and the numbers, but the relationships I’ve cultivated, the challenges I’m overcoming and who I’m becoming in the process.

and the journey is only the beginning.

✓ Expand my business to fully replace my corporate income
✓ Hit consistent $20-30k months in revenue
✓ Create 10 streams of income on and off social media
✓ Build a humble team of 6 amazing humans who run Naohms media
✓ Help other influencers land paid collaborations at only 1,000 followers and negotiate 4-5 figure campaigns
✓ Represent influencers under Boost Society and help creators secure up to $1M+ in partnerships
✓ Be at peace with getting laid off in October without needing to apply for another job
✓ Spend more time working on my personal development and being able to make time offline with the people I care about the most

While there may be a strategy or a step-by-step process to get from point A to point B in business-building on the internet, very few will tell you that success isn’t linear, especially those who intend to only sell you on the dream, but not show you the beauty in the grind. 

And I’m here to help you break that facade so you can truly build a business of influence that exceeds beyond the internet.