Next up in our Community Spotlight, we touched base with Mia (me.yah), a self-professed streetwear babe, sneakerhead, content creator and the best-dressed full-time engineer you're likely to meet.
"Balancing full-time work and content creation was definitely a challenge. My career path was very logical; content creation was just an outlet for me to express myself. It wasn't something I could do as a job; that was never the vision"
So, given the busy schedule, how does Mia keep that creativity flowing?... by doing nothing, of course.
"Doing nothing gives your brain time to think of creative things. I think that's very underestimated."
Born, raised and living in London, we chatted to Mia about balancing two lives which sit at pretty opposite ends of the spectrum, her sneaker-loving origins and the importance of authenticity.
"Creativity was something I suppressed quite a lot growing up. It was all about working hard to get good grades and get into uni and do a 'recognised career'."
Mia's pivot towards fashion shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, really, with a deep love for all things footwear taking shape way back when.
"My love for sneakers came from a very young age, probably through my auntie. My Tia Maggie used to dress up in dungarees; she always had her favourite pairs of sneakers. I think that was kind of my initial vision of what I wanted to wear. Now I just love the ability to build a whole fit, but starting with the sneaker."
Just the best-dressed engineer you've ever seen...
The retro runner build of Nike's P-6000 is a staple of Mia's rotation, ticking all the right boxes when it comes to nostalgia and effortless styling.
"I think the P-6000 resonates so well with the people who wear it because it's based on a Y2K silhouette. In this era of the 2020s, we look very much to the Y2K era as inspiration, so it's really nice to have a shoe that embodies that."
"I like the shiny colourways and a good little accessory. I mix my silvers and golds. I think because they are so comfortable, they go with everything, so you can wear trousers; you can wear skirts because of the silhouette... it's a good one for an everyday kind of shoe."
Doing nothing gives your brain time to think of creative things. I think that's very underestimated.
"There was never a moment when I felt that content creation was the wrong direction for me, because there wasn't really an end goal. I kind of just enjoyed it like that. I think it's so easy to lose yourself in this sort of industry - I really try to keep everything I put online very true to me, aligned with my morals, and I'm just grateful to be in this position.
"I think every day is an 'I made it' moment. The fact that I get to wake up and do this every day... I feel like I'm still going; I've got a lot to still show as well."
