Mira (YouTuber)

Yim Ka-yin (traditional Chinese: 嚴嘉欣; simplified Chinese: 严嘉欣; born 7 October 1992), known professionally as Mira (Chinese: 咪拉), is a Hong Kong YouTuber and businesswoman. She makes videos about her life in South Korea.

Mira
嚴嘉欣
Mira in a YouTube vlog on 3 April 2021
Personal information
Born (1992-10-07) 7 October 1992
Hong Kong
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2016–present
Genres
  • Lifestyle
  • travelling
Subscribers739,000[1]
Total views177 million[1]
100,000 subscribers2016[2]
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese嚴嘉欣
Simplified Chinese严嘉欣
Mira
Chinese咪拉
Last updated: 18 April 2023

After spending three months self-studying Korean in Hong Kong, Mira moved in 2015 to South Korea, where she took classes at Sogang University's language school. In 2016, she started a YouTube channel called "Mira's Garden", where she covered life in South Korea, South Korean culture, and her travels. At the beginning of 2021, she founded Mongcow, an e-commerce business where she sold Mira-curated South Korean products and Mira-branded products. In November 2021, Mira started Hong Kong Fusion, a Hong Kong-style restaurant in Seoul. That year, her YouTube channel was the seventh most-subscribed Hong Kong YouTube channel with 730,000 subscribers.

Early life and education

Mira was born on 7 October 1992 in Hong Kong.[3][4] She recalled that when she was six or seven years old, her mother went out to buy food and was able to purchase only a small box of char siu rice.[5] Looking back on that incident, she reflected that her family's finances during her youth were in a challenging state.[5] While living in Hong Kong, she self-studied the Korean language for three months before moving to South Korea, where she studied at Sogang University's language school for half a year in 2014.[lower-alpha 1] Her interest in learning the Korean language was inspired by encounters with South Korean customers while she was working in Hong Kong. She learned the language out of personal interest and did not have any plans about what to do with that knowledge.[6] After finishing her studies at Sogang University, she returned to Hong Kong for a year before going back to live in South Korea in 2016.[6][8] By 2018, she had become fluent in Korean.[6]

YouTube channel and career

Mira started a YouTube channel in June 2016.[5] In a rush to create the YouTube channel, she chose the name "Mira's Garden" because she wanted to create a space that was her own. A previous channel she considered was "Mira's Secret". Mira said that a downside in her choice of channel name was that including an apostrophe made it harder to search for. She observed other people use their first name and surname as their YouTube channels. Despite harbouring regret over her choice of channel name, Mira decided to keep it unchanged owing to the long time she had used it.[6] At its inception, the channel covered her life in South Korea before discussing her travels to other places in the region.[6] She covered food and South Korean culture in her videos.[3][9] Video topics include how to become acquaintances with a Korean "oppa" and reasons a person should not date Korean men.[6] In 2017, she visited a juice store in Jiufen in Taiwan, to purchase red guava juice. To test the theory that Taiwanese clerks could understand and speak Korean to be able to interact with tourists, she spoke Korean to the clerk, who responded back in Korean.[10] In 2021, Mira visited the shantytown Guryong Village, which is near the affluent Gangnam District, and interviewed inhabitants to show how poverty-stricken and wealthy South Koreans live.[11] At the end of 2021, Mira's Garden with 730,000 subscribers was the seventh most-subscribed Hong Kong YouTube channel.[12]

One year into running the channel, she was making a monthly income of US$2,500.[6] Her travel videos make her the most money.[6] Mira signed a contract with a company to help her manage sponsorships. For a channel with 200,000 subscribers, she said in 2022 that a YouTuber could make HK$50,000 (US$6,435) from an advertisement.[13] She accrued over 500,000 subscribers by 2018. The publication Gotrip attributed her channel's fast growth to her uploading one video a day seven days a week at 10:00pm. Mira's consistent uploads gave viewers the impression that she is a friend who is talking to them every day about life, Gotrip said. She adds both Chinese and Korean subtitles for her videos, allowing South Korean viewers to understand videos in which she speaks Chinese.[6] She hired a film editor to add Chinese subtitles and music, while she adds the Korean subtitles herself.[13] Mira calls her viewers "little bees" (Chinese: 小蜜蜂).[6]

Beginning in 2017, Mira was asked by the Korea Tourism Organization to be a spokeswoman for Michelin starred restaurants in South Korea.[6] Filming herself eating at numerous restaurants, she made videos featuring herself eating gejang and Hanwoo. Each video received over 100,000 views.[6] In 2021, she wrote an article for Apple Daily in which she conducted street interviews with people in South Korea asking their opinions about the boy band Mirror.[14]

Business career

Mongcow

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hong Kong people were unable to travel. Capitalising on this situation, Mira prepared for several months before launching Mongcow, an e-commerce store for consumers to purchase South Korean food products, at the beginning of 2021. Mongcow sells both Mira-curated South Korean products and Mira-branded products.[3] Customers purchased over 15,000 cans of instant crab marinated in soy sauce in the first week that she launched her first branded product, Ding Hai Fan Ying (Chinese: 丁蟹飯應).[3][5] Stored in warehouses kept at −18 °C (0 °F), frozen food products like the instant crab are delivered to Hong Kong and sent to various locations using refrigerated trucks. She partnered with One Hundred Years Native Samgyetang, a restaurant thrice recommended by the Michelin Guide, to sell samgye-tang dumplings. After she created a video to promote the product, the company had sold 12,000 packs of dumplings by April 2021. In her business's first quarter, she had HK$4,500,000 (US$579,151) in revenue. The e-commerce store had a peak traffic of 10,000 customers at one time. In April 2021, she employed 10 people to help run her YouTube channel and e-commerce business.[3]

Hong Kong Fusion

In November 2021, Mira opened the Hong Kong-style restaurant Hong Kong Fusion (Chinese: 香港食堂) in the Lotte Department Store mall in Yeongdeungpo District in Seoul, South Korea.[15] To prepare for the restaurant, she interviewed South Koreans to learn about what they enjoyed eating and what they knew about Hong Kong food.[9] When it opened, about 70% of its customers were Chinese people.[16][17] After Mira marketed the restaurant towards South Koreans, the customer ratio became 50% South Koreans and 50% Chinese.[16][17] South Korean customers during the COVID-19 pandemic frequently relied on food delivery platforms, which ranked restaurants to show to customers.[15] To promote the restaurant, Mira asked YouTubers and well-known bloggers including from Naver Blog to eat at and review the restaurant.[15][16] To keep costs down, the restaurant rents a shared kitchen.[16] In November and December 2021, the restaurant made ₩22.5 million (US$19,669) and ₩50 million (US$43,708) in revenue, respectively, resulting in a profit of ₩6.5 million (US$5,682) and ₩9.5 million (US$8,305), respectively.[15] This was nearly enough to cover her investment costs, which consisted of ₩10 million (US$87,416) to start the restaurant and a refundable ₩10 million (US$87,416) as a security deposit for the shared kitchen.[16] Hong Kong magazine Metro Pop  said that the food's taste would differ from what Hong Kong people are used to owing to most of the chefs not being from Hong Kong and the restaurant's aim to cater to South Koreans' tastes. It said that despite this, Hong Kong Fusion "has brought a little comfort and warmth to the Hong Kong international students in South Korea during this difficult period under the COVID-19 pandemic."[9]

Personal life

Mira got married on 27 February 2023, in Canada to Josh.[18] Josh was born in South Korea and immigrated to Canada when he was eight years old. When he attended university in Canada, his parents returned to South Korea. After graduating from university, Josh worked in the United States for a period of time until his visa expired, returned to Canada where it was hard to find a job, and moved back to South Korea in 2015.[8]

Footnotes
    • For her learning Korean in Hong Kong for three months before moving to South Korea[5]
    • For her self-studying Korean[6]
    • For her attending Sogang University's language school[6][7]
    • For her studying at a South Korean language school for half a year in 2014[8]

References
  1. "About Mira's Garden". YouTube.
  2. Mira (26 September 2016). "感謝10萬訂閱! 有一件大家都會好奇的事 100,000 SUBSCRIBERS!!｜Mira" [Thanks for 100,000 subscribers! There is one thing everyone will be curious about 100,000 subscribers!!｜Mira] (in Chinese). YouTube. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  3. Choi, Syun-fun 蔡璿驩 (26 April 2021). "居韓港YouTuber疫勢攻電商 自創品牌美食 一季收入450萬" [Hong Kong YouTuber living in South Korea is specialising in e-commerce during the pandemic. She self-created a brand of gourmet and had quarterly revenue of 4.5 million]. Hong Kong Economic Journal (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  4. Mira (15 October 2022). "生日VLOG ｜ 做人妻前最後一個單身生日?! 從來不叫男友歐巴的原因xD?! 超推的韓牛STEAK HOUSE！男友為我準備的驚喜生日:) 🐝 Mira 咪拉" [Birthday VLOG ｜ The last birthday before becoming a wife?! The reason why I never call my boyfriend Oppa xD?! Super-recommended Korean beef STEAK HOUSE! Surprise birthday for me by my boyfriend :) 🐝 Mira] (in Chinese). YouTube. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  5. "低成本開港式餐廳心得收入大公開 港女YouTuber變商業女強人 2個月即回本" [A low-cost Hong Kong-style restaurant's income is disclosed. Hong Kong female YouTuber becomes a businesswoman and makes her investment back in 2 months!]. Economic Digest (in Chinese). New Media Group. 26 January 2022. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  6. Kassidy (22 September 2018). "50萬訂閱者！90後韓國 YouTuber ｜拍片月袋過萬美金" [500,000 subscribers! South Korean-based YouTuber born in the 90s｜The monthly income for filming videos exceeds 10,000 US dollars]. GOtrip (in Chinese). New Media Group. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  7. Mira (29 May 2017). "[韓國大學Tour #2] 我記憶中的學校並沒有太多小鮮肉OPPA的阿?!😳 西江大學語學堂 ｜ Mira" [[South Korea university tour #2] The school I remember doesn't have too many OPPAs?!😳 Sogang University Language School ｜ Mira] (in Chinese). YouTube. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  8. Mira (31 October 2022). "訂婚Q&A｜家人對於我們結婚的反應? 未婚夫是哪國人? 在哪登記結婚? 打算移居加拿大嗎？ 🐝 Mira 咪拉" [Engagement Q&A｜My family's reaction to our marriage? Where is my fiancé from? Where will the marriage be registered? Am I planning to immigrate to Canada? 🐝 Mira] (in Chinese). YouTube. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  9. Ng, Ka-man 伍嘉文 (6 January 2022). "禁堂食外賣必備蔥油 100元一罐韓國人爭相搶購" [Scallion oil is a must for dine-in and takeaway. Sold at HK$100 a can, South Koreans scrambling to buy]. Metro Pop (in Chinese). Metro International. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  10. "港正妹在九份「裝韓妞」買紅芭樂汁 店員反應讓她滿臉微笑" [Hong Kong beautiful girl bought red guava juice in Jiufen "pretending to be a Korean girl", and the clerk's reaction made her smile]. ETtoday (in Chinese). 22 May 2017. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  11. Zoe (20 December 2021). RF (ed.). "香港YouTuber勇闖南韓貧民窟 與富人區江南相隔一條馬路 連當地人都未必知道" [Hong Kong YouTuber bravely ventured into the slums of South Korea. It is a road away from the rich area of Gangnam. Even the locals may not know it]. GOtrip (in Chinese). New Media Group. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  12. "【從數據認識經濟】香港前7大Youtuber單月廣告收入有多少？" [[Understanding the economy from data] How much is the monthly advertising revenue of the top 7 Hong Kong YouTubers?]. Business Digest (in Chinese). 6 January 2022. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  13. 明洞Mandu (3 September 2022). "人氣YouTuber揭行內秘聞 50K廣告費要XX萬訂閱?一類人最好簽公司" [The popular YouTuber reveals the secrets of the industry. 50K advertising fee requires XX million subscribers? For a type of person, it is best to sign with a company] (in Chinese). HK01. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  14. Mira (22 June 2021). "韓國街訪｜韓國人點睇MIRROR？對Edan最有好感 前男團成員評：跳舞需提升" [South Korean Street Interview｜Koreans watch MIRROR? I like Edan the most. Comment from a former boy band member: Their dancing needs to be improved]. Apple Daily (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  15. Jasmine (24 January 2022). "【韓國創業】YouTuber Mira公開創業收入 《香港食堂》開業兩個月賺10萬即回本" [[South Korea Entrepreneurship] YouTuber Mira discloses her entrepreneurial income. "Hong Kong Canteen" earned HK$100,000 within two months of opening and gets back the money that has been invested]. BusinessFocus (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  16. Tang, Yuen-ying 鄧婉盈 (26 January 2022). "人氣YouTuber韓國開辦《香港食堂》 公開經營心得及營業額開業2個月即回本" [Popular YouTuber opened "Hong Kong Fusion" in South Korea and disclosed her business experience and turnover within 2 months of opening had paid back her investment]. U Lifestyle (in Chinese). Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  17. "YouTuber Mira韓國開《香港食堂》兩個月賺10萬即回本 網民力讚將香港美食發揚光大｜移民｜首爾｜台灣｜香港美食｜BF生意經｜Mira 咪拉" [YouTuber Mira opened "Hong Kong Fusion" in South Korea and earned HK$100,000 in two months, and netizens praised the development and promotion of Hong Kong food｜Immigration｜Seoul｜Taiwan｜Hong Kong Food｜BF Business｜Mira]. BusinessFocus (in Chinese). 25 March 2022. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023 – via YouTube.
  18. Mira (25 March 2023). "VLOG🇨🇦 一年後，我們在加拿大登記結婚了! 終於正式成為夫婦了:) 🐝 Mira 咪拉" [VLOG 🇨🇦 A year later, we registered our marriage in Canada! We are finally officially a couple :) 🐝 Mira] (in Chinese). YouTube. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
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