Chatting with Mya Benway

Mya Benway is a fast-rising Youtuber known for her vlogs, challenges, and beauty-based videos on her self-titled channel “Mya Benway” and her collaborative channel with her boyfriend, Ronnie Heppner, “mya & ronnie.” Based in Minnesota and Arizona, we sat down (via Zoom, of course) to talk to her about her channel, her life as an influencer, and how the Covid-19 virus is affecting her life.

(1) Hey Mya! Tell us a little bit about yourself.

(a) Hi! I’m from a pretty small town in Minnesota, I grew up here and I have always

wanted to explore more, and I love traveling, but content-wise it was really hard to get content here [Minnesota] so I moved to Arizona and I love it here. I’m always excited to explore more but honestly, I am planning to move somewhere else next fall just because moving around is fun for me, and I get content out of it!

(2) When did you begin posting regularly on your self-titled channel, and why did you decide to do Youtube?

(a) Um, I began posting regularly, probably 3 years ago - junior year, - because I did high school vlogs and that was what really popped off, so I was like, “oh my God

like I love doing this, and I want to do it more and more!” Then I decided to do YouTube because I always loved making music videos, plays, and my mom owned a scrapbook store causing her to always take pictures of us [Mya and her sister] and I just loved posing, being in front of the camera, and editing. So, it all blended perfectly. (Plus I love YouTube!)

(3) Your channel is so very close to one million. What was your reaction when you saw that your channel was growing so rapidly in the beginning? How did your peers react?

(a) So exciting, I know, it was insane. And yeah, I would say I am pretty close to 1 mil., it is insane. But, my peers were actually, - or at least my close circle - was like super supportive, and my family loves being in my videos so it’s super fun to get content from them because they’re funny [laughs], but yeah, everyone acted really well. But, I mean, it was hard being in high school just because you hear so much about yourself and especially when you are from a small town causing the word to get around fast, but I didn’t experience bullying. I also do have a strong personality so if I ever did hear anything I would go up to them and be like “hey do you wanna talk about something?” Or “what is wrong, can we talk it out?” I’m just so face to face and I want to figure out if I ever have an issue with someone, but yeah, honestly it wasn’t too bad.

(4) What is the process of making a video? Do you plan out what you want to say or accomplish within the video, or do you just pick up your camera and go with the flow?

(a) Yeah, it just depends on the video. I do sit-down videos now like “week in my life” and “days in my life” and everything, so I like to plan 5 to 10 things I want

to talk about or fun things to say or do, just so I have a guideline. But when the

camera is on I just go with the flow, and yeah.

(5) Now that you graduated from high school, looking back was it difficult balancing being a

“normal teenager” and your life as a social media personality? If so, are those same issues still relevant today?

(a)

Um, back in high school I would say it was a little difficult because my friends would hang out all the time or there would be basketball games with fun themes and I would want to go but I would have to stay back and edit videos, which was hard. And then adding on to that, having a social life and a boyfriend was just so much, but I think I did a decent job at it, and it’s easier now. I think that as you grow older you just know how to balance things and put what is important first, so, yeah, I was a busy girl in high school! [Laughs.]

(6) As I’m sure it is pretty evident, Covid-19 had affected virtually everything, and I know via your channel that you moved out of your parent’s house in Minnesota to an apartment with your boyfriend, Ronnie, not too long into the pandemic. Has it been harder for you to adjust to living on your own because of Covid?

(a)

Yes, definitely, I would say I am a people person and I love going out, I love seeing people in person and going out and everything, so I definitely learned to be alone and love being alone. But, I am ready to get out though! It’s been hard because I was always surrounded by people - always surrounded by family, - but now I am stranded alone with a boy in a random state [laughs] but I mean I feel like I was going through it with my family (Lots of Facetime calls, lots of social media, it just helped.)

(7) In general, what was your life as an influencer before the pandemic? Is it stressful being so public?

(a)

Before the pandemic, again, I got my content from going out and doing things and I really relied on that, so it was really hard when Covid-19 hit. Oh, and yeah it’s hard to be public because it’s hard to understand what to keep online/offline, and I feel like being an influencer, you have to constantly keep up with TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Instagram stories, Snapchat, and if you don’t post something one day you could lose followers. Also, you need to stay relevant and bring things to the table. I feel like I constantly have to be on “something” or posting something. But, I also have to learn when to keep my phone down, - which is something everyone deals with - but as an influencer it just elevates it.

(8) On your channel, it becomes clear that you love doing nails, and you’re so talented at it too! Could you ever see yourself doing them professionally?

(a)

So crazy that you said that because I was just telling my mom about this two days ago that I really want to go to nail school and become a nail tech. Not necessarily to work in a salon, I don’t really want to do that... maybe I could open my own one day... not to hint at anything [laughs], but I think it would be really cool to learn how to do everything “correctly.” I am personally self-taught and I learned how to do everything from YouTube, and I’d say I’m pretty good at it, but if I learn correctly, I could be amazing at it. Also, I learned you only need like 300 hours of training, I think it depends per state, but that’s not too long, and I’m just overall really interested in nail school!

(9) Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to start a YouTube channel as well?

(a) Yes, just start it! Don’t wait for the perfect time, don’t wait for a perfect camera, and don’t buy Final Cut Pro right away. Everyone buys a camera right away when they want to start a channel but then they end up only posting like 4 videos so they end up wasting $700! So, just start with your iPhone - I started with my iPhone, I started with iMovie, everything free - and that is how I realized I loved it, and once I gained a couple of hundred subscribers I finally spent money on a camera. But, yeah, just don’t wait for the right time! There will never be a right time because you will always be anxious or fearful...just start!

(10) Do you have anything upcoming?

(a) Yes, I am working on a secret project...I hate when people say that... but this

summer actually, I am starting my own brand. That is all I am going to say about it and it has been a long process - over a year - but I’m really excited!

Wrap Up

Our Era is so thankful that Miss Mya Benway sat down to chat with us, and we’d loved to see her channel grow even more than it already is! Subscribe to her personal channel, “Mya Benway,” and her second channel, “mya & ronnie.”