Mirta Miler’s life seemed set on a traditional business path until her years-long after-hours hobby of creating makeup content sparked an unexpected career transformation.

Although Mirta took her first step into content creation as a teenager, recording and editing private makeup videos, she didn’t start posting publicly until 2018, during her sophomore year at university. It was then that she realized it was time to make the leap.

“I was like, ‘If I’m already filming all of this and taking all of these pictures, doing all of these makeup looks, I might as well start posting them.’ I didn’t even care if anyone would watch them – I was watching them.”

By 2022, she had transformed her private hobby into a full-time career. “This kind of happened spontaneously,” Mirta shares. “I wasn’t really looking for it to be a career. It was my hobby and something after my 9-to-5 job, which turned into something beautiful.”

Before this unexpected turn, Mirta was studying to become a financial analyst and completing her master’s in business and planning as a brand manager assistant at Henkel in Croatia. 

Finding her creative voice took considerable time. “I think I found my niche after two years of posting, or maybe even longer,” Mirta explains. “I wasn’t trying to find my niche, though. I was just doing what I was comfortable with at the time.” 

She emphasizes that sticking to crafting authentic content drove her content: “Your niche is mostly what you would do if you weren’t filming. When I think about it, I like that.”

Platform Strategy and Content Management

Mirta’s approach to different platforms is based on careful consideration of each channel’s unique characteristics. 

“Instagram and TikTok have become similar in the last year because the platforms are trying to mimic each other a lot,” she notes. “But Instagram is definitely a little bit more aesthetic, and TikTok is more raw and spontaneous; just pick up the phone and film whatever you want.”

Her analytical background shapes her content strategy: “Statistics tell you what you’re doing wrong and what you need to improve. That’s why I have tried filming all of my partnership content using a 4K back camera lately, so people could see how the product looks in person. Because when it’s filmed in 4K, that’s mostly how it will look in real life.”

Mirta admits, however, that the demands of a multi-platform presence are significant. “Being active on all platforms, I can feel it when slacking off on YouTube. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I didn’t post for a week. It’s the end of the world,'” she shares. “Just posting the same content on seven different platforms can take three hours just to prepare everything. So it’s definitely challenging but important at the same time.”

Building Global Reach Despite Cultural Challenges

As a Croatian creator producing content in English, Mirta faced inevitable judgments from her local audience. 

“No one here in the Balkan region really makes content in English. It’s kind of frowned upon,” she explains. “People were judging me, saying, ‘Oh my God, who do you think you are? You’re filming in English. What do you think you’re doing? You’re not American. Why are you pretending to be American?'”

Her response to critics reveals her determined mindset: “I’m not pretending to be American. I still have a Croatian accent. I can definitely hear it a lot.” 

Rather than let criticism derail her, she maintained her course: “I tackle criticism like I tackle everything else in life. I just decided not to care at all. I decided I just wanted to do what I wanted and didn’t want to let anyone get in my way.”

The Reality of Creator Life and Work-Life Balance

Mirta is candid about the challenges of content creation as a career. “For me and many influencers, there isn’t a healthy work-life balance at all,” she states. “People don’t understand that being on your phone editing something until 3 a.m. is still a job. You can still feel pretty exhausted from this.”

Her posting schedule has been particularly demanding: “In the past years, it’s been daily; three or four videos every day. I definitely am trying to dial it back a bit because it’s driven me insane, honestly.” 

The toll of this pace is evident: “I did have a long period where I didn’t give myself even a day of rest for years. And I definitely see the consequences now because I am going through a burnout.”

She’s now actively working to establish better boundaries: “I’m currently trying to transition into a healthier work-life balance. And it’s definitely challenging because when you’re a workaholic, whenever you’re not working for a few hours, you feel like a failure in life. I tried to incorporate exercising because I told myself a couple of years ago, ‘If you want to be successful, you must work. There’s no time for [exercising].’ So now, I’m trying to incorporate that while also focusing on my private life, not to neglect my boyfriend and stuff.”

How Mirta Approaches Brand Partnerships

Mirta’s approach to brand collaborations reveals her commitment to genuine content. “I definitely work with brands whose products I personally use,” she emphasizes. “Whenever I get an offer or something, I try to talk to the brand and ask them, ‘Can you send me the product so I can test them out myself?’”

Her testing process is thorough: “If it’s not a brand I’ve already included in my routine, I definitely like to try it out for like a couple of weeks or longer, especially if it’s skincare because you really can’t speak about skincare being effective if you try it out once.”

She identifies three key components for successful brand partnerships: “First component: it needs to be something that you really do love. Second component: it needs to show the product’s effectiveness visually well on-camera… Then, the third component would be figuring out what your audience would like you to recommend to them, not only what you love. Because there’s a lot of things I like that my audience would not care about.”

Industry Trends to Look Out For

When it comes to the industry itself, Mirta sees beauty content reaching higher production values while maintaining its authentic appeal. 

“Beauty content is steering towards the high-quality route. I’m definitely seeing a lot higher production, high-quality makeup videos on TikTok and on Instagram,” she observes. “People still enjoy the ‘just pick up the camera, get ready with me.’ But I see that, especially in beauty content, people like the higher quality content because they can see how the products look better.”

Her plans for the future include expanding into long-form YouTube content, though she’s not revealing details just yet: “I am pretty excited to start filming long-form content. I’m not going to talk about what it’s specifically going to be just because I don’t want someone to steal my idea… I haven’t seen many people do what I’m planning.”

Nevertheless, Mirta makes one thing clear: “It’s definitely going to include makeup.”