Uyen Le Meow Kylie is the founder and CEO of Uyen Meow, a fashion company focused on high quality trendy wear. Kylie is not just an entrepreneur but also a fashion/travel/luxury influencer and marketer. She has more than 100,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 10,000 on Facebook. Kylie splits most of her time between Los Angeles and VietNam.

Uyen Le Meow Kylie’s career as an influencer dates back to her days in elementary school. 

“People wanted to call me by my real name Uyen but I made them call me Meow. So then everyone started talking about me like ‘There is a girl calling herself Meow!’”

This nickname carried over into her adult life and now forms part of her brand name.

But Kylie’s actual journey as a fashion influencer would begin a little later in life when she started a fashion blog uyenmeow.com. As she blogged about her trips around the world, Kylie demonstrated a taste for elegant, exciting attire. The outfits were meant to compliment the elaborate travel guide she wrote after each trip. But visitors to her blog were soon taking a keen interest in what she was wearing.

“I actually started going viral because the people of Vietnam started calling me rich kid of Vietnam for my Bali trip. I was in Bali and started posting my cute photos online and it blew up. I had journalists wanting to interview me. And then I also blew up when I was in Europe. I was traveling in the Netherlands and France and then Rich kids of Instagram started posting about me. That’s how my fame became international.”

This interest birthed an idea–if people loved what she wore so much, what if she started designing her own outfits? It helped that Kylie had always wanted to be an entrepreneur. 

“So I started designing my own outfit and then I just didn’t even advertise. I walk out the street and there was already people wanting to buy the outfit that I designed. So that’s how I launched my fashion brand.” 

This shift from influencer to fashion entrepreneur bore an uncanny resemblance to Kylie Jenner’s and the rest of the Kardashian family. 

“My fans started calling me Kylie Jenner of Asia and so I was just like ok I’m just going to run with Kylie”

Kylie strives to design the perfect outfit for the perfect experience. She focuses on clothes that make the wearer feel good, pretty and confident. 

Center the Audience but Stay Authentic

Kylie has advice on how one can succeed as a fashion influencer. 

Being an influencer is less about the topic and more about the personality and individuality of the person before the camera, she says. One should choose a topic that connects with the audience then blend personality, lifestyle and self-expression with the topic.

She urges patience because the influencer journey can be a long one with plenty of ups and downs. 

“I started this five or six years ago.” 

Kylie emphasizes the importance of first building a profile that draws interest and curiosity. Create something people are interested in and the brands will come. Sometimes though she’s proactive and approaches a brand she wants to work with. 

She refutes the widespread belief that influencer work is easy and influencers are always happy. 

“We do a lot. Like there’s a lot of planning, a lot of negotiation, a lot of like, care into our looks. into our personality, into our content, into the influence we’re putting out there. It all comes down to organization and keeping a positive attitude throughout the process.”

While the influencer is the person the audience will see, successful influencers depend on the input of the team surrounding them.

“I think being an influencer is also about having a really good team to support you. Cause you’re like talking to a camera. So you want people to give you feedback, honest feedback.”

An influencer needs a good relationship with the media, Kylie says. The media can be an efficient platform for sharing the influencer’s story with their audience. Kylie has appeared in a lot of magazines and websites.

The influencer’s personality does help, says Kylie. A fun, contagious demeanor has a good shot at connecting with the audience. That innate desire to be outstanding, Kylie says, has meant she always had a way of effortlessly drawing attention, something she considers central to her success as a fashion influencer and fashion entrepreneur.

Kylie wishes she approached her influencer career more strategically from the beginning. 

Influencer Role as a Stepping Stone

Influencers are being taken seriously and doing a lot of diverse things. Kylie says the role can be a launch pad for other passions. A recent example is YouTube star Logan Paul’s transition to boxing. He is expected to make millions of dollars from an exhibition fight against Floyd Mayweather. 

On her part, Kylie says she has had success in real estate and recently bought a summer home. She attributes her real estate success to applying what she has learned as an influencer and as owner of a fashion company.

Partnering with Other Brands and Influencers

For an influencer, turning fame into a product is important and exciting. Kylie works with other brands but considers it very important to focus on one’s own brand, connect with followers and engage with fans. 

There should be synergy between the influencer and the brand. Kylie is selective about brands to partner with since she has her own brand. She works with fashionable, trendy ones like Gucci and Givenchy and is careful to choose those that vibe with her own brand. She’s however experimental and has expressed a willingness to engage with a lesser known brand that looks like fun.

Future Plans

YouTube is the next platform Kylie is looking to get onto. She believes her YouTube channel is  vital for her brand. So far, balancing her work with her fashion company, social media management and the family real estate company has been the main impediment to kicking off a YouTube campaign.According to Kylie, her website www.uyenmeowofficial.com is undergoing redesign and will be relaunched as an ecommerce store.