45 Million Views: Hiromi Okuyama's Path to Clubhouse Icon

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**Introduction:**

- In this captivating episode, we dive into Hiromi's remarkable journey, from her early days as a Disney blogger to becoming a celebrated Clubhouse icon and social media influencer.

- Host Michael expresses his admiration for Hiromi's versatile talents and creative endeavors.

- Hiromi's impressive career spanning acting, martial arts, content creation, and her entertaining "mom acting challenges" on TikTok is introduced.

**Segment 1: Discovering a Passion for Writing and Blogging**

- Hiromi unveils her past as a writer for an unofficial Walt Disney World blog and how it ignited her love for blogging.

- The profound impact of Walt Disney World on Hiromi's life and her journey into the world of social media and blogging.

- Insights into her learning experiences within the Disney blogger community and her role in the Disney Moms program.

- Hiromi's pivot into food blogging, prompted by her son's allergies, is highlighted.

**Segment 2: Embracing Improv, Toastmasters, and Social Skills**

- Hiromi's transition into combining her acting skills with social media and her inspiring journey.

- The transformative power of improv and its positive influence on her self-confidence.

- Host Michael reflects on the significance of Toastmasters and its role in improving public speaking and social skills.

- Hiromi shares her perspective on her unique extroverted-introverted personality and the valuable insights gained from her experiences. 

**Segment 3: Becoming a Clubhouse Moderator and the Birth of "Food Is Religion"**

- Hiromi's early entry into Clubhouse in January 2021, becoming a moderator within a month, and the mentors who guided her.

- The vibrant Clubhouse community and the significant impact of Asian rooms on the platform.

- The inception of "Food Is Religion" and Hiromi's role as a moderator within the club.

**Segment 4: Unveiling the Clubhouse Icon Title**

- The unexpected revelation of Hiromi becoming a Clubhouse icon and the overwhelming support and love she received.

- An inside look at her experience attending a photoshoot in Toronto for her icon status.

- The emotional connection and sense of community during her icon journey are highlighted. 

**Segment 5: Reflecting on Standout Moments and Real-Life Connections**

- Hiromi shares memorable moments from her social media journey, including her interview with Paul Sun-Hyung Lee.

- The heartwarming experiences of meeting real-life connections made through social media platforms.

- Hiromi leaves listeners with a touching message about gratitude and self-love. 

**Conclusion:**

- Celebrating Hiromi's extraordinary journey, from a Clubhouse icon to a beloved and influential figure in the digital landscape.

- A reminder to listeners to embrace their passions and pursue their creative endeavors with dedication and enthusiasm.

Website: https://hiromiacts.com/

#HiromiActs

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(00:01):
actress, a martial artist, fifthdegree black belt, a content
creator, a moderator all overclubhouse. And the bulk of her
acting work is in commercials.
With over 30 years of experiencein the industry. She's acted in
television shows film stage. Andfor content creation Hiromi main
social media platforms ticktock, as many of you know, where

(00:23):
she has over 180,000 supporters,and over 40 million views with
the hashtag of Hiromacts. Shecreates fun mom acting
challenges. And I'm a fan by theway, I listen. And I watch all
the time. And she's thankful forso many followers from around
the world who do acting sceneswith her. You can hear her

(00:45):
frequently as a co host andmoderator as you know, as many
of you know, and on panels onclubhouse, and a variety of
topics. She's also my friend,and a friend is so many people
on clubhouse, and I am honoredto have her here today. Welcome
Hiromi.

Hiromi (01:03):
Thank you so much, Michael, thank you so much.

Michael Dugan (01:06):
So where did it all start for you? I know that
you're connected to food asreligion, but you're also
connected a clubhouse in manydifferent houses. But as far as
food is religion, when you weregrowing up at an early age, what
connection did you have to food?

Hiromi (01:22):
Oh, that's such an interesting question. And I
actually wrote an article aboutthis. So my dad is from Japan,
which is why I have a veryJapanese sounding name. And my
mom is actually Chinese. She'sfrom Hong Kong. So I'm so
blessed to have both cultures inmy life. I was born. I'm born in

(01:43):
Canada, and I grew up in Canada.
I've lived in Canada most of mylife. But the funny thing is,
um, you know, a lot of peoplegrew up with their moms or their
grandparents cooking in thekitchen, and then they have this
big elaborate meal. That wasn'tme. My mom was a single mom,
very early when we were superyoung. We ate a lot of takeout.
And she admits she's the firstperson to admit that she does

(02:07):
not cook. She doesn't likecooking. We had the best times
on the weekends, where we wouldgo to all these different
restaurants all over Toronto,and Toronto has amazing
restaurants, especially Chineserestaurants. And my mom knows
how she doesn't know how tocook, but she knows how to
order. So we would go to likethe mom and pop shops, noodle
shops, the wonton shops, wewould go dimsum at least

(02:29):
sometimes we go fancy and go toRed Lobster for lunch. And we
used to love Harvey's like wejust went everywhere. And we
would like order takeout andkeep it in our fridge. And we
would like my sister and I wouldeat that like at during the
week. We were latchkey kids aswell. So yeah, it wasn't, we
didn't have the conventionalkind of growing up that other

(02:53):
kids have. But I really cherisheating out. And I think that's
why I love going to restaurantsand eating out a lot. So I'm not
a good cook. But I think foodconnects us in so many different
ways. And we can appreciate foodin so many different ways.

Michael Dugan (03:08):
You know, it's interesting to so I haven't
shared this with you, I don'tthink but I'll share this with
you and all of our listeners, mywife hates to cook when we got
married. I mean, I would do alot of cooking. She's a really
good cook. But she doesn't likeit because she didn't grow up
enjoying it. And there's anepisode in fact, our very first
episode on voice for chefs. It'scalled stay hungry. It's 16

(03:32):
minutes, I think. And it took mefour hours to edit it because I
was brand new to podcasting.
It's the story of why she hatesto cook. And it's called stay
hungry. And so her favoritething to cook is reservations.
And she always says that andalways makes me laugh. I like to
cook I like to cook lots ofdifferent things because I went
to cooking school, but it'sreally not necessarily about
cooking. It's about enjoyingfood. And you've definitely

(03:53):
enjoy food. And there's always aconnection to that, right.
People need to recognize somepeople just eat to eat, we need
to eat to enjoy, you know, andthat's what Food is Religion is
about is really enjoying food.
And when people come to therooms or our house, you know,
they they get to experience thatwith the moderators from all

(04:13):
over the world like yourself.
So, can you tell us a little bitabout growing up and kind of
what shaped you into a socialmedia influencer? In other
words, when when you startedout? What did you want to do as
a kid? And then kind of take usa little bit through your

(04:34):
background? Oh,

Hiromi (04:37):
yes. Okay. So when I was younger, I always was fascinated
with performing. I don't knowwhy it was always a big
fascination for me. Also being alatchkey kid, my sister and I
watched a lot of TV. We love alot of TV so I was always into

(04:57):
all the TV shows I loved sopoppers to and I don't know, I
just love TV. I love watchingactors on TV. And, and I always
thought, oh, that's somethingthat I've always thought I would
that was my dream is to perform.
And I but I was really shy. Andyou know, like most actors I was
also like, picked on when I wasa kid. Because you know, there

(05:21):
wasn't a lot of people or kidsthat kind of looked like me.
Yeah, so I had to deal with thatas well. But then I remember one
specific moment in my life inwhen I was in grade six, I think
in America, you say sixth grade,but I was in grade six. And
they're encouraging us to dospeech arts. So I said, Okay,

(05:41):
I'm gonna write this speech. AndI was this very shy, awkward
kid, I was always emotionalcrying. And I thought, What am I
going to write a speech on? AndI said, Wait a second, I'm such
an emotional kid, why don't I dosomething on feelings. So I did
this speech on feelings. Istarted off the speech crying,
and everybody thought I wascrying. And then I went into

(06:03):
like, happy, mad, you know,every emotion. And that speech
did so well. That my teacher andthe principal had me go into
competitions, and had me do thatspeech over and over again, but
then it made me realize this iswhat I love to do. And then when
I got into high school, youknow, I started doing more

(06:27):
acting, and then University,took some courses. And then
after university is when Ireally went into, into like,
auditioning and stuff. So I hadbeen a commercial actress for 30
years. And being a commercialactress, really, I think, made
me realize how much I lovesocial media, then social media
came became popular. And thenthat's how I really started I

(06:49):
did because I've always been asocial person. And even when I
was reading my like high schoolrecords, or like, heard me talk
so much in class probablysocializes too much in class.
And I

Michael Dugan (07:01):
think that's such a gift. Come on, that is such a
gift to me.

Hiromi (07:05):
I know, but I feel bad for my teachers. Like, I'm like,
Ah, I was too much of atroublemaker. But it was nice,
because then now, like, youknow, that kind of led me to the
path now being, you know, verysocial and, and talking to
everybody and getting to knoweverybody's stories. So yeah.

Michael Dugan (07:21):
I love that. I love that. Can you describe a
little bit about kind of your,your first entrance into social
media and what that looked like,like, for me, you know, it was I
was completely clueless. I mean,I had friends on Facebook and
things like that. And I startedan Instagram and I didn't really

(07:43):
understand very much, right. Andthen I got I got better at it as
I went along. But, but how didthat all start for you?

Hiromi (07:50):
Yeah, so yeah, of course. We started on Facebook,
too. Back in the day. And then Iremember, I was on Facebook. And
then I really liked Twitter backin the day when it first
started. I was like, Whoa, itwas Twitter was incredible. And
then I got onto Instagram. Whatreally got me exposed to social

(08:12):
media was, and I don't know if alot of people know this about
me. I used to write for anunofficial Walt Disney World
law. And because

Michael Dugan (08:21):
Oh, my gosh, that's amazing. I couldn't
believe it. Because your energyand your passion is very
connected to that.

Hiromi (08:32):
Yeah, no, I just love Well, I remember we went on a
Walt Disney World trip and I wasblown away by the whole by
Disney World. And then I justsubmitted an article and I'm
still friends with the owner ofthis blog. She sold it, but
she's a she's a masscommunication major as well. And
so I remember I submitted anarticle and she liked my writing

(08:54):
she like she told me to be awriter and I started to get the
blogging world especially backthen with Disney was huge.
There's their Disney had thisDisney moms program, it was just
big. And it was so great. I gotto learn a lot about social
media, through being in thisblogger kind of community. And
so I learned about how to, youknow, be on Instagram, how to

(09:16):
tweet and I just learned a lotbeing around really amazing
social media people in theDisney kind of world. Pun
intended. And so yeah, andthat's how I started getting
into it. And funny thing is, itdid lead to food. Because I was
I got pregnant with my son overthe over the years. And then my

(09:37):
son, I think many of you, youknow, has severe multiple
anaphylactic allergies. He'sallergic to dairy, wheat, egg
and sesame and so we can't eatanywhere. Except Disneyworld. He
is He eats like a normal kid. Idon't know how it is now but
back then. It's incredible. Likehe can eat it. any fat almost

(10:00):
any fast food restaurant we justwe do have to talk to a chef or
the manager first. We go to anyrestaurants, the chef comes out
takes our order I wrote aboutthat too. So it always leads
back to booth posted a lot aboutit and, and I met a lot of
really great foodies like DisneyWorld foodie foodie. So in the
allergy community as well, it'sjust it was really incredible.

(10:21):
So yeah, it always relates backto food. And so that's how I got
into it. And then yeah, we cantalk about tick tock too, if
you'd like, Oh,

Michael Dugan (10:29):
definitely. But I'm just trying to, for everyone
that knows you, they may knowthese stories, but for people
that don't try to shape this,you know, shape Hermes life a
little bit so that we can kindof walk through and, and learn
about your journey. So you know,as as you were growing up, you
just kind of connected to socialmedia. And then you combined

(10:52):
acting and social media, whichis really powerful. I also know
that you're very passionate andvery good at improv, my wife is
is really into improv and shestarted out kind of as an
introvert. And then she startedtaking improv classes and oh my
gosh, she blossomed and becameso confident. Also, we've talked

(11:12):
before about Toastmasters. I'mI'm a big advocate for that,
probably eight years now. Butit's public speaking leadership.
And we, my wife and I both toToastmasters and really
strengthened our social skills,I would say, Well, I'm more of
an ambivert, which is anextrovert introvert, and she's
more of an introvert. It'samazing what these things can

(11:32):
really do, you know, to help youget over impostor syndrome to
get over fears of publicspeaking. And those challenges.
And I know that you've conqueredthat, probably through improv,
and probably through acting, butwant to talk a little bit about
that.

Hiromi (11:47):
Actually, that's so amazing that your wife did
improv classes and learningimprov because I did get a
scholarship for one year at theSecond City Training Center.
Back in 2000. They had this itwas a diversity scholarship.
They were trying to get morebipoc craters into the into the

(12:09):
second city programs. And so Iauditioned. And yeah, I got it.
And I was able to do a full yearof courses. So that's
interesting that you mentionedimprov and improv is I suggest
improv for everybody. Because itcan work in so many ways.
Whether you know, you're onsocial short form video, whether

(12:30):
you're live, whether you're onsocial audio, like I see Mimi
Langley there the social audioqueen, like just being on your
feet and quick, it just helpsyou to think quickly. And shift
quickly. And, and the Yes, adit's all about welcoming and
saying yes to and and I'm sureyour wife knows the Yes. And as
well, right.

Michael Dugan (12:48):
Oh, and I know it too. Yep. I learned it from her.
It's pretty powerful. It's likebreaking down barriers. For
everything. Life relationshipswork. Yeah, I just think it's
really powerful. Well, you know,what's amazing to me, Hiromi is
that you're involved in so manythings. You're a black belt in
karate, karate school,clubhouse, social media, and an

(13:12):
amazing mom, like, how do youhave time for all this? How do
you balance?

Hiromi (13:16):
Oh, one of my friends, he's a doctor. He says, It's
like we have spinning plates. Iwas when he did this analogy.
I'm like, Oh my gosh, that is mylife. You know, a lot of people
say, you know, try and deletesomething so that you can slow
down, but I love everything Ido. So I can't deliver. Right.

(13:39):
So I you know, everything thatI'm involved with, that you
mentioned, I just love so muchand I'm passionate about so it's
hard, I do have to be moreintentional and be mindful of my
time. And I do have to have tolike, shut down my social media,
when I'm what and just focus onmy son when I'm with him.

Michael Dugan (14:01):
I actually think you're really good at it.
Because I see all the thingsthat you do. You know, I'm a big
fan. Like I said, since I sinceI've met you, I've been
following you and I'm justamazed at all the things that
you can. It's just amazing to methat you're involved in so many
different things, you know, andand also that you would make the
time for this, you know, thatmeans a lot to me and to food,

(14:24):
his religion, I think becausethis is an amazing story that
needs to be told about you. Andand I'm just honored that that
you're here doing this with me.
So as we go along, in yourjourney what is it that where
you came to a point where youstarted to get noticed on social

(14:48):
media, like where was thattransition? You know, you're on
Facebook and and you're onTwitter and now you're just kind
of coming into your own Onlythen all of a sudden, I'm sure
something happened. Can youdescribe that for us?

Hiromi (15:05):
Yes. So I was on Twitter for what I didn't like have a
lot of followers but I wasgaining like, you know,
attention, especially with my Ireally liked Twitter back in the
day. And then Instagram, it wasmore. Like before when I was an
Instagram was more just showingmy everyday life family some

(15:28):
Disney stuff thrown in. It wasTik Tok, that really I saw how
potential and huge that someonecan grow. Tick tock, so many
people grew so fast, I actuallydidn't grow really fast. My
dad's account grew fast. When westarted, mine grew much later

(15:49):
and their strategies. I talkedto Jonathan, he's in the
audience, we talk aboutstrategies as well, about that.
So yeah, I didn't grow for untila year later, but it was tick
tock that. I was like, wow. Andbecause of tick tock, other
platforms, kind of, I don't wantto say copied, but they kind of
emulated a lot of their formula.
And then people start startedgrowing on like, you know, tick

(16:12):
on Instagram and utilizingYouTube. Like it just really
expanded people's visibility.
And the way people can monetizethe way people can build
communities. It's just tick tockwas really, I don't know how to
say it. It was, it was I justlove the app so much, even
though there's been a lot ofchanges. And you know, there's

(16:33):
good and the bad. I just thinkit was phenomenal for giving so
much visibility and exposure forso many people.

Michael Dugan (16:40):
You continue to have an amazing following 40,000
views that that's justincredible to me. Think why
don't you share a little bitabout your father, sir, but he
knows I was fascinated when Ilearned about your father, but I
know you help him with hissocial media. You're probably
his coach.

Hiromi (16:58):
Yes. So I do run all of his socials. And I do teach. Oh,
my God. I mind you. Yeah, doteach for him.

Michael Dugan (17:06):
Just another layer of Hiromi here, just
another amazing layer.

Hiromi (17:10):
Oh, luckily, you know what's good, though, Michael,
because social media you can doanywhere, right? So it's good
because I get to stay home anddo the socials for myself. And
for my dad, you know, I don'thave to, like go into an office
or, you know, go somewhere towork. Like it's been really nice
to do a lot of stuff that I cando from home. So that's the good

(17:31):
thing about that. So my fatheris a karate master. He's one of
non my words. He's one of thehighest ranking masters in the
world. And wow, yeah. And heteaches everywhere around the
world. And he teaches people inthe military. He has the key to
the city of Cali, Colombia. Andhe's gotten so many different
awards across the world. Ilearned from him, and I teach

(17:55):
for him as well. And so yeah,he's just started his social
media. I started hits tick tock,his Instagram. So that's what
I've been doing with him.

Michael Dugan (18:05):
Let's get some hearts for homies. Let's see
him. I see a couple of themhere. You got a huge heart for
for your father for me. Andhere's why. Because as a kid, I
took karate and actuallyremember, with my best friend,
he kicked me in the face. Westill stayed friends, but you
know, we were sparring fighting,but my Aunt Judy owns a karate

(18:26):
studio in Florida. And she Ithink is a third degree black
belt. You're a fifth degreeblack belt is that right? Yes, I
am. Wow, that is phenomenal.
Like how long does it take to bea fifth degree black belt?

Hiromi (18:41):
Yes. So a lot of people kind of question whether why I'm
a fifth degree black beltbecause I know. I do. I admit I
do look younger than I am. Butmost degree black belts are my
age. I'm 50. Like, so I justturned 50 in September. Well,
this a few weeks ago.

Michael Dugan (19:01):
My birthday is in september two I knew that's one
of the reasons I loved you isSeptember I mean? Yeah, yeah.
Wow.

Hiromi (19:11):
Happy belated birthday.

Michael Dugan (19:13):
No, thank you.
Yeah, it was it was last week. Iwas actually sick. So but I'm
better now. So yeah, that's soamazing. fifth degree black belt
is you know that that's reallyincredible. I think I got an
orange belt. But I was a kid.
Anyone who has achieved a blackbelt. That's a huge, huge honor.
So congratulations. Oh my gosh,wow. That's just incredible

(19:34):
about your dad. Like I just Iwas shocked It shocked to hear
that and then you manage all thesocial media. You manage your
own social media you have kidsand and challenges around
raising your kids alsoclubhouse. Let's talk a little
bit about clubhouse now. Soyou've been a moderator probably
for since the beginning. Whendid when did you start in

(19:57):
clubhouse was it in thebeginning and how did that
happen?

Hiromi (20:00):
Yes, I started clubhouse in January 2021. So very early.
And I actually, I'm so thankfulfor so many friends that I've
met on clubhouse. I actuallybecame a moderator quite early,
like probably a month. Wow.
Yeah, it was. And I you know, Imade some mistakes along the

(20:21):
way. But I had so many greatmentors back then. And

Michael Dugan (20:25):
anyone you want to shout out to that was one of
my questions for later on, butwe might as well hit it now.

Hiromi (20:29):
Yeah, so back then Argentina Beltran. Hopefully
she's She's incredible. Shereally helped me and she got me
on stage. I don't know there'sso many people and I used to do
a regular room every week withmy friend Mike. Tell Placido.
He's not on propose, but he hashis own on his podcast. I was
also on Argentina's podcast,everybody's podcasters tube and

(20:52):
yet yeah. And my friend, Masami.
He does strong Asian lead. Hehad me as a moderator and also
the Asian professionals. Myfriend, Keith qu, and Joseph.
Yeah, all of them really helpedme gain confidence as being
moderators on stage early in thedays. And then I also love Mimi
Lang Lee's rooms. Oh, yeah.

(21:12):
Also, I

Michael Dugan (21:13):
learned some of them. Me, me. Wow. Yeah. Shout
out to me right here. She'sstraight here with a shout out
to you Mimi.

Hiromi (21:19):
Yeah, and I learned so much from her. And also my
friend Katie Mason. She hasn'tbeen on clubhouse for a while.
But yeah, you know, it wasincredible being in rooms with
her too. So yeah, so many greatpeople that I learned from

Michael Dugan (21:33):
as we talk about clubhouse. How did you come into
food as religion? When When didthat happen? Can you share a
little bit about that? I

Hiromi (21:41):
would see chef Mimi's rooms before she created food is
religion. I would see hereverywhere. And also because
there were a lot of Asian roomsthat were huge back in the early
clubhouse days and never Asianrooms about everything. Asian
professionals, Asian food rooms,just a lot of really great Asian

(22:02):
rooms and also some really sadones. Because at that time,
there was a lot of well, therestill is the stop Asian hate
movement. And yeah, so there wasa big community of, of Asians
trying to, and also the Atlantashootings happened at that time.
And I remember being on stagewith Lisa laying, I was like, Oh

(22:23):
my gosh, and we were talkingabout, I didn't talk when she
was talking because I was sonervous. But wow, is talking
about it. And so many Asians gottogether on club posts back in
the day. And so chef Mimi wouldbe in those rooms as well. And
I'm like, Oh, my gosh, Chef me,me. And so we started getting to
know each other. She startedasking me to join her rooms and

(22:45):
be a moderator in her room. I'mlike, oh, but I'm not a chef.
But she was so gracious to, tohave me in different rooms,
especially rooms about food thatI know well like, like, I know
Chinese food well, even thoughthey know how to cook it so or
other like I remember justdifferent rooms, she'll have me
moderate, even if I didn't knowit. Well, at least I can move

(23:06):
along with the discussion, likehelp with the discussion. So
yeah. And then when she createdfood as religion, that's when
she asked me to be one of theirmoderators, we used to do a
social media room every

Michael Dugan (23:17):
week, you know, you've been so involved in in
clubhouse and helping in so manydifferent ways I've followed
you, I can't always be in therooms. But I know what's going
on. And one of the most amazingthings about you Hiromi is that
you give back so much and yourfriends are here right now. And
one thing they may not know isthat you know you've been a huge
advocate for food as religion,you've brought so much

(23:40):
visibility to this club. We'reso grateful for that. I'm an
officer in the club. So one ofthe reasons I really wanted to
interview you is to honor youand to say thank you for that
because you're a voice for foodas religion and you know, we're
we're so grateful that for thatTIFF. Mimi's not here right now.
I know if she was here, shewould jump in immediately and

(24:00):
all the officers would as wellas you went along in your
clubhouse journey. Then all thesudden you became a clubhouse
icon. And I was thrilled I wasjumping up and down when I heard
about it. I couldn't believe it.
I was like, wow, so welldeserved and so amazing. But how
did that feel? Can you share alittle bit with everyone about
the

Hiromi (24:20):
Clubhouse icon was not even in my house? Yeah, I never
have dreamed to have been aclubhouse icon. Like, I know
that people are gonna say how amI gonna say that? Oh, would not
even think I was worthy enoughto be an icon I that was not in

(24:40):
my head at all. So to say I wasshocked like, I was shocked.
Yeah, yeah, it wasn't. I justlove. I love the app so much.
And I was one of the secondphase or third phase to get
hosts early, and just beingaround all the beta testers back
in the day it was. It was soamazing. And I remember doing

(25:04):
rooms every almost every dayback in the day to just just
being on clubhouse daily. Do youwant me to tell you the story of
how everything happened?

Michael Dugan (25:13):
Of course, I think everyone does. Let's see
some hearts. I mean, I thinkeveryone's dying to know. I know
I am for sure.

Hiromi (25:21):
Yeah. So I was, it was in December. And, you know, we
because of the being a betatester for the host features. I
started, you know, I got to knowJoe Erminia, the head of
community on clubhouse. And thenone day, Joe messaged Lalo, and

(25:42):
Emery my lady Hustler, all ofyou know, though, yeah. And
he's, he said, Guys, we need tohave a meeting about something.
And I'm like, okay, and it waslike, right before another big
meeting with other people. So Ithought maybe Joe wanted to run
some new features or talk abouta new product. Like I just
thought that and that's what theother remind law they thought

(26:05):
that too. So when he got us intoa room to have a meeting, a
private club, host room, thenthat's when he said, Oh, just
wanted to let you know that weare, you know, you're the next
icon. And I was like, what? Iwas so shocked. And we did have

(26:25):
to keep it a secret for about amonth. They did the photo shoot
in Toronto. So I did not have todo go anywhere. Lolo and Rima
got flown to Toronto, and yeah,it was so fun. I got I stayed
over. We're in Remus Hotel. Sothey had hotel for LA alone. And
they had a hotel for remind. AndI stayed over the day of the

(26:45):
shoot. Cool. Yeah, it was reallynice. It was one of the most
memorable times in my life. Itwas so fun. And we had a really
famous photographer, and he'sthe one that took my profile
photo right now Ted Belton.

Michael Dugan (26:57):
A beautiful photo that really expresses your
emotion to it. When I look atit. I think you just became a
clubhouse icon and you'reglowing. And it's just awesome.

Hiromi (27:11):
And oh, yeah, he Ted Belton is incredible. If you see
his Instagram he's hot. Like, Icouldn't believe I was being
photographed by him. So yeah, itwas really nice. To experience
to have that experience.

Michael Dugan (27:27):
Wow, you painted an amazing picture. There's so
much energy in this room, eventhough it's virtual, you know, I
can just I can just feel it. Soas we go along, now, now, you're
a clubhouse icon? What did anydoors open because of that? Did
any new opportunities come aboutnew direction because of that?

Hiromi (27:50):
I wouldn't say new doors. I think it's, it does
feel good that you can kind ofput it on your resume. And just,
you know, visibility. One thingI I didn't expect was, I know
people who will probably saythat oh, but I didn't expect all

(28:11):
the love and thing and station.
It was really beautiful. andwhatnot while I was icon. I
don't know, I guess this is howlike Miss America feels like you
have you go to all thesedifferent events and put on
different events while you'reicon. And I had a lot of
different communities reach outto me to interview me. And that

(28:31):
was really special, like beinginterviewed in different
different communities. And andyeah, it was, it was very, I was
very touched by that they wantedto know about me. And and yeah,
and me being an icon. So thatwas really touching.

Michael Dugan (28:49):
So as far as clubhouse goes, that that is an
incredible journey. Is thereanything new coming up for you
in clubhouse? Anything that youwant to do or you want to talk
about?

Hiromi (28:59):
In terms of clubhouse? I really, I really liked the
asynchronous chats that theyhave. I think it's I first you
know, like everybody else. I wasjust wondering, okay, what are
they? where's this going? Whatare they going to do? I was just
thinking that, and then I, whenI started seeing everybody else
the way they're using, I'm like,wow, and I love how you can just

(29:21):
jump on and listen any time. Ilike that. But I do love the
live rooms too. So I hopethey're able to find a balance
to make everybody happy andeverybody thrive. But

Michael Dugan (29:36):
feel like if I want to ask it, other people
want to know too. How do youfilm if you're just filming with
an iPhone? What kind ofequipment do you use? Do you
have somebody that's helpingyou? Because I feel like you do.
I'm curious as you're filming?
How do you do them?

Hiromi (29:59):
One The thing I love about short form video content,
and Jonathan will agree with meis you can do everything on your
own. That's what I love aboutdoing short form videos. Or even
I can go into long form video inthe future. But yes, everything
is on my phone. I have a ringlight. I know some people really

(30:23):
don't use realize, but I do Ilove my ring light. It makes me
look more. I don't know fresh. Ido like using natural lighting
to what I have it. Yeah, buteverything is is on my phone. I
film everything in the palm ofmy hand attached to the ring.
Wow, quality's good. Yeah, Idon't really have external

(30:45):
people helping me I editeverything on my phone.

Michael Dugan (30:48):
Yeah, that's incredible. Because it feels
like you have a second person,you give that illusion. And
that's really amazing. Because Ithink it's hard to do all of it
at once or Ami. And again, youknow, you're great at
multitasking. So, but we allhave to remember that there's a
balance right? I have to learnthat myself. So we've got a
little bit of behind the sceneswith tick tock. What? What is

(31:11):
it? Can you share any tips orbest practices for moderating
tick tock and social media, likehow do you engage with your
audience?

Hiromi (31:24):
Well, posting consistently is first. So you
have the visibility. So I do trymy best to post every day for my
father's account, becausethere's a more there's an
educational element. And I haveto be very careful of how I
write things. I have to makesure after research that I'm

(31:46):
seeing the translatingeverything correctly. So my
father's is it probably everytwo or two or three days. He has
a lot of views on Instagram,actually. He's doing super well
on Instagram, and his Tik Tok isit builds builds really well.
For my content. I do try my bestto post every day. And then with

(32:10):
engagement, the comment sectionis gold. You know, I actually my
last video my most popular videoto date right now that's
building momentum momentum.
Sorry, is is that now at 1.7million views. And the comments
section at over I think Ihaven't checked yet in the past
this morning, but I think it'sat 1700 comments and oh my

(32:34):
goodness, but I do read all ofthem. And I like all the ones I
like all of the comments unlessI saw

Michael Dugan (32:44):
you posted that you do you engage with every
single one of them.

Hiromi (32:49):
So I'll like it so they know overall me read this
comment and yes, on Tik Tok,which I hope they'll have an
Instagram soon. You can favoritea comment. So it goes into a
favorite category that's privateonly for you to see. And so I
favorite a lot of comments. Andso that I will use those
comments to make a video in thefuture. And I usually give a

(33:12):
shout out to those people or youcan do a required a video with a
comment. So that kind of givesthem a shout out to so a lot of
inspiration I get from theirbadass she actually inspired me
to do a few and even to both ofthem. Oh, awesome. You
especially Gen Z slang. So Ijust like a lot of my friends

(33:33):
and supporters that you knowgoing even going live. That's a
great way to community buildEthan goes live a lot. That's an
incredible way. And Danny, she'sone of my moderators on my
lives. You know, we go live saidto. So yeah, just so many
supporters that I really, youknow, and those are the ways
that you build engagement, buildvisibility, build community. So

(33:57):
yeah, going live engaging inyour comment section, commenting
on other other other people'sposts. I learned that a lot from
Chef Jensen. He mentioned thatwhen I actually

Michael Dugan (34:10):
love Chef Jensen.

Hiromi (34:13):
I'm Food is Religion. So I'm engaging with other content
and that's I do that a lot onInstagram. And that gives you
visibility as well. Yes.

Michael Dugan (34:23):
All right. So I have to share this little tidbit
really quick. Chef Mimiintroduced me to Chef Jenson
from Best Served podcast. He hasan incredible podcast that's
really real about the restaurantbusiness. And I asked him to do
an interview on my podcast. Theday I asked him to do the
interview, there was awindstorm. So I had to cancel

(34:43):
with him and he was super busyand he was so gracious that next
week we did the interviewtogether and it was incredible
depths of because it's so realand so down to earth and really
connects to the hospitalityindustry. It's really honest.
And God I just loved it. SoDoing this with you is amazing.
Doing this with him was amazing.
And again, that's why I became apodcaster. It's really cool to

(35:05):
hear a shout out for sentencing.
What about when we look at, youknow, strategies for social
media, because you've been amoderator for so long and food
is religion, let's focus it onfood influencers, food bloggers,
people that are learning to growtheir presence on social media.

(35:26):
Do you have any special advicefor them?

Hiromi (35:27):
You know, what's funny is I, I talked to other content
creators as well, whenever youmentioned food, even if your
content is not about food, likethe philosophy of food is
religion. It just bringseverybody together. I remember
going live almost every week,and Danny would attest to this,
what's your favorite cake? Andthen we'd have all these and

(35:48):
then the next week would bewhat's your favorite topping on
your pizza?

Michael Dugan (35:52):
So any other tips for food bloggers, food
influencers? Good? podcasters

Hiromi (35:58):
Being on top of food trends, watching other people
and seeing what other contentcreators don't copy them, but or
if you do, always give them ashout out. So I get a lot of
like new food trends that I seeon tick tock that I'm going to
draw. So that's always fun.
Also, learning from other foodchefs like there's a chef.

(36:20):
There's two chef Monica's infood is religion. There's,
there's two. One of them is isreally big on tick tock, and she
always teaches us aboutlighting. She says she talks
about and she does a voiceover Ijust love if you want to watch
how to master being a chef onTik Tok go to her account. She's

(36:40):
incredible. She's an American.
Yeah, she's She's incredible.
And yeah, just having reallygood lighting especially when
you're showcasing food that'sreally important. Telling your
story with your with your foodor your recipes. I often even
though I'm not a chef by tellinga story about my about what food
is is is important to me. SoI'll give an example. My most

(37:04):
recent food food one is thepeeling grapes one well actually
did a watermelon one too, but Ifeel grapes and I saw the
watermelon one. Yeah, yeah,eating watermelon with
chopsticks. But you know, I Iculture like eating with
chopsticks. I also use theChinese word for grandmother
Cantonese. And in my commentsection, I had a lot of

(37:26):
supporters who were saying, ohmy goodness, did you just say
Papa? Oh, I never hear anyonesay Papa. Like it's the way it's
grandmother in Cantonese. Sothat was a way to incorporate my
culture with the food. And so Itried to do that which brings
awareness so you can always Thaifood. You know? Yeah, Thai food

(37:46):
with anything related to yourcontent like and people eat or
people just like watching wherewhat you're eating. So it's kind
of interesting how food justties everybody together. So as

Michael Dugan (38:00):
you went along in social media, are there any
standout moments or experiencethat you've had that you'd like
to share?

Hiromi (38:07):
Okay, there's so many.
Okay, I'll say for clubhouse.
There were so many rooms, somany special rooms that I've
done on clubhouse, but I thinkthe most special one, I have to
say was one I did with He's aformer clubhouse employee,
Crisco alo him and I it waslike, many months in the working

(38:29):
in the making, but weinterviewed Paul young son Lee.
He plays APA on kidsconvenience. And he's also in
the Mandalorian. But yes, he'sin so many. He's an incredible
actor. That interview was oh,that was one of my favorite
interviews to do. Also, I was sohonored to be interviewed by
Mohit he's, he's a clubhouseicon himself. He was he wasn't

(38:54):
an official icon, but he's aclubhouse superstar. So that was
really cool to be interviewed byhim because yeah, so many great
moments. As for tick tock, just,I think my the first video that
went viral, that was kind of oneof the biggest kind of moments
in my life that was reallyspecial. And just going I don't

(39:16):
know, just there's so manyvideos and so many amazing
moments that I had. Oh, andmeeting a lot of people in real
life that that's very specialfrom people I met on social
media like meeting. Well, letalone Rhema Oh, and then a group
of Asian moms, they're, they'rereally big on to talk. And they

(39:36):
met in Toronto, and I'm one ofthem. I'm posting she called me
out to meet them. And so I wentto hang out with him. That was
so fun. Last year, and yeah,just meeting people in real
life. From from clubhouse or TikTok, or, you know, Instagram.
That's one of the best things.
You know, you already have thisconnection with them. And then
when you meet in real life, it'slike you said get so excited.

Michael Dugan (39:58):
I keep talking to stuff Mimi. I really want to
meet her. And we've had a couplemisses where we we would have
connected and,

Hiromi (40:06):
and my message to everybody. Oh, it's yeah, just
to really love yourself and Ijust try to be grateful and
thankful every day for even,like just sitting outside of my
backyard having this on my face,I just want to be thankful for
that and always be thankful foreverything.

Michael Dugan (40:25):
I know that a lot of these people are your friends
and supporters. And I think it'sjust awesome that that everyone
is here. I'm just really excitedthat we had a chance to do this,
and you are an amazing humanbeing. And the last question I
have for you. There's one more Ithought about this a lot. You've
grown tremendously on socialmedia. How do you stay so

(40:47):
authentic and humble? Because Ididn't want to say that in the
beginning. And then once you getchoked up, everyone I've met
that knows you says that. I'veexperienced it. You're a great
friend, you're a greatsupporter, you've been in my
rooms, you came to celebrationsthat I had and supported me. But
how do you stay so authentic,and humble?

Hiromi (41:06):
I really am an advocate for therapy. So try and get
therapy as early as you can. Thesecond thing is, I wish I could
go back into time and change alot of things but I can't We
can't do that. So the only thingto do is to do better for the
future. And I think that's whatis that helps me stay grounded

(41:28):
and helps me humility. Yeah. Andhelps me to be who I am and true
to who true to who I am.

Michael Dugan (41:34):
That is fantastic for me. And I just want to leave
everyone with that thoughtbecause I was dying to ask that
question. Thank you, everybody.
Goodbye, everyone.