Small Talk: Mira of Fafafoom

Mira's my next Small Talk, get excited!  This previous co-worker of mine turned friend has a wicked cool fashion and style blog called Fafafoom (like va-va-voom, how clever).  It's full of fashion show reviews, DIY projects, and more spotlighted by some amazing photography and a professional yet authentic writing style.  In an office by day and blogging by nights and weekends for her own and other blogging platforms, Mira has held her own as one of my favorite fashion and style bloggers out there today.

What is "Fafafoom"?  How did you come up with the name?
It's actually not the name I started my blog with. The blog has had several name changes in the past, but "Fafafoom" was the one that sticks. I really like the name now even though I was a little tentative about it at the beginning. My Catholic baptist name is Fabiola, and I've been enthusiastic about fashion and style. Combining that with my affinity of the phrase va-va-voom and there it is! Now Fafafoom as a hub of my fashionable interests; it's va-va-voom with a fashion niche. While more and more people tell me they love the name, I still say, "It's va-va-voom but with f's instead of v's." whenever I introduce my blog to new / prospective readers :)

Mira of Fafafoom
Photo Credit

What inspired you to start your blog?
I was visiting San Francisco at the time, and was in the right time and place to see the Academy of Art University's 2007 Student Fashion Show. My weekend in San Francisco there was fantastic, the city's vibe and style were awesome and I felt so much at home. The fashion show was an icing on the cake on a perfect weekend. Chris (still my boyfriend at the time) took great photos from the bleacher seat, and I just reached out to AAU for more information about the show. They gave me the student designers information, we already got the photos, and the rest is history.

Long story short, writing a blog as a routine didn't work out for me. After writing on-and-off for several months, I took a break for about two years before I started writing again. I've enjoyed writing since I was little, but I get bored easily about routines, even with doing activities I really enjoy. So it was only for the past 3 years that I eventually found how not to regard blogging as a monotonous activity. As a result, I truly realized how much I enjoy sharing by writing.

Which topic / event do you enjoy writing the most?
At first I love writing the fashion show reviews the most. But since I get a little better at sewing, DIY fashion projects are my favorite topic. It's the topic that takes the most time to package in each blog posts, but the learning experience for each sewing projects is worth it. Moreover, it's humbling that Fafafoom readers love them, too! Now I'm trying to find more time to do more DIY projects, both sewing and non-sewing projects...I really love how fun and rewarding the processes are.

It looks like you have sponsored posts on your blog as well as do sponsors with other blogs.  How did you go about inward and outward sponsoring while managing consistency in your blog's brand and voice?
No matter what, content originality is important for me. There are too many blogs out there that are just amplifiers for other people's content. As much as possible, I want to come up with original content, whether when it's writing exclusively for Fafafoom, as part of an international blog train originated in Singapore, as a collaboration with Paris Fashion Week PR company, or as a collaboration with local brands. Writing with my own style, even with a diverse topics Fafafoom features help me manage consistencies of what I'm passionate in and how I'd like to share them with the world.

What advice do you have for those running blogs or wishing to start their own?
Relax and take your time. Don't stress about followers. Nowadays, people are worried about not having readers even before they start their own blog. With so many blogs out there, it's easy to get intimidated by what others have done. But the important thing is to ask yourself why you want to start a blog. Know your intrinsic values, develop them as you start blogging, and refine them as you go. Heck, it took a while for me to realize that blogging is about sharing my passion and connecting with new people.

So when you start a blog, what does it mean to you? Try to make it the best blog YOU want it to be, with YOUR defined qualitative and/or quantitative metrics of success. If you care about what you write and persistently strive to get better at it, then you're motivated to blog for the right reasons. For many successful bloggers, it's not about getting famous and get thousands of followers from the get-go. Some of us get lucky and get noticed, but many don't. And that's alright! Have fun blogging; chill and enjoy the ride.