Haley Pham: social media star, fashion pro, podcast host, and future real estate mogul. Yes, we are serious.
Pham, who is just 19 years old, has millions of followers across her social media channels and uses those outlets to share everything about her life — including her religion, motivational messages, and her Vietnamese culture.
We caught up with the business-savvy influencer to find out how she’s spending her time in quarantine, how she balances all her business ventures, and what she’s doing next.
photo: Paige MillerYou’ve accomplished so much at such a young age, which is incredibly inspiring. What’s your advice to your followers who would love to follow in your footsteps?
If you have an idea take the leap and start and you’ll learn everything by doing!
We see you’ve been busy on social media while we’re all under quarantine — has the social distancing affected your ideas or work at all?
The only thing that becomes difficult with working from home is that I usually have to buy products for videos, and Amazon has been a bit slower so it’s been more challenging to brainstorm video ideas that require no products and no other human beings!
OK, speaking of quarantine, give us the details: what’s your quarantine outfit? What are you binge-watching? What songs have you been playing? What’s your go-to snack? Bible verses that are getting you through this?
Quarantine outfit — Leggings, sports bra, and a crop top
Binge-watching — Ozark
Listening to — Benee and rap music
Go-to snack — Iced Snapple and acai bowls
Bible verses — all of them
You’re very open about your relationship with God, which isn’t very common among public figures. Why is it so important to you to be vocal about it?
I would say it just flows naturally, since my faith is the largest part of my life, and the driving force for why I wake up every morning. It gives me purpose and it’s something I enjoy sharing. But, I definitely try to avoid sounding like I’m pushing it upon people who don’t believe in Christianity as well because that’s never my intention at all. It’s just such a huge part of my life and all I do is talk about my own life, so naturally, it spills over into my content.
Tell us about Retro Reprise — how you got started, what your inspiration was, and all the money you’re raising for COVID-19 relief.
The inspiration started as a junior in high school when we were learning about different art movements, and I fell in love with the “Memphis Design Movement.” I found that there was zero clothing that had this print on it, so I wanted to create that for myself so I could wear it and share it with my audience. I wanted to make a difference and help out when it came to the COVID-19 situation happening in the world. I figured the best way to do that while I’m simultaneously building up the Retro Reprise brand, would be to combine the two. I felt like donating 100% of the proceeds from the new joggers, socks, and scrunchies to COVID-19 relief would be the perfect solution.
You’ve got your podcast going now too — how’s that been?
Super fun! My co-host Lilly and I have done 13 episodes so far and we’re in the works with podcast networks at the moment, so I’m excited about that.
You really are doing SO many things — how do you do it all?
I hired help. I have an editor/videographer so that I don’t have to spend hours and hours editing, and then I also have an assistant who keeps me organized. She organizes my schedule and makes sure that I get everything done in a day.
We love your Instagram — your photos are always so gorgeous. What are your essentials for the perfect Instagram photo?
– Good even lighting, so on a cloudy day it’s the perfect day for an Instagram photo
– Nice clean background
– An outfit that you love
What is the first thing you’re going to do once this quarantine period is over?
Definitely hop on a plane and travel somewhere tropical!
What’s next for you? You’ve done fashion, business, social media — what’s left on your list of industries you want to tap into?
I want to become a real estate mogul and own a bunch of properties across the US.
