Meet Kyra Rosa | Founder of MIJA, Art Director, & Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kyra Rosa and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kyra, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Being authentic and not letting society dictate how MIJA or I should be represented. Part of the reason MIJA has been so successful is because we aren’t like other brands. We know who we are, what we stand for and what we want other’s to see us as. I will say it’s a lot easier than one might think it is to lose yourself in the shuffle of what society wants you to be. Being authentic has kept me looking for the best way to create content not just for the brand but even for myself. I work with an incredible writer, Sabrina Rivera Cabrera, on creating fun, thoughtful and inspiring content for our audience. We have both put our experiences into what we do for MIJA and it shows in the way this brand has evolved. The more of ourselves we put into it, the more real and raw it feels.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Before starting MIJA I graduated with a BA in Photography. Although I was pretty set on becoming a world known Fashion Photographer somewhere along the lines what I wanted for my career changed. Having worked in the Commercial Fashion world I realized that maybe it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I learned that a lot of companies had a different perspective on what it meant to “support women” and it wasn’t what I thought it would be. From growing up constantly seeing what society had told women to look like or to be like it was very off-putting when I realized the only way to change the industry was to build something that I could stand behind, so I did just that. I wanted to create a brand that I felt happy to say “I support this brand and what they are doing”.

In 2021 I got to see my brand grow in so many ways. From being featured in several interviews to participating in an international women’s day video for “Anact Global”. MIJA has grown so much over the past year, and I’m so grateful for all the opportunities. I think the craziest part about 2021 was getting 2 of our shirts on one of my favorite Latina characters, Mariana Foster from Good Trouble. Her character is that “chingona” energy that every MIJA has inside of her. She fights for what she believes in and that’s exactly who we want as a role model to our community of MIJA’s. It was the moment my mom texted me a picture of her wearing our blue tie dye shirt, I literally cried, like boohoo baby cried. Amongst other amazing moments, we broke 100k on a few of our tiktok videos during Latinx Heritage month. We also had our first pop-up shop and got to collaborate with so many awesome local LA brands and women.

However I will say a lot of people make starting their own business look easy, I’m here to say it’s not. I’ve had so many “what am I doing?”, “I messed up” *CRIES IN SPANISH*, and “well what next” moments. I often find myself wanting to give up sometimes but there’s always something that pops up that reminds me of why I’m here and why I’m doing this, and yes as a Cancer Sun I am most definitely crying while writing this LOL. So many trials and tribulations, and when I say so many I mean A LOT, but I am still dedicated to creating a community, content and art that I can stand behind and share with others.

Outside of creating MIJA, I still love photography and although I don’t see myself as the Fashion Photographer I once saw myself as, I do want to make a difference with my art. You see the only way to truly know what you want out of life is to experience life itself. I may have had an idea of what I wanted to do, but the universe knows me more than I thought I knew myself. Every time I ask for answers it’s always right in front of me, this brand, it’s everything even on my bad days it gives me hope. Being able to create something so beautiful based off of being true to myself, my values and what I see the world as is going to continue to work out in my favor. Sure I don’t have it all figured out right now, but as someone who’s gone through a lot of ups’ and downs in her career I’ll say I’m on another up and I’m glad for where my chaotic journey has brought me and I’m most excited to see where I go next.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Day 1 – Let’s say her flight was in the afternoon right before sunset, First things first “In ‘n’ out”, cause we all want to be absolute tourists, Then we’d go to Santa Monica Pier. It’s a great place to enjoy during the daytime and right as the sunset’s it’s really beautiful to watch then we could also see the Pier at night, as Hannah Montana said “the best of both worlds.” And before heading home for the night we would have to get “somi somi” for dessert, yummm

Day 2 – We would most definitely have to check out Olvera St, try some street tacos, churros and maybe get a cute souvenir.

Day 3 – Spend a whole day in “museum row”, I love art and sharing it with my friends. We’d end the night with grabbing Pad Thai at “Thai Patio” in Thai town cause after all that walking, we’d be a lil hungry.

Day 4 – One of the days’ we would have to checkout the Getty Villa and spend the evening watching yet another sunset in Malibu, I mean c’mon Sunsets in California are too beautiful to miss.

Day 5 – We saved the best for last, Starting our day with a Matcha Latte and Pastry from MCO Coffee. Then heading up to Sunset Ranch Hollywood to go horseback riding in Griffith Park, the view is spectacular, totally worth the mini-freakout when hiking up a mountain via horse.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Our community, all the MIJA’s that continue to support the brand and our mission to inspire women. From the very beginning of MIJA there were several people that believed in what I was doing and they knew how important it was for me to branch off into something new, my best friend’s Maylisa (for being MIJA’s very first model lol), Lexa (for thinking I was crazy to start yet another project but still support me anyways). Our very production team, Sydney (who has been beyond supportive and I’m so glad to call her one of my close friends), Maria and Christiana for bringing our first collection to life. And of course our content writer, Sabrina, always coming up with unique and fun content for our audience.

Throughout the Journey we’ve also had many supporters from all over the U.S. and a lot of them being in our new home (Los Angeles) even before meeting us in person these people have been there for us and we are so grateful to have such a large community of talented women: Roxy (Amor De Flor), Daisy Gomez (styledbymissdaisy), Aspen Cierra (Photographer) Yesi & Jax (DiosaLeon), Ashley (BrownGirlTravels), Mel (Womi) and so many more.

On top of all of that my biggest supporter, Mi mama, cause without her and all her hardwork, dedication and love I wouldn’t be where I am today. She has supported every dream I’ve ever had, no matter how big, small or even when I decided to pivot my career. Thank you for all your love that you continue to give me every day.

Website: yas-mija.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yas_mija/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/yas_mija

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC68effYul0qaiPxZIGaY_PA

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@yas_mija Photography work: https://kyrarosa.myportfolio.com/work (should be updated by the 25th so you can use this link if posted after – kyrarosa.com

Image Credits
Horizontal image with roses – Elaine Torres – https://elainetorres.la Image with LATINX POR VIDA tote bag – Yesi https://www.instagram.com/diosaleon/