Anastasiia is a content creator, digital entrepreneur, and founder of MUAR Social Media. Originally from Ukraine, she moved to Canada 4 years ago and has been building her career and personal brand under the handle @an.muar in the digital space ever since. Her content combines travel, lifestyle, and behind-the-scenes insights into the creator world. Through her platforms, Anastasia shares her journey of building a creative career in Canada, creating content for hotels and brands, and exploring destinations across Canada and abroad. We spoke with her to learn more.
What is your channel called and what is it about?
My channel is called an.muar. It’s about my journey of moving to Canada and building a new life and career here, while growing my personal brand and working as a content creator. I share my creator journey, content creation for hotels and brands, travel and interesting destinations across Canada and the Caribbean, as well as lifestyle, and creator insights.
When did you start it? What motivated you at the beginning?
I started my blog in 2020, when we were all at home during lockdown. Before that, I was already working as a social media marketing specialist for other businesses and bloggers. During lockdown, I realized that I wanted to build my own personal brand and create my own digital business, investing my time and energy into something of my own.
Who were you inspired by? Any influences?
Honestly, TikTok was my biggest inspiration. I was fascinated by how quickly the platform was growing and how ordinary people could start from zero and gain millions of followers in a very short time. I wanted to give myself a chance and see what I could create.
I was very consistent from the beginning; I posted three videos a day for six months. It took six months before one of my videos finally reached over one million views, and that one video brought me more than 20,000 followers. That was when I realized, “Okay, this really works.”
But it also taught me that success can take time. Sometimes you have to keep showing up and working toward the same goal for months before you see a breakthrough. Patience and consistency have been a huge part of my journey.
How would you describe your audience?
My audience is primarily women who are interested in content creation or are already building their own careers in the digital space. They also love travelling, discovering new destinations, and beauty and fashion. They are women who don’t want to stay in one place and are actively creating the best version of themselves and their lives.
What is your creative process? Do you have people who work with you?
My creative process is often just me, my camera, or my phone. That’s one of the biggest advantages of my profession: I can create wherever I want, whenever I want, and in whatever way feels right to me.
From time to time, I collaborate with photographers and other content creators, but most of the time I genuinely enjoy creating independently.
How do you monetize your content? Do you also have another job?
I monetize my content through collaborations with hotels, restaurants, and brands, creating ad creatives and other content that they can use in their marketing and advertising.
I also work with brands, businesses, and professionals who want to promote themselves through my platforms.
In addition, I have an educational program that teaches people how to create and edit content and helps them go from starting from zero to landing their first collaborations with brands and travel businesses.
I also run a small creative agency where I work with creators and graduates of my educational programs to create content for brands – @muar_socialmedia
What is your favourite piece of content you have created?
At the moment, I would say my favourite content is from my most recent sponsored trip to Mexico, where I collaborated with some incredible luxury hotels.
It gave me so much emotion and inspiration. My husband and I spent two weeks in Mexico creating content for luxury properties, and I came back to Canada feeling incredibly fulfilled and happy. I’m still carrying those emotions with me, so this trip would definitely be one of my favourite projects I’ve created.
What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?
The best part is having complete freedom over my time. I build my own schedule and adapt it to my life rather than adapting my life to someone else’s schedule.
I get to do work that I genuinely enjoy and feel passionate about. I can travel freely, and travelling can actually be part of my job. On a regular weekday, I can decide to go to the mountains to create content or even travel to another country, and that can literally be my work for the day.
I wouldn’t say there is anything I truly dislike about what I do. But one thing you always have to remember is the responsibility that comes with freedom. There’s no one telling me what to do today and what to do tomorrow. I have to make those decisions myself and stay disciplined.
The freedom is one of the biggest benefits of this career, but it also comes with responsibility because the decisions I make and how consistently I execute them directly affect my results and income.
What are your future plans for your channel?
I hope to have more travel, more exciting collaborations with brands and an even stronger community across my social platforms.
I want to continue sharing my experience and showing people the world as brightly and beautifully as I see it through the lens of my camera.
Where can we follow you?
PAY IT FORWARD: What is another Canadian content creator that you love?
I would recommend Chloe Chapdelaine. She is a Canadian creator who showcases the beauty of Canada through incredible visual content. I really admire her work and the way she captures Canadian nature and unique places and makes you want to experience them for yourself.
