Being in the spotlight

Brigitte Ortiz | THE RIDER

Three UTRGV social media influencers hope to inspire audiences with their content.

William Akio, a multidisciplinary studies senior and UTRGV Men’s Soccer Team forward, runs a YouTube channel with over 3,500 subscribers. 

Akio has 150 videos on his channel where he records his everyday life and gives soccer advice.

“My following began to grow when I started making different types of videos,” he said. “I started reaching out to my fellow friends that are professionals … in the league and around the country, and just ask them to talk about, you know, their life and the challenges they had to go through to get to where they’re at, and a lot of young kids like that.”

Akio said he thinks his content can inspire people to achieve their dreams by working hard and having determination and discipline.

“As you can see on my YouTube channel, my slogan is ‘Determined, Driven and Disciplined,’ and I just follow those three rules for success,” he said. “And I just, basically, want to tell kids that you can get anything you put your mind to. Don’t let people bring you down. You’re going to fail a lot, but if you just keep getting up, you’ll be able to reach your dream.”

 Akio wants to let his followers know that it takes a lot of time to achieve your dreams, and you have to dedicate yourself to almost everything you are doing.

“You have to learn, you have to watch videos, you have to struggle, you know,” he said. “You’ll have to have your ups and then, you’ll have your downs, as well. So it’s one of those things where you have to, just, stay committed because it’s very easy to give up. You’ll not see glory and stuff right away, even me. I’m still working really hard. But, honestly, you just have to work hard and just enjoy the process. Don’t get upset. Live in the moment.”

Mass communication junior Janet Valdez has over 2,200 followers on her Instagram (@janetvaldez) and is known for modeling and fashion.

“Some of the things I post are my outfit of the day, like daily, Instagram stories,” Valdez said. “I also post like Instagram Reels, which are like TikToks, which are 30-second videos of whatever I like, and what I do is I post outfits like some videos of me changing outfits or how to model. That’s what I basically film and [post] pictures of me when I’m feeling good.” 

She said her content can inspire people to be creative in what they wear and to be themselves. 

Asked what advice she would give someone wanting to pursue the same path, Valdez replied, “Just post.”

“Honestly, if you’re comfortable with yourself, well at first you won’t get a lot of followers and all that, but if you start being yourself, you start posting things that you like, people are going to start recognizing,” she said. “I do feel you can portray that on your pictures and videos, if you’re liking it. You’re having fun or stuff people can tell. So if somebody wants to start to do that, just to do it.” 

Nolan Robert “Fish” Navarro, a mass communication junior, is a model who has traveled the world and has 10,000 followers on Instagram @fishfiorucci.

In 2017, they noticed their following start to grow when they were featured in Vogue magazine while modeling in New York Fashion Week. 

“My following really skyrocketed, from me being an average Texas model to me being the next level, making-it-in-the-industry model, so it’s definitely an upgrade,” Navarro said.

Their content is inspired by their gender identity. 

“I like to push the gender norm, and I like to just be androgynous with my work,” Navarro said. “I like to play both male and female. I like to have no gender at all sometimes. I like to, really, just get people questioning on Instagram, whether they’re looking at someone who’s human or someone who’s not human.” 

They have also worked with Lady Gaga in a promotional video for her new makeup line, Haus Laboratories.

“That was like a really big accomplishment in my career, happened just about a year ago,” Navarro said. “It was such a secret, like an undercover project that could not be released to anybody in the public yet because nobody knew about it, so they weren’t able to tell me who we’re working for until we got there.” 

Asked how their content can inspire people, they replied that they hope people feel inspired to work on themselves a little bit more.

“I was a really disturbed, sad kid when I was growing up,” Navarro said. “I was getting bullied a lot. I didn’t have any confidence, and I was just, like, a little random kid that always sits in a corner all alone. I went through therapy for so many years but none of that helped until I started working on myself with the way I dress, the way I hold myself and the way I present myself to people.

“ The way I present myself to people I would hope that it would encourage other people to want to embrace themselves a little bit more and maybe start eliminating things in their life that are holding them back from becoming the person they want to become.” 

They want to offer the knowledge they have from their experience in the model industry and give back to the community. 

“I never paid a single dime to get to where I am today, and people in the [Rio Grande Valley] shouldn’t either,” Navarro said. “There’s many opportunities down here for fashion and modeling, but there’s a lot of people here who ask for money or who try to take your money. So, I’ve been working on creating my management agency that’s open to people of all color, ages, size and gender. And, I leave it open to where people don’t have to pay anything. All you have to do is come to the castings, you know, put yourself out there, really get to know what our agency’s about and submit yourself.” 

They said they believe in the community and see so much beauty that comes from the Valley, where not a lot of people do.

“There is not really a marker for fashion here in Texas, and I think I have the ability to change the perception of what people think it is down here, for fashion,” Navarro said.