You Might Enjoy: On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Jay Shetty (0:01)

Hey, it's Jay. I don't know what your day's been like, but I was just thinking about you for a minute.

And I hope you're being a little patient with yourself, because you deserve it. And yeah, I'll talk to you soon.

Today, we're speaking with Mikayla Nogueira, one of the biggest and most influential beauty creators in the world, with more than 20 million followers across social media. We're going beyond what you see online to talk about the person behind it all, the reality of massive success, and the pressure of living so publicly. Please welcome to On Purpose, Mikayla Nogueira. Hi. Mikayla, welcome to On Purpose.

Mikayla Nogueira (0:49)

Hi, Jay. Very happy to be here. Thank you for having me.

Jay Shetty (0:52)

Thank you. I'm so grateful to have you here. You've been so private about your journey for so long.

Mikayla Nogueira (0:58)

Yeah.

Jay Shetty (0:59)

Why was now the right time and this the right place to open up?

Mikayla Nogueira (1:03)

I feel like I'm at a turning point in my life. I'm almost 30, and my 20s have been a really interesting journey for me, and I'm beginning to feel like I'm really learning who I am and who I want to be.

I knew I wanted to save space to talk about this and who better than you.

Jay Shetty (1:21)

Thank you for trusting me. I didn't take that for granted. I've been following your journey for quite some time, and it's pretty remarkable what you've achieved. But I'm fascinated by the Mikayla that we don't see or don't fully understand. I heard you say recently that you only ever saw yourself as Mikayla the influencer.

I'm intrigued if you take away the money and the makeup and the businesses and the success. How do you define who Mikayla is today?

Mikayla Nogueira (1:50)

So I think I've always been someone who is very outspoken, very loud about who I am, very proud about who I am, just because I find that we're in a society where everyone wants you to fit in and be someone maybe you're not. And I grew up always wanting to be exactly who I am, Mikayla. And that is someone who is very curious, very... I'm a Gemini. I don't know if you're into astrology. But I'm a very curious person. I'm very, very creative. I grew up in a very artistic household. My mom's a professional artist. My dad is an antique appraiser and collector. And I was just always surrounded by that. So I'm very known to be eclectic and artsy with my makeup and just different. But I never wanted to fit in. I always wanted to be different. And I kind of like that, you know?

Jay Shetty (2:40)

I'm a Virgo.

Mikayla Nogueira (2:41)

Okay. So I'm giving it away now. So you're into the astrology.

Jay Shetty (2:44)

Yes, totally, totally.

Not as much. I don't know so much, but I enjoy the conversation around it.

If you want to make any judgments about me, you can, feel free. I love that you just said that you liked to be different.

Mikayla Nogueira (2:56)

Yeah, I love being different.

Jay Shetty (2:57)

And I think most people just want to fit in. Yes. Especially when they're young.

What's your earliest memory of being comfortable, being different?

Mikayla Nogueira (3:06)

From birth. I mean, I really give credit to my mom because my mom knows how to sew. So she would actually sew all of my outfits and she would make these really fun, crazy colorful patterned dresses. So, you know, I'm going to school with a big bow on my head, these crazy dresses that my mom made, and she would actually make the matching dress for herself.

So that's how you know that I really get it from her. And she was just always so open about who she was. And I really admired that from a young, young age. And I get that from her. So growing up, all going to school, I always looked different than everybody else because of these outfits I would wear. But teachers always appreciated it and said, she's really interesting and I feel like she's going to do something really interesting in her life because I was just so different from everybody else, which is not a bad thing. I never saw it as a bad thing.

Jay Shetty (3:55)

But you experienced bullying for that, right?

Mikayla Nogueira (3:57)

Oh, absolutely.

Jay Shetty (3:57)

When you were younger, like for the way you looked. And even recently, I've heard you say that. And this was in your own words, you were saying, I feel I'm a beauty influencer who doesn't think I'm beautiful. And like, you know, you're seen in that way. Like, how did you deal with that bullying and that othering when you were younger? Because I imagine you didn't have the success at that time. You didn't have what you've built at that time.