Meet Aitana Yvette Mallari

Originally published in Voyage Phoenix Magazine

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aitana Yvette Mallari.

Aitana, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m Aitana Yvette Mallari, a media creator who runs on caffeine and wifi. I’m a writer, photographer, videographer, graphic designer, social media marketer and AR/VR developer based in Phoenix, AZ. You can always find me on The Internet™, forever in pursuit of the serotonin I lost when I was 12.

During my college career, I created the first social media branding guide for Ability360, a disability non-profit; wrote for Modern Luxury Scottsdale, a national luxury lifestyle magazine; worked for Food Network’s “Chopped,” a national TV show; developed an augmented reality app about Voodoo and co-founded AZNA, the first Asian-American urban dance club at Arizona State University.

The first one in my family to go to school in the US, I graduated summa cum laude from ASU with a degree in journalism and my work on the covers of two magazines. I’ve had the amazing opportunities to interview political figures, fashion icons, refugees, athletes and celebrities from Queer Eye to MasterChef to Kinjaz.

I’m always looking for projects and creative endeavors that push me out of my comfort zone, which is great because I owe a large part of who I am today to the times I’ve thrown myself into the unknown.

Has it been a smooth road?
There were definitely some struggles. So much so that I took my grad photos at all the places I’ve cried throughout my undergrad. Fond memories include nights of sleeping my car, submitting assignments from hospital beds, and long walks to my internships that would leave my heels bloody. I was one with the McDonald’s dollar menu (I am still one with the McDonald’s dollar menu).

However, I have to acknowledge the immense privileges I’ve had and still have to even experience these problems. Whether it’s professional or personal, I’ve made my peace in knowing there will always be accidents, nightmare stories and times when the universe wants to throw everything at me.

What keeps me going is knowing I’ll get something after everything is said and done—if not a learning experience, at least a hilarious anecdote.

Please tell us about your business.
Everyone’s so big about branding themselves these days. I used to call myself a “multimedia journalist,” but that felt very ~*~serious~*~ and “content creator” made me think of pretty influencers who want me to buy tea so that I, too, would be pretty.

I’ve since called myself “media creator,” which feels apt. Being a media creator means doing whatever needs to happen to turn an idea into a finished project—a process both frustrating and magical, like a family trip to Disneyland. I love it.

I write about luxury, disability, food and lifestyle. My specialty is profile writing, which is focused on picking up nuances. That attention to detail and personalization threads through all my media styles, as with modifications to make my work more accessible to the disability community.

I’m also known for making use of what I have. When you don’t have a lot growing up, you get innovative.

Instead of buying assets for my AR projects, I create my own in-engine. I’ve done high-end layouts, casting videos and photo/concept shoots using $20 worth of materials and/or my phone. I’m very proud of that. Expensive equipment is nice, but it isn’t everything. What matters is passion, hard work and getting it done.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I like how Phoenix is still growing. It allows a certain flexibility, like a partially painted canvas. Take accessibility for example. It’s not perfect, but it’s nice to see more light rail stops, disability resource centers and accessible playgrounds in Phoenix. This city’s still in development, so there are still opportunities to ensure it’s a more accessible place. After all, accessibility helps everyone.

Many people in Phoenix, myself included, were not originally from here. So you have this dynamic of backgrounds and cultures making this place home.

For example, there are more Asian/Asian American businesses and family-owned restaurants along Dobson than when I first moved here. I’d love for that to continue, with Black and Latinx and Indigenous businesses as well.

As for what could be better, I will always be irked by how long I’ve lived in downtown Phoenix without a proper grocery store until now. Students living at Taylor Place nowadays will never know the struggle of a food desert and I’m so happy for them.

I hope Phoenix in the future isn’t afraid of change or the unknown. I hope its a city that knows itself as being home to people of all kinds, a place that can truly make strides in terms of accessibility, diversity and sustainability.

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