About Mae

Born in Pangasinan, Philippines and raised in the US as a 1.5 generation Filipino-American immigrant, I’m proud to be a part of the growing community of Asian Americans who represent themselves in the arts, entertainment, and business spaces.

I’ve always HATED introducing myself because all the things I do never encompass everything about all I’ve experienced and continue to experience in my life.

A majority of my family are teachers and nurses. But they were also musicians.

My mother - and her mom (my lola!) - were singers, while many of my titos and titas played at the orchestra in the Philippines and Japan.

My father - and his mom (also my lola!) - played the piano. My father’s side of the family were also amazing dancers! Unfortunately, I don’t think I gained the natural talent for that…

With both their love for music combined, my mom and dad started a band with their friends, performing at secret clubs in the Middle East, then hosting small shows at Filipino parties in the US.

When I was old enough to form sentences, I became my mom’s backup singer and ultimately became acquainted with music at a very early age while learning how to play the piano, flute, guitar, and ukulele along the way. And that’s how music became my first love.

Growing up as a shy kid, I found solace in watching a lot of anime, reading manga, and playing video games.

At 12 years old, I started a YouTube channel (xfragileheart) where I amassed thousands of subscribers, making cover songs of my favorite Japanese music, and fandubbing my favorite episodes of anime. From 2009 to 2011, I became the voice actor of 1Kids Entertainment’s “Death Note: The Abridged Series” on YouTube as Misa Amane.

My amateur voice acting career ended there as I was scouted by an agent to perform as a “cosplay guitarist and singer” at a maid cafe show, which catapulted my weird but super exciting niche J-Pop/J-Rock music journey. In cosplay, I performed live at multiple anime conventions and was invited as a performer all over the East Coast.

Soon after, enraptured by the fun of being involved with the anime community, I started my first successful business venture in high school: a maid cafe! My team and I ran this for 3 consecutive years before disbanding it to go to college.

I moved to Philadelphia where I received a B.S. in Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Business at the University of the Sciences.

During this time, I fell in love with acting so while in college, I worked as a part-time waitress at a Korean restaurant, freelanced as a model, dressed up as Elmo for kids’ birthday parties, and livestreamed for an up-and-coming social media platform so I can earn enough money to attend an acting conservatory after college hours. This allowed me to dip my toes in the performing arts, entertainment, and modeling industry.

I pursued acting seriously after I co-wrote, co-produced, and acted for my very first short fan film, “Elektra v Psylocke” in 2016.

I was later cast to play “Selena Kyle” for ABM Digifilm’s film, “Catwoman: Retribution” (2018) which I was SO excited about (I mean… who gets hired to play as a COMIC BOOK CHARACTER for the first acting role they’ve ever booked?!) that I continued auditioning relentlessly for other roles in the local area.

As my experience grew, I wrote, produced, and acted in two other short films, “The Best Way to Murder” (2019) and “Where Do You Want to Eat?” (2019) which won national and global awards.

Finally, I landed my first principal roles in the feature films “My Sweet Treason” (2021) featuring Dean Caine and “The Thursday Night Club” (2022) featuring Gloria Gaynor (my mom’s favorite, “I Will Survive” singer!).

So with all that going on, how did I have the time to build my life up as an entrepreneur? After deciding to take acting seriously, I realized how difficult it was to continue pursuing this vocation while attempting to climb up the corporate ladder.

I worked as a virtual assistant and digital marketer for many different clients while developing my branding, design, marketing, project management, and business experience.

Once I understood what it took to build a system, I founded my own social media agency and hired on others to be part of my team.

My partner and I then started holding company, PHIAE LLC, to house all our ventures under one roof.

And this is where it has all lead to....

When I’m not working, I love reading Webtoons, binging on anime, drawing, watching horror movies, playing games, discovering new restaurants, hiking, nurturing my herb garden, singing karaoke, and most importantly, spending quality time with my friends and family.

I’m excited to combine all these human experiences to bring the world a wacky, artistic, emotional, and slightly cringe-worthy hodgepodge of the same fun, inspiring stories I’ve voraciously consumed as a little kid.

My story is a generational one that speaks to millions of 1st to 2nd generation Filipino Americans who have grown up between different cultures, personal identities, conflicting expectations, and expansive dreams and aspirations.

Finding my authentic voice had always been intrinsically linked to my artistic path in which my parents have paved the way for after starting a new life in America.

I don’t think I’ve quite found my footing yet as I still feel like an adult baby fumbling up every potential path that has been thrown at me in the universe. But maybe one day, I’ll find my place in this colorful world full of potential.

Thanks you for reading and joining me on this journey! ❤️