International Social Media Star Shines in Los Altos Hills and Beyond…
By Lina Broydo
With mega millions of enthusiastic and eager followers on popular social media sites, local entrepreneur Marina Mogilko spreads fascinating and innovative news worldwide. And although I am into high touch and not into high tech I was intrigued to meet and chat with this young and stunningly gorgeous modern woman who together with her husband Dmitry Pistoliako and two daughters Emily, 4 years old, and Lily, 2.5 years old, found her way to Los Altos Hills (LAH) located in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Meeting for afternoon tea at the town’s picturesque Fremont Hills Country Club, our dialogue was enriched by a fun Q&A segment which I am happy to share with my devoted readers of LaOferta.
Q: How did you end up in LAH and when?
A: I first found out about Los Altos Hills back in 2015. When we just moved to Silicon Valley to attend the 500 Startups accelerator, I found out about Los Altos Hills from one of my friends who was also an investor. He told me that this is the best place to live in with the kids – they had a daughter and he told me they rented this amazing house with a view and it all seemed like a dream to me but we could not afford it.
Well, so, you know, we were a family of two and it just seemed like a too far away future. Then we ended up living in San Francisco for three years, and I got pregnant with Emily, and then Covid started and we realized that being in an apartment in San Francisco is not the best place to raise a child. Funny enough, we kept going to Silicon Valley every weekend just because we loved the vibe there, very relaxed and really warm vibe, amazing warm weather, etc. We went there every weekend and we were like: okay, if we want to move, let’s move to Los Altos Hills, let’s try to look for a house there.
So, in 2020, we made our first application to rent a house in Los Altos Hills, which was declined. We decided to travel for a bit. We went to Malibu, we stayed in a house in Palo Alto. Then we went back home to Russia for six months to, you know, just stay there during Covid because nothing was happening in Silicon Valley, and in Russia we were getting all the help from my parents, from my husband’s parents with a new baby, but I still kept looking for houses.
I renewed my Zillow search every day and I was looking for what was new on the market. And in December 2020, we saw two houses on the market that we really liked. So, we asked our friends who I mentioned already, the ones who moved to Los Altos Hills in 2015, to tour those homes. And they sent us all the footage and we fell in love with our current house. We applied for it right away and our application was approved and we moved in early January 2021.
Q: The highlights of living in LAH…
A: One of the highlights of living in Los Altos Hills…Oh my, there are so many highlights: seeing deer every day, interacting with turkey- isn’t it amazing? The weather, the community, its downtown is the prettiest downtown in California, 100%, maybe in the entire U.S. – it’s the best! Shoup Park, we go there very often, our house itself.
Our street is very quiet, we have the nicest neighbors, one of our neighbors is close friends, and we can walk to their house to visit them, and it takes just five minutes. Everything is just amazing, especially the people who live there: meeting them and learning about their journey was so enlightening and so fascinating.
Q: Are you a fashionista? How did you end up on the cover of “Glamour” Magazine’s Fashion issue?
A: Okay, let’s talk about the style. I started working with a stylist a year ago just because I realized that I do so many things publicly, but I never really cared about what I wear. It’s kind of a Silicon Valley habit – you think about comfort first and you try to spend more time on doing something that’s going to change the world instead of thinking about what you’re going to wear. But then I started realizing that my work is being in front of the camera and even business metrics depend on what you wear because if I wear something bright, colorful, something that catches the eye in the frame, then I get more views in my videos, which means we get better conversions for a business.
We get better revenue, etc. So, I realized that style is not just a fun thing to do. It is a part of my business of being a YouTube Creator. I started working with a stylist. She’s in Paris, but she creates all of the looks for me and she sends me the links so I can buy things online. And well, this has been fascinating. I love exploring this and when you are working with a true professional it just changes your whole perspective on whatever you’re doing. And the Glamour cover was just part of this whole process of me establishing myself, as, you know, a small part of this Fashion World.
Q: Describe in a short paragraph your business and what makes you a desirable and very popular national and international YouTube Star? Any exciting invitations?
A: I have two businesses, one is my media business. I run three Youtube channels, one is called Silicon Valley Girl, it is a channel about life and Silicon Valley, and the other one is Linguaarina, the channel about studying and learning languages. And the third one is Marina Mogilko, it is a vlogging channel in Russian and I also sell my own products, courses on how to create content and to succeed on YouTube. We’re working with brands. I’m doing a lot of things there. But also I co-founded an Ed Tech company called LinguaTrip where we help people learn languages. And exciting invitations? Yes. I was invited to Cannes, France this year during the Cannes Film Festival and I attended the events for influencers. It was an amazing party.
Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?
A: Right now, we’re working on an app that will help people learn languages through curated short-form content just because short-form content is the content that’s getting a lot of attention these days, and it’s also very snackable and very easy to consume. I believe that it should be not only in entertainment. It should also be education and we’re working on an app that’s going to help people learn languages, practice languages through short videos. So hopefully, in five years this company will get IPOs, or we get acquired by a bigger company. And hopefully in five years I’m still in Los Altos Hills with more kids and doing more and more exciting things.
Q: How is life treating you in the heart of Silicon Valley? Favorite restaurants? Theaters? Amazing experiences?
A: I think life in Silicon Valley is very diverse. And if you want to experience more culture then you can do it. My daughter and I have recently attended the Nutcracker at the San Francisco Ballet. It was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen in my whole life. My mom and I attended the Eugene Onegin opera in San Francisco. My husband is doing professional racing at Sonoma Raceway. And also on the racetracks around California.
We go to San Francisco museums. We hike in Los Altos Hills. We explore theme parks around the area. Gilroy Gardens Theme Park is great for small kids. There are so many things to do in the area and also so many restaurants we often go to. I would say one of my favorites is Bevri in downtown Los Altos, Doppio Zero in Mountain View. I also like Daigo sushi in Palo Alto.
With more than 9 million subscribers across her three YouTube channels and nearly 3 million followers on her two TikTok accounts, Marina Mogilko is a unique jewel and a shining star of Los Altos Hills. Hey Mayor Linda Swan, should we appoint Marina as Los Altos Hills’ honorary ambassador to the high tech world of social media?
By Award Winning Writer/Columnist/Blogger Lina Broydo
