I am drawing my shameless life for you. Here we go.
Okay, so I was born in Toronto, Canada, which is one hour north of New York City. Plane ride, of course.
And I was born on May 20th, 1982.
That makes me a Taurus. Pretty stubborn.
And pretty damn old for the way I look.
Now, I was born, and one year later, my brother was born.
And everyone thought we were twins, and everyone thought I was a boy because I had short hair.
And my mom decided to get my ears pierced so the confusion could stop, but it never did.
History repeats itself.
So my mom is from the Philipines and my dad is from Chi-Town, Chicago.
I don't remember much of their marriage. I do remember arguments.
I know that they must have loved each other--I mean, people come together because they love each other.
But sometimes, it's just not meant to be.
Here we are, packing up our boxes, and my mom... she is the strongest woman I know.
And I love her to pieces.
We moved into the basement of a house, and my godparents were living upstairs.
And it probably wasn't the best situation, but we made the best of it.
And what I loved about this neighborhood was that it had a ravine.
I was obsessed with nature... and I would always go into the ravine to catch tadpoles, and bring them home and raise them into little frogs.
My mom had to deal with a lot.
But anyways, at this time I think I was 8 years old or something.
For my birthday, my mom bought me a little boombox.
Yes, a boombox.
And it had this feature on it, which you could record.
And I guess it was like the YouTube for me.
I recorded my voice and I created all these characters and shows.
I had so much fun with this device. I did it for a long time.
And this probably kick started me into the whole acting, and more specifically, voice over acting.
Some of you guys may know I am a voice over actor.
And I called it Maya's world, which is the name I use for my Twitter and Instagram.
Also, another important element of my life is my extended family.
I have amazing, amazing cousins, aunts, uncles.
And my cousins were all around the same age bracket.
I believe that my family is the reason why my brother and I stayed out of a lot of trouble.
We spent our weekends with them, we celebrated birthdays--like, literally every other week,
and holidays. And honestly, I am so blessed to have such a loving and supporting family.
And I thank God. Even as a kid I was so committed to God, because I knew I was so blessed.
I was also blessed to have an amazing mom, who enrolled myself and my brother in a bunch of after-school activities.
I was an avid swimmer. I was a synchronized swimmer, I was a high-diver, I was a water baby.
And I loved swimming, it was like, the closest thing to flying.
That's my little underwater move!
Okay, and also I played the flute for 13 years.
I started in kindergarden.
And I continued all the way until... I think grade 12.
For high school, I went to a catholic school. St. Patricks, and I had to wear uniform.
And not a whole lot of interesting stuff have happened at high school for me.
The highlights for me were outside of high school.
I was taking dance classes outside every weekend.
And I met awesome people and friends, and I just had so much fun dancing.
I took hip hop and modern classes.
I found out about a lot of auditions through the dance classes, through the bulletin board.
And I auditioned. That's how I booked my first commercial for McDonalds.
I didn't have an agent, and I went on to book a bunch of other Canadian commercials.
It was really exciting! I wanted to pursue it, but my mom is an accountant.
And she didn't see the logic, I suppose, in pursuing acting as a career.
So I went to university, at Ryerson, I took business. Boo. So boring.
It was the most stressful thing on the face of the Earth.
I was a book worm.
I was so concerned with grades, so concerned with reading.
It was just... annoying.
And after a year, I was stressed out and I couldn't imagine doing this for another 3 more years.
Possibly longer.
So I said forget that! Do you boo! Do you.
And I had this random idea to go to Los Angeles or somewhere warm, and L.A. was the first idea that came into my head.
And I just thought, I just need to get away. I need to live and enjoy life.
So at the age of 18, I booked a flight to Los Angeles.
And I stayed there. And I lived out there, and I worked out there.
But, I did not think things through.
L.A. is not like New York or Toronto.
The transportation is a hot mess, you need to own a car.
And I didn't have that much money and I was under 25.
And you needed to be 25 to rent a car.
I decided to get a job at a car dealership.
And I got a job for Lexus, and I befriended the management and the owner.
They gave me a car--a convertible car--to use on the weekends.
So on the weekends, I had a convertible, I was 18, and... I was living life!
Good thing I wasn't a bad kid. The only thing I did was drive around to explore California.
I didn't have any friends.
I just wanted to do something--I was like, you know what, I have this car on the weekends,
I love the sights and sounds of Los Angeles, maybe I can just take some pictures.
So I bought a camera, a film SLR camera, I took photos of the beautiful Los Angeles.
So I had memories when I went back home to Toronto.
And that's how I got into photography.
So my time in Los Angeles was coming to an end, and I had to go back home.
And when I was home, I... didn't know what to do.
I didn't know if I should get a job, I didn't know if I should go to school and for what.
I was really confused with life. I think I was 19 now.
And I just said, you know what, screw it, stop thinking and just do the thing that you love doing.
For me that was taking photos.
I ended up shooting a lot of young models at the top agencies in Toronto.
And I was able to work with a bunch of magazines. It was awesome! I was only 19 and getting a lot of paid jobs and working a lot.
The only thing was I missed acting. I missed being a personality.
So I thought, maybe I should go to school.
So I went to George Brown school, and because it was a conservatory program it was like, 5 days a week.
We all ended up being a happy family.
Except for the teachers. The teachers, for whatever reason, didn't--I don't wanna say like me--
but they kicked me out after my second year of training, and their excuse was, I was 'too urban'.
Not that I was late for class, not that I was... you know, an unruly student, but I was 'too urban.'
Whatever that means.
So I was a little disheartened. But, I need to backtrack.
Pause. Rewind.
Because I got kicked out of my school after a year or two.
But in my first year of college, during the summer holiday, I went to New York City for the very first time to visit my girlfriend Liinda.
Who is an awesome, amazing dancer, that lives in Los Angeles right now.
I had so much fun in New York. And the night before I left, I met a man.
And we exchanged numbers. And he kept calling me!
I was really shocked that he was interested despite the distance.
But I ended up calling him back, and we ended up having a long distance relationship.
And it involved a lot of flying, back and forth between New York and Toronto.
At the time it was cool, we were young and in love.
And after one year dating, he proposed to me. And I was shocked.
I had never even thought about marriage. But of course, I was in love. I said yes.
And to my dismay, my mother wasn't supportive of it. A lot of my family wasn't supportive. Friends.
A lot of people were kind of shocked because I was young, I was 22, and they thought I could do better, at the very least wait 'till I was older.
This kind of hurt my feelings because I, you know, I loved this guy. When you're young, you just think love.
So I didn't wanna go from living with my mom to living with my husband--or, future husband.
I wanted to be independent and live my life before all of that.
So I did what I always do, I booked a flight, and I moved again. This time again, to the West coat.
I moved to Vancouver, which is like, north Hollywood.
And I got my own apartment, which was super exciting after living with my mom, which can be kind of stressful.
And living in Vancouver was an awesome experience. It was probably one of the happiest times of my life.
I was doing my photography, I was working as an actor, I had an agent, I was booking roles in movies, in TV shows, I was taking classes, I was doing everything I enjoyed.
I was really happy.
I was doing what I love.
But I was still in love with my finance. And we finally decide to get married. Years later.
And this time, I was 27. And this time I was older, so my family was more supportive because we had been together for a few years. But I was happy.
I was excited to be moving to New York, but I wasn't excited about our living situation.
I was moving from Canada straight into the hoods--I'm talking piss in hallways, garbage everywhere, people were throwing garbage out of their windows, roaches--
I hated it. I felt very unsafe, I was not in my element, especially from coming from clean Vancouver.
At this time, I also got a dog, Jackie. You would think we would be happy, but neither of us were happy.
It was kind of stressful.
And I cried. I missed my family, I wasn't doing the things that I enjoy doing.
I was really stressed out, and really just lost.
Another thing, another reason why I hated... couldn't focus was the violence.
I saw too many people getting shot.
And I thought to myself, I don't wanna... end my life like this, how did I end up in this situation?
And I pressed my husband to move and let's get the heck out of here, and he just wasn't down for the cause.
So I prayed. I prayed to God.
And I just didn't understand why this was happening, why was I so stressed out?
And I should be on cloud 9, 'cause I'm married.
So I ended up talking to my friend for some help. Some of you guys may know her, her name is Andrea Lewis.
And she was on Degrassi and Cadet Kelly.
And she was telling me, Maya, you know what, you gotta do you.
Have you ever thought about starting a YouTube channel?
EWW. Why the heck would I start a YouTube channel--I'm a photographer, I'm an actor, that's gross and lame.
But the idea kind of stuck, and I thought maybe I could combine my love for acting and photography.
And... who knows, maybe... this would be worth it.
I had nothing left to lose.
Except my pride.
Anyways, enough about that.
So I came up with the idea of shamelessly promoting myself online for a year.
And that would be the premise for my channel.
I was unsure, but I told my friend the idea and she was all for it.
She validated my feelings.
So I recorded my first video.
And I uploaded it and it was well received, and a lot of people were so supportive, and...
I just didn't understand why my husband really wasn't. He tried, but I could tell he wasn't.
So I tried to cut down on filming.
Hopefully it would make him happy.
And it never really worked, 'cause I wasn't happy. I wasn't doing the things that I enjoy doing.
And I had to give up the things that I loved.
And I couldn't understand why... I felt I had to choose--I didn't understand why I had to choose between my marrige and the thing that I loved.
He just wasn't supportive, and in the end... my husband just didn't want to be married.
I just prayed that our problems could be solved.
We did manage to save money to move out and get our first apartment together outside of the hood, and I was so happy.
And I thought that this would solve the problems in our marriage...
He ended up having a change of heart, and he left.
And I was super sad.
Our marriage has been a series of setbacks. And I thought this was another trial separation but it wasn't.
This was final.
And I really just wanted to sleep. I was depressed, I just wanted to sleep, I just wanted everything to go away.
But my videos got comments!
People were commenting, telling me that they loved me, I was inspiring them, I could not wrap my head around it!
Everything has its time, and Jeigh came right when my husband left.
And he was in town for an audition. And I was over the moon happy, crying tears of joy.
So this was really a blessing, having Jeigh here when he came.
Bear hugs!
Come here, you.
Anyways, then this contest came about, from The Platform, to win a trip to London.
And I had never been to London.
I thought, you know what, let's just do this. Let me get my mind off this.
And I was super lucky to have my cousin Jeigh help me record, and just be so supportive.
We ended up winning. Well, I won and I brought him with me to London.
And it was so much fun, I got to meet the team from The Platform, and my friend Mila, and I had a meet and greet.
And that's when people started asking questions, but my marriage is over now.
My cousin Jeigh moved in! He actually booked an off-broadway show here in New York City.
So I have my cousin who is a singer and an actor, and I'm editing, doing photography, doing some voice-over.
Our home is really like this crazy, shameless studio production.
Jackie's in it, and she's wagging her tail.
This year has been a double-edged sword.
It's been one of the most trying, most painful, and yet most... happiest times of my life.
I've had so many blessings, it's unbelieveable.
I signed to an awesome YouTube network, I'm selling t-shirts with my slogan, 'Do you boo'--cop it, buy one.
I'm selling 2 singles on iTunes, I have a brand deal because someone discovered my channel through YouTube, I've been flown out to different cities for work...
And it's just been an awesome, amazing journey.
And I'm just excited for the future.
I have learned that everything has its time.
Some things are just not meant to be.
I know how important it is to stay in faith. To be fierce. To be fearless. To be shameless.
And to just do you boo.
Thank you guys so much for watching, thank you for your lovely, supporting comments.
You honestly have no idea how you saved me on my darkest of dark days.
What a year.
Thank you guys so much. I am forever grateful.