A woman who was a self-proclaimed loner in high school is now a famed Instagram comedian with almost one million followers – and claims the platform helped get through depression.
Mya Erlikh, 31, born in Russia but now living in Brooklyn, New York, told how her mother abandoned her when she was five and she moved to the US with her father four years later.
When she arrived she didn’t speak a word of English, which resulted in her feeling ostracized at school and she struggled to make friends.
She went on to become a real estate agent and worked for several years before deciding to quit the 9-5 lifestyle, which made her ‘miserable’, and began making comedy skits and posting them online.
Mya Erlikh, 31, born in Russia but now living in Brooklyn, New York, told how her mother abandoned her when she was five and she moved to the US with her father four years later
While at school in the US, Mya said she struggled to make friends due to not speaking the language. Pictured age 13
One of her videos went viral, landing her more than 600,000 followers on her @damnhomie11 page in under a year.
The stunner, who grew up in Moscow, Russia, went from earning nothing in her first six months on Instagram to being paid as much as $1,000 per post.
She now boasts 968,000 followers on her private account and 541,000 on her public one, which has the handle @damn_homie__.
Mya explained: ‘When I was five-years-old my mother just got up one day and left.
Mya went on to become a real estate agent and worked for several years before deciding to quit the 9-5 lifestyle, which made her ‘miserable’, and began making comedy skits and posting them online
‘My father had to basically raise me alone till he met my step-mom when I was 11. I have two sisters and she had a son. I ended up becoming really close with her.
‘I tell my parents everything. Even things that people don’t normally tell their parents.
‘My father brought me here when I was nine-years-old. It was a very hard transition going to school and not knowing the language.
‘Growing up was hard. I had people tell their kids not to be friends with me because I would tell them that I don’t speak to my biological mother, and they would say, “What kind of person doesn’t speak to their mother?” when in reality she didn’t speak to me.’
Mya told how her mother left when she was five and she was brought to live in America with her father when she was nine. Pictured left in 1998 and right aged 16 in 2002
One of Mya’s videos went viral, landing her more than 600,000 followers on her @damnhomie11 page in under a year. Pictured: one of her comedy posts
Mya didn’t see her mother again until she was 15, and the reunion was far from harmonious.
‘She took me to a bar in the city and told everyone I was 21,’ Mya claims.
‘After that I told my father I didn’t want to see her again. It was heartbreaking to meet someone that’s supposed to be so close to you and you feel nothing.’
Feeling fed up in her job, despite it having once been her dream career, she took the plunge and decided to do something different.
Feeling fed up in her job, despite it having once been her dream career, she took the plunge and decided to do something different and make a living from her comedy posts
Mya now boasts 968,000 followers on her private account and 541,000 on her public one, which has the handle @damn_homie__
‘I was just miserable doing it,’ she admitted. ‘I took the chance of making less money but to have the chance to actually be happy and I think it’s the best decision I ever made.’
Mya performs sarcastic ‘if women told the truth’ comedic skits while flaunting her toned body – gaining thousands of likes and comments from her adoring fans.
Speaking about her content, she said: ‘The best comes from real life experiences. Think of the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you?
‘Putting it in a video is the best thing you could do. But you have to be able to laugh at yourself.’
Mya, pictured in one of her comedy videos on Instagram, performs sarcastic ‘if women told the truth’ skits while flaunting her toned body
Mya explained how her new career has helped her to overcome depression, and she now wants to help others get through their bad days with a bit of laughter.
She said: ‘When I used to go through depression I used to turn to Instagram comedy as a way to cope with it.
‘You’d be surprised by how many people write to me telling me my videos help them get through their day. It makes me feel good that I can do for them what others have done for me in my darkest times.’
She added: ‘I’ve always been creative. When I used to model back in college I used to help my director friend write treatments for music videos and landed him a lot of jobs.
‘I just never got credit for it. When it came to comedy it just came naturally to me because I’m just telling stories of things that actually happened to me or one of my friends.’
Mya said many people write to her telling her that her videos help them get through their day
Mya receives dozens of comments from her fans across the world, including some pretty awkward come-on lines.
‘One said: “Are you a Minecraft fence? Because I can’t get over you,” she revealed.
Sadly Mya, who is Jewish, is no stranger to hateful and racist comments. She said: ‘People comment, “You should do porn” a lot. It doesn’t bother me. It’s not gonna happen.
‘The worst is probably people sending me swastikas and telling me all Jews should be dead.’
With thousands of followers, brand endorsements and a jet-setting lifestyle, relationships are not a walk in the park for Instagram influencers like Mya.
Mya receives dozens of comments from her fans across the world, including some pretty awkward come-on lines
She recently broke off an engagement with her partner after realizing he didn’t accept her lifestyle.
‘I feel like the person you’re with has to accept you for who you are and let you be great, not hold you back or try to make you into someone you’re not,’ she said.
‘Everyone I’ve been with has always wanted me to just sit home and pop out kids…. If I meet the right person I would love to share a life with them, but I’d rather be alone than be with someone that doesn’t make me happy.’
When it comes to starting an Instagram page, Mya stressed the importance of developing original content and finding your niche, and then sticking to it.
She said: ‘Be original – find your own style. Something that hasn’t been done yet. Copying someone will never get you anywhere.’