• Maya Higa is an American social media sensation who uses her platform to raise donations for charitable causes.
• She was born in Hawaii and is related to famous actor and comedian Ryan Higa.
• She is known for her relatable and sometimes naive content which fans enjoy watching.
• She advocates for the protection of endangered species and conservation of the environment.
• She is active on social media platforms such as Twitch, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.
Contents
- 1 What do you know about Maya Higa?
- 2 Higa’s early life and background
- 3 Her Education
- 4 Higa’s Professional Life
- 5 Is she in a relationship?
- 6 Her awards and contributions
- 7 Higa’s Advocacy and charity work
- 8 Scandals and Controversies
- 9 Her Hobbies and favourites
- 10 Her physical characteristics
- 11 Higa’s net worth
- 12 Her social media status
What do you know about Maya Higa?
Many celebrities today benefit from the advent of the internet. One of such is Maya Higa, whose fame came unexpectedly, but that didn’t stop her from becoming a social media sensation, who also uses her platform to raise donations for charitable causes.
Higa’s early life and background
She was born Maya Higa on 24 May 1998 in Hawaii, USA under the Gemini zodiac sign; she’s an American with mixed ancestry. Not much is known about her parents’, their names and what they do for a living, but they raised Higa along with her two siblings, Erica and a brother whose name is still unknown. They lived together in Hawaii and practised the Christian faith.
She is also related to famous actor and comedian Ryan Higa, who is also popular on online platforms, especially YouTube.
Her Education
Higa is yet to comment about her education but apparently attended a local high school, and after her matriculation, enrolled into California Polytechnic State University, where she obtained her degree upon graduation in 2020.
Higa’s Professional Life
She started a career in the modelling industry at the young age of 13, and was involved in several commercials for various brands. In 2019 she became interested in Twitch through her friends, who were already creating online content for their fans. She launched an account through which she commented and encouraged her friends, and it wasn’t long before her vibrant personality was noticed through her consistency. Higa had already been active on Instagram, on which she entertained her followers with her sonorous voice and videos before deciding to extend her work to Twitch, on which she has remained ever since.
She started to engage her online audience on subjects which she was passionate about, such as animal care and conservation of wide life. She also sang, and held discussions with them about their views on happening events. Based on her experience as an expert in falconry and also from working at a zoo, she was able to offer advice on subjects relating to animal care. She grew her audience steadily, and after updating viewers on the health status of a hawk she had nursed back to health named Bean, she attracted almost 300,000 views, and so attained celebrity status on Twitch.
In an interview, Higa stated that she didn’t adjust well to her overnight fame, and even thought about shutting down her channel and returning to her former anonymous status. She added that her fear was centred on being in the news for the wrong reasons, based on what she said or did.
She also recognised another online platform called Reddit for the sustenance of her fame in the earlier years, through uploads of her random clips. One account with about 500,000 followers became more like her fan page, and frequently posted her content which sometimes attracted up to half a million views! Some favourites among the clips include one in which she was eating cereal, casually chatting with her parrot, and discussing other online celebrities and singing. Her relatable and sometimes naive content is what fans enjoy watching, and constantly tune in for more.
Aside from entertaining, Higa also uses her channel as a way of raising awareness of and donations for several causes. She has constantly stated that Twitch was an untapped mine through which people could donate and meet the needs of others – in one donation, about 500 people gave about $40,000 for individuals who were displaced and homeless around Obispo County.
She added in an interview with Newsweek, that she planned on donating the proceeds from the online streaming done on her birthday to the Facility for the Homeless. The organisation she joined in her college years named 5 Cities Homeless Coalition, needed urgent financial assistance to provide relief materials for affected persons. She noted that contrary to the news which is peddled in today’s world, many people love to help, and would offer assistance in every possible way if they had a channel to do so.
Is she in a relationship?
Higa is alleged to be dating another Twitch streamer named Matthew Rinaudo, who also goes by the nickname Mizkif. There is not much detail about his background, education and family, but he is quite popular among social media users. In less than a year of him being active on Twitch, he was able to gain a following of almost 200,000 fans, who were entertained by his content which mostly centred on gaming and technology.
His first contact with Higa was in a segment on the named platform in which she expressed difficulty in putting her computer together. He reached out to her privately and gave her some advice, and this marked the beginning of their friendship. They have become quite close since then, and Maya even admitted that the first time she travelled alone was during her visit to Texas to see him.
Although rumours have been making the rounds about the possibility of them being in a relationship, both have continued to keep their fans guessing. Matthew mentioned in an interview about him seeing a future with Higa, to which she responded by laughing it off, and denying any possibility of a relationship between them, adding that the Twitch gamer was just ‘Trolling’.
They have continued to go back and forth with insinuation on their love life, without giving any definite answer.
However, Higa is said to have taken-up permanent residence at an apartment in which Mizkif and other Twitch streamers reside, and she continues to upload content online from her new location.
Her awards and contributions
The hard-working celebrity has not had any known award or recognition for her contribution to the media, but it may not be long before she’s recognised for her talent, especially online.
Higa’s Advocacy and charity work
Some of the charitable organisations she works for include Wildlife Warriors Worldwide and The American Eagle Foundation, in which she advocates for the protection of endangered species and also conservation of the environment. Her work with the latter Foundation generated over $3,000 which was channelled towards preventing the extinction of vultures around the world.
Also, in February 2021, Higa was able to raise nearly $600,000 build a sanctuary where animals can be conserved. She did this through auctioning items such as Gucci slippers owned by musician T-pain, and a golden shovel.
Scandals and Controversies
Sometime in 2019, the internet celebrity was the subject of a verbal assault on her online platform. This happened during the chat session and donation by a supposed fan. The donor gave three dollars, and then added that Higa should get work done on her breast so that people would not have to stare at her “horrible deformed face”. She was left speechless at first and later referred to the user as the meanest donor she ever met, adding that she was going to use his money to get herself a sandwich for her troubles.
Higa was dragged into a misunderstanding surrounding one of Twitch’s most controversial streamer’s decisions to put a $5 limit on donations. The streamer goes by the name of Pokimane. and has earned herself the title of one of the most hated online personalities, due to her fall-out with other celebrities and harsh criticisms.
She decided to limit donation apparently as a way to prevent her donors from overspending; other steamers bought the idea and planned to implement it. Higa, who is used to receiving large sums of money as donations, felt that the proposal was sad and stupid. She didn’t see the need to ‘protect’ people from donating, although she understood the reason for the limit. Her reaction left fans with mixed feelings, but didn’t deter them from participating in other charities hosted by her.
Her Hobbies and favourites
Higa is quite disciplined when it comes to her diet. She eats fruits, vegetables and drinks lots of water, stays away from junk food, red meat and alcohol, and has dinner not later than seven at night.
In addition to eating right, the media sensation works out to keep her body in shape. Her routine consists of getting up very early in the morning to do an hour of Yoga ,and then another hour of workouts including Pilates.
hi I’m bird girl pic.twitter.com/z6qUsZmV1U
— Maya (@mayahiga6) February 3, 2020
When she is not performing songs or discussing issues online, she rides her horse and takes walks with her dog and cat. She hasn’t abandoned her 10 years of learning ballet professionally, and occasionally dances for her pleasure. Also, she loves to draw.
Her physical characteristics
Maya’s stunning features enabled her to have a successful career modelling, both online and with noted brands. She is 5ft 4ins (1.63m) tall, weighs around 105lbs (48kgs) with a slim figure, dark brown hair and brown eyes. She wears a UK size 4 shoe, and has three tattoos on her body inspired by her biggest role model, her mother.
Higa’s net worth
Her net worth is estimated to be about $2 million, accumulated through her online channels, advertisements and collaborations with brands. With her hard work and good business acumen, Higa’s net worth is expected to increase in the coming years.
Like most social media sensations, Higa is active on the internet. She was first introduced to her fans through the online platform Twitch, on which she became popular, gradually building an online presence with almost 300,000 followers on her account @maya.
With a steady following and growing popularity, she debuted on YouTube in 2020 through her channel which bears the same name. She continues to entertain her almost 60,000 fans and advocate for various charity organisations. Her highest number of views, about 400,000 is also tied to donating to charity, and is entitled “CallMeCarson donated $5000 to my charity stream (ylyl)”.
Aside from her work in the above-mentioned platforms, Higa also engages about 100,000 followers through her Instagram handle @maya_higa. She uploads posts about animals, and also models for a few brands such as ‘NAU drinks’. She contributes her opinion on happenings in society through her Twitter handle @mayahiga6, and also updates fans about happenings in her life, and new projects.
