Between Seoul and New York: The Rise of Kati Parfeli

By Indigo Mapa

Content creator Kati Parfeli has been curating and building a unique online presence by
documenting her life between two distinct cities: Seoul and New York City. I had the pleasure of speaking and reconnecting with her, rekindling a friendship we built in 2018.

We got personal and got into the nitty-gritty of her career, life, and work ethic. During this conversation, Parfeli had the chance to reflect on her journey, discussing how 10+ years of online creativity, fandomculture, and personal identity have shaped the community she’s cultivated.

Parfeli’s connection with South Korea began in her teenage years. She frequently visited
the country through study abroad programs. She documented her trips and experiences through YouTube vlogs, and over time, those videos began to evolve into a (still) growing online platform that revolved around travelling, pop culture, and the K-pop fandom. While studying at Parsons School of Design in New York, she harnessed and developed her skills in videography and photography to master the production side of her content. After graduating, she returned to Korea frequently, finding a balance between work and play between the two cities.

Life between Seoul and New York presents both open doors and hurdles to overcome.
Parfeli describes the two cities as drastically different environments: New York is familiar due to the use of the English language, while Seoul creates a place of safety and creative inspiration, though she sometimes feels isolated as a foreigner. As a social media creator, she can move freely between the two places, creating content, collaborating with brands and companies, and documenting her everyday life.

A typical day for Parfeli depends on whether she’s in New York or Seoul. She wakes up
at 6 AM every single day, but in New York, she chooses to go to the gym and drink coffee before getting into work mode. She edits, films, and works from home alongside her husband. In Korea, her routine is a bit more rigorous. She posts content that’s timed for her U.S. audiences, and spends the day filming multiple videos in various locations, running a one-woman production operation and show.

Though there’s freedom and versatility that come with creating content, Parfeli mentions
that the career comes with mental hurdles and financial challenges. There’s playing the waiting game on checks, self-doubt, overthinking, and inconsistencies with income. She shows authenticity through her transparency and strives to grow her platform like she has been doing over the past decade.

Parfeli started with longer YouTube videos, but made the transition to short-form videos
like TikTok and Instagram. She had once relied heavily on editing and producing precisely in her videos, but short-form videos have forced her to grow out of her shell and lean into her personality while speaking directly to audiences. Over time, she’s grown to love this style because it allows her to create that immediate connection with viewers.

Her most viewed content consists of storytelling, fan culture, “Get Ready With Me”
videos, video diaries, and leaning into K-pop-related content. A recent video of hers went viral, a video documenting “looksmaxxing.” It focused on aesthetic and style consultation in Korea, where professionals utilize their skills to analyze her body shape, color palettes, facial structure, skin tone, etc., to create the perfect look for her. This video was a huge hit with viewers and created a bridge of accessibility about Korean beauty culture and self-styling trends.

Fashion, personal stylistic choices, and understanding identity have been prevalent in
Parfeli’s life. Her style and aesthetic have shaped and transformed from girly Korean street style to experimental Harajuku looks during college. Today, she explains that her fashion sense resonates with early 2010s internet culture, meshing nostalgia with liberation to dress in ways her younger self would’ve wanted.

When it comes to advising aspiring influencers and creators, Parfeli highlights that
building content around one’s authentic and genuine interests is key to becoming big. She
implores that one should take a close look at their everyday routines and utilize them to create a series that can be repeated. With this, audiences will find relatability and a reason to follow.

According to Parfeli, authenticity attracts a following who share similar passions and interests. In the future, Parfeli hopes to grow her career on social media into hosting. Her dream is to have a talk show that focuses on fandom culture and the impact on the internet niches that have grown over the years. She wishes to invite artists and creators such as Gerard Way, Dan and Phil, and people who have been pioneers on the internet.
Supremely, Parfeli truly believes that the key to creative work and personal fulfillment is
authenticity. She claims that being unapologetically yourself is ultimately what helps people find their communities, online and in real life.

Read the completed interview:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15L_VhO40ZM8SO9viI8rGDUx5pIo6M2UYTFCMP8Sd18/edit?tab=t.0
Kati’s Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/katiparfeli/
Kati’s YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@KatiParfeli
Kati’s TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@katiparfeli
Kati’s Linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Katiparfeli
Songs/Albums Kati mentioned:
https://open.spotify.com/album/01hp4DvayKlnqUQrmk0vvzsi=4U0xiqY1QUuQ_qQDnX_VoA
https://open.spotify.com/album/78bpIziExqiI9qztvNFlQu?si=_EN0O08vQJOCsSs-3A8meA
https://open.spotify.com/album/62K0QHi2SjuhMe94kfYxq3?si=9GGXi9J-Rxm646Hvgg9m4g
https://open.spotify.com/track/6saYisCUAZXc505blie9kZ?si=3385386038464710