Cyrene Quiamco — better-known as CyreneQ in tech circles — is cashing in on the general public’s obsession with turning themselves into what they’re aren’t.
The 34-year-old Filipino American digital artist, influencer, creator and “augmented actuality lens creator” started her journey of making humorous social media filters six years in the past as a “curious newbie.”
Now, Quiamco is a proud millionaire garnering nonstop consideration — and as much as $30,000 per lens or filter — from high manufacturers and on-line platforms like Snapchat and TikTok.
After solely three years on the job, the social media artist was capable of totally buy — with money — her “dream home in her dream neighborhood” in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 2020.
She now lives surrounded by a golf course and inside strolling distance to sure requirements, resembling eating places.
Together with housing a number of arcade machines and an enormous pond, Quiamco’s spectacular abode additionally has considered one of her lifelong wish-list options: a twisting staircase.
Quiamco had no prior coding expertise earlier than coming onto the scene with tough animation abilities.
“After a couple of hours of watching tutorials, I made my very first lens. It acquired over 150,000 views in lower than 24 hours,” she instructed to Caters Information Company. “It was a bouncing head. It was so tough — however folks thought it was humorous.”
Nonetheless, pursuing a profession in artwork was all the time on her thoughts as early as childhood, regardless of the stigma of the ravenous artist, she instructed Forbes.
“I knew early on I wanted to work further exhausting to make my dream as an artist come true,” Quiamco defined to the outlet. “My artwork profession began in highschool after I would create T-shirt designs and promote it to high school golf equipment. I bear in mind buying my first laptop computer with the income I constituted of promoting my shirt designs.”
From there, she was capable of discover the world {of professional} freelance work.
Quiamco’s indie gigs designing logos, brochures and web sites began in highschool and continued into school. It was in her sophomore yr that she paid off her first home in money earned by freelancing and scholarship cash, she admitted to Forbes.
Her profession took a flip when she created an internet site for a brand new app the place customers may ship photos that will disappear in 10 seconds: Snapchat.
“There was a neighborhood of artists that doodled on high of disappearing photos,” Quiamco stated. “The paintings was so wonderful that I felt it was a waste that they disappeared, so I created an internet site that archived and showcased these items. It was being concerned on this new Snapchat artwork neighborhood that I used to be capable of create a following and a profession with my doodles.”
Quiamco makes a mean of $20,000 to $30,000 per lens, in accordance with Caters. She first hit the $1 million mark in 2022.
Even so, it took years of dedication to get to the financially comfy level she’s at now.
“I work from the second I wake up to date I sleep, which generally means 18-hour days,” Quiamco stated. “Now, I’ve sufficient saved to pay for many years of payments with no need to work, however I like doing this, and it’s a bit addictive.”
Since 2017, her lenses on Snapchat have amassed over 1.5 million views and her filters on TikTok have been used greater than 17,000 instances. Quiamco’s most viral sensation is her movie star selfie sequence, the place she would take a traditional selfie after which doodle a star subsequent to her.
“I’ve created tons of, possibly close to a thousand, filters for my natural Snapchat account, and I’ve additionally collaborated with manufacturers,” she stated. “There are some days the place I take a relaxation, however most days, it’s loopy hours. It’s equal to full time, and I simply actually wish to preserve going with it. I wish to be on the forefront of this expertise.”
Quiamco remains to be in disbelief over what social media has allowed her to perform. After attaining monetary freedom whereas doing one thing she loves for 5 years, she was additionally capable of fund the early retirement of her mom, Christine Ganzon.
“My mother was a single mum elevating two children on a retail-job wage. I knew what her hardship was rising up,” she defined. “My mother went to work day by day and generally she would come house late as a result of she had further shifts.”
Quiamco continued, “I believe the way in which that I grew up, not having a lot, is what made my creativeness develop additional. All I may do was deal with my goals, and I’ve simply actually honed into that ability. I believe all of this began my success.”
