Mai Pham is a Canadian-born, NYC-based YouTuber with over 3.4 million subscribers, an entrepreneur, and fashion designer. From filming YouTube videos at age seven to founding Alchemai, her multimillion-dollar fashion label known for viral sellouts and bold storytelling, she’s become one of Gen Z’s most influential female YouTubers and creators.
Now, Mai is opening up about her most personal project yet: MaiSpace, a story-driven podcast. For the first time, she’s sharing the real stories behind her online persona — from getting kicked out at 15 and backpacking solo as a teenager, to journaling her way into a new life and learning what it really takes to manifest change.
Growing up watching people on the internet shaped me and helped me feel capable, and I know the impact it can make.
Filmed in a space that recreates her childhood bedroom — complete with her actual toys, vision boards, and artwork — MaiSpace brings her back to where it all began. In this Q&A, Mai Pham opens up her most personal project yet, and what she hopes listeners will take away.
Q&A with Creator Mai Pham on MaiSpace
Q&A with Creator Mai Pham
You’ve spent more than a decade growing up online. What inspired you to start a podcast, MaiSpace?
There are parts of my story that I never dove deep into as they were being captured in the moment. I hadn’t had the time to process it yet, but now I’m able to reflect on those moments and want to be able to share them.
Growing up watching people on the internet shaped me and helped me feel capable, and I know the impact it can make.
MaiSpace has a nostalgic, bedroom-style setup that mirrors your early YouTube days. How does this mirror your journey?
My first videos ever started on a webcam in my bedroom in 2010, and I wanted to recreate that feeling.
Everything in that room is a reflection of me, from my real-life vision boards that came true to the toys that I unboxed that started this whole journey.
Everything in that room is a reflection of me, from my real-life vision boards that came true to the toys that I unboxed that started this whole journey.
What belief has shaped both your career and your creative risks with MaiSpace?
You never know until you try
You never know until you try. Every major risk I’ve taken in my life has been rooted in that belief.
What do you hope listeners take away from hearing the unfiltered version of your story on MaiSpace?
That they’re capable.
That they’re capable. That’s it. I want them to see where I started, see all the lows, heartbreak, and uncertainty, and feel hope.
How has your Vietnamese heritage influenced the way you approach storytelling and representation through MaiSpace?
I grew up with a Buddhist monk grandma and Vietnamese immigrant parents.
I grew up with a Buddhist monk grandma and Vietnamese immigrant parents. That’s my life, so when I share my stories, I’m just sharing what I actually went through. I think from my perspective, a lot of people grew up that way too – with the same strictness, expectations, and having to figure things out on your own because of your culture.
So when I’m just being real about my experience, people who went through similar things can see themselves in it. It’s not like I’m trying to represent anything. I’m just living my life and sharing it, and I think others who experienced the same things will feel that.
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