“In the beginning, it started like a diary,” she says of the launch of Pony Syndrome, where she showcases various trends, and skincare and beauty styles. “It was my personal feelings and thoughts, but as my channel and viewership got larger, I had to tone it down a little bit because you never know what may hurt someone’s feelings or they may take the wrong way. Throughout all the different mediums I’m on, you have no idea how things will be taken.”

Pony considers herself a “first generation” vlogger in South Korea, where YouTube and other streaming platforms like Afreeca TV have spurred the careers of many influencers and celebrities over the past few years. When she started out, it wasn’t quite as normalised and she had to spend a lot of time creatively considering how to introduce her content on a new medium after spending so long focusing on blogging and writing.

“It was definitely a challenge for me when I got started because [many social media] mediums didn’t exist for us here. The people hadn’t seen [vlogging culture] for themselves, so it was a learning journey for myself and my viewers.” 

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One thing that Pony says she’s had to learn the hard way is taking into account every single thing – down to the punctuation – that she posts and how she approaches her content across various social media platforms.

“It’s definitely not been the easiest road but it’s been exciting paving the way for [beauty influencers]. The growth of social media and influencers as a whole has definitely been a learning process throughout my entire journey, even to today. For instance, you have to be careful of even using a basic emoji. It can be wrong in the view of some people. You have to think about these things.”

Because she has a global audience, Pony pays special attention to making all her content accessible to everybody. She and her team try to provide as much information as possible when talking about something, so that even if the products she’s talking about are not available wherever her viewers live, they can still take something away from what she’s discussing.

Although she was one of the first people to spread news and views about South Korean beauty and skincare routines globally, Pony has complicated feelings about K-beauty being so trendy that Korean products can nowadays be found in just about every beauty and convenience store across the world.

“As a Korean person, it’s so surprising to me how many people know about K-beauty worldwide,” she says. “On one hand I’m so proud of that but on the other hand it’s a mix of disappointment and optimism.”

Pony says she feels this way because she sees a lot of opportunities, for herself and for others in Korea, to continue spreading news and views about Korean beauty culture and products, yet sees the industry has stagnated.

“When people think about K-beauty, they probably think about cushion foundations, sheet masks, multi-step programmes, snail cream, etc … ,” she says, referring to some popular K-beauty trends, which she says have been around for ages in South Korea but are still relatively new to many audiences. “But it’s so generalised. I want to show everybody that Korean skincare is so much more than that.”

She hopes to revitalise the industry once again through sharing different modes of skincare and beauty with the world. So what’s the one thing she really hopes people, especially beyond Asia, learn about? Assorted foundation styles.

“In Korea there’s really only two shades available for foundation. Compare that to the US, where there’s so many different skin shades, [and foundation is] defined by colour. But since we only have a few shades, the way the products are differentiated is through different finishes, like glass skin, dewy, airbrush, velvet, etc … with different ingredients that aid your skin.

“I want to be able to combine those two, combining both shades and finishes, so that more people around the world can enjoy varied, diverse types of foundation.”

Though Pony’s work has shifted a bit because of Covid-19 – she often works internationally on various projects as a brand ambassador, creator, or by holding speaking events – because she has a sizeable digital presence she’s been able to keep her focus on her ultimate goal.

“I want to make things accessible to everybody,” she says determinedly.