With mega millions of enthusiastic and eager followers on popular social media sites, California’s entrepreneur and WIBA Awards 2023 winner Marina Mogilko spreads fascinating and innovative news worldwide. And although I am into high touch and not into high tech, I was intrigued to meet and chat with this young and stunningly gorgeous modern woman who, together with her husband Dmitry Pistoliako and two daughters Emily, four years old, and Lily, two and a half years old, found her way to Los Altos Hills located in the heart of Silicon Valley and in the vicinity of the world-renowned Stanford University in Palo Alto.  

How did you end up in Los Altos Hills, and when?

I first found out about Los Altos Hills back in 2015. When we just moved to Silicon Valley to attend the 500 Startups Accelerator, I found out about Los Altos Hills from one of my friends who was also an investor. He told me that this is the best place to live in with the kids – they had a daughter, and he told me they rented this amazing house with a view and it all seemed like a dream to me but we could not afford it. Well, so, you know, we were a family of two, and it just seemed like a far away future. Then we ended up living in San Francisco for three years, and I got pregnant with Emily, and then Covid started and we realized that being in an apartment in San Francisco is not the best place to raise a child. Funny enough, we kept going to Silicon Valley every weekend just because we loved the vibe there, very relaxed and amazingly warm weather. We went there every weekend and we were like: “OK, if we want to move, let’s move to Los Altos Hills, let’s try to look for a house there.

So, in 2020, we made our first application to rent a house in Los Altos Hills, which was declined. We decided to travel for a bit. We went to Malibu, we stayed in a house in Palo Alto. Then we went back home to Russia for six months to, you know, just stay there during Covid because nothing was happening in Silicon Valley, and in Russia, we were getting all the help from my parents, from my husband’s parents with a new baby, but I still kept looking for houses. I renewed my Zillow search every day, and I was looking for what was new on the market. And in December 2020, we saw two houses on the market that we really liked. So, we asked our friends, who I mentioned earlier, the ones who moved to Los Altos Hills in 2015, to tour those homes. And they sent us all the footage and we fell in love with our current house. We applied for it right away and our application was approved, and we moved in January of 2021.

The highlights of living in Los Altos Hills

One of the highlights of living in Los Altos Hills… Oh my, there are so many highlights: seeing deer every day, interacting with turkey- isn’t it amazing? The weather, the community, its downtown is the prettiest downtown in California, 100%, maybe in the entire U.S. – it’s the best! Shoup Park, we go there very often, our house itself. Our street is very quiet, we have the nicest neighbors, one of our neighbors has become close friends, and we can walk to their house to visit them, and it takes just five minutes. Everything is just wonderful, especially the people who live there: meeting them and learning about their journey to Silicon Valley was so enlightening and so fascinating.

 Are you a fashionista? How did you end up on the cover of “Glamour” Magazine’s Fashion issue?

OK, let’s talk about the style. I started working with a stylist a year ago just because I realized that I do so many things publicly, but I never really cared about what I wear. It’s kind of a Silicon Valley habit – you think about comfort first and you try to spend more time on doing something that’s going to change the world instead of thinking about what you’re going to wear. But then I realized that my work is being in front of the camera and even business metrics depend on what you wear because if I wear something bright, colorful, something that catches the eye in the frame, then I get more views in my videos, which means we get better conversions for a business. We get better revenue, etc. So, I realized that style is not just a fun thing to do. It is a part of my business of being a YouTube Creator. I started working with a stylist. She’s in Paris, but she creates all of the looks for me and she sends me the links so I can buy things online. And well, this has been fascinating. I love exploring this and when you are working with a true professional, it just changes your whole perspective on whatever you’re doing. And the Glamour cover was just part of this whole process of me establishing myself as, you know, a small part of this Fashion World.

Describe in a short paragraph your business and what makes you a desirable and very popular national and international YouTube Star. Any exciting invitations?

I have two businesses, one is my media business. I run three YouTube channels, one is called Silicon Valley Girl, it is a channel about life and Silicon Valley, and the other one is Linguamarina, the channel about studying and learning languages. And the third one is Marina Mogilko, it is a vlogging channel in Russian and I also sell my own products, such as courses on how to create content and to succeed on YouTube. We’re working with brands. I’m doing a lot of things there. But also I co-founded an Ed Tech company called LinguaTrip where we help people learn languages. 

And as to exciting invitations? 

Yes!!! I recently was invited to Cannes, France, to this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where I attended a number of the events for influencers. This was the most fabulous event I’ve ever been to. It seemed like I was at a huge conference but instead of black and dark gray suits, the women were wearing stunning gowns and everyone was a celebrity. I attended two “red carpet” events, was invited to a party at Philipp Plein’s stunning villa, spoke at World Influencers Forum alongside an incredible journalist, Taylor Lorenz, and a Clubhouse Star Swan Sit.  I also received a WIBA Award in the education category. WIBA Award is the most prestigious global award for the most influential personalities in the social media world.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Right now, we’re working on an app that will help people learn languages through curated short-form content just because the short-form content is getting a lot of attention these days, and it’s also very snackable and very easy to consume. I believe that it should be not only in entertainment. It should also be educational and we’re working on an app that’s going to help people learn languages, practice languages through short videos. So hopefully, in five years, this company will get IPOs, or we get acquired by a bigger company. And hopefully, in five years, I’m still in Los Altos Hills with more kids and doing many more exciting projects.

How is life treating you in the heart of Silicon Valley? Favorite restaurants? Theaters? Amazing experiences?

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I think life in the Bay Area is very diverse. And if you want to experience more culture – the sky is the limit. My daughter and I have recently attended the magical production of San Francisco Ballet’s “Nutcracker” – it was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen in my entire life. 

My Mom and I saw a marvelous staging of “Eugene Onegin” opera presented by the amazing San Francisco Opera. We often visit the incredible museums in San Francisco, San Jose, Palo Alto, and Stanford, all within driving distance from our home. 

My husband is involved in professional racing on the racetracks around California, including Sonoma Raceway, located in the world-famous Wine Country. We hike in Los Altos Hills. We explore theme parks around the Bay Area. Gilroy Gardens Theme Park in Gilroy and the Happy Hollow Park & Zoo in San Jose are great for small kids. 

There are so many things to do in the area and also so many restaurants we often go to. I would say one of my favorites is “Bevri,” a Georgian food in downtown Los Altos, “Doppio Zero” in Mountain View. And I also like “Daigo Sushi” in Palo Alto.

With more than 9 million subscribers across her three YouTube channels and nearly 3 million followers on her two TikTok accounts, Marina Mogilko is a unique jewel and a shining star of Bay Area’s Los Altos Hills and Silicon Valley. 

Hey Mayor Linda Swan, should we appoint Marina as the Los Altos Hills Honorary Ambassador to the high-tech world of social media? After all, there is more to Silicon Valley than just chips and technology….