Emily Mariko Wiki Bio
Emily Mariko is a social media influencer, known for posting cooking videos onto her eponymous TikTok channel. She was born on 9 January 1992, in Los Angeles, California, USA, and has been active on social media since 2012, initially becoming known for her fashion and lifestyle YouTube content.
Early life and family
Emily grew up in Southern California alongside her younger brother Sam. She is of mixed ancestry, with her mother being Japanese and her father of European descent. Her diverse cultural background shaped her upbringing in unique ways. As a result, Emily learned many traditional Japanese recipes from her mother, and also speaks Japanese fluently.
Both of Emily’s parents are quite successful and wealthy – her mother is a former Honda product development executive, while her father is a co-owner and founding partner at a large design company.
Emily also has an admirable career behind her. In 2010, she graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Neuroscience, then went to work at Meta (formerly Facebook) and was later employed at L’Oreal, before quitting to focus on her career as a content creator.
Rise to fame
Emily’s journey as a social media influencer started back in 2012, when she uploaded her first YouTube video entitled “June 11, 2012 Outfit”. In the following weeks, she posted several other videos trying on different outfits and experimenting with make-up, before taking a break from YouTube.
She returned to vlogging in 2015 since when, she’s been making new videos, mostly about fashion, beauty and home décor. Although she didn’t have a big following at first, some of her videos became viral, such as “How to Pack in an Organized Way”, and “How to style oversized sweaters”.
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Hard work and consistency paid off, and in 2019, Emily’s channel reached 100,000 followers, however, it wasn’t until 2021 that Emily became a true social media sensation. As TikTok became more and more popular, Emily shifted her focus to the emerging video-sharing platform, onto which she uploaded short cooking and lifestyle videos. In September 2021, her salmon rice bowl recipe went viral, gaining over 10 million likes, and spawning numerous recreations. While most TikTok users were fawning over the video, the virality of her rice bowl video also sparked discussion about the way Asian food needs to be presented, to be seen as desirable on social media.
Her TikTok channel has attracted many new subscribers who were unfamiliar with her previous work. She became famous for her aesthetically pleasing and silent cooking videos, which sharply contrasted with her old YouTube content.
Today, Emily’s TikTok channel numbers more than 12.5 million subscribers, while her videos have over 625 million likes. Although she may be best known for her cooking tutorials, Emily also produces a variety of other content, such as shopping for groceries, cleaning, decorating, and working out at the gym.
Pumpkin pie controversy
Despite making calming and understated videos, Emily has been a subject of criticism and controversy in recent months. It all started with her pumpkin pie video from December 2022. Everything seems as usual in the beginning, but as Emily takes the pie out of the oven things take a turn for the worse.
The pumpkin filling appears to be slimy and runny, which is confirmed when she attempts to cut a piece from the pie. While some TikTok users joked that she accidentally made a ‘soup’, others warned her that the pie doesn’t seem to be safe to eat.
On the other hand, her critics accused her of purposefully making a confusing video to generate drama and drive engagement. As another TikTok chef, Kelly Scott, pointed out, Emily is clearly social media savvy and knows how to cook, so a fiasco like this doesn’t seem to be an accident.
Nonetheless, the controversial video has been watched over 12 million times, so if Emily did want to drive up engagement, she certainly succeeded. She hasn’t responded to any of the negative comments which still appear under her videos, and continues with her usual content.
Social media presence
Emily is active on other social media platforms too. On Instagram, her account numbers more than 1.3 million followers; her content is very similar to what she usually posts on TikTok, and includes food recipes and make-up tutorials, along with photos and videos from her travels.
Despite shifting her focus to Instagram and TikTok, Emily has remained active on YouTube as well, where her fans can watch her long-form vlogs. Her eponymous channel numbers more than 750,000 subscribers, while her videos have been watched more than 100 million times.
Love life and husband
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Emily is engaged to her long-term boyfriend, Matt Rickard. The couple reportedly met seven years ago, while they were both working at Meta, where Matt is still employed as a software engineer.
In October 2021, Emily uploaded a romantic TikTok video of Matt’s proposal. The two can be seen hiking on a beach when Matt drops to one knee in front of Emily who seems genuinely surprised. Several celebrities congratulated the couple on their engagement, including the pop singer Lizzo.
At the time of writing, they appear to be in process of planning their wedding. Emily has shared photos of herself on Instagram, trying on wedding dresses, suggesting that her wedding day may be approaching soon.
Hobbies and interesting facts
In her spare time, Emily enjoys watching movies, particularly romantic comedies, with some of her favorites being “Pretty Woman”, “Crazy Rich Asians”, and “You’ve Got Mail”. On the flip side, she’s revealed that her least favorite movie genre is horror.
Emily loves to travel and explore new cultures and foods whenever she has a chance. She’s recently been to Paris, France, documenting parts of her trip on her TikTok channel. Some other countries she’s visited include Japan, Italy and New Zealand.
Emily is highly active, and works out in her home gym at least four times a week, engaging in both cardio and strength training exercises. She enjoys trying out new routines, and believes that physical activity improves both her physical and mental well-being.
Net worth
As of March 2023, Emily’s net worth has been estimated at more than $500,000.
