Kumusta Kaibigan! I’m Sophiya Misha Salud or Somi for short. I capture engaging experiences, tag my name everywhere, and pull spro shots.
How was life growing up?
“My bittersweet journey was packed with both exciting and unfortunate experiences that helped me grow as a creative, friend, sister, daughter, and a person in general. I was very much stuck at home but I knew that if I wanted to learn, I had to put myself out there and experience everything but always making sure to have people I trust throughout my journey.”
When did you first begin to witness you had creative talents?
“My parents would always say that I’d started having a serious eye for photography way back when I was four years old when we were on a trip in Hong Kong. Personally, I knew I was inclined in the arts around that age as well when I’d always draw or make some artwork for my parents as a gift before they’d come home.”
How did the name SOM1 (Someone Saw Me) come about?
“SOM1 is heavily rooted on the works of street artists such as CVTY Collective, Pilipinas Street Plan, Dirty Kid South Crew (DKS), Christian Cresencio (Moks), Rai Cruz, Geloy Concepcion, Quatro Los Baños (Hapimeel), Jules Tan Cardoso (Pedro), and many more. Back in 2015, everything started out on my frustration of wanting to become a street artist just like those whom I’ve mentioned. Being connected on Facebook (and in real life for some), I’d ask their advice and learn from them on how to improve my handstyle and such. Moks, in particular, helped me come up with a name. I started out as MS which stands for Misha Salud. Then my friends said that I should change it since it was a name of a gang - MS-13. So we went back to conceptualizing until “PISO” came up which evolved from Sophiya to SOPI to PISO. Unfortunately, it was too confusing and quite generic until we came up with “SOMI”. While practicing different handstyles for SOMI, I experimented heavily on the “I” to make it look like a “1” so whenever people would ask, I’d say, “It depends how you want to read it - whether it’s SOMI or SOM1”. It was only this 2018 when I’d realize I should make a wordplay out of it since it fits my philosophy behind it. Whenever you’d see my slap or brand somewhere, it means that Someone (You) Saw Me.”
With starting a brand, there’s always adversity you face in the beginning. What difficulties have you faced so far?
“Conceptualizing, brainstorming, and organizing everything together is tedious but always worth it especially if you know that your work speaks for your philosophy or movement. Also, it’s challenging to have ideas and concepts in mind but not having the talent, skills, money, or resources to have it done.
There are a lot of brands out right now. How do you look to set yourself apart from them?
More than just being a brand, I see Someone Saw Me as a movement to recognize and empower creatives, entrepreneurs, and anyone who is passionate on their craft may it be traditional, digital, musical art, or even something totally different such as brewing coffee. Whenever I’d feature people, they’re not necessarily from the street culture or the creative industry. They could come from different walks of life and various industries. The movement is also aimed to uplift the culture
by empowering them to make their mark by contributing something positive to their growth as an artist and to the society as well.”
Your latest sticker release, what inspired this concept?
“Xin Nian Kuai Le: Chinese New Year was coming and I wanted to release something related to it in celebration to the event. I initially thought of doing fortune cookies and chinese take out boxes but a friend told me it didn’t fit our Filipino culture. I then thought of tikoy but it seemed to simple for me. Later on, I said why not Hen Lin since it’s still very rooted to the local culture and because my mama always craved for their siomai back when she was pregnant with me. Of course, I had to make it more personal so I decided to make it look like me since people knew me for wearing the polo from the F***ING PROBLEMS Collection by Quatro/Hapimeel and Pr()blem Studios as well as the fuchsia beret I normally wear in shoots or events. I also chose Hen Lin since my friends from Korner would always tease me by calling me Hen Lin!
SOGO: For Valentine’s Day, I wanted to try something I don’t normally do or design so I thought that having something inspired from Sogo would be pretty fun. Since Sogo and Somi already shared the first 2 letters, it was a lot easier to recreate. I still added my flavor by making the lady look like me by adding the glasses and changing her skin tone plus adding my other slaps. I was actually really close to not finishing it since I only thought of it during the wee hours of the 14th but I told myself to still go for it!”
What could we be expecting from SOM1 (Someone Saw Me) as the rest of the year rolls out?
“I honestly have no idea since I could simply change my mind in a snap. However, I’d definitely want to be collaborating with various artists, brands, and creatives to create different forms of artwork may it be through slaps, clothing, bags, etc. As a company, where do you see SOM1 (Someone Saw Me) going? I honestly am just riding the wave of life and seeing where this movement goes. Hopefully it’s something big and positive that can impact people’s lives for the better. What you’ve learned over the years with SOM1 (Someone Saw Me)? Enjoy the process of learning new things while connecting with people. Appreciate, recognize, and support those who deserve it. Open yourself to experiences and opportunities that will help you grow and hone your skills. The movement is a lifelong process and journey of exploring my own purpose and helping others understand themselves more too. Not everything will be instant and so we have to trust the process and keep working for the better.”
When it’s all said and done how would you like to be remembered?
“I would like to be remembered as someone who made her mark in the world by empowering anyone to be better in their craft to help them uplift society and the culture.”
Lastly, big advice to small brands
“Know your passion. Find your purpose. Work consistently on your progress.”
INSTAGRAM: @SOMEONESAWME/@MISHALUD
FACEBOOK: @SOM1SAWME
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