Today we’d like to introduce you to Mako Girls. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Kena, A-Ni, and Mimi Ochoa known to most as MAKO Girls journey begin October 2013. We were three sisters who had a love for music and entertaining that realized we wanted to entertain the masses. At the ages of 10, 12, and 14 we attended a Mindless Behavior meet-n-greet at DBS Sounds and was inspired by their documentary to pursue music as a career. We found a vocal coach (James Slaughter) and began artist development at Marvelous Enterprises in Atlanta. Early in our career, we performed at music showcases, talent shows, and various non-profit community events.
As our talent grew; so did our audiences. We were blessed to perform on stages in over 50 cities throughout the US at a variety of festivals and concerts. Some of the most memorable events were Fresh Empire Atlanta Teen Showcase Edition, Celebration of Music (aired on PBS), Sweet Auburn Music Festival, The Taste of Soul Festival, as well as perform at a few BET Hip Hop Awards pre-show events. The most special performance to us was being a featured artist to open up for Mindless Behavior.
After the release of our first EP, The MAKO Girls Experience, we grew our brand more by working with Kissable Lips Cosmetics to create a teen lip gloss/ glitterbomb lipstick line and also started a music concert platform entitled MAKO Girls Carnival Glow Party. These ventures allowed us the opportunity to be featured on top-tier blogs such as FreddyO.com, Black Celeb Kids, Drama Like The DJ.com, This Is 50.com, Vh1’s Delania Dixon’s Diva Gals Daily. Hype Magazine as the featured “Next To Blow” artist, mentioned in Hip Hop Weekly, as well as gracing the cover of Teen Aman Magazine & Jerido Magazine.
As the world changed with the pandemic we had to restructure our career journey since we were unable to reach audiences in person, we took our brand online. We hosted monthly virtual MAKO Girls Experience Concerts that allowed fans to see us perform live on our YouTube Channel. We also took full advantage of social media and started building our audience on TikTok. Within one year of being on TikTok we had over 500,000 followers! With several viral videos under our belt, We have collaborated with major brands like IHop, ColourPop Cosmetics/ Disney, and Dolls Kill… Now we have 837K followers on the app and are on the way to reaching our goal of 1 million followers by 2022.
As we prepare to release our follow up EP, “LVLS TO THIS” in spring of 2022, we are promoting our current singles ‘Ready’ and ‘Leverage’. The official music videos are available now on our YouTube channel. Official MAKO Girls. Our music can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Tidal, and Soundcloud.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This journey has been pretty smooth with no major obstacles. We have an amazing team behind us that shows us how to handle to business first to ensure our career is built on a strong foundation. Our biggest challenges are balancing time with family, friends, and school as well as keeping up with the demand for social media. Online its all about perception, so if we don’t post people feel like your not doing anything. And making content everyday was becoming stressful, so we came us with days to make content for the week to ensure that we do not burn ourselves out. Plus, we don’t end up using all of our makeup.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We are a trio Pop/ R&B girl group that sing, dance, and rap. We are known for putting on live shows that get the crowd moving and creating fun TikTok videos. With our music, we have performed at over 300 youth-inspired events and shows in the past seven years throughout the US as well as London, Bahamas, and Jamaica.
Musically, we are most proud of our Annual Concert called the MAKO Girls Annual Carnival Glow Party. As young artists ourselves we wanted to create a professional platform where other artists that possess the same drive and passion can showcase their gifts and talents. The creation of the MAKO Girls Annual Glow Party and now the MAKO Girls Carnival Glow Party Tour set to kickoff in 2022. As far as our brand, we are most proud of how well we are received online with nearly 850,000 followers on TikTok in under two years of being on the app.
The thing that sets us apart from others is the fact that we are sisters pursuing this journey together sharing the desire to bring back the fun and great vibes into music on a positive note. We want to touch lives worldwide and simply be that beam of light that brightens up someone’s day.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Communication is key! The ability to communicate well with others and to express your feeling freely and openly will allow us to grow more and more each day. We learn more of who we are and do not leave a window open for miscommunication to come in.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@makogirls.com
- Website: https://www.makogirls.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makogirls/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/makogirls/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/makogirls?lang=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXCNwa1zAVBECjBpyotARtw/featured
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/makogirls
- Other: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8dfPe6D/
Image Credits
Saboor Bryant-Saboor Bryant Photography – IG @saboorbryantphotography Chris Brown – 2nd Look Photography – IG @2ndlook_photography Rick Flo- GlobalFLO, Inc – IG @globalflopics
