Entrepreneur and social media star Marina Mogilko moved from Russia to the United States with her husband, armed with a startup in its earliest stages and a couple thousand dollars in savings. She didn’t know what to expect when they arrived in Silicon Valley in 2015, but since then, she has fallen in love with the area and has even made her location part of her brand.
Now 31, she is co-founder and chief compliance officer of LinguaTrip, an online marketplace where language learners are connected to language immersion programs all over the world; a co-founder of Fluent Express, a service that uses real editors to check English text for accuracy and readability; a social media mogul with more than 9 million subscribers across her three YouTube channels and nearly 3 million followers on her two TikTok accounts; the head of a team of 50 people; and the mother of two children, 2 1/2-year-old Emily and 11-month-old Lily.
Her work is largely concerned with language – the English language, in particular. As a young and curious student born in Russia shortly after the Soviet Union collapsed, Mogilko saw that learning English was a way to open up a world beyond her modest upbringing.
“English is this gateway to the world, because everything is happening in English,” she said. “For Americans learning a second language, sometimes it’s mostly for fun. You know, you take it at school, but then you never use it. But for a person who’s Russian, for example, learning English is a step up in their career and education.”
She conceptualized Lingua-Trip alongside her husband, Dmitry Pistolyako, as a way to make studying abroad more accessible. When Mogilko was 14 years old, she started traveling to the U.K. for language immersion courses but struggled to curb the costs of travel agents and organize the logistics of traveling for her education. Through LinguaTrip, users can book services online without additional fees and receive guidance about how to secure a visa.
“I see my mission as helping people understand what their talent is and live a life of their dreams utilizing their talent,” Mogilko said. “And I feel that I was able to help through language.”
Online popularity
Mogilko has brought her brand to YouTube – running Linguamarina, Silicon Valley Girl and a channel in Russian – and TikTok. Her multiple channels cover a vast range of topics in addition to English language and comprehension tips, including motivational content, interviews with other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, lifestyle vlogging and videos about the reality of living in Silicon Valley. Some of her videos center on her rental home in Los Altos Hills, while others portray her wonder at things in the Bay Area she finds strange – or lovely – as an immigrant. Many of her TikToks serve as infotainment about what to expect financially when moving to the area, and her love for her location – especially Los Altos – comes through strong in her content.
One of her most popular TikToks offers an inside look at the housing market in the Los Altos/Mountain View area, where she goes to visit the only home in the area that fits within her budget of $1.5 million. The home in Mountain View was dilapidated and would be unlivable without hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovations. Currently at 6.7 million views, viewers from around the world commented in disbelief at the extreme cost of living in the area, sometimes rudely criticizing her choice to live in Silicon Valley. In response to such comments, Mogilko comes to the Bay Area’s defense.
“It all depends on what your goal is,” she said in a TikTok response to a comment telling her that she should move to another country. “I could live anywhere in the world and, yes, I could have a lot higher standard of living, but my goal is to build a big company, my goal is to learn how people change the world, my goal is to meet amazing entrepreneurs. These are the people I want to meet every single day. It just inspires you to be a better version of yourself – and this is what I’m paying for. I’m not paying for the house, I’m paying for the environment and the huge motivation I get here every day.”
Even after spending the better part of a decade in the Bay Area – moving from Mountain View to South San Francisco and then to Los Altos Hills – Mogilko is still delighted and inspired by the people and landscape of Silicon Valley. An unexpected favorite spot of hers is the downtown Los Altos Safeway; she said it feels like “a dream movie where everyone is smiling and everyone is chill.”
She professed her love for the Los Altos area and encouraged people to recognize the privilege of living here.
“I want to tell everyone here to always wake up and remember how lucky they are to be in this amazing place,” she said. “I want people to appreciate the culture of people changing the world. I’m sure everyone who lives here appreciates the environment, but I want to remind them just how cool it is to be here.”
For more information on Mogilko’s businesses and for links to her YouTube channels and TikTok accounts, visit marinamogilko.co.
