Hi, I'm Eri Mizobe Ryan.

I started Himawari after 12+ years working at the intersection of social, creators, culture and brands.

I've worked inside big and boutique agencies, alongside some of the world's largest marketers – building creator programs, leading social strategy, pitching ambitious ideas and figuring out how to turn a good strategy into something people actually want to engage with.

What I kept coming back to was simple: the best work doesn't begin with chasing attention. It begins with creating something worthy of it.

Himawari is my way of bringing that philosophy to brands and creators more directly, with senior attention, strategic rigor and fewer layers between the idea and the people making it happen.

Where the name “Himawari” comes from

I was born in Hawaii, a first-generation American raised in a Japanese and Cantonese family. My formative years were spent in Singapore and Hong Kong, in the Australian and Canadian international school systems – a lot of cultures intertwining at once. That's where the curiosity started, and where I first fell for the art of storytelling.

Himawari means “sunflower” in Japanese. Naming the company felt like the natural place to put all of that, and the flower turned out to be a better fit than I expected. A sunflower doesn’t chase the light. It grows with intention, then commits to a direction. That’s my philosophy: attention isn’t the goal, building something worth it is.

I landed in New York after coming here for a conference as a brand ambassador for Rent the Runway while finishing my PR degree at the University of Oregon. I've been here ever since.

Outside of work, you’ll find me consuming Lonely Planet guides for the next trip, pretending to moonlight as a food critic or chef, and recording my next Notes from Somewhere podcast episode about the people and places who shape us.

Based in New York. Working wherever the good ideas are.

Eri Mizobe

How I work

  • Truly bespoke. Nothing built for you is rinse-and-repeat. The materials and solutions are customized for your brand, every time.

  • Transparency, always. This industry is full of fluff. You deserve a partner who's honest about what's working and where it isn't.

  • Curiosity is key. There's always room to push for better, and to keep asking questions.

Selected work

Over 12+ years, I've built strategies, programs and campaigns for global brands. A few favorites:

Giving makers a seat at the table

KitchenAid has always been made for makers. The opportunity was to give the creators already sharing recipes and kitchen rituals a lasting home with the brand, not a one-off post. At a previous agency, I concepted and led the KitchenAid Makers Club end to end, from strategy and program design to creator casting and launch. It's a creator network built so makers shape how people discover, save and shop.

Highlight: This post was created by one of seven launch-day Makers Club partners to share the news. HERE is the official launch press release with more details about the program.

A club, not a campaign.

KitchenAid

Pouring a new glass of rosé

Yes Way Rosé had a loyal millennial and Gen Z customer base, but their influencer content needed a reset to reach new audiences. Himawari audited previous content to find the opportunity – and found that recipe content paired with their rosé consistently outperformed everything else on engagement, the brand's key KPI. From that insight, I built a custom influencer toolkit to cast and brief mid- and micro-tier culinary lifestyle creators around recipe-driven content, heavy on direct-to-camera and voiceover storytelling.

Highlight: Resulting example post on the left drove 4.1M views.

The insight came before the casting. That's the whole job. 

Yes Way Rosé

Craveable social-first UGC

Halo Top needed a social presence that actually reflected its light-hearted personality. Instead of a feed full of marketing assets, with my agency team I used social listening to build a monthly content plan. Depending on the concept, we either produced the video ourselves or enlisted a crew of vetted nano and micro creators – the latter bringing a diversity of voices and faces that resonated with the target consumer.

Highlight: This post drove 38K views, one of the strongest assets on the brand’s owned channel that quarter.

Listen first. Then make the feed sound like the brand.

Halo Top

Building a portfolio of stories

Marriott's portfolio runs from five-star luxury to approachable getaways, and every brand in it has its own personality. With my agency team, I built casting criteria and curated partnerships with creative storytellers to match. No two briefs were the same, and we collaborated with creators through the entire process.

Highlight: This post by a VFX filmmaker animating his stay at the Renaissance Charleston was a top-performing asset, driving a 6.53% engagement rate.

Partnership, not placement.

Marriott International

More client highlights

Hard Rock Hotels · Altra Running · Aerie · Cotton Inc. · AERIN Fragrances · BALMUDA · Pompeian Olive Oil · World Wildlife Fund · J.M. Smucker Co. · Thinx · Bumble and bumble · Dyson · Sephora · Uncrustables · KitchenAid · Folgers · Brizo · Tide · Jif · Café Bustelo · Bobbi Brown · Halo Top · OXO · Fogo de Chão · Dunkin’ at Home · Cointreau · LinkedIn

Work led across previous agency and brand partnerships.