Twin sisters Elizabeth and Maria Rahajeng are living a life worthy of thousands a virtual thumbs up, as evidenced by their eponymous lifestyle website mariandelizabeth.com and a growing social media presence on the photo sharing app Instagram, where their personal accounts total more than 100,000 followers combined.

From perfect self-portraits, enviable travel photos to well-crafted write ups, it’s easy to see why so many people are drawn to visiting their website and scroll through their Instagram.

During a recent phone interview with J+, Maria, who was crowned Miss Indonesia in 2014, said it all started when they both participated in a student exchange program in Germany in 2012.

“It came from a simple idea of wanting to share travel pictures with our family and friends. I thought a website would be a great platform to showcase all of our photographs and travel experiences,” she said.

“I was hesitant at first, because I was comfortable with posting on Facebook,” added Elizabeth. “If there was a blog, I would want to put [a lot of] effort into it. But in the end Maria managed to coax me into doing it.”

Unlike other bloggers who are backed by a team to maintain their social media presence, the sisters do their own photoshoots, editing and write their own articles.

“I think the number one misconception people have of a lifestyle blogger is to think that it’s easy to become one, but it is not. There’s a lot of hard work involved; thinking about [choosing a] location, the wardrobe. One picture can take at least an hour […] We will do anything get a perfect shot, we’re kind of perfectionists so we will go through things like rising or boiling temperatures, we don’t really care,” explained Elizabeth.

Internet and social media have proven to be powerful tools for both Elizabeth and Maria to shape their careers as fashion and lifestyle TV hosts.

“It’s what allowed us to do our, job. It’s instant and we break through any geographical barrier, something our previous generations did not have access to,” Maria said.

However, they are also aware of the negative side of the virtually connected world.

“With too much technology and social media you kind of forget to live in the moment, to interact with people in front of you and to have that one-on-one interaction, and also to just put down your phone or camera and enjoy the view or the company that you have in front of you,” said Elizabeth.

“I feel that people look at social media accounts or they look at influencers or bloggers and think that they have the perfect life or perfect image. In reality, people need to know that what they are seeing on social media is not real, there are a lot of filters and editing involved. They have to keep in mind that nothing is perfect.”

FACING ADVERSITY

Born in Blora, Central Java, Elizabeth and Maria Rahajeng moved halfway across the globe to the US when they were three years old. They spent their childhood in Newmarket, New Hampshire, until they turned 13, when their parents decided to move back to Indonesia and the family settled in Bali.

In their blog post titled “Perseverance: Overcoming Hardships One Step at a Time” the sisters revealed that they encountered bullying upon their return because they couldn’t speak Indonesian and they had to struggle to adapting to the national curriculum at a state school.

Yet their determination and hard work led to them passing the national exam. They both pursued their bachelor’s degrees at Pelita Harapan University, majoring in communications.

It was during this time as a student that Elizabeth, who is older by five minutes, persuaded Maria to sign up for Miss UPH Scholar contest.

“I’m more of the outgoing one, the person who wants to try everything while Maria is the shy one, she’s not as outgoing as I am and that’s why I told her to register for the contest,” recalled Elizabeth.

Maria eventually did sign up, and came out as the winner in 2010. The 24-year-old then decided to try out for Miss Indonesia 2014, and she once again won the title to represent Indonesia at the Miss World 2014 contest.

“That experience forced me to do the things that I was afraid to do because if you never try those things, you’ll never know [the result]. It also gave me a lot of confidence going forward,” Maria said.

As for Elizabeth, she decided to channel her passion for fashion by signing up for a style seeker contest held by hair-care product TRESemmé in 2014. She ended up getting picked by the brand along with other Indonesian fashion bloggers to be flown to New York City to attend New York Fashion Week.

During the event, she met the E! News crew and kept in touch with them upon returning to Indonesia. Several meetings later, she and her sister were hired by the network as TV hosts, covering a range of lifestyle and international event happenings in Indonesia.

When asked what it feels like to work professionally together, the sisters agree it has helped to enhance the natural chemistry between them.

“Ever since we were young we always had the same hobbies and interests. It’s just great that we’re doing what we love together and I think as TV hosts we have great chemistry and it translates very well on screen,” Elizabeth said.

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