We were lucky to catch up with Max Loftis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Max, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

The year was 2018, I had just moved to Santa Cruz after high school graduation and started my journey at Cabrillo Community college. I spent my time working on my general education, never knowing what direction I wanted to take. I was working as a Shift Leader for a coffee shop but knew in my heart that coffee was not my true passion. My journey with makeup started when I decided to experiment with eyeshadow in my bedroom and fell in love with the freedom of expression through color. My confidence grew and my eyeshadow game strengthened so I started wearing makeup to work. Everyday was a new opportunity for me to express myself in an artistic way. The feedback I received from coworkers and customers alike was overall extremely positive. Even the occasional sideways glance was enough to push my passion to improve my talent and change perspective.

In March 2020, it was the year the world stood still. In those moments of silence I had plenty of time to think about the direction I wanted my life to take. In this time TikTok was seeing a boost of engagement. One day my partner had suggested that I begin making TikTok’s featuring makeup and fun video transitions. Honestly I was scared of what social media was going to say, and anyone who says they aren’t scared is lying, but with the help of my incredibly supportive family and friends by my side I started building my @MUABYMAX platform one 15sec video at a time.

In the beginning It was hard to find the motivation to consistently create content that I was passionate about because the performance & engagement was so low. Once I stopped trying to please everyone else and started being happy with myself i noticed more people following my page. After I reached 1,000 followers I started to host live-streams where I would share my makeup application process and engage with my viewers. At the end of these live streams I would see a massive increase of followers. This boost in followers started catching the attention of brands, both legitimate and illegitimate, who were interested in paid partnerships. I was naive to the industry early on and became the victim of a scam which resulted in me loosing a large sum of money. Ultimately I was not discouraged by the scam and vowed to consider the Content Creation industry as a more serious professional path.

In the end I have made so many connections and developed content for major brands in the cosmetics & skincare industries. These opportunities have all been made possible because I am willing to work hard for success. With being 22 and looking at the rest of my life I have decided to continue this creative path until the end. Whenever that may be.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My current focus is to become a Full Time Content Creator. I currently work part-time as a Beauty Advisor & lead the creation of instagram content for Sephora Emeryville. I manage post schedules and marketing strategies while simultaneously assisting clients on the sales floor. My goal is to land a salaried media management position where I can assist in the growth & development of a brands social media presence. I am continuing the growth of my personal platforms and expanding into Youtube videos.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I was able to connect with a talent agent who could help navigate brand partnerships. I had to do everything on my own and still manage myself. I wish i would have known about websites like Aspire IQ for connecting to brands.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goal is to expand the growing representation of black, LGBTQ+ content creators within the growing social media industry.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://amaxwellbeauty.com/
• Instagram: @MUABYMAX
• Youtube: MUABYMAX
• Other: Tiktok @MUABYMAX