Post Run High with Kate MackzThe James Charles Story: Makeup, Fame & Internet Culture
Kate and James sit down together after a walk around the neighborhood with James' dogs. James Charles opens up about his journey in the beauty industry, reflecting on his childhood, early passions, and the rise of his career on social media. He shares behind-the-scenes stories from his early beauty content, the success of his first products at Painted, and how moving to LA changed the trajectory of his career. James also discusses the evolution of beauty content creators, his personal experiences with makeup, and his exciting plans for the future.
What is up?
Runner Gang, Welcome back to Post Run High. We're here today in LA with James, Charles and you guys. I was so excited for this conversation. James is someone I followed online and have loved for so many years. He's been in the social media space for nearly a decade, starting out as a beauty creator and completely changing the game. James has built a massive platform, he recently launched his own brand, and he is a key example of staying at the forefront of the industry while constantly evolving. Today we got into everything his upbringing, how he got to where he is today, his insane work ethic, how he keeps pushing himself creatively, and what it's really been like navigating the highs and lows of internet fame. As you guys know, the premise of Post Run High is we go for a run before sitting down for our full conversation. But sometimes we mix up the form of movement we do, and you guys, don't worry. You get a high from all sorts of workouts, so the endorphins are still always there. But today, for context, James and I went for a walk in his neighborhood before sitting down for the conversation you guys are about to listen to, and of course that walk has been posted on my socials at Kate Max for you guys to watch. And guys, I was low key really excited to see James run, but that's okay, maybe we'll get him next time. As always, if you're listening here, don't forget you can watch this full episode over on YouTube, So please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven't already, and if you want to keep up to date on all of the behind the scenes of our shows and everything else we've got going on, follow me across socials at Kate Max and at Post Run High. Okay, Runner Gang, let's get into today's episode with James.
What is up?
Guys.
Welcome back to Post Run High, Post Friend Walk today, Post Walk High, Post Walk High, which I kind of love.
We're here with James Charles.
Hi you guys.
Hello, Hello, Hello, I'm so excited to be sitting down with you, James. I was telling you this on our walk eyes. James and I just got back from a one mile.
Walk with his dogs. Yes, it was beautiful, like.
Welcome to my home. Welcome to the neighborhood. Glad you enjoyed Finn and Theodore.
Yeah, it's so cool being at your house.
I just have to really quickly say, I've grown up watching you on social media, so it really is so cool to be able to like step into your home, like see your house.
And what I love about it.
I just kept saying to James, I was like, your house is so well designed. Thanks, and I know design is such a big part of you and your life. Yeah, it's cool to see.
Thank you. We were welcome anytime.
How is the walk for you?
The walk was good?
I mean I don't I'm not a big physical activity type of person. When they told me that your team had reached out about doing this, I was like, oh my god, is she I'm not running with her?
Or she can't make me run. I can't do it.
But I was so excited when we got to do a walk because I do love getting out, and the dogs love a walk, and the weather's been so beautiful recently, so I was excited to chat and get a little little bit of exercise. End that would be my workout for the next month.
I'm shocked that you don't work out at all, Like not even yoga.
No, wow, I've really I've genuinely really tried, because obviously I know that everyone loves it, and I know obviously that it's very good for the human body.
I'm human body too.
Well.
Yeah, of course I genuinely can't get into it, and I've tried multiple times. I've tried different personal trainers, I've tried different gyms, I've tried so many different workouts.
Like, it's actually really funny.
We filmed YouTube like series probably like two years ago now where I was like, I'm going to get fit because I had gained a little bit of weight during COVID that I wanted to get rid of. So I converted my entire garage to a gym, hired a personal trainer for two months, cut out all fast food. What if you yo me? Yeah, that's a that's a big I mean you saw the Cooke Foe.
I was gonna ask you, what is your diet?
Like bad?
It's disgusting, Okay, like it's so bad, but that's fine, Okay, love.
But I definitely, like I complimented with working out. But if I don't think, I don't know whatever.
I don't mean. I just couldn't get into it.
But for two months I fully cut out, also to off us food, and was working out three or four times a week and like not stupid little like workout was like a girl. I was really going in and by the end of the two months, I had gained two pounds. And yes, I'm aware that muscle weighs more than fat. I'm not looking for that. I don't want to be jacked and muscular. I'm trying to be tiny and skinny and disappearing before your very eyes. I love that I need camera to zoom in so far that because I'm like a little speck of dust floating around in the backyard.
You know, I can't even see you right now?
Yeah, thank you, Oh, thank you.
That's what I was going for.
Well, Okay, So I like, personally I run because it like keeps me very grounded, and I feel like with social media and content, our lives are just can be super chaotic and overwhelming. So I'm curious, Like, for me, working out is definitely my escape and what keeps me really grounded.
So what do you do to stay grounded?
Okay?
I have a few couple of ones that are kind of like weird niche interests. I love building Legos, love Love Love goos. My entire office is covered in all sorts of different Lego builds, So that's like a really nice way of like distract myself and put on like a TV show, put my phone away, and just like build for a couple of hours. I love escape rooms. They're my favorite pastime in the entire world. And it sounds so stupid, but like my life is really crazy sometimes, so it's so cheesy to say, but I do enjoy putting my phone away for an hour and like pretending like I really am in the Titanic and we're sinking and we have one hour to get.
Out, and I like that.
It's fun.
It's fun even though it's like a high stress situation, like you know, it's like you know, it's playing for tend. It's like it's just like fun little it's a game. But I like turning my brain on. I like thinking and I like strategizing, and that's like genuinely fun for me.
I love puzzes. I love brain teasers.
So that's kind of like my escape where I get to turn my phone off and be like disconnected from like the social media world, but still be like thinking.
I love that.
I feel like it makes so much sense because I mean, you don't build the empire that you've built without being smart. And you can tell I feel like Legos especially you know, when you're a kid growing up like they, you'd think that, like all kids play with Legos, but it's really not true. It's like a certain type of kid plays with Legos that likes doing activities that turn their brain on and challenge them.
So I love knowing that about it.
Yeah, well did you did you grow up with Legos or did you ever?
My older brother is very smart and she was the kid in our family that like loved Legos, So I feel like there's some synergy there. Guys comment down below, let us know what you think, But I think Legos kids playing with Legos is a sign of adultgy. Well.
I loved I loved Legos, and I also loved there's just like kids agat that no longer exists anywhere. But it was called Canacs and they were like, they were like, you would build.
Things. How do I explain it?
It wasn't like it wasn't It was different than Legos, where you're like building a building, but with connects. It was like you would build like a roller coaster, or you'd build like a ferris wheel, or you build like I don't eve really know how to explain it. I love the Amusic Park ride for some reason. That was like my special interest as a kid. And from there, like I would always build like giant roller coasters and like that was like my interest as a kid. I wanted to be in a music park designer. So I've always just been very like engineering focus. My dad's a self employed contractor as well, and I will never forget like when my when my when I lost my two front teeth. Of course, all parents have the tooth fairy. So when I lost my tooth front teeth, I didn't ask for money. I didn't ask for any sort of special prize. I asked for a shark vacuum. I'm not kidding. And my dad, for my like I think it was third or fourth birthday, built me a It was like a wooden box with just plugs, switches and outlets on it. None of them did anything. They were not connected to anything, nothing was wired together. But he built the boxing because he saw that I was always watching him when he was working, like wiring electrical and like installing outlets and plugs into people's homes. Yeah, and I was interested in that. So it's like that's so weird and such a good Like, No, I love it, kid, But I wanted to be an engineer.
I wanted to be a designer.
I've always been really interested in just like figuring out how things work.
I was just going to say that, Yeah, it seems like it. Are you the type of person that will get and want to assemble it?
Low?
Want to assemble It.
Depends on how complicated it is.
Maybe not that, because like I'd rather hire our task robbers to do that instead.
But if it was, but bye bye.
But you go into James's garage and there's like a shed of all essentials Iikia furniture, like eight different.
Nights, say it's ready for a stressful night. Jame's gonna take one on and ready to go. No, not like that, Like I would never choose to put it together. However, if you were like, Hi, for our podcast today, we're racing to see who can build an IKE addresser faster.
You bet? Are bet? I am clocking in to that challenge.
No, I love the competitive side of you.
Love it, Okay, I want you to kind of take us back because we're getting to know from these stories what you were kind of like as a kid, but really, like, walk us back through your childhood. You grow up in upstate New York. Yes, what were you like as a kid outside of these annoyings?
Okay, I was really really stubborn, very outgoing. My little brother and I could not have been more polar opposites. I put my poor parents through absolute hell growing up just because I.
I knew what I wanted.
I was definitely little bit difficult as a child, but I was very smart, very outgoing, and very just like always was innovating and wanting to try something new.
I had a million different hobbies.
I actually started like my social media journey when I was eleven. I had a Twitter account back in the day, it was called That's what Kids Do, and I used to post like relatable teen quotes and tweets like that awkward moment when blah blah blah blah blah, or like that moment when your crush says blah blah, like so stupid. But I grew that account to like eighty or ninety thousand followers when I was eleven. That's insane and I literally I got banned because I put my age in my Twitter bio because I was proud of being an eleven year old with a one hundred thousand followers, and then they're like, nope, you have to be thirteen banned. So my poor mom had to like write an email to Twitter being like, Hi, this account is managed by a parent. Let him back on because I was making money from him. I was running Google ads on my Twitter account, and then eventually I sold that account, moved over to Tumblr, learned how to code htmail and CSS, and started designing web themes for people and for people blogs. Then I use that money to buy my first ever DSLR camera and a MacBook.
And then I made a comedy.
YouTube channel when I was like thirteen or fourteen, fully made like a PowerPoint presentation for my parents as to why they should allow me to make YouTube videos. Started posting the comedy videos, and then I eventually got into doing girls hair and makeup for school like prom and ball, then did my own makeup, and then.
It's a realzing and it's so cool how you ended up, like because you love the techie side of things too, but also you have such a creative side of you.
It's so cool to see how all of these things kind of merge together.
Yeah, and you always had such a high production quality even when you first started out, so it's cool knowing that you were really the brains behind that.
I've always been.
Really interested in that. Like for me, I said this like when we were walking earlier. But yeah, I know that, Like I know that I'm great at what I do, but I'm never the best.
I truly love my part of the job that.
Entails learning, whether it's you know, how I can improve my landing, how how I can I proved my video settings, how I can make a videos retention a couple of seconds higher, how I can photoshop my thumbnails to be better. Like, I really do enjoy that part of the content creation process. I'm not competing with anybody other than myself to continue one up in what I've already done.
Yeah, and I find that fun.
It's like a fun challenge, absolutely, And it's so hard.
I would say, like, what would you say for people just starting out on content, including some of those things that you just mentioned, right, because like we're just getting started in the YouTube game, and it's crazy how important thumbnails are, and it's so hard to find really good thumbnail designers. It's like, honestly the hardest.
Thing, right, I been doing it myself really, Yeah, I only just started recently. I just started working with a guy that I found on social media. Yeah, but I've done my own thumbnails for the last seven years.
Which means I'm shook.
Yeah, your thumbnails are incredible, Like I use your thumbnails as reference all the time because I'm like, this is what great looks like.
That's so impressive.
I learned how to use photoshop when I was like seven or eight because I ran a Club Penguin blog too.
That one didn't that one was ever.
Successful, so I didn't include that in my story journey. But I learned how to use photosop because I needed to or how to edit the Club Penguin Penguin into like different positions.
You were such an interesting kid. I feel like you're like giving boy genius.
It was giving like loser nerds. No, definitely not giving boigenius.
But also social and outgoing.
So it seems like I feel like the smartest people kind of have every box ticked, like right where they're outgoing and social and they're also smart.
I knew really early on that I didn't want to. I didn't want to take a regular path. I wanted to be I don't think like I wanted to be famous. I wanted to do something in the public eye. I wanted to create. I wanted to inspire people. I wanted to do something positive to impact people's lives, and I knew that I wanted to do it with people watching. My rise on social media was very quick, for sure, but there's been you know, ups and downs over the years.
I had.
You know, when I started about a year in is when I had my big break and I got my senior photos went viral. When I rechok my senior pho tell.
Us the story behind that, because I kept seeing that everywhere and I was like, what is the lore behind this senior year?
I took my photos with makeup on and the lighting was disgusting.
I looked terrible.
So I emailed this company being like, Hi, this is crazy, but like I know how to use photoshop. Can I either retake these photos or just like retouch them myself? And they're like, we don't care, sure, come back on, Like come back on these days you could just pay a retake of gun I said, absolutely, you better bat I'm going to be there. So I went back, brought my ring light, retook the photos, and then retouched them myself. They let me photoshop the pictures posted on social media, not even like not even with the attention about going viral. But one of my other content creator friends at the time was like, you should turn this into a meme. And this was like right at the like, memes weren't even like a thing yet. The memes at the time were like nian Cat, the stupid pop tart rainbow thing you over.
That for the closure is a world of its own.
Yeah, this was like brand new, like what memes really meant. So she was like, you should turn this into like a meme, like at a funny caption about like when you retake your photos and bring your ring light. And I was sitting there being like that is so stupid, and she's like, just try it.
So I posted it, not.
Really thinking anything of it, and literally the next morning woke up to my email and being flooded with every single news outlet.
On planet Earth being like, Hi, we need to interview about this.
Wow.
And I was like, and that was a photo that went viral like a meme photo.
Wow, that was it. That was literally and from there I got noticed by Cover Girl. I signed as cover girls first ever mail ambassador for the brand. I did my commercial with Katie Perry, Chloe Helly Bailey were in it.
At the time.
It was so cool. And then that I went on The Ellen Show and from there it was like crazy.
And when you posted that photo of your senior yearbook photo online, were you already creating beauty content on the internet? Okay, so you had started kind of that journey.
I had already been making beauty content, but I hadn't gone viral yet. There was a couple of I mean, Instagram was just different background. That was like when they had like the popular page, right, do you remember, Yes, I do remember.
God, Like those were the days.
Yeah, what I would do to go back in time to twenty sixteen Instagram, Yeah.
Fill little notification like you made it on to the tay.
Was probably iconic.
Girl.
If a time machine powered up for the ground right there, you better bet I am jumping and that and.
Going right back right.
Oh my god.
Those so days were just it was just an easier, simpler, better time back then. But that was when, like it was, it was easy for things to go viral and like take over the entire internet like that, so that it was really unexpected. Like I said, I when my friends suggested, I honestly was like, that's so stupid. Yeah, but I'm so grateful that she gave me that advice because it definitely worked and got.
Me noticed definitely.
And I feel like one of the most impressive things that I find from beauty content in general and beauty girls is it's like, when you start out, you're not an expert, right, and I'm sure you were good at it, but it's amazing, Like what gave you the call? I all?
Actually, so what did your initial content look like?
Well, so I.
Started on Instagram first, okay, and I had I had already been doing girls makeup for prom and ball at my school beforehand. Looking back now, it wasn't bad by any means.
And how did you get into that? Like what made you?
Because like you're interested in all these different things techi stuff, building stuff, legos like so I was.
I was always a huge fan of watching YouTube, and I really enjoyed watching videos of like girls hairstyles. I loved watching braids and just intricate liked and I just loved that you could like change someone's hair and like this like these fun like sculptural, beautiful ways for events. I don't know why that was so fascinating to me. Well, I mean, as a good kid, is it really not surprising? But you know, I tried doing girls hair, just like like on the bus or like during our middle school musical rehearsals. I would like just braid the girl's hair in front of me, and I was like, this is so fun. So I started doing girls hair. And I was in the middle of an appointment once and my high school friend at the time, her name was Callie Noonan. She booked me for her hair appointment, but she was supposed to go get her makeup done at MAC after I had finished, but she was running so behind, so she just asked if I would do it, and I was like, I mean, I had been watching makeup tutorials online from Michelle von and Naked Tutorials and jacqulin Hill were some of my biggest role models growing up, so I knew what I was doing, but I had never done it myself before. So I was like, listen, Diva, I'll try this out. But if you look ugly, it is.
Not my problem.
This is this is a do it your own risk type of situation. You're requesting this, I will do it. I will fulfill your requires right now. But if this looks ugly, it's not my problem because you miss your appointment, not my fault. So I did it and it looked good, definitely in terms of today's standards. I mean nothing in comparison, but it was different. It was so and I kind of love yeah, and it turned.
Out okay, and I was like, wait, wait, I kind of ate that up.
That was fun.
That was fun, and she felt so beautiful, and that to me was just the coolest feeling of like, Okay, thirty minutes of playing around with these creams and powders put a smile on this beautiful girl's face and made her feel so confident for this really special light of hers. That's cool. That's cool. That's why I want to do more of that. So that's how I got into practicing with, you know, with makeup as well as doing the hair on the girlies. And then it was Halloween when I did makeup on myself for the first time. I did a skeleton look on myself. It's still on my Instagram and for some reason, that day is what really made me believe in Beginner's luck. Because the makeup looks that I did on myself after that, oh my god, they were disgusting. But for some reason, that skeleton was so good even by today's standards. If I if I walked out of the house right now, would that.
Look at it?
I'd be like, yeah, great, right, so weird. I do not know how I did that.
Well, you were always those art, right, but it looks.
After we're bad. They were really really, really really bad.
So I just think it was a case of, like Beginner's luck, this is aside from the universe, that this is what I meant to be doing. So I'm so glad that I didn't give up, right, But that was what started it at all.
Well, I feel like that's the most important thing with makeup and anything in the creative world.
Like I grew up.
Painting and oil painting, right, so like it's like the first day you oil painted, it's going to look like shit, And then you practice and you learn kind of the processes and the techniques behind it and you start figuring it out. And I feel like that is also makeup art, right.
I love you have that mentality too, because that is really what we're trying to focus a lot on with Painted.
I think it's really interesting.
You know, when we first launched the brand, my kind of stick with makeup has always been Yeah, I don't I don't want to say educating, because truthfully, I'm not an educator.
I'm not professionally trained.
Whenever I've done orials, I'm certainly not sitting there and really going in depth and breaking down the steps because that's not where my passion lies. It's kind of like, you guys can watch me do this and if you want to follow along, great, If you're just watching for the entertainment value, that's cool too, you know.
So for me, but I feel like sometimes you like even in your videos, you'll be like, I'm not going to show you how I feel in my eyebrows because I've showed you it hundreds of times before.
Yeah, it's truthfully like, yeah, you know, I'm this might come across bad. We can edit it out if it does. But for me, like I'm a I'm a visual learner. So for me, when I'm watching a video and like somebody like does an eyeshadow look, my brain knows how to recreate that if I'm watching it happen. Some people's brains are just not wired that way. I am self aware enough to realize that I do not. I do not have the patience or the like educator level of the educate, the educational way of explaining it to somebody. I just don't care enough and like, here's how I did it. You can follow along.
Great.
If this isn't for you, there are a million other educators out there that actually will take, you know, thirty to forty five minutes to really slow down and teach somebody how to do it.
That is just not my style. I'm not a professional edit.
I was never trained, and there are a million people that could do a far better job at that than I can, and I recognize that. So my specialty and content has always been like, sure, if you're learning from it, that's incredible. But for me, it's more about like having fun while doing it and really inspiring people to try. Cause I think that's what's so hard with make up, Especially for some of my more intricate, artistic, complicated makeup looks. People see them and they're always blown away and like, oh my god, how did they do that?
Yeah?
You just have to try. And when you first try, it might be awful, it might be so ugly.
It probably will.
Mine were garbage when I first started, absolutely hideous. However, I would have never gotten to the level that I met today if I didn't just keep going. It's makeup, it's creams, it's powder. It washes off with you know, a nice gorgeous oil cleanser or a makeup wipe, not sponsored.
But you're like, take it off and start over, Maybe try and.
Try and try again.
It's never going to be perfect on the first try. It really does take practice. And that's always kind of been my mantra, like all throughout YouTube, I'm not a professional educator or I'm not a professional educator.
I was never professionally trained.
I got to the level that I'm at by trying, by failing, by starting over, by attempting new techniques, by posting, by getting feedback, and by always trying to better myself and learn from people that inspire me.
Absolutely, and you touched on painted in like the beginning, but what we were just talking about, so like, let's go back to painted tell us a little bit, because I think it's so cool what you're doing. You aren't seeing other brands do what you're doing at all, Like, it's very unique and it's so true to you. So like to everybody listening, explain to us what Painted is and what your goal is with the rand.
So with Painted, my goal is to provide pro artistry level products to everyday consumers for an affordable price. So when you think back to like, were you ever like a Mac early? Did you ever go shopping at Mac, like for makeup when you were younger?
No?
Okay, that's fine.
So Mac back in the day had a pro line where if you went into Mac, you could buy the lipsticks, you could buy the islanders, you could buy the foundations. But if you wanted to buy the paints, if you wanted to buy the sponges, if you wanted to buy the brushes, you had to have a cosmetology license and you had to basically go in and apply for a membership, and only then could you actually buy the pro products.
It no longer exists anymore.
And obviously I still love Max, So I don't say this in a shady way, but I always found that concept as really stupid because when I was getting into things, I was not a professional by any stretch of the means. But I wanted to be I wanted to learn, and I wanted to use the same products that I was watching other people use in their videos. Yeah, if I'm trying to recreate that, Look, why would I want to go in and buy the Walmart version for lack of a better term, or the cheaper version, the t move version.
And you want to explain to people what you mean by that, because do you mean, like, do you sell certain colors and then the pro artists will mix the colors together to get the shades that they want.
Not even that like a math pro.
There were certain products that were only available to everyday consumers, and there were there were pro level products that were only available if you had the license and if you applied and got into this membership and we're paying for it. So I hated that idea that like the best products were being kept behind closed doors and you only exclusive people cannot access to it.
That to me was really stupid. So for me, my goal painted.
Was to provide really high quality, level, professional grade of products to everybody. But I wanted to educate people and show people how they can use them regardless of their skill level. So if you're a pro, if you're a working makeup artist, if you're a drag queen, if you're you know, if you're just a makeup lover who's been practicing for years and years and years, you can use the products and they're going to give you the exact performance level that you are expecting and you're used to in your career path.
But if you were a beginner, you still have the good shit.
So if you don't know how to use it, now, you can sell practice and when you are good, it'll still be there performing at the same level.
Can I tell you about something that this kind of reminds me of? So I just did an interview. I just did an with one of the heads of production for Makeup for Ever, And what I didn't know about their brand was that when they first started, it was started by Danny Sons in nineteen eighty four. So Danny Sons in nineteen eighty four started Makeup Forever and the origin story happened. Basically, what it was was she started out working on theater set design and she was a painter on the theater sets, and then one day they had a performer and the crew was like, do you mind painting the performer, and she loved it so much that she ended up creating a line that was all about like professional makeup and makeup Prever obviously has turned into a brand that's more about kind of everyday products, but it was so cool hearing their origin story. And literally I was walking around the office the headquarters in New York the other day and they were showing me, I guess they do a thing with students maybe one year or whatever it is where they all kind of do beautiful designs with makeup, kind of how some of your makeup art looks. And I was walking around looking at the art that they had printed out of these students' designs, and I was thinking to myself, I'm like, what's so cool about Makeup Forever is I feel like they don't do that same level of artistry anymore, but you are.
You're like bringing it back.
Okay, So what's so interesting to you that you bring that up? And I've talked about this in our Painted initial launch video. Yeah, my first product with Painted are called Create Paints and they're literally a makeup paint.
So same thing that you were just talking about.
The Makeup Forever Flash palette is like a two hundred dollars ten color cream paint pan for makeup, and that product is what inspired me to create Create Paints. I love that because in a lot of my original makeup looks I would be doing these crazy, intricate, artistic looks where I was painting my face, doing crazy designs, doing colors all over. But I hated as great as that product was, it was really expensive and they were also a cream formula that didn't dry down. So that was the inspiration behind our Create Paints was I wanted a cream makeup paint that you could use all throughout your makeup routine, whether you're a pro artist or if you're a beginner, for a super affordable price. Right when we launched those paints, people thought we were crazy. There were immediate press articles being like this is a complete flop.
Who cares about this?
Like no one's gonna buy paints, no one's wearing this thing, And I knew that it was so annoying watching those articles come out, But I was fine with it because to me, I was well aware that that launch was never going to be a billion dollar launch for the brand. To me, it was about establishing the brand identity, and what we stood for. How stupid would it have been if I'm like, Hi, this brand is called paints. It it's all about artistry and being creative. And then my first launch was, you know, a four color brown eye shot up palette.
No one would have cared, so to me, I wanted.
I was willing to take the risk and the hit on having that crazy, global, over the top launch for making sure that I was launching a product that was true to me as an artist and that would establish what the brand stands for. And sure, we didn't have a ten trillion dollar launch day, but.
We still sold out.
And those paints ended up on Beyonce, those paints ended up on Nicki Minaj, those paints ended up on Cardi b. Those paints ended up on Becky g. Those paints have ended up on a different incredible celebrities that I am so grateful that their makeup artists have trusted me and my formulation and my labs and.
My product design.
But they've also ended up on girlies, guys, moms, dads and everybody in between all across the world that have never tried makeup before.
And that's what the whole.
Point was, is that sure the idea of a paint in your makeup routine might seem really crazy. I get it, I completely understand. But when you realize that you can use the brown as eyeliner, you can use the block in your waterliner, smoke it out, you can use the rid as a lipstick, you can use the pink as a blush. It can It's a multi use product that doesn't necessarily need to be for crazy artistic makeup books. And I think that was so cool to launch the brands in a different way that really set us up for long term success in the future and hopefully a platform to really bring back creativity and artistry to an industry that has kind of fallen off of it a little bit at least in terms of the gene, social media culture, beauty space.
Well, it's like you launched with a very niche thing targeting a very specific audience, and now it's kind of you get the opportunity to educate people on what we're doing right now. You know, why do these pro artists use this style of paint? Why is Beyonce wearing it on stage? How can you make it something that you use on a day to day basis? And you know, you can always evolve and implement more products the way these other of course.
But that's why I just thought it was really interesting that people were like, he's like releasing the stupid product. It's going to be a flop. And I just really think that there was no strategy behind.
This hell out because some of my favorite videos that you've done are ones where you show how talented you are at art and you do portraits and different things, and yeah, I just think it's so cool.
So when you launched it, I was like, Wow, this makes so much sense for him.
And again, like you said, you're saying so true to yourself, so it really is amazing. Really quickly, I just want to back up and talk about like when you first moved to LA, moved to LA so young to live on your own out here. What made you at the time want to move to LA. Was it that all the beauty gurus at the time were living out here?
Okay, So my opportunity with cover Girl had come before that. So I signed with cover Girl when I was seventeen, but I was already coming out to LA so frequently to work with them for different photo shoots for different events. At that point, I had around like a million followers at this time, So I was already traveling so often just to continue pursuing my career that it made the most amount of sense to me. You know, I got really, really, really lucky. I had incredible educators and teachers and a support system around me in my high school growing up.
They were really really.
Understanding of what was happening, and you know, I was really blessed because not every school is that way, but I think they really had the mentality of, like, you know, our job as educators and as administrators are to make sure that our high school students.
Have a path to success.
So although I wasn't taking their tradition one, it was imminent that I was going to do something really special. So during my senior year, I had already started doing all these things. I was in school for three out of the first ten weeks of the semester, so I took it upon myself to go into the guidance councilor and be like, hey, I gotta go, Yeah, I have to move. I want to get out of here. Help me graduate early. And thank god, I had already been taking all AP and honors classes, so I almost had expected I had almost enough credits to graduate twice, right, I just had. I was missing up. You're gonna love this. I was missing gym credits.
Perfect, stupid gym credits.
Oh my god. So he was not running high school mile.
I was, and I got a great time too, but I didn't have enough gym credit, so I had to write like a couple of like physical fitness essays about like the body whatever I was doing.
But that's always so.
So you graduatedly, what were your parents like?
I know, I saw a video of yours that you posted showing the setup that your dad created for you at your childhood home. Yeah. Actually when you post that video, I commented on it and you liked my So that was our first little like social media dress fun. Yes, And I love that so much because it was so cool to see how much your parents supported your goals, especially when YouTube at the time was so fresh and so new.
Yeah. Truthfully, it wasn't always that way, okay, And they were never they were never against it, but they were definitely really hesitant, as any parents should be, right, like your.
Kid coming home and be like, hey, I'm gonna be famous online.
WHOA, No, that's crazy, that's crazy, So they were definitely really hesitant to be like, what's going on here, where is this money coming from?
Who are you working with?
They were definitely very protective in that sense, and it was also really hard to because I did have really good grades. So my parents were like, you're going to college. We have these offers from these various schools, we have scholarships on the table. You're not going to abandon that and you think you're going to be an influencer in LA haha, And those that they know, I'm like, sorry, it's already happening well.
Because at the time, it's like your parents are used to LA and Hollywood and actors. It's like, it's amazing how much the beauty industry. I mean, it's amazing how it's always been a huge space to you know, do really well.
But really lucky I had, you know, I had a lot of friends already in LA that I was meeting from different events and from different just trips and stuff, and they were able to meet them and know that I had a good support system here built around me already, so it's not like I was truly moving here alone. I lived with one of my best friend's family for like six or seven months on and off over in Wady or maybe like an hour away from here. And you know, her mom put her name on my lease when I moved to LA for the first time because I couldn't find to lease myself because I was having teams, right, So I was really lucky that I had great people around me to help me and take care of me when I was, you know, just a kid being here, So that was really incredible. And my parents had already met them from the different trips, so they knew that I wasn't necessarily alone.
But I think, as any parent.
Should be, they were just worried that I was, you know, gonna make the right decisions, that I would come here and you know, wouldn't get overwhelmed with partying or drugs or drink or just the lacne in general. But you know, I think I had really worked super hard to prove to them that I had a good head on my shoulders and that I really wanted this. Yeah, I wasn't gonna let it, you know, slip away.
Absolutely, And it was cool that there were other examples in the space of people already living out here like you were truly part of such an iconic I'm going to call it such an iconic class of beauty girls, right, yeah, yeah, I mean, what do you think were like the pros and cons of being part of this amazing like people, I don't know, I used.
To love watching like all of you guys.
You know, I think, you know, there there was definitely a golden age of like the beauty community on YouTube, and I think it really did provide such a crazy sort of entertainment for people for a very long time. At the same time, I think it also got really toxic really quickly, just because there was so much money, so many views, and just so many different players involved in the space. I think that, you know, it's really interesting. One thing that I've always like paid attention to over the years is, you know, it's very natural that people become friends and maybe go their separate ways, or people grow apart. And I think that, you know, when the audience is watching, it makes growing or being an adult really difficult because people are paying attention too closely to things like that. And I think with being an influencer, you know, really a lot of times the only things we have in common is making content online. So I think there was just a lot of really crazy, fun, entertaining personalities that worked for a second and maybe didn't work at another certain point.
And that's fine, absolutely.
But I think it was really cool to grow up in that era and be a part of something that really was so impactful to so many people. And as much you know, drama or crazy things online that may have happened, there are some really great people out there that are still making great content. You know, Nicki Tatorrels is my absolute favorite people in the entire world, who is always so sweet and so helpful to me growing up.
Same thing with Jaqueline Hell.
Jaqueline was one of my biggest role models and I got to meet her when I was seventeen years old. She was so kind to me when she didn't have to be, and she was so just willing to offer advice, to help, just to be a friend. And you know, there were a lot of people like that as well. So I will, I really, I will forever be grateful for those times and how they shape me to be the guru that I am.
I mean, it's such a good That was such a well worded answer, you like all you What I love about James is his answers like your answers answer my follow up questions, which is perfect.
As we wrap it up, I heard you in.
We talked about escape rooms in the beginning of his interview, and I heard you once in an interview say your career is like an escape room where you're always trying to get out and get to the next level. Yeah, so I'm curious what is the level that you feel like you're currently in and where are we trying to go?
Ooh, that's a great question.
Also, that was an iconic quote. I was like, look at him using these analogies.
I love.
Yeah.
I think for me, you know, the last couple of years have really been about, like I would say, like reinventing myself. I've been doing this for a very long time now, and I think that through making especially long form content for so long, I think that people really had a super solidified idea of who I was as a human being from my content. And it was really funny, you know, growing up, my friends would always say like, gosh, James, like I wish you would just be more yourself in your videos. People would just love it, and I was like, what, Like what are you talking about? Because I never felt like I was playing a character. Of course, as soon as the camera turns on, you know, we all have a more energetic personality. Of course, I always focus on, you know, making sure I had a future for myself and my family. So I was watching what I was saying. I was making sure that I was being brand and family friendly to make the most amount of AD revenue. I'm not ashamed to say that. But for the most part, I always felt like I was being myself. But my friends would always be like, no, girl, like this is not you. Like, when you truly figure out how to like be yourself, that's when you'll be unstoppable. And I never really got it until quite honestly, like the last like maybe two years, just like from being on TikTok and from starting my spamach hount and just posting random rants and tangents and going on live streams and sometimes saying some things that are a little too unhinged.
I managers calling me be like, get a funny you do.
But you know, people responded so well to like seeing what I'm really like behind the scenes. I think that, you know, I've also gone through plenty of ups and downs. I will never you know hide away from that, But in those situations, I've always tried to use embarrassing or bad moments to truthfully learn and grow and try to become a better, smarter, stronger person. That's how I've always looked at everything. So to me, after doing this for so long, I now have the mentality of like, I'm just gonna have fun. I have seen that a career or social media cloud or relevancy can truly go away in a matter of a couple of hours and can come back later on as well. So I used to really focus every single day on what am I doing today? How can I do this? How can I do this? How can I gain more followers, how can I.
Get more views this?
And of course I still do have that mentality that's part of running a business, but I think now more than ever, I'm just really trying to have fun and make things that I'm proud of. And I think that the audience will always find its way if they're interested in watching what you're putting out there.
I love that it's so important too.
I think like with content, it can be so stressful and sometimes the fun can get sucked out of it, and I feel like the best videos and the most organic videos come from just having fun with it, So I love that so much. You are amazing guys. James is the best person on and off camera. When I showed up here, I swear to god, you were like your aura was just so kind and sweet.
So I love that thing. Yeah.
Absolutely, Thank you so much for welcoming my team into your home.
Pleased to have you guys. Thanks for coming everybody, Thank you, Thank you for having me. This is a blast.
I love you. Maybe next time I'll get you go for a run.
You won't, but you're welcome to indite me.
Okay, that's ron.
Thanks guys, We'll see you next time on post run high. Make sure you subscribe.
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