Max Lugavere

I was a journalist on TV.

And so it was a really meaningful job for me.

And when that job ran its course, I really struggled to find the next gig because it was just that rare of an opportunity, particularly in Hollywood.

And I was essentially unemployable as anything other than a host or a presenter.

because that's what I had did for six years post-college.

So I was in my late 20s, about to enter my 30s, and I had done nothing but write copy and produce content.

And there was basically no other outlet for me.

This is just at the very beginning of YouTube.

And then in my personal life, so YouTube wasn't yet like...

Nobody really saw it as a viable career to be like a YouTuber at that point.

Oh, how things have changed.

Or content creator or podcaster like that, that hadn't existed yet.

And it certainly wasn't on my radar to become an author.

And then in my personal life, my mom, the most important person in my life, was diagnosed with this incurable, terminal, progressive, degenerative condition.

And it was like an atom bomb going off in my world.

So my career prospects, I was still like, I had all the energy of somebody in their late 20s, but

My career prospects were essentially in the toilet.

I felt like I had this amazing gig for six years, but ultimately that all I had done was deferred my post-college job search.

But now I was at a disadvantage because I was in my late 20s, so I was essentially unemployable.

And then my mom was sick, and I had to essentially move back to New York to try to understand what was going on with her.