Max Lugavere

And I was living in Hollywood as somebody in my 20s.

That was a really fun time for me.

But at the end of the day, I wasn't here doing frivolous, superfluous entertainment stuff.

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.