St. Louis–based beauty influencer Maya Chambers, better known as Maya Galore, shares tutorials ranging from everyday makeup for beginners to full-face glam for seasoned pros. She’s amassed nearly 58,000 followers on Instagram and 50,000 subscribers on YouTube. The 30-year-old reviews popular Black-owned brands and hosts Galore Glam Academy, online crash courses for anyone who wants to learn to become an influencer. But as of late, she’s also using her platform to speak out about injustices faced by the Black community.
What inspired your brand? I was a makeup artist who was taking clients when this fell into my lap, in 2017. People constantly asked if I had a makeup channel. After a while, it stuck in my head that I needed to do this. It’s crazy, because I wasn’t always into makeup this heavily. ️
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Is there enough diversity in the beauty community? There are not many African-American women in the beauty space who achieve higher success. I’m honored to be a role model for younger women who look like me and hope to one day be a beauty influencer. I feel like I represent a small group of deeper-skinned women in beauty who advocate for loving themselves wholly, with or without makeup. That means the world to me.
In addition to makeup tutorials, your Instagram posts discuss the Black Lives Matter movement. I have a voice to reach so many people. I’ve always had a strong opinion about issues that [African-Americans] face in America; however, the influencer community makes it hard to share your full thoughts without risk of losing engagement or brand deals, which is a sad truth. But enough was enough! Regardless of the consequences, I felt it was important to speak my piece and publicly stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
What’s next for you? I recently launched a course on how to grow a beauty brand, which has inspired micro-influencers. I want to help my sisters out so they don’t go through what I went through. My ultimate goal is to create my own lifestyle brand. Being an influencer is so sought after, but there’s nothing instructional online that’s a one-stop-shop for those in makeup and fashion.
