Max Reisinger is a 17-year-old from Chapel Hill, North Carolina who is living a life that many teens and adults alike wish they were: one of YouTube and social media fame and successful business ownership. Reisinger currently has over 250,000 YouTube subscribers and nearly 13 million total views on his channel, as well as his own clothing brand, Perspectopia, which is a combination of the words “perspective” and “utopia” and is the basis for what his brand as a whole strives for.

Max’s YouTube channel was the beginning of his career as an entrepreneur and continues to be an integral part of his brand and internet presence. Max’s family lived in France for 7 months while his mother, a French professor, was on sabbatical there; his documentation of parts of this experience, along with his filming and editing skills led to his first big break on YouTube. In May of 2019, his video titled “A Day in the Life at FRENCH PUBLIC SCHOOL” would eventually reach just over 2 million views. His next most viewed video is about his experience coming back to America, in which he describes the “reverse culture shock” felt and provides an overall reflection on his time in France. This uncommon life-experience intrigued many and allowed Max’s talents and personality to shine and made the important initial strides in his YouTube career.

Now, Max mainly uploads vlogs about his life and topics teens and the surrounding demographic can relate to, including videos about his first college visit, time management, or just his average day. Also, he receives paid sponsorships and an overflow of positive comments on his videos as to how he is a true inspiration to his viewers. Max has a joy for life and a unique personality that is entertaining and well-reflected in his skillfully-edited videos — all of which attract new viewers and subscribers every day.

But Max did not stop with YouTube: he wanted to build his brand as an individual and to create a community in which different perspectives and experiences could be brought together in order to support one another and aim for a better tomorrow. Thus, in 2019 he launched the aforementioned Perspectopia. Specializing in embroidered Champion crewnecks, the site also includes t-shirts and various accessories like bucket hats, socks, and stickers, all of which Max designs, makes, and ships from his bedroom. Though still a high school student, brother, son, and friend, Max is a champion of productivity (something he frequently gives tips about on his YouTube and Instagram) and manages to work on his business endeavors for an average of 80-90 hours per week.

Keeping with the brand’s message, Max created an online discussion forum connected with Perspectopia on the popular platform Discord, so that people from anywhere in the world can discuss their lives with and support one another in the context of his brand. Currently, Perspectopia is donating over half of its profits to a Filipino community recovering from a recent typhoon, where a member of the Discord server lives. Perspectopia has been successful thus far because Max has created a brand that is not only original in design and well-made, but is also based on a mission felt by many and appeals to the ethos of a person; by buying his products, his customers can be a part of something greater — whether that be helping those in need, or just embodying the message of trying to continually improve our world.

Overall, Max Reisinger is an excellent representation of what a young entrepreneur looks like, and is perhaps one of the most realistic examples of such because, after watching his videos, he is seen to be a genuine, hard-working person chasing his dream. The combination of Max’s unique and high-quality YouTube and clothing brand with his commitment to making the world a better place is what has made him a success and inspiration thus far.