Aditya Madiraju On Brand Deal Red Flags, AI Content Creators And Influence That Endures

Content creator Aditya Madiraju’s love of makeup dates back to when he was 6 years old admiring his mother’s red lipstick, but it wasn’t until he moved from India to the United States in 2010 to study business innovation and food technology at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago that he “came out of the beauty closet.”

Nine years later, Madiraju started creating content in earnest after images of his nuptials to Amit Shah went viral. Working in risk management at Morgan Stanley at the time, his Instagram follower count shot up from 800 to 20,000 overnight and skyrocketed another 30,000 once he shared a full wedding glam tutorial. Today, 37-year-old Madiraju has nearly 5 million followers across social media platforms and 38 million likes on TikTok. His brand partner list includes Anastasia Beverly Hills, One/Size by Patrick Starr and E.l.f. Beauty. Last year, he created Diwali-inspired lip kits with Anastasia Beverly Hills.

With the encouragement of his husband, Madiraju left his 12-year finance career a little over a year ago to focus on content creation despite his personal doubts. “My husband was like, ‘You really need to jump in, you know what you’re doing, just stop being scared. People judge you anyway. You married a dude, what are you scared of now?'” he recounts. “I was like, ‘Yeah, that makes sense. Everyone hates me anyway, so might as well lean in.’”

Ahead, we speak with Madiraju, a member of the Sephora Squad content creation community, about his favorite brands, AI influencers, brand partnership red flags, the advice he gives aspiring content creators and his future.

You left your finance job last year, five years after your viral wedding moment. What made that timing right?

Surprisingly, the lack of time made the timing right. We had our daughter in 2023 and she was 1 year old when my husband was like, “Isn’t the whole point that you are doing makeup and your finance job is so you can spend more time with her, but you’re not able to spend any time.” I used to work from 7:30 in the morning to 6:30 in the evening. Then, at 8, I used to start filming until 1 a.m.

My husband literally pushed me. He said, “Quit your finance job, we will be fine, you need to chase it. If you need to go back, you can go back in a year.” The fact that I’m doing this interview, I would say maybe it has worked out.

What content performs best for you? 

I hate saying this, but, when I yell at everyone for what they’re doing wrong, people love it. This was completely accidental, and it is fairly new. It started this February when I was in San Diego on a brand trip, and I was getting ready. I had literally four minutes left before I had to leave, and I was like, you know what? I’m so pissed, everyone keeps complaining about eye creases.

While I was doing my concealer technique, I was like you guys don’t listen because you are adding too much, you’re not removing excess, you are setting with a powder puff. I posted it the next day, and in the morning, I woke up and I guess people really liked me yelling. That’s when it started for me.

Is content that goes viral today different from content that went viral when you started? 

When I first started, the virality was basically my blush placement techniques. Anything educational that I do speaks to people. I always try to remind myself that, as an influencer, when I switch on the camera, my eyebrows are already done, and then I’m getting into the full glam and I am talking as if everybody knows what they’re doing.

But there is probably some teenage girl watching who has no idea how to even begin the first step. I have to remind myself all the time that the basics are important. It’s all about learning the skillset rather than what is trending. Trends will come and go, but if you know the technique, you can make your own trends, and they will last forever.

Was there someone you watched or learned from when you began doing makeup?

I am unapologetically in love with Makeup by Mario. He is amazing. Mario taught me the layering technique on the face, how to add bronzer. I learned from the way Hung Vanngo teaches so calmly on YouTube. [Mohammed] Hindash, a makeup artist from Middle East, literally snatches the faces of princesses and queens in Middle East. It doesn’t get better than that. Katie Jane Hughes, she’s a dear friend now, absolutely love her. Mikayla Nogueira, a full glam queen. She taught me being extra is OK.

A lot of people hide where they learn their makeup techniques, but I’m being honest, I learned it from all these people, and I made it my own.

Are you a makeup artist? 

No, I am not trained, I’m self-taught. When someone asks me to do their makeup, I will do it. I get a lot of inquiries—ten to 20 per day asking me to do bridal makeup—and I don’t think I’m that guy, and neither do I want to cut into that space.

When influencers try to become makeup artists just because they have a following, I don’t think that’s right. There are people whose bread and butter is makeup artistry, and I feel like just because I can that doesn’t mean I should be doing it.

In the current political climate, have you felt like you need to tone anything down?

Absolutely not. People try to tone me down, but I grew up in a country where it was basically illegal to be gay. It was legalized after we got married. I’m not scared of wearing a full glam, red lipstick, wing liner and walking into a room full of men or anyone who thinks men should not be wearing makeup.

It’s opinion. You’re allowed to have one, and I’m allowed to have one. As long as I’m not hurting anybody physically or mentally, I’m OK. If you want to stress over a man wearing makeup, I think you need a therapist. Everybody needs a therapist, but you really need help.

How do you determine which brands to work with?

If I love a brand, I chase them. I DM, I figure out who the owners are. I feel blessed because I put in the work, brands love me, and they want to work with me because they’ve seen that I’m very consistent with what I do. At this point, they come to me based on how much I’ve spoken about them. I have a management team, and I tell them, this is exactly what I want. That is more fulfilling to me than getting something and then trying to fit that into my life, which does not feel organic.

If the product does not work, I very politely decline no matter what the amount is. People know I’m a full glam person. So, when I’m speaking about a Haus Labs foundation, everybody knows that foundation is the most beautiful match on my face. My audience doesn’t even question it because I have used it so much. You need to reach a certain point with your community where they don’t question you because they know what you’re talking about is exactly what you’ve been using.

View this post on Instagram

What are some brands you love?

Makeup of Mario, Danessa Myricks. Nobody does brown skin-friendly makeup like Danessa does. I love One/Size. Makeup For Ever, they’re my go-to. E.l.f and L’Oreal, the drugstore brands, they truly love me, and I truly love them. For most of these brands, I was a stalker for years and they finally said, “Hey, he can actually do makeup, let’s make him a friend, not leave him at being a stalker.”

Are there brands that you want to work with that you haven’t had a chance to yet?

MAC, which is so surprising. Maybe now that MAC is entering Sephora, they will love me more.

What advice do you give to the new generation of influencers?

Slow down and figure out who you are before you jump on trends. Once you figure out what your signature is, that’s going to dictate the next 10 years of your life. Most OG influencers are known because they have a certain way of doing stuff, and they stay true to who they are: the way Darcei [Giles], the Canadian influencer, has almost forced the Korean makeup community to be inclusive or the way Glamzilla, Stephanie [Valentine], has brought the community together. There are so many beauty boys also out there. You can have fun, but know who you are.

The second most important thing I tell them is get a lawyer and read your contracts. Just because you see the money, do not run. There are a lot of red flags. You have to go through them and know what you’re saying yes to.

What are some red flags?

Perpetuity usage. Know how long a brand gets to use [your content] for. We have worked hard as creators, everything has a price tag associated with it. Always try to own your own content. Do not give away the rights to your content because you never know how it will be edited and where it might end up.

If it says the brand or anyone has the ownership to perpetually keep it and edit it as they want, they might just take a clip of that and put it in a really controversial video and for no reason you will be canceled. The context really matters.

“There is a certain authenticity, flavor and realness that AI can’t replicate.”

That’s especially important with AI.

When they say they own the content, they can dissect it, they can take your voice, overlap it on an AI, and run it in an ad, and you would have no control over it. If you cannot read your own contracts, get a lawyer, invest in it. It’s like paying rent for your house. You feel secure inside your house because you have a door and lock. That’s what lawyer is going to do for your career, they’re going to lock it down.

Are you concerned about AI influencers?

People have reached out to me to see if I would like to make my own AIs. I don’t know where I stand on it. I’m not concerned because there is a certain authenticity, flavor and realness that AI can’t replicate. It’s fun right now, but I hope it stays fun and doesn’t turn into a war.

Do you have advice for brands working with content creators?

Take that risk, pick that smaller creator who right now seems like a nobody. Create your own pile of creators who love you because you supported them when they were young. Everybody wants a bigger fish, but a fish gets bigger when you feed it. Some of the best talent out there has not yet been discovered because you are not ready to take a chance.

The way TikTok and Instagram are looking, people are blowing up overnight because of how authentic they are. People associate more with those who seem like common people more than influencers. We flash our flashy bags, we have Cartier on the wrist. I’m no exception. I love all this stuff, but would I be influenced by some other creator or a smaller creator who seems genuinely passionate about a product? One hundred percent that smaller creator.

Every single brand that you see right now, they’re doing a collaboration with someone who’s famous because of a reality TV show—I’m not going to name any names—and that person goes and says something inappropriate. They cancel themselves and they cancel the brand, too. Rather than chasing the temporary fame from a reality TV show, maybe chase the creators who are actually passionate about your product and build them up.

What’s next for you?

I just want to live my life, have fun, snatch my face every single day, work with brands that I love and create good content that will last even after I die. I literally want to create a content museum, where every single piece of content that I create will still have relevance 20 years from today because it’s not a trend, it’s a technique.

People ask me, would you ever create your own brand? I absolutely would love to. I have too many ideas, that’s the problem, but my daughter’s very young. She’s 2. I want to wait two more years until she’s 4 because I’m having fun with her right now, and I don’t want to be remembered as that dad who is always busy with work.