Delta Xi Chapter of Delta Delta Delta at the University of Missouri
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1511988
Megan "Maxie" Maxwell Huez '09 Shares Her Journey as an Influencer D uring recruitment, Megan "Maxie" Maxwell Huez '09 clicked with each woman she spoke with at Tri Delta and loved how the sorority had a good balance between working hard in academics and leadership and having fun, which were all important to her. Megan majored in accounting at Mizzou and served as treasurer at Delta Xi before she went on to get her master's and CPA license. She began working in public accounting, which she did not enjoy. Still finding herself miserable after switching to private, she knew it was time for a change. "My parents were really good at encouraging me that just because you pick something doesn't mean you have to stick with it forever." Megan followed many influencers early on (she recalls checking their blogs often when she was studying for the CPA exam) and decided to give influencing a try at the end of 2017. During the first three years, she worked full-time (and often overtime) as an accountant and would stay up until 2 a.m. every night working on content creation, to which she also dedicated her weekends. "It did end up being a lot more work than I thought it would be, but I am really thankful that I did it." At the end of 2020, she began influencing full-time, mainly focusing on Instagram and her website; when TikTok became popular during COVID-19, she saw an opportunity there and went all in. Now, she's mainly on TikTok and Instagram and plans to relaunch her blog by the end of the year. She also has a full-time employee and a manager who handles the business side so Megan can focus on what she loves: being creative and sharing the things she loves to inspire others, whether it's organization, travel, or beauty tips or book, TV, and recipe recommendations. Megan appreciates that she gets to connect with women daily through her comments and messages. She also loves the industry because it's heavily dominated by women. Coming from a small Missouri town, she never thought she would work with the brands she has, including Sephora, Amazon, E.L.F., and Reebok. She also gets to meet many people, whether they are followers or from the industry. She recently attended the Amazon Creator Summit, which was for the top Amazon creators. "It was mainly all women. We got a lot of time to network there and share what we're doing in our business and what's working for us," Megan said. "It was such a collaborative environment and didn't feel competitive at all. It kind of reminded me of sorority life." While Megan loves what she does, finding balance has been her biggest challenge, as she's often felt like there's more she could do. "I finally feel like I'm at a place where I'm content with what I do during the day and proud of what I get done, but I appreciate rest now and finding things to enjoy." Wellness activities like working out, meditating, and journaling have helped Megan achieve that balance. She also enjoys reading, cooking, and traveling. Megan and her husband have three wonderful rescue pets. Megan remains grateful for her Tri Delta friendships; although they don't live close by, they are always there for her. She recently connected with her pledge daughter, and they attended Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour in Argentina in November. You can connect with Megan at maxie@maxieelle.com and check out her work on Instagram and TikTok at @maxieelise. Doing What She Loves Doing What She Loves ΔΔΔ page 3 Megan's Favorite Tri Delta Memories "My freshman year, we won Greek Week sports only. I remember we walked around with Phi Kappa and were screaming from their house, "We had more fun," and playing the song, 'All We Do Is Win.'" "Sophomore year, when we all lived in the house, we had what we called 'Snowmageddon,' which was the craziest snowstorm ever and they canceled class at Mizzou." "In our senior year, 16 of us lived in the same apartment complex together. The same year, we went to Cabo with a few other fraternities and sororities for spring break." "I lived with two girls from Tri Delta my fifth year, and there were three others who lived close by. Around 20 girls came back in the spring of that year to visit all of us, and we went to the winery. It was special to have not all been together for a year and then have everyone come back together."