YouTube beauty guru Manny Gutierrez — better known as MannyMUA — is one of the most popular makeup artists online, but his plan wasn't always to paint faces for page views. Before his days as a YouTube big deal, his life was headed down a decidedly less ~glamorous~ road. 

People reports that Gutierrez told an audience at VidCon 2016, "I was in pre-med, which was such a different route for me. I was so interested in makeup but I got such pressure to follow what my family and friends wanted me to do." 

"I would say just continue to follow your dreams, that's my biggest thing," he said.

Judging by his millions of fans — which I hope translates to millions of dollars — he made the right choice! Screw medicine! (JK, doctors are magic but also so are makeup artists. Everyone wins!)

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Laura Beck
Laura Beck is a Los Angeles-based TV writer and frequent contributor to Cosmopolitan.com — her work has appeared in the New York Times, New Yorker, Jezebel, and the Village Voice.