Max Litke Of Millennial Entertainment On Spotting Talent Early, Managing the Creator Boom, and Why Engagement Matters More Than Followers
…I think there is work to be done in brands investing. There’s an opportunity for brands to collaborate further with foundations, movements, and organizations that do community work and give back. There is a great opportunity for brands to bring these organizations into the work they’re doing with talent and make it more cohesive.
I think there’s an opportunity in the marketplace for foundations and organizations to be brought in on celebrity partnership work a bit more. There is something thoughtful that can go into incorporating organizations and foundations into the talent and creator partnership space, or creating branded series. There’s a way for everybody to win and also give back or drive impact beyond just sales and brand awareness…
I had the pleasure of talking with Max Litke, a man who has managed to carve out a distinct lane in the chaotic, high-stakes world of modern talent management. Litke is currently a partner at Millennial Entertainment, navigating the careers of athletes, creators, and traditional celebrities. But if you look back at his resume, the path to the boardroom didn’t start in a mailroom in Hollywood — it started in a bakery in New Jersey, amid the flour and fondant of reality television royalty.
Litke grew up in Bergen County, graduating from Glen Rock High School in 2013 with dreams that smelled more like vanilla extract than ink on a contract. “When I was younger, I was really interested in the culinary space and thought that was an area I wanted to play within,” Litke told me. He worked various bakery jobs, but fate intervened when Buddy Valastro, the star of Cake Boss, opened a shop in nearby Ridgewood. Litke saw an opening and took it.
He wasn’t just there to wash dishes; he was there to learn the architecture of success. “I knew Buddy would be there the first couple of weeks as the shop was opening,” Litke recalled. “When he would take his lunch, I would make an effort to take my lunch so we could build a familiar relationship.” Over some friendly conversation, Litke made his move: “I’d love to shadow you for the summer and intern for you specifically.”
That summer internship became the catalyst for his entire career. While shadowing the reality star, Litke had an epiphany. He looked at Valastro — a baker from Jersey — and saw a global brand. When he asked how a pastry chef ends up with commercial endorsements, a book, speaking engagements, a production company, licensed products, and more Valastro broke it down for him: agents. And helped him shepherd him to his team.
Taking that advice to heart, Litke eventually landed at the William Morris Endeavor (WME), working his way up from the mailroom to the sports endorsements group. It was a grind, but it was an education. “I worked at WME from the mailroom into the sports commercial endorsements group,” he explained. But by 2020, Litke moved to Millennial Entertainment. Five years later, he is a partner, helping the company grow in a time when the definition of “celebrity” is being rewritten daily.
However, the road wasn’t without its potholes. Litke is candid about the learning curve, specifically involving a beverage brand and a client early in his career. He was sent to handhold a commercial shoot for the first time with a 6:00 AM call time. He assumed the talent would show up on time. They didn’t. “6:00 comes along, 6:10 comes along, 6:20 comes along, and the talent is nowhere to be found,” Litke remembered. The shoot was delayed and the lesson was learned the hard way. “My mistake was not confirming and checking in ahead of time,” he admitted. Today, that paranoia is a part of his protocol. “It sounds small and silly, but to this day… we reach out to the talent and say, ‘Hey, just a reminder, this starts in an hour, “Are you all set for tomorrow AM?” “Running on time for this AM?” etc.’”
That attention to detail is crucial because Litke operates in a world where digital fame can be fleeting. He has a sharp eye for longevity, looking for creators who have more than just a viral moment. He points to Kate Mackz, known for her “Running Interview Show,” as a prime example. Litke spotted her when she had fewer than 50,000 followers. “She just had this really interesting piece of IP — a new format for an interview series that was really working,” he said. They grabbed coffee, mapped out a strategy, and now she runs with today’s most influential individuals, has a brand portfolio with names like Vuori, Maybelline, OpenBank, Volkswagen, the NFL, and hosts the podcast, ‘Post Run High’ in partnership with iHeart Podcasts.
For Litke, the numbers game isn’t what it used to be. In an era where anyone can buy a following, he preaches the gospel of engagement. “What’s more important than follower count is engagement,” he asserted. He notes that he sees talent with massive follower counts pulling in abysmal interaction numbers, while impactful creators and talent with strong engagement drive real culture. “Brands are savvy,” he noted. “They look at these things.”
His approach to management is surprisingly intimate. He recalls working with US Women’s National Team star Carli Lloyd during her transition from the pitch to the broadcast booth. It wasn’t just about finding her a job; it was about managing a life change. “She will be the one to say that initially, taking the jump from being a player to a broadcast talent was a hesitant one,” Litke said. Through careful conversations and a supportive team, Lloyd dipped her toes into what would become a fruitful new chapter.
Now, as a partner, Litke’s challenges have evolved from managing schedules to managing a vision. He describes himself as a “dog in this business,” a term he uses with respect for the hustle required to survive. “You just have to be willing to be proactive in the business versus reactive,” he said.
Looking forward, Litke sees a missed opportunity in the industry: the integration of philanthropy into the hard-nosed world of brand deals. He believes there is a way for brands, talent, and non-profits to coexist in the same contract. “There is a great opportunity for brands to bring these organizations into the work they’re doing with talent,” he said. It’s a holistic view for a guy who started out hoping to just bake a decent cake. Max Litke may have left the kitchen, but he’s still mixing the ingredients — talent, brands, new business verticals and hustle — to see what rises.
Yitzi: Max, it’s so great to meet you. So before we dive in deep, our readers would love to learn about your personal origin story, and the story of your childhood, how you grew up, and the seeds for all the amazing things that have come since then.
Max: Thank you. Excited to be chatting. I grew up in Bergen County, New Jersey. I went to Glen Rock High School, graduated in 2013, and it’s funny, it all blends together. My career path took an interesting route. When I was younger, I was really interested in the culinary space and thought that was an area I wanted to play within, whether it be going to culinary school or something along those lines. During high school, I would work at a number of different bakeries. Funny enough, one day, if you’re familiar with the show Cake Boss, Buddy had opened his first bakery in Ridgewood, New Jersey, which was right next to where I lived. I thought, “I’m going to give it a shot, see if I can get a summer job here,” and I got lucky.
I knew Buddy would be there the first couple of weeks as the shop was opening. When he would take his lunch, I would make an effort to take my lunch so we could build a familiar relationship. Obviously, I was younger and he was in a different seat, but at least I became a familiar face. One day we were working, and I had done a favor for him. He asked, “How can I repay you? I can pay you, take whatever you want home.” I said, “No, it’s not necessary.” At the end of the day, he said, “I want to repay you. What can I do for you?” I just muttered, “I’d love to shadow you for the summer and intern for you specifically.”
I think it took him by surprise. His assistant was with him at the time, and he was like, “Okay.” From that day forward, that is essentially how I got to where I am. The first summer I went to work with him, I shadowed him doing a lot of the typical intern work. Some of it was glamorous, some of it was not. The second summer, I became a lot more hands-on in the business. I would go to appearances with him. They were shooting the show at the time, so I was understanding what the production looked like. He came out with a new line of products at the time.
One day I asked him, “How is it that a baker from New Jersey has all these different opportunities? You work with this brand that is so different from baking, — how does that make sense? You’re a baker.” I was naive at the time because of how young I was, but he walked me through it. He said, “I have an agent who does this, an agent who does literary, an agent who does TV, and an agent who does my brand deals and speaking engagements. If that’s something you’re interested in, maybe I can help make an introduction.”
I worked at WME from the mailroom into the sports commercial endorsements group. Then, in 2020, I made the move to Millennial Entertainment, where I am a partner now. I’ve been here for five years, and it’s been incredible. We work with so many amazing talent across digital talent, traditional celebrities, and athletic verticals. The company is growing very quickly. It’s an exciting time to be here with all the work that we’re doing.
Yitzi: That’s great to hear. You already mentioned some great stories, and you’re a great storyteller. Can you share one or two stories that stand out in your mind from your professional career at your current position? If you were writing a memoir, what stories would have to be in it?
Max: That’s a good question. I would say one client I’ve been working with for a long time is Carli Lloyd of the US Women’s National Team. We have an incredible relationship. We’ve been working together since 2018. She has been such a pleasure to work with. I was able to work with her on the tail end of her playing career, and then be part of the transitional process into her post-career life. We’ve been able to create such a great bond.
There were a lot of conversations amongst myself, her, and other folks on our team about what her post-career looked like. She will be the one to say that initially, taking the jump from being a player to a broadcast talent, she was a little hesitant. Through conversations with the team, she dipped her toe in the water, and now she really embraces it and absolutely loves doing the broadcast work. I would use that as a highlight — being able to be part of her story and the success we’ve had as a team. I’ll keep thinking about another one.
Yitzi: It’s been said that sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Do you have a story about a humorous mistake that you made when you were first starting and the lesson that you took away from it?
Max: Absolutely. I say that all the time, especially now at a company where I’m lucky to be a partner. When I was at WME, I worked for an agent named Carlos Fleming. He was an incredible mentor who allowed me to be hands-on in the business versus just your typical assistant role. It’s something that I put forward here at Millennial now, especially with our younger employees. It’s true — your mistakes are your biggest lessons. That’s the best way to learn so you never do those things again.
I won’t name names, but regarding my first time being hands-on as a junior employee, my boss sent me to a commercial shoot to be on set with a client. The brand was a beverage company. I think I went into the shoot a little naive. That was my time to run the show and make sure everything went smoothly. I assumed that the talent would just show up on time. The call sheet said be there at 6:00 AM. I assumed the talent would be there at 6:00 AM.
It was just me and the beverage brand. 6:00 comes along, 6:10 comes along, 6:20 comes along, and the talent is nowhere to be found. We had to push the shoot back a few hours and the brand was understanding. The reality is — and it sounds so obvious now — my mistake was not confirming and checking in ahead of time. I should have checked in the night before saying, “Hey, just want to make sure you’re all set for 6:00 AM and the car is ready to go,” or texted first thing in the morning at 5:00 AM. It sounds small and silly, but to this day, if we have a shoot, an appearance, or even a call with a brand, we reach out to the talent and say, “Hey, just a reminder, this starts in an hour, just want to make sure you’re all set.” That way we can be transparent. If we need to go back to the brand or organization and say we’re running behind, at least we can do that in advance rather than making those calls when it’s time to show up.
Yitzi: Can you share some insights into how you spot talent or promise early? What qualities do you pay attention to and what qualities do you think lend to longevity in the entertainment industry?
Max: A good example is one of our clients, Kate Mackz. Kate and her husband are an engine of brilliance. The two are a dynamic duo and put so much of their blood, sweat, love, and tears into their incredible work. It’s a pleasure to work with them. She does the Running Interview Show. She is somebody who we caught eyes on early in her career. I think she had maybe around 50,000 followers, and she was doing these running interviews with random people on the street in New York. She caught my eye. I reached out a number of times to get together. Finally, we got coffee one day. She just had this really interesting piece of IP — a new format for an interview series that was really working.
It worked out really well. Over the last couple of years, Kate has worked with some of the biggest brands like Vuori, Maybelline, Open Bank, DoorDash, and the NFL. She built a really nice family of brands that work with her long-term. To this day, she’s running with some of the biggest names. In the last couple of months, she ran with John Summit, Rebecca Minkoff, and Gary Vee. It’s a success story of spotting something really unique early, watching it blossom, and supporting that growth.
Yitzi: So you must have learned a lot from your experiences. Can you share a few things you need to be a highly successful talent agent?
Max: Oof. Number one is communication. Not everyone wants to be told “yes.” The goal is to be honest. The reality is that we go out and try to pursue every opportunity possible, but we also want to be honest with our clients so there is a level of expectation. It’s important to come back and say, “Hey, we talked to these brands; this brand wants to work with you and this one doesn’t.” That’s just the reality. A lot of talent want to know where the real conversations are and where they currently stand versus being buttered up with, “Oh, they’d love to work with you, the offer’s coming,” and then it never does. It’s better to be honest. That goes for the brand partners as well — being able to communicate properly on all levels efficiently.
Second, you have to be a dog in this business. I say that with respect — you’ve got to be a hustler. We work in a very competitive industry where there is no shortage of talent available, and there are obviously tens of thousands of brands out there with dollars. That goes for networks, digital outlets, podcast networks, etc. You just have to be willing to be proactive in the business versus reactive.
Yitzi: What’s been the most challenging project or role you’ve taken on so far and why?
Max: The most challenging role I’ve taken on is being a partner. It’s no longer just about growing my own book of business, but about helping us as a company at Millennial grow beyond just one, one manager, or one employee. It’s thinking about things holistically, opportunities to grow, and resources to invest in. I’ve really enjoyed that. We are growing quickly, and it’s evident in the work that we’re doing.
Yitzi: How important is a social media follower count today? Because with all the algorithms changing and with not all your followers necessarily seeing the content you share, is that still a metric that agents like you look at or is it changing?
Max: I always say this because it’s something we talk about with our clients as well. I think talent are very much, “Oh, I’ve gotten to 100,000, now I need to get to 200,000. I’ve gotten to a million, now I need to get to 5 million followers.” But what’s more important than follower count is engagement.
There are plenty of times where I’ll look at a talent and say, “Wait a second, they’ve got a million followers, but they only get two or three thousand likes on their posts.” Meanwhile, we’re seeing talent who have 150,000 followers getting 15,000 likes on their posts. They’re getting consistently 100,000 to 200,000 views, while the person with a million followers is getting 20,000 to 30,000. It’s more important to have a true relationship with your audience than simply having a large number sitting at the top. We’re no longer in the early ages of social media partnerships. Brands are savvy. They look at these things and quickly do the math to see if the engagement rates make sense compared to the dollar spend.
Yitzi: Max, because of your great work and the platform that you’ve built, it’s not an exaggeration to say that you’re a person of enormous influence. If you could spread an idea or inspire a movement that will bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Max: I think there is work to be done in brands investing. There’s an opportunity for brands to collaborate further with foundations, movements, and organizations that do community work and give back. There is a great opportunity for brands to bring these organizations into the work they’re doing with talent and make it more cohesive.
I think there’s an opportunity in the marketplace for foundations and organizations to be brought in on celebrity partnership work a bit more. There is something thoughtful that can go into incorporating organizations and foundations into the talent and creator partnership space, or creating branded series. There’s a way for everybody to win and also give back or drive impact beyond just sales and brand awareness.
Yitzi: Max, how can our readers continue to follow your work? How could they engage your services? How could they support you in any possible way?
Max: LinkedIn is always a great place to turn to. It’s a place to connect and stay updated on things that myself, our team, and our talent are doing. My LinkedIn is probably best.
Yitzi: That’s amazing. Max, it’s awesome to meet you. I wish you continued success and good health. And I hope we could do this again next year.
Max: Likewise. This was so fun. I really appreciate it.
Max Litke Of Millennial Entertainment On Spotting Talent Early, Managing the Creator Boom, and Why… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.