Meet Made by Mitchell founder Mitchell Halliday, the gay entrepreneur behind a £30m beauty empire (EXCLUSIVE)
Halliday takes Attitude on a journey from his council-estate roots and experiences of high-school bullying to becoming a millionaire at just 26
By Aaron Sugg
Becoming the first person to make $1 million (££747,800) through TikTok Shop in just 24 hours is a small part of what makes Mitchell Halliday one of the most trailblazing beauty entrepreneurs of the 21st century. His brand, Made by Mitchell, was launched in 2020 and has since grown into a globally recognised beauty name. Known for its neon aesthetic, bold packaging and unapologetically vibrant colours, the company is now estimated to be worth more than £30 million. Last year, Halliday became a millionaire at just 26 years old.
We meet at Made by Mitchell HQ, positioned in the heart of Potato Wharf, Manchester, where the brand’s signature bright energy surrounds us. Drenched in colour and filled with playful details, the space feels like stepping inside the creative mind behind the beauty empire itself. A casually dressed Halliday and I sit in his multi-coloured office, with his latest product displayed on a luminous pink table between us.
From humble beginnings
Growing up on a council estate in Bolton, Halliday experienced challenges from a young age. He recalls how his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when he was around six or seven years old, while his father became her carer. When he was a teenager, his parents separated. Despite these difficulties, Halliday says he always maintained a positive outlook – a mindset that has stayed with him through the highs and lows of building a business.
From fond memories of primary school to facing bullying at secondary school, Halliday never lost his creativity or desire to express himself. “High school definitely got a little bit more difficult because I think when you’re in high school you start to express yourself a little bit more,” Halliday admits. “And the way that I chose to express myself wasn’t the norm.” Halliday describes his younger self as flamboyant and fearless, shaving off his eyebrows at secondary school, wearing a full face of makeup, and stepping out in six-inch Buffalo platform shoes that were “really giving Spice Girls”.
He confidently looks back on those years, explaining how the experience gave him a “thick skin”. He adds: “I would say that that has made me the business owner that I am today, and even allowed me to build a business for the consumer in the way that I’d really have learned from in the past.”
“I think I’ve always been destined to do great things”
With a full beat and no need to come out, Halliday moved away from home at the age of 16, beginning his journey towards independence. He started singing in Bolton’s working men’s clubs for money while balancing his education at music college. It was there that he was scouted for The X Factor in 2016, joining a boyband named No Getaway. He eventually became an “X Factor reject” – but his self-worth was never shaken. “I think I’ve always been destined to do great things,” says Halliday, “not because it’s been written in the stars for me – just because I’ve always gone on to do something different.”
Halliday’s passion for makeup would brush aside his ambitions in music. Swapping the mic for lip gloss, he began working as a makeup artist at a friend’s salon, Pout Patrol, where he honed his craft while sharing his creations online. Through bold looks and engaging tutorials, Halliday built a formidable reputation within the online beauty community, amassing more than a million Instagram followers to date.
“I’d worked with every YouTuber and Instagram star you could have known,” says Halliday. He credits much of his success to carving out a space that barely existed at the time. While most makeup artists were either influencers or worked behind the scenes painting other people’s faces, Halliday did both. “I kind of bridged the gap to be someone that would go on the YouTubers’ accounts and create a personality as a makeup artist and be present in that way,” he says.
The birth of Made by Mitchell
With a mass following behind him, Halliday took the leap and began creating Made by Mitchell – a project a year and a half in the making that officially launched in October 2020. “At the time, we were really just throwing ourselves into the unknown,” says Halliday. The company released its first product, Blursh (a liquid-to-cream blush), marking a watershed moment in his career.
This is an excerpt of a feature appearing in the September/October 2026 issue of Attitude, available on digital platforms and in print now.