Gray hair and lipstick-stained lips are already part of the brand image of the 74-year-old woman who is one of the longest-running models in the industry. The cheerful and aspirational presence on Instagram, Twitter or Tik Tok act as stages through which to communicate with audiences of thousands. Maye Musk, as her nickname indicates, is much more than the mother of Elon Musk, the richest man in the world who, without ever truly leaving the reach of the media, is these days in the mouth of the world for being the new owner of the social network Twitter — an agreement signed for the modest sum of 40 billion euros.

Maye doesn’t need the push of any of her three oldest children, Elon Musk, Kimbal Musk and Tosca Musk, to make magazine covers or walk the runway. catwalks. The supermodel, a status achieved in her old age, is a phenomenon on Tik Tok, she even participated in a music video for the artist Beyoncé, but she is also a dietitian, a specialist in nutritional sciences, a speaker at conferences and even a writer — her most popular job. important-. recent book called “A Woman Makes a Plan, Tips for a Life of Adventure, Beauty and Success” now available in over 100 countries.

Currently considered a supermodel © mayemusk/Instagram

THE addicted school and abusive marriage

He was born in Canada and with few years of life the family moved to South Africa. He knows that his arrival was an adventure, not that he remembers, but because he still has photographs of how he arrived in Cape Town. In the 1950s, her parents loaded their belongings and a small plane onto a freighter headed for the city; Upon arrival, Musk’s father boarded the plane and flew over the country until the family fell in love with Pretoria, where they ended up settling: his four children, all under the age of 7, were in the back seat.

In an interview with the CBS Los Angeles channel, she says that in her school days she was a addicted and that he had no love affairs. After reinventing herself as a model at age 15, she became “good enough” to date her soon-to-be ex-husband. “I only dated the prettiest girls,” he shoots. She wasn’t particularly attracted to Errol Musk, but he was “persistent” and their courtship eventually led to an unhappy marriage.

She started modeling at the age of 15 © mayemusk/Instagram

Maye talks about an aggressive ex-husband who, in a way, isolated her from family and friends. She even says that he was the one who planned her wedding, with her walking down the aisle at the age of 21: “I thought ‘the wedding can’t be that bad,’ but it was.” A victim of domestic violence, she also admits that Errol hit her: “When I was married I was told three times a day that I was boring, stupid and ugly. And if she protested, they would beat me.”

She was married for nine years and ended up fleeing with her three children and, later, facing the “continuous processes” of her now ex-husband. At 41, she moved to Canada. On the darker episodes of the past, she says that she was “in bad situations too long” because she thought she could change people or their attitudes.

With his son Elon Musk, when he was only one year old © mayemusk/Instagram

Maye let her children get away with it, paying for their own education through loans and/or scholarships. “Even my two master’s degrees in nutritional sciences… I didn’t do them because I had the money, but I did get scholarships to do research work that the medical school wanted me to do.” Aware of the difficulties that existed then, today she speaks with pride of the success of her children and how she gets nervous before each space launch of Elon Musk (she previously told how her son showed signs of genius at 3 years old).

Still, the father was present in the children’s lives: “Elon moved in with him at 10 because he had two encyclopedias and then he got a computer,” something Maye would never have had the money for. Kimbal, missing his brother, also came to live with his father, something Tuska never did. She says that her children saw her work hard and that she woke up every day determined: she had no time to be saddened by the adversities of her life.

Supermodel at 69 and a successful career

The life of comfort that she currently leads reflects the opposite of times past, when she moved into a 1-bedroom apartment, leaving the bedroom for her children and turning the sofa in the living room into her bed. Her economic independence came with her commitment to nutrition and her successive odd jobs as a model that, according to her, never interfered with her studies or work.

In the fashion curriculum there are still participations in the condition of model plus sizeafter having put on extra weight as a result of a love relationship that, after the end of the marriage, did not turn out well —it was the synchronization perfect, guaranteed. In addition to the extra kilos, age also came in handy.:: “I was the oldest model in South Africa, Canada and San Francisco. In fact, in New York there were already models of my age”. She has already made it clear before, in a Vogue video where she explores her beauty ritual, how she is “very happy to represent 70-year-old women.”

© mayemusk/Instagram

Maye Musk started modeling at the age of 15. On her Instagram account, she previously wrote that in her late teens and early 60s, she was a “commercial model”; She was only around 70 years old when she became an “editorial model” —the successive magazine covers are proof of the success that, although late, was well received—. In the commonly called winter of life, she managed to have the image of herself in four outdoor in Times Square, New York. “As a teenager, he didn’t dream of doing magazine covers in his 70s, so he would study long hours to [tirar] two master’s degrees to become an expert in nutritional sciences”, reads the caption of one of her photographs published on the aforementioned social network.

She was so dedicated to the study of nutrition that she started businesses in the area in eight cities in three different countries as a lecturer, but also as a consultant, always making an active presence in the media. Taking care of food, a personal habit that was passed down to the rest of the family, has also translated into professional successes in South Africa, Canada and the USA, where she won the “Outstanding Entrepreneur in Nutrition Award”. Maye was also the first dietitian to appear on a cereal box, as the website reads.

At 69, she made history by launching a global beauty campaign for the CoverGirl brand. “A beauty contract at 69… It’s every model’s dream to have a big beauty contract,” she said. “It’s a privilege to be a model, at any age.”

© mayemusk/Instagram

Half a million followers on Instagram and a phenomenon on Tik Tok

says that he hashtags favorite is #ItsGreatToBe74 and it’s easy to believe (she celebrated another birthday on April 19). After all, the joy of living is contagious, either because of the positivism with which she speaks in interviews, or because of the fun way she presents herself on different social networks, starting with Instagram where she has 565 thousand followers. And that’s where you share appearance, editorial work and details of a busy day, marked by international travel, party attendance and advice on how to achieve a healthier lifestyle. After all, as she said before, eating well and being happy is the secret to being in good shape at 74 years old.

@mayemuskofficial

At 72, do I really need to do this????? #fyp #dancechallenge #ForYouPage #MayeMusk #DogsOfTikTok #Comedy  @itsannasherman

♬ Laxed – Jawsh 685

The revelry – the funniest side, if you will – seems to be essentially reserved for Tik Tok, whose first publication dates back to April 2020. In two years of the account, it has published more than 70 contents that show that it is attentive to trends not only in makeup and fashion, but also from the sometimes intense universe of social networks. On Tik Tok, where she is followed by almost 70,000 followers, Maye replicates viral content, shows appearance, He participates in dance challenges and even moves his body to the sound of Macarena during the quarantine.

© mayemusk/Instagram

Maye Musk says that she does not think much about getting old, she is living the best stage, aware that she still has a long way to go. At 74 years old, she continues to give presentations in the area of ​​entrepreneurship, gender equality, single parenthood, overcoming challenges, trust and health for companies, associations and universities. She is also an ambassador for Big Green, an NGO created by her son Kimbal Musk that focuses on building gardens in needy schools.