Macki Alvarez-Mena has always been inspired by her inner child to make art, but as she matures, so does her work. Founder of the original brand Macki and Co., a concept originally marketed towards kids and tweens, the USC Iovine and Young Academy alum has literally been in business since middle school. Five years after graduating IYA, Alvarez-Mena has continued to create with children (inner or otherwise) in mind, as a new brands designer and visual communicator for the toy company, Just Play. When she’s not coming up with new ways to ignite youthful imagination, she’s rekindling the entrepreneurial spark that kicked off her personal business, as well as her journey to IYA. 

A forever fan of arts and crafts and illustration, Alvarez-Mena seemed destined for design. How does an idea become a toy, you might ask? At her current Just Play job, Alvarez-Mena is responsible for working with new brands to bring abstractions to life, coming up with the look, feel, packaging, and branding for products marketed towards children. 

“What’s the vibe? What’s the color palette? What are the assets? How is this a doll or a plush? What’s their name? What’s their essence? What’s the point?” Alvarez-Mena explains. “We help build the story around it to give it a being. That’s technically what I do at my job.”  

Alvarez-Mena has always been a pop-culture aficionado influenced by trends like pop-punk and Y2K animation. That vision is evident in her work. And even though her aesthetic has expanded over time, Alvarez-Mena’s spirit will always be present on the page – as long as it echoes the psyche of others.

“I definitely have a massive inner child in me, but I’m also trying to mature and become more adult. So finding that balance, drawing my emotions and things I’m feeling and tapping into,” she shares. “I draw a lot of experiences I’ve gone through and things I’ve felt or seen, and then things that are just fun … I try to make it relatable. It’s one of those things where if I’m thinking or feeling it, other people are too.” 

It’s no surprise that Alvarez-Mena ended up in a profession that promotes play. Her childhood penchant for drawing characters and imagery that provoke joy and relatability for people (of all ages, but particularly young adults) got her to where she is today. It all started with a simple drawing of her friend’s crush in math class, which spawned a 6th grade hallway operation selling personalized tote bags. Suddenly Alvarez-Mena was merchandising at local boutiques, attending trade shows, and making everything from t-shirts to notecards. By eighth grade, her budding Macki and Co. brand was booming, but Alvarez-Mena was missing out on exactly what she was motivated by – the magic of childhood. She decided to put the business on the backburner and focus on more traditional art throughout high school. 

When Alvarez-Mena settled in at IYA for college, she knew she had found a place where she and her creativity could flourish. It was there where she developed the abilities and support system to awaken her brainchild, putting her time and Garage Experience project focus into Macki and Co.’s second life. 

“That was the point of coming to IYA. I wanted to gain the talent and the resources for this dream to come along. It sounds cheesy, but it’s always been a dream and my life’s passion – it’s not just a career. It’s what I feel like I was placed on the earth to do,” Macki shares. 

“We all have this special spark and nobody needs to explain it. We had this communal understanding that we can do it, and we’ll do amazing things. And we can do amazing things together. That’s carried through,” she says of her fellow IYA students. 

Through internships at Nickelodeon and Dreamworks and IYA classes, Alvarez-Mena grew as an illustrator and innovator. Analyzing cartoons, honing her drawing skills, and coming up with a business plan, mission statement, and structure all helped her be a more confident creator. After graduation, she even teamed up with the USC bookstore to launch Macki x USC, an apparel and accessory line. But when she landed her full-time job at Just Play in 2020, personal pursuits once again took a back seat. Until now. 

Alvarez-Mena reveals she was recently invigorated by her peers and impactful college experience to continue to cultivate her entrepreneurial endeavors. After attending a concert in the fall alongside former IYA and USC classmates (including the band, photographer, and tour manager), she had a realization – “Macki” the company is ready to evolve with Macki, the person. 

“I have nothing to do with this concert, but this is my community.” she recalls. “My peers are doing incredible things and they believe in me and they trust me … I very much had that moment … what I want to go after. I was brought back to my roots. I was like, ‘I’m an Academy kid.’ I was reminded of who I am.” 

As Alvarez-Mena blossoms in her design career at Just Play, she’s resolute on making sure she fosters the persistent artistic flicker that has allowed her business side to shine so bright. What she creates on her own might not take the shape of the Macki and Co. of 2008, or even of 2018 when she was at IYA, but it will undoubtedly mirror the growth and matured mindset of the founder who bears its name. 

“[IYA] gave me people to lean on and learn from to think of it legitimately and think it from different angles and be able to build it. For today, I’m not starting over. It’s still those things. I’m just morphing it more into what I care about today and where my mind and my heart is now versus then.”

When she’s not coming up with new ways to ignite youthful imagination, Macki Alvarez-Mena is rekindling the entrepreneurial spark that kicked off her personal business, as well as her journey to IYA. 

An Artist Grows Up (And Her Art Grows With Her)