Steven Lim

Background

Steven Lim was born in Ohio, United States, on November 10, 1990. He is a Christian of Chinese-Malaysian descent. Lim’s father is a mechanical engineer and the president of NJIT, and his mother worked at a local fast-food restaurant. He has a brother named Alvin. Although he is widely recognized as a YouTube personality, he is a chemical engineer by profession, having graduated from Ohio State University. In 2012, he immediately joined Procter & Gamble as an R&D engineer after graduation. However, Lim continued to create content for his YouTube channel in February 2008. He ultimately quit his job to work full-time on his posts and videos.

As an American with a mixed heritage, Lim constantly struggled with his identity. Along with comedic skits and vlogs, his YouTube content comprised Asian-American cultural and societal subjects. He uploaded The Things I Carried on August 13, 2014, about things he had to deal with being Asian stereotyped. He soon found a niche audience of Asian Americans looking for people with similar experiences, which inspired him to create more related content. In 2014, one of his videos, Asian Parents React to I Love You, went viral, gaining millions of views on Reddit. Lim was discovered by a senior producer at BuzzFeed, who offered him a fellowship in Los Angeles.

Lim officially joined BuzzFeed in 2015 as a junior video producer, where he was motivated by the creative working environment. He initially continued to create content directed at Asian Americans, such as Asian Parents Have The Sex Talk With Their Daughters, but soon realized most of the audience could not relate. He worked on rebranding himself and created food-related content. First, he started a show titled Feast Mode Hunger Squad, where colleagues would search for the best version of specific dishes in restaurants in Los Angeles.

The series was a massive hit, and after a few episodes, he focused on Taiwanese brunches. His co-producer wanted to try it out and, in return, wanted him to try her favorite brunch. They created Co-workers Try Each Other’s Favorite Brunch Spots. Lim realized he could still produce Asian-related content while making it relatable to wider audiences by centering his topics on food.

Lim produced and directed Mom vs. Chef, a cooking competition show. In 2017, he launched Worth It, a food show that compares one dish or item of food across three different price points.

Worth It became the most popular show on YouTube, featuring famous international chefs and garnering billions of views. In May 2019, Lim co-founded Watcher Entertainment, a production studio creating unscripted television series to explore food and travel. He announced his engagement to his girlfriend Tammy Cho in May 2021, and they married on October 29, 2021. The couple owns an Australian Shepherd named after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Lim is an introvert and he likes to play basketball, watch TV, and relax at the beach. As of 2023, his YouTube channel has reached over 219k subscribers.