How Steven Lim Proved His Worth at Buzzfeed & Stayed True to Malaysian Roots | AsianBossGirl Ep 277

when I pitched the show to BuzzFeed they said that it was a bad idea sorry and and then they tried to recast me in my own idea oh with two non-asian people and I was like bro and it it was uh an executive there who actually was my friend but she was Asian-American and so I was like what are you doing here what she do now she's over at an agency okay mind yeah sorry I just had to be like uh and yeah I don't know it's just like that wasn't like overt racism at any point it also was by like my own people but it was like oh this is just like the mindset in Hollywood like see they want to like put Blockbuster people in your show to make it Blockbuster instead of like using an unproven person like me to make the show good um but yeah and then the the show blow up and obviously it became bigger than any other show at BuzzFeed [Music] hi everyone before we get into today's episode we wanted to take a moment to thank you for listening and watching whether you are an OG listener or someone who just recently discovered us you are the reason we make the show and are able to keep it going if you want to get to know us even better and have a more premium experience you can sign up to become an ABG bestie which is where you'll get our new audio episodes at free Early Access and special discounts on merch special shout outs from us at the end of our show and a chance to connect with us through our dear ABG series which is like our big sister advice column check out the description notes of this episode for more details on how to sign up but if you don't mind the ads and still want to tune in all our episodes would continue to be available on all platforms we appreciate you all and thank you so much for the [Music] support today's guest is someone with a warm and silly personality who won the hearts of Millions on the internet starting a decade ago the through line in all his projects is his interest in creating cultural connections to his undying Unapologetic love for food this guest is also a dear friend of ours A longtime listener of this podcast and a proud advocate for the API Community it's Stephen limb right thanks for being here Stephen you're welcome thanks for having me of course and yes it is true I am a longtime listener I might be one of your first like 500 listeners maybe first 100 I think I was pretty early on the train of ABG question how did you even find us we were friends oh yeah wait okay what is the definition of friends though or how I think it's you know it's funny I just feel like it's been we've known each other for so many years it's been a little bit of a blur yeah yeah no yeah I remember when you guys were starting and I met you probably through Phil and Helen probably no maybe through Jason cuz you were at Jubilee I was at Jubilee oh okay slowly coming back to me yes and then I remember you started the podcast you were still at Jubilee I started before Jubilee podcast oh before Jubilee okay so maybe I was in the first 500 but I was early on and I know I knew Helen for a long time too okay I think I I remember meeting Stephen for the first time at um unfo yes and at that at that point you had been listening and you're like oh my gosh I and I just remember I was like this kid is so sweet I looked at this K I was like oh he's so s um yeah cuz you were like talking about actual we were talking about stuff that we had shared in the podcast like in conversation like oh you know he was a legit fan cuz you know people say oh I'm fan and you're like they don't know what we talk about exactly not real F Well I I follow your entire dating Journey Janet so it's been a a thrill to uh to consume that kind of content and I I know it's at your expense but uh it's been I don't know what what the word is comforting it's been like it's been great to like have somebody be real about their Journey going through like you know finding somebody new going through the breakup in that kind of limbo period like even where you are right now cuz you you I don't know I am where am I see I just listened to the uh one where you shared the story about after your breakup and you guys are figuring out what to do that's I don't know it's like where else you going to find that stuff from an Asian-American perspective online oh it's right here well before we talk even more with Stephen um I do want to give a quick overview for any of our listeners out there or viewers who maybe don't know of his background Stephen actually started his career at Proctor and Gamble as a chemical engineer working on the Tide laundry pods do you remember the Tide laundry pods that was right does that feel like a lifetime ago now I don't remember any aspect of that you just like black out the whole people like oh can you help me with the chemistry of this I'm like I have no idea no idea anymore like I'm pretty sure anybody else would be better at like solving those problems than me but cuz you have I mean I'm sure there's so much in your mind now just stocked with like what you do now it's such a different world right yes yes and so when you left that job you went ahead and tried your luck on YouTube and in 2014 your video Asian parents react to I love love you us hit half a million views in the first week yeah and it also caught the attention of BuzzFeed the rest as they say is history from that point on Stephen went to create and co-host their biggest food show worth it for S years that's like a long time for sure you guys do your research we do we do it's so crazy to hear about my life in the third person while being on the show of the show that I watch uh no yeah it's it feels like a lifetime ago um and I honestly can't believe it's been over a decade of making YouTube videos that's crazy that is [Music] crazy I still remember the first thing we ever sold at ABG before our podcast became a business with ad Revenue we made a single t-shirt so that our listeners could feel connected with us our brand and each other through our very first item of merch and who was there there to help us make that happen Shopify Shopify is the global Commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business if you're thinking of launching an online store and just starting out or if you have an online shop and looking for a better platform definitely check them out Shopify helps you sell everywhere from their all-in-one e-commerce platform to their inperson POS system wherever and whatever you're selling Shopify has got you covered they also have the internet's best converting checkout 36% better on average compared to other leading Commerce platforms if you run an online shop you know that getting people to move from browsers to buyers is an industrywide struggle from that first t-shirt all the way through to our now almost 30 item shop shopy has been with us from the beginning and continues to be a trusted partner to this day they power 10% of all e-commerce in the US and Shopify the global force behind alur rothy and Brooklyn and and millions of other entrepreneurs of every size across 175 countries so you know you'll be in good company plus shopify's award-winning help is there to support your success every step of the way because businesses that grow grow with Shopify sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com ABG all overc case go to shopify.com ABG now to grow your business no matter what state you're in shopify.com [Music] ABG even even thinking about worth it that was a while ago right does not even feel like even another lifetime ago gosh I mean those memories are definitely locked into my brain because there's a lot of emotion wrapped up in those memories uh positive negative highs and lows I mean the first memory that comes to mind is like me at the office 3:00 a.m. in the morning editing working on the show like all week all month like just getting that show ready but like also the the joys of traveling and being able to be with your friends uh going to places I never thought I would go to that is crazy cuz I feel like you know obviously I'm a fan we're all fans of worth it it for me it was such a surreal moment to have my friends like be like oh my God you know St oh my love worth it like I hear that so many times when I go back home to visit my friends so I think it's just testment like you built such a great show and the one thing I'll say about worth it that I find really Charming is that you guys talked about food in such a unpr like unpretentious way that felt really approachable thank you which I think it's how you are and I I know like worth it in building that show and being at buy was probably like long nights and a lot of hard work but that really kind of LED you to start your own company in 2020 that's right Watch Your Entertainment a digital Studio startup specializing in original unscripted content that allows the founders full creative control and ownership of their content Watchers produced a number of shows and podcasts including Steven shows homemade dish granted which I'm going to just plug myself I've been on both than thank you for the invite and his new food show travel season which is the spiritual successor to worth it and will include Andrew El Nikki and Adam and Adam biani oh my gosh it's real it's happening we just set it out loud is now going to live permanently on the intern this we'll figure out when this show episode coming out I'm curious in May in May okay so yeah we will have announced that by this point that's crazy but we haven't announced it yet and so I'm hearing it for the first time and it's like wa and I've been working on it for like over a year now wow seriously yes yeah do you mind just giving a Qui synopsis of the show is going to be yeah so travel season is a the spiritual successor the worth it we reunite the gang Adam and Andrew who were the two buddies that I had over on worth it at BuzzFeed and we wanted to just do it our way it's kind of like Taylor's version of you know her old album this is stepen Adam and Andrew's version of worth it so we are still going to be trying Foods at different price points at times but also trying new stuff in different ways that we wanted to do but we're couldn't do before so we have an episode where we do try the most affordable and the most expensive Fried Chicken in Korea but we also have episodes where we're going to be doing like light night drunk food we're going to be doing spicy food we're going to have some Countryside footage it's it's it's kind of like the things that we want to do when we travel yeah in one show cuz it's called travel season is it mostly um food or do it just be also activities and excursions or just food the a story is food and the B story is travel yeah oh this sounds really exciting I mean I know it's kind of your dream to uh I mean not your dream you do it you travel and eat a lot this is why I like your shows that's whenever you invite me to your yeah whenever Stephen's like hey M do you want to be on like I feel like so flattered cuz it's like Steven's food shows are always like I take so much comfort and enjoyment out of it so I'm really excited for this new show and I don't want to just be like a compliment Factor here but like the reason like M you are one of our favorite if not our favorite guests to be on our shows because you also embody the perfect non-pretentious but food lover attitude that I think we try to uh disseminate so yeah you're incredible at that you should do a food show um to have a food show leave it in the comments food does food work in the podcasting form I don't know maybe ASMR stuff ASMR I don't have like even though I enjoy food I feel like I'm not as creative with food or I could just be under Watcher just kidding it should be under ABG but just say like okay you almost offered us the IP I was like oh I'll take it and then he okay like wait I have my own your own media company I know um so for listeners who know you as the guy who hosted worth it your background may come as a bit of a surprise honestly when I heard ch engineering I was like what like I forgot about that in your background um so I'm pretty sure as if I'm surprised others are surprised as well um so how did a guy from Ohio who majored in chemical engineering become a digital Creator show host and producer or perhaps more or perhaps more importantly why yeah uh I mean the story of how that happened is out there um I quit my job worked at a restaurant in the evenings to support my day job which was being a YouTuber as inspired by people like Wang Fu um Kev Jumba AJ rafhael you know all of those yeah I I guess like for me I kind of well first of all like I'm very spiritual in the sense that I I'm a Christian and so part of my identity and why I did it is cuz I felt like God was calling me to that path yeah um but but secondarily like I felt like as a kid growing up in the midwest Asian-American I didn't have the r role models who understood what it was like to be like that mm like most of these kids that were Asian on YouTube were like in predominantly Asian areas and so I wanted to represent that side of uh the coin um and so yeah I just felt like this was my calling I went for it and then I got lucky in many ways I joined the Jubilee project Fellowship which Jason go forgot about that uh that was like my first Fay into like learning about what other YouTubers do I was on a show called internet icon which is go uh Ryan higa's uh uh American idoles show and then yeah and then I just started making videos once a week until they blew up and then I went to BuzzFeed dang sorry I just think it's such a testament of like how much grind you put into this like this wasn't like an overnight thing for you and I didn't know you worked at a restaurant at night I was a server for two and a half years what restaurant if you don't mind me asking Royal Ginger they shut down they were in Columbus Ohio served Sushi and Chinese food very interesting combination uh but that also you know I think service work is that that helped teach me a lot about service worko for [Music] sure we know there are things in life you have to compromise for me we had to go with the one-bedroom apartment instead of two because it's in our budget or maybe we don't go to that event because we have an early morning the next day whatever it is life is full of compromises right wrong when it comes to my health this is where I don't compromise don't go to that doctor that cancel on you twice because they are closely located to you or don't go to the doctor that is located in the sketchy Plaza trust me I've been there I get that it's hard to find a good doctor that you trust and fits with your schedule if you're having trouble finding your next primary care physician or whatever check out Zach do Zach do is a free app and website where you can search and compare highly rated in network doctors near you and instantly book appointments with them online the typical way time to see a doctor on Zach do is between 24 to 72 hours so quick I'm personally change out my insurance plan and once I finalize my new plan I will use Z talk to try and find my next primary care doctor go to Zach do.com ABG and download the Zach do app for free then find and book a top rated doctor today that's zocdoc.com ABG zach.com [Music] ABG well let's let's talk about uh growing up in Ohio what I mean what was that like what was your sense of feeling of community and belonging before yeah I think there were times stimes when I felt like I had a strong Community because there was like a church with Chinese people that was there but there were times when I felt very alone which was like at school or even like you know you go to the grocery store or just like at a random Place usually it's one Asian kid in the Sea of non-asian Faces yeah um and I think I just really wish I had a role model that could have helped me because so much of it was internalized I think I expected people to be racist toward me which was like a self-fulfilling prophecy and I think if I had just been more open-minded to people then I would have probably had a better experience um but I didn't have anybody to teach me that you know my parents were immigrants from Malaysia they didn't know what it was like and like I remember when I was in like in eth grade I um we moved schools to Ohio from Alabama and I um I was at the bus stop on the first day and there was like a pretty blonde girl that was sitting there at the bus stop and I was such a jerk I literally went to the bus stop she says hi and I was like oh she's just saying hi cuz she's being nice which is like what I don't know why I thought that but then I kept walking so I walked to the next bus stop because I didn't want to talk to her and I did that like every day for the first week and I was like I don't know in your head it's in my head yeah yeah I relate to that I relate to that yeah where did you grow up um Mich Vio so I'm in Southern California so not too far from here but I had a very similar situation where um you know there was like a a blond hair blue-eyed little boy who was like crushing on me and saying and I would be like oh he doesn't like me just like you know just kind of you brush it off like you just because you automatically think that it's not um that you are not desirable that there is like an idea about you yes and then yeah that does like um then maybe impact how you carry yourself through the world and how you view the world for a period right what do you think changed that for you um even among the Asian community in Ohio I felt like I was an outsider at times because I tend to be more creative and I see there wasn't that Community out there so I think once I moved to LA was when I really felt a sense of like oh this is like my people these are these are like who I was meant to be around um shout out to Jen rouer who was my fellow desk mate at BuzzFeed for like three years and who was like just such a cool girl and just taught me so much uh about like just I don't know living life and and just like not caring about things um and then shout out to like all of the people in this Asian-American uh digital and entertainment space yeah too many to shout out right now but um yeah I guess I will shout out one person in particular Dan AKA Dan who was very welcoming to me when I first came out here um even though I did apply to ISA and got rejected you know we we'll we'll we'll not talk about that be like but in other ways he would always be the person like bringing me in the community that was super nice yeah oh we love Dan he's also very he's very good at bring bring everyone together and introducing people like who they think they will connect with like Jan just such a I think he's not I don't yeah Dan J J just just great he's great and also he's this the first episode I listen to of the ab podcast cuz that was his second episode or what was what episode was young the second one was a [ __ ] boy episode and that for sure wasn't Dan oh that wasn't Dan what episode was he no he was second season he talking about his adoption story was the [ __ ] boy episode I'm still curious oh I'll show you a photo after okay we're still friends like we're cool now okay you went to his wedding yeah no that's another one but he was my he was in the episode but he was not the [ __ ] boy oh yeah sorry I was asking who was I can't remember the one the [ __ ] I was interested in yes uh yeah well I'll show you a photo later you know okay so let's take some time to talk a little bit again on your time at BuzzFeed great and on worth it uh when you started there you were very clear in your mission and wanting to share Asian-American content or Asian-American Focus content yes what like what did you what was your idea of the type of stories that you wanted to share yes so I when I went to BuzzFeed I had a very like averse thought like I don't want to be the guy who sells out and so I was like I got to make Asian American Focus content and I think that the old version of stepen would think that the current version of Stephen is a sellout oh interesting but what I've learned in that process is that you can't can't just be the guy preaching to the choir about you know the guy who's just yelling about these issues and says that they need to change part of it too is like extending allive branches to people and like meeting them where they're at and for me I'm not a food person at all or I wasn't a food person when I started the show but food was the best vehicle for me to talk about identity upbringing you know my upbringing and then also other other like countries as well so that's why I started to make food content was because it was just an easy way to talk about me being Asian-American without seeming like I'm just the guy who talks about being Asian-American yeah yeah that's a great I mean that is when you say extending it like an olive branch food is one of those things where it is so ingrained in culture but it's not exclusive right and it can be very inclusive but also very specific so I love that he identified that for me my vehicle of telling the Asian-American experience St is through food or and also like I don't know I just think it's cool because um you just found your you found your way you know mhm um I had to go back to worth it because it's such a great show and yeah I know I feel like you get asked do you get asked a lot about worth it not as much anymore um because I haven't thought about it in a while but it's like cool to I don't know I feel like I'm one of I'm like Harry Styles being asked about One Direction you know what great yeah I love viewing it that way but um cuz I still have friends that again still rewatch your shows I'm worth it um how like describe how did I for the show even come about ah yes um well long version or the short version there's just so many I I'll give you the abbreviated version okay uh basically one of the pillars of BuzzFeed was to iterate your content make something don't worry about it being bad and just like keep growing from there which I think helped me grow a lot as creative cuz I was very perfectionist minded anyway so I started and I made I made a food show called Feast with Hunger Squad where we would try different foods at different places but we would like go to a taco restaurant and they' be like hey where do you like to eat tacos and then they would tell us the next one they go next one next one okay and it was a fun fun concept but it was kind of confusing to explain to people like even right now I'm like I don't I'm kind of fumbling over it and like you can't explain that in like a title or a thumbnail and also it's hard to produce cuz you don't know where you're going next oh yeah so like oh then like you just show up and you're like you guys okay if we film here like we you heard you guys were good so then me iterating on that show was okay what can I do better uh where how can I produce this and how can I make it more easy to explain yeah and also something that's like more um interesting and you know for me like I I kind of have a raccoon palette a little bit like I'll eat anything I don't care if it tastes good or bad I like everything that I eat usually I've never heard of that term raccoon palette yeah yeah maybe yeah they eat they eat like a raccoon right yeah we'll e we'll eat garbage um us raccoons um but no and then uh uh yeah I just through that iteration process came up with this idea and then wanted to make it more of a flushed out show I mean the the interesting part of that story is I actually when I pitched the show to BuzzFeed they said that it was a bad idea sorry and then and then they tried to recast me in my own idea with two non-asian people and I was like bro and it it was uh an executive there who actually was my friend but she was Asian-American and so I was like what are you doing here what do she do now she's over at an agency okay yeah S I just had to be like and yeah I don't know it's just like that wasn't like overt racism at any point it also was by like my own people but it was like oh this is just like the mindset in Hollywood like they want to like put Blockbuster people in your show to make a blockbuster instead of like using an unproven person like me to make the show but yeah and then the show blew up and obviously it became bigger than any other show at BuzzFeed I love the um the idea and the concept of price differences because I think if you're growing up in an Asian houseold you're always like oh how much that cost yeah oh yeah well that's not worth the price like that's such a it's it is kind of ingrained in our culture ident identity to talk about like money for sure so no whenever I go back to Malaysia they're always like yeah when we saw the show we'd like that's a Malaysian came out with that idea and they're like yeah this is this is what we talk about only like all the time this what we talk about how much does this this cost [Music] when I moved to New York I knew I needed to revamp my wardrobe to fit my new lifestyle there are actually Seasons here so I have to find clothing that are versatile for whatever the weather throws at me thankfully I found amazing T-shirts from skims that make me feel confident comfortable and Chic whether I'm heading out for a spontaneous walk or meeting up with friends I'm always dressed for the occasion I usually prefer cotton t-shirts but the ones I have felt too stiff and a bit boxy to be honest I don't really feel super feminine and sexy in them that's not the case with my skim con Jersey t-shirt it's form fitting and perfect to wear with my trousers or a cute skirt I can always rely on the shirt to keep me looking put together no matter what comes up even when I'm running a bite to meet friends this t-shirt moves with me and I still feel cute when I arrive shop the skims T-shirt shop at skims.com now available in sizes double XS through 4X if you haven't yet be sure to let them know we sent you after you place your order select podcast in the survey and select our show in the drop down menu that [Music] follows concept was very strong but also we know that what makes the show work well is also the chemistry that you have with your co-hosts right and um you coost that show with Andrew so I'm curious how did you how did you meet Andrew how did all of that come about and how would you describe why do you think you're a dynamic and your paring works so well this is a good point for me to say that I feel comfortable talking about myself for so long so I'm also going to ask a question after I answer my question is that okay is is this allowed on the ABG podcast I mean Stephen's also a podcaster and host it makes sense oh yes go subscribe to watch your podcast on YouTube and apple Spotify wherever you uh listen anyway yeah um so I met Andrew uh so originally my co-host was actually Keith habber rer from the tri guys okay yeah and he uh is was just my mentor at BuzzFeed and so he taught me a lot of things and I wanted to bring him on the show he got busy cuz the try guys blew up obviously and I was looking for the next person to help me out it wasn't even a show at this point but I had met Andrew through my previous show the the uh traveling Taco one yeah yeah sorry no it's and then uh and and like I also knew that him and Adam bian so those two guys have a deep love for food that I admired and that deep knowledge for food that I admired um they also knew how to film food and make it look beautiful and so I was like oh maybe I could just ask them to like come and help me with this one episode brought them along for the episode and then once it came out all the comments were like wow you guys have like the perfect chemistry like this is like amazing this is hilarious like you guys should keep doing what you're doing and then that was the encouragement that gave us like the ability to solidify that crew but like outside of work we didn't really hang out very often we didn't I didn't know him that well um obviously now we work together and you know we've worked together for eight years and we know each other pretty well well but um yeah I don't know it kind of worked out too cuz like looking back it was a weird thing where like thankfully have values aligned but I didn't think about that and I I'm like wow if I chose the wrong person this could have went down a really bad path yeah so I got really lucky and he's like an incredible person and like just the most intelligent human being I know both of them Adam is a genius in his own right and and uh yeah I don't understand him at all okay my question for you oh what's up so the chemistry the way I read I read ab's chemistry is like you have this is going to sound really stereotypical you call me a raccoon or something but like Mel is like the random fun one okay I'll take that Janet is like the measured uh studied one and Helen is like the kind of the glue uh playful person you say you say the glue like the glue to the show and I don't know if that's true or not but like did you guys manufactur that chemistry and know that that was what you're going to have on the podcast before you made the show I would say no no is my descriptions wrong I think I think there's on a surface level we hit very different archetypes and that some people would describe that way um but I think if you like the more you get under the surface of how we work and how we are as friends there's a lot of Shifting of like all three of those like characteristics are covered but they shift in different periods different periods yeah people will play different roles um but what stuck out to me is when you describe with Andrew like you're like this is not something that I didn't seek like oh this what I'm looking for a co-host and then let me find that person right I think that's what happened with us too it was very kind of like natural um we were all friends that like wor corporate just yeah we were and honestly that was the thing that we kind of connected with the most because our Social Circle were people who are often in like media and like New Media so they're working for themselves and we're like we work for other people work in like more yeah like of a structured setting and a corporate environment um but had um I don't know I guess it was like we like to have fun together and then we also related on like serious things that we were working through with like careers because of the nature of that I will say nothing was planned like it was like oh we just listen to podcast cuz you work corporate and that's the only medium we could actually like you know uh listen to because I can't watch YouTube videos I work I get in trouble I will say when we started taking it seriously though we would do exercises where we sat down and try to think like what are like what is your what are your interests in your in your brand kind of a little bit right but in the beginning none of it was yeah it was just very let's let's leave those work the funny thing is what bonded is we is not only because a corporate but we actually just partied a lot together you kind of you know I mean so I think sometimes when you party a lot that personality is actually the same but it's through the podcast and through like 36 questions to fall in love and these other type of like topics that we're like oh like you do it that way oh you're like this and our poaches are a little bit different so I think just naturally through the podcast oddly enough we got closer but also like we're able to I guess see everyone's personality just kind of come out it's the same with your with worth it right well I was curious cuz as we try to like expand Watcher bring more Talent it's very hard to develop chemistry naturally and a lot of it what I see is like it is so Random like Brian and Shane my my partners in my company their their Dynamic is incredible there's hilarious and and I don't know like it was also kind of random like we were on the same team together actually Shane wasn't even the like the original host of the show either he got moved in when the original host was like I don't want to do this anymore and so like yeah I'm I'm curious and it's also just funny cuz like I feel like every friend group has had that conversation at at a club or a party it's like hey let's start a podcast together and like actually did it drunkenly probably yeah no the first the first time we tried to do it it was a it was a weekend and I think it was like five hours that we just we met at um I think it was like office yeah old Wong Fu office we're like get some bottles of wine this will be fun whatever and we tried we like oh no this is not easy and it actually and it was an intentional um having to schedule another Meetup and another Meetup to try to do because like so many times along the way it could have just been like that's a fun idea but that's really hard to do I hope we don't I like I have photo like wine stained teeth I was like this is so embarrassing it be amazing to listen to the unreleased version of the very first episode fil might have it that's great I us to edit the text for that clip right away dang but you know what you bring up a go point with chemistry I think as you're talking about it like it's it's hard to create you know like that type of I guess you could call it that's how that's the magic sauce for everyone's project right so wait I have one more question sorry was there one person who was the the most resistant to doing the podcast resistant like not wanting to like you had to be dragged along kind of oh like and early days like you know it's it's a big risk it's a massive risk to start your own Media Company you're already getting you you guys are well on your careers like well we didn't think of it as we were doing it as like a passion project so it's like we're doing this at work and then on weekends we would be like let's try this out I see and then eventually when if we or when we released it and there were listeners then it just became after workor hours and that was a joke it was a hard thing to juggle but I think the moment you already start having a community there is a sense of like wanting to keep it right so that's cool yeah not great [Music] questions do you know what the secret is to keep a baby skin healthy the secret is a diaper that doesn't leave skin wet you've heard me talk about pamper Swaddlers on our podcast many many times now and that's because pamper Swaddlers is the diaper for healthy baby skin pamper Swaddlers absorbs wetness better than the leading value brand and provides up to 100% leak proof skin protection and up to 0% skin irritation and if you're a fan of pamper you've got to check out their new Pampers free and gentle wipes which clean better than Huggies Natural Care and are five times stronger so they resist tearing during a diaper change with free and gentle mess meets its match and if you're like me and you love saving and getting rewarded for something you got to buy anyway like diapers don't forget to download the Pampers Club app today and earn Pampers cash you can redeem your Pampers cash for exclusive Pampers coupon savings and rewards try Swaddlers with new Pampers free and gentle wipes for healthy baby skin for trust protection trust Pampers the number one pediatrician recommended [Music] brand also curious for you because eventually uh working with Andrew and worth it you both decided that the show had run its course yes what was that decision making process like it's tough uh I had already left BuzzFeed for a few years I was already working on Watcher um but I think there are two main components that led to this decision one is internally facing and one is audience facing and I think internally we weren't feeling creatively fulfilled anymore we weren't feeling like it was allowing us to tell the stories that we want to tell yeah and then externally we felt like the price point comparison show had run its course at least in the Zeitgeist it felt like it was really cool early on but then as people have become more sensitive to the economy to pricing it became like oh if we just do this show forever it's going to seem like all we care about is money or like we're just trying to find the next high which is not actually what we're most interested in food we like wanted like the the reason why the show exists is so we can tell these stories of these amazing dishes and the families who make them right and the high price point is just the lure to tell the story of the the you know the first two locations as well I'm excited you guys are back together on the new show oh I'm so excited yeah and I you know please watch it it's so tough to start over it it like it feels I don't know it it is uh do you think it is starting over or is it kind of just like it kind of feels like it yeah and there's prob I'm pretty sure you feel this pressure of like okay well now I have this new show with the same guys that did worth it and worth it has just like Aura to you're like how can I deliver on that level it has to be better yes than the first show cuz they're going to naturally compare we won't but yeah people will naturally we will naturally compare yeah yeah it's it's just innate but yeah so we've we've worked on it since so I had spent a few months last year recruiting the guys they were obviously interested but there was just some Lo they had to tie up they left BuzzFeed they joined Watcher and then we've been working on it since I guess like July oh wow last year we flew to Korea and and filmed six episodes of that back to stepen okay so I think obviously like you know you've went on this journey and you found yourself being a content creator and a very successful one and I'm pretty sure you had to deal with like quote unquote like over not overnight success but a little bit of Fame like people a lot of bit of Fame know you for sure like when people found out again when people found out I knew step everyone's like oh my God you know Steven limb and I was like yeah and I was like so I get I got that a lot so how did you deal with that like how did I deal with it yeah and Was it crazy for you I dealt with it very poorly really uh when I first started to receive attention MH I don't even know if I don't like calling it Fame even though it is that and this is part of me still feeling like I don't deal with it very well but when I first started dealing with it I would get people randomly coming up to me saying oh I love your show blah blah blah and I'd be like oh like go go away from me you're a stranger I don't know who you are like you said that in my head sorry in my head but I'm like oh thanks okay bye like I I would just like be very awkward and then at some point cuz like also when it happens nobody's teaching you how to like deal with deal with it yeah was it was like was it um so you felt like it was just like the random person I don't I don't too much like I don't like attention CU you're are you an introver yes okay yes I tend to be more like introverted it um and then it kind of peaked when there were two things that happened I was like oh my God this is like very real one was we were at an airport I had flown into Korea to film like early on for for worth it and somebody had like found out so we told I was like oh I'm excited to go to Korea and it didn't say when or how or whatever but I showed up Korea and there was somebody waiting for us with gifts wow and I was like oh my God freaked out's like oh my God like what but also it was like that like waa this is so cool yeah they brought us like snacks and like some gifts from from C I like oh this is like kind of cool and then the second time was like I was at a restaurant filming in Australia I took a photo of us like and posted on my story didn't have the location didn't have any but somebody detectiv their way to figure out where we were and took a 1hour train ride to get to where were to say hi so like these two like this started happening more and I was like oh this is like a real thing and I wish I had appreciated that more to be honest cuz our fans I've not had a fan that like really creeped me out at all I honestly mine are very um chill yeah good fans they're good fans and they're not like emailing me to get a date with me cuz they knew that that is a that is a reference to AV episode one yeah so would would you say though like that moment in Korean Australia was like the moment you realize like oh shoot like like I'm a public figure was like those two moments right those were like the main first two moments when I realized it was it was it oh I'm a public figure or was it whoa people really like um resonate with me in some way or is it also third like I'm afraid for my safety a little bit I was afraid for my safety but I shouldn't have been mhm uh and then but yeah I think I think it was more of like oh like people care about what I'm doing and when I flipped that switch in my head I was like oh this is like actually super dope these are the people who allow me to do what I do this is why I got into it and I could even put myself in their shoes like oh if I was them like I would be excited to meet you know Philip Wang and and I was and then now I'm like there's that there's that grumpy guy I'm just kidding I don't know that's hilarious do you and your co- Founders Ryan varara and Shane M launched wer entertainment in January 2020 right before the pandemic flipped the world upside down um what was it like to navigate that unprecedented time as a business that was just getting started because we had our own Journey with that as well yeah I'll keep it relatively short but don't start a business in a pandemic is what I would say everyone here just just uh makes T makes things it wasn't easy but I guess the good news is if you can survive it then that allows you to be that much stronger so our team uh you have a great team unbelievable oh yeah I love Watchers team they're so I don't know it's just like always had a really great experience with um everyone that you've I don't know selected for your team they're just so talented and nice but actually you know what I don't think I ever asked you this or if I did I forgot but how did you and Ryan and Shane get together to start watch her cuz I I think maybe like I didn't see that coming so I was just curious yeah I mean there we all have different stories of uh so I I might not be the best uh accurate Storyteller here but for me I had always wanted to like I started off using starting my own channel and and that's how BuzzFeed found me so my plan was never to stay there it was originally to like go and learn from BuzzFeed and then go back to my channel so I'd always had this entrepreneurial mindset and then I was like oh maybe I should do it with a friend I'd ask Ryan maybe like once a year year for many years he's like I'm good um and then at some point there was a Tipping Point where we were both like we can't be here anymore this is just not a good place for us let's leave and then he was like let's bring Shane so then we asked Shane and he was like yeah I'm I'm this seems like a good time to go so um yeah it's pretty simple and of that of the three of us Shane was the hardest kind of to pull out because maybe Ryan too cuz they they liked we all liked at BuzzFeed stability of that and being able to create M um but we kind of saw the writing on the wall so we just decided we got to we got to go do everything thing I guess founder to founder I think this as someone who does a media company ABG is also a media company I think some people just see the the end result the product here's our show here's our episode whatever but they don't know recognize like there's a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes that we take on different roles that you we don't allow the camera to see because it's kind of like it's just internal stuff that you you don't have to see but that stuff does weigh heavily especially you're thinking about the well-being of your team like can I sure can I make sure everyone's taken care of I I was brought back to an episode where you guys talk about like who would be the CEO of ABG and you were like I think you guys both voted Helen is that correct and then she was like oh I I didn't think it was going to be me um and the way that we did it was we were co- CEOs at first and then I became CEO because they were like I don't want to do this MH but I actually think one way that would have been better is if we hired a operations person yeah to be the person between us and the team to help like make things run smoothly and then we still maintain the co- CEO role oh that's what I kind of looking back could have been better yeah actually this is great insight for us to have and I might want to do that yeah in the future because I feel like the business side like like CEO you think of them as like the dri the business they driving things forward creatively you know whatever and I still think Ryan and Shane are my partners in that it's just that I have taken on a lot of the op stuff and and that's where I've been burned out so I just that's true I still want their input I think their input is valuable but there's no real good place to put them in the tree right like it's it doesn't yeah it's I don't know wow sorry that was just sitting on that for a sec um but I do want to talk about like again right now you are taking on so much and on top of that you're also a husband to our beautiful friend Tammy hi Tammy hi Tammy yeah hi Tammy um U I Love Your Love Story there because I remember you coming up to me one day and be like I met this girl I am in love I was like waa that happen quick but we'll go get B that get back to that um and you also own two dogs and you just I always you also are out and about a lot so how the hell do you juggle everything like work life balance how's it like no it's bad is there a balance no no balance do you guys have balance sure uh yeah it depends on the definition of balance I'm very um well okay I don't think I take on as much as you but I need my routine or else I will not function um so I guess have a little bit of M I admire people who have boundaries in their lives who are like I I'm going to leave work at 6 or S and I'm just not going to think about it I can't do that I don't know I think it's like my my dad is kind of been my the role model of like how I should operate as a employee you a in the work and he worked day and night he brought work home he was on call at late and and he's very successful he's the president of NJIT right now and it's like wow like I know what it took to get you there because you there was not a minute that you were not working and so that's kind of what I've been ingrained to do yeah but as I've started watch her and you know over the past year I've just had to force myself to be like okay I'm gonna just turn my brain off after a certain time usually like 8 9 p.m and just not think about work and uh it's I don't know it's really hard and then obviously like the stress of sorry not stress um the joy of having dogs it can be stressful two yeah you have living things depending on you two energetic dogs yeah very energetic and then also um yeah you know I'm married and um that that is that is actually a true Joy I mean sorry the dogs are a joy too they're all a joy of My Life um but it is it is a lot and um as easy as my love with Tammy has been over the past 5 years it still requires work and it requires time and we have had to give up dates to start our own companies and she's the founder of hat is of virus and she has her own stuff going on um it's probably why we love each other like we we we respect each other so much cuz we both also have things going on that we love seeing person then we have that in ourselves but yeah I uh I don't have balance I'm working on it and I would recommend people to establish boundaries in their lives because I don't think this is healthy was there are there things that have happened or any instances that made you feel like oh this is not like I'm I'm out of my boundary or the boundar is gone um a great question S no it's I I've talked about this with with my staff MH and but it's just I'm thinking about like my my my crew out there who are going to watch this episode and be like oh my gosh Stephen are you okay um but yeah like I think I really hit a wall in January of this year that I physically emotionally spiritually everything I was just completely burned out and I've never been burned out before Again part of why I do this cuz I I love it but um um yeah I just felt like I couldn't continue anymore but I have to so what do you do um so yeah that's where I I have forced myself to start making boundaries thank you for sharing that yeah yeah dang yeah sending you love thank you I really hope you and Tammy go on a really good honeymoon this year oh yeah yeah because you're getting a formal we're doing our yeah we're doing our uh renewing of vows Rene cuz we got married in the pandemic yeah yeah yeah let's talk about Tammy real quick yeah let's talk about Tammy thing something thing uh if you guys haven't met Tammy she's literally one of the kindest sweetest like person you'll ever meet um I can see why when Stephen met her he was like I'm in love and that was a I don't have you can can I ask like how when did you know that you were in love with her like how far was it Love at First s yeah really it was I mean I met her cuz I was she was an entrepreneur she is an entrepreneur and I was asking for advice on how to our companies uhhuh so Watcher and and Tammy are kind of tied together hand in hand wow so she was you were like can I just chat with you about work things yes and then when I met her I was like wow you are unbelievable and on that first day that I met her it was it was like a work interaction I asked her out wait like you're like can you out me like was like kind like I can't help it cuz I'm So Into You are you more like dude this girl like yeah was it planned it was not planned at all I just thought she was beautiful and her personality was incredible and we had so so many the same values and as I was getting to know her just from this conversation I was like hey and I by the way I don't ever do that like I don't ask people out the first time I meet them that's not a thing and but she thought oh this is just a [ __ ] boy who's like you know just doing playing a move so she was she was like you know a little bit which to be fair it is kind of weird to be doing that um but wanted to be straightforward I was like hey you know I like you can I take you on a date Brave to she like and she said no wait seriously yeah did she give you a reason yes so she had just like kind of gone through the dating apps and was like not having a good time so she's like I'm just going to take a break from dating for a bit uh but obviously the chemistry was there and we did end up going out eventually obviously we're married now yeah um there was a period where you guys were figuring it out though there was I remember you like oh yeah we don't know and I'm just like you're like I'm praying really hardly that should we come to each other again and I was like dang yeah step's like that was one of those things where man I wish I could talk more about this maybe it we're definitely something but um when I had to let go of her for it to work out oh cuz I was holding on so tightly and then eventually I was like okay you know what I'm just I think I can't this can't be the only thing that consumes my mind and I have to be able to move on with my life so I actually had like go and then serendipitously we saw each other again and then we hung out and then we started dating and that was thankfully to um Isa oh we met at oh sorry we REM met at an Isa concert were you guys there which one we went to Mama lion afterward um wait is that the one we with unim it was the one yes not unim sorry that's one AUM they messed the ticket sale so they were like you know talking about I I'm curious so so the reconnection so meaning you guys you both decided I'm not we're not talking anymore and you see each other at this concert yes who approached who I approached her and she was avoiding me and she was avoiding you and then she had driven there so she I was like oh I can get I can help you navigate to the to Mama lion so I just jumped in her car you just showed up in her car I jumped I was like hey I can help you and she's like okay yeah she's just so she's like okay yeah um even though I think she was trying to like have other people come in the car with us ah and I was like no you guys all go in the Uber with Andrew Chow you guys go together sorry this is hilarious yeah wait so then and then what happened did you and that night at Mama lion she was just she was just walking around you know Mama Li they do people know what that is it's like a it's like a loungy not really a club not really a bar not really a lounge it's like all of them and she was like just kind of talking to people and I and I was like trying to chase her and talk to her but she just wasn't she wasn't down to chat with me and then we tried it later after that cuz a lot of us went back to my place to hang out including like you know people our our friends yeah yeah that makes I for used to live you lived nearby back then I was in K Town yep I remember that dang oh that was a night okay wait so I'm still I'm like processing the story cuz it's like you saw her you were like it sounded like love at first sight and then you feel like you had to let her go a little bit you saw again but were you have been the pursuer at that point I let her go and I mean uh oh there's so many holes in this story and I would love to fill it out with her but um there was a point where yeah when we finally got to talking MH I got to just share my heart and where I was at with it and her kind of seeing how much I had cuz she had known how hard I had pursued her yeah and seeing me go through like a mature I had I had gone through it I I had matured in the process proc of pursuing her and letting her go and that was attractive to her sorry that was attractive to her that was hotter I don't sorry I could have yeah we haven't really sat down and talk of Your Love Story in a while but oh man yeah I'm G to talk to her about this after goodness she uh and and she uh it's so funny cuz we were all at the bomo opening in the Aria location yeah yeah and uh she's Myer Mel came over and was like that's right I totally forgot about that I'm ready uh I'm ready guys you guys know anybody yeah do and Tammy goes yeah actually so yeah Tammy's my matchmaker so Steph's wife is the reason why I met Ray crazy isn't this crazy it's so crazy small world yeah but we can talk about this forever I love love yeah I thought we were talking about that more on this sorry but um I'm going to be the one to bring it back to the I guess to the back to St and his and his career back to your work I guess back which is also your life too it's a big part of who you are but um uh with Watcher what is it that you envision for the future thank you for asking and I am excited to talk about our future because we've made a massive shift in our business strategy okay we are going to be launching a streaming platform for all of our content starting on May 31st and uh you'll be able to catch all of our new stuff all of our old stuff advertisement free oh wow yeah you guys like literally create your own streaming service yes sorry I'm hearing this for the first time I'm like how as we've realized as as YouTube has evolved it's become in many ways a game of how to catch the most eyeballs yeah and we're not interested in playing that game as much as we are in creating really fun quality stuff for our fans and so this feels like the best way we can do that and we can not only make stuff that we can make now what we can also now experiment with other shows and other IP and other talent and this will allow us to playground to do that without the pressure of this new Talent having to always hit the views yeah right dang this is huge yeah yeah it's a big shift it's terrifying because it means that we need to have fans to who actually care about what we're doing to do this um but it's exciting yeah you know I think it's it's important for companies to evolve to change based on on the forces that be wow well congrats that's amazing thank you whoa sorry yeah I think we're still like from like little kid Ohio to like now start your own streaming service is insane to me that is yeah I mean when you put it that way yeah I mean we have we and we've seen it work uh some of our like we look up to Dropout have you guys ever heard of Dropout before they no their college humor after they shut down okay they started a streaming service called Dropout and that helped them come out of the pandemic very successfully because their content wasn't Advertiser friendly sorry and so it allowed people to support them in a way that they couldn't before which is what we're trying to create so um yeah companies like drop out like nebula they're they they they do it on the scale that we're doing it at not at the you know not the Disney pluses or the HBO Maxes but like the mediumsized yeah middle small siiz cool oh my gosh I'm still processing like we're hearing this for the first time as everyone else is listening well I'm just I'm curious like operationally for your company then how is that have you discussed or can you discuss like how that's going to change how work um so like how we're going like operationally with so so yes so actually a lot of things are remaining the same okay we're paying a thirdparty white label service to build the tech behind it great um and then we're continuing to create shows the way that we do but then we're able to now take more risks with what we're doing so travel season is an entirely new risk that's part of this whole plan yeah we're taking ghost files abroad we're bringing back old shows that were loved but we're not suitable for YouTube things like that and then Sor and then bringing new Talent um would love to bring Mel back but unfortunately she's oh damn it she'll be back in La I'll come back for this no saying you're you're ABG oh yeah just I won't come back join our scre stream um but yeah no it's it's just really it it opens up the possibilities of what we can do yeah yeah that is so cool thank you wow look at you it's nerve-wracking you're scared but it's also exciting and I think that's usually when people say that that's when you know you're in a good direction you if you're a little bit scared but you're it's an excited scared that means a lot to hear actually thank you for that that's why I'm here for your wise words Janet's really good at that part of why listen to the podcast yes a so just gonna so for for all of our listeners and viewers out there is there a place you want them to follow or reference for the launch yes okay so you can subscribe to our our streaming platform uh you can find it on our socials it's Watcher tv.com you can watch there and it's it's it's uh pretty simple go there sign up and watch some good stuff support us please uh and hopefully we can make stuff forever yeah that is amazing well thank you so much Stephen for joining us in the podcast finally after all these years this is a dream come true when Helen texted me I was like oh thank you I waiting for this text for so long I know when she showed us I was like that is so sweet of you to say that but it's been a joy having you on I feel like it's always so nice when a friend's on the podcast and like you're just fun to be around thank you don't we don't hang out as much as we should but it's okay no your story is also very inspiring and I think just listening to the progression of all the things that you've done where you've come from and how that's made you the person that you are and the core values that you go into when you make like the decisions that you're making with Watchers is also very very inspiring to see thank you it's I feel like today it was nice to like kind of like witnessed the evolution of stevenh and that as a friend it's been really nice to see so again thank you so much for joining us and with that we'll catch you on the next episode [Music] bye before we wrap up a reminder that you can access a more premium experience of this show by becoming an ABD bestie where you'll get our new audio episodes at free discounts and early access to merch special shoutouts at the end of our shows and we're bringing back dear ABG our monthly personal am sessions you all are the reason why we make the show and are able to keep it going if you want to support us more and connect with us further you can check out the description notes for how to sign up hope you will join us and become an ABG bestie chat with you on the inside [Music] m

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Length: 59min 27sec (3567 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 21 2024