Steven Lim (born November 12, 1990) is a YouTube Star and Video Producer at BuzzFeed. He is the Creator and Co-Host of Worth It, BuzzFeed’s flagship food show that tries three foods at three drastically different price points, alongside Andrew Ilnyckyj. Additionally, Steven is the Producer and Director behind Mom Vs. Chef, a cooking competition show currently in development with NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment on bringing the web series to broadcast.

Steven joined BuzzFeed in 2015.

Prior to working at BuzzFeed, he was a chemical engineer at Procter & Gamble and created videos on his personal YouTube channel in his spare time. He eventually quit his job to work on his YouTube channel full-time after realising his passion for making videos.^[2]

On his YouTube channel, which was created on February 18, 2008, he posts comedic sketches, vlogs and Asian American content.^[3] As an Asian American who grew up in the United States, he constantly felt out of place and struggled to find his sense of identity. This prompted him to create videos that helped express such feelings of his, like “The Things I Carried”, which was uploaded on August 13, 2014.^[4]

His videos appealed to a niche Audience of Asian Americans, which inspired him to create more content for Asian Americans who had similar struggles and were looking for guidance or a conversation. In the summer of 2014, his video titled “Asian Parents React to I Love You”, uploaded to YouTube on September 23, 2014, went viral on Reddit, garnering more than 1 million views as of July 2019.^[5] The video led to him being discovered by a senior producer at BuzzFeed, who reached out to him for a fellowship in Los Angeles, California. At the time, he had thought that BuzzFeed only made lists and cat videos and turned down the offer as he wanted to create inspiring Asian American content instead. However, a few months later, he changed his mind and decided that there would be no harm just checking it out. Not to mention, he was not making enough money at that time from his YouTube channel to support himself, and had to resort to waiting tables at night just to get by. His then-girlfriend provided further encouragement, which finally motivated him to uproot and leave for BuzzFeed.^[1]

At BuzzFeed, he developed close friendships with his colleagues, and the creative working environment prompted him to accept a full-time offer at the end of his fellowship.

He continued creating content for Asian Americans, such as “Asian Parents Have The Sex Talk With Their Daughters”^[6] and “Women Photoshop Themselves With An Asian Beauty App”^[7] but they were not popular with BuzzFeed's non-Asian audience since they could not relate to the content. That was when he started to retool and began creating food content.^[1]

At that time, he along with a few colleagues started a show named Feast Mode Hunger Squad.^[8] They would try various restaurants in Los Angeles until they found the best item of food in Los Angeles.

The series instantly became popular and after a few episodes, he had an idea do one of his favorite cuisines, Taiwanese brunch. Freddie, his co-producer on the show, was excited to try it out and, in turn, wanted to share her own style of brunch with him. The two of them pulled in another friend to ultimately create “Co-Workers Try Each Others’ Favorite Brunch Spots”.^[9]

That day, Steven realised that creating Asian American content goes beyond talking about Asian-specific issues, it is also about creating pieces where stories are universal and relatable, and sharing about one's own culture and identity with others in its nuanced ways.^[1]

He discovered that food is the perfect medium to share his story with others and one year later, he created Worth It.

He had learned that just by being himself, an Asian American person in one of the biggest shows at BuzzFeed where there are moments that he can share his story, such as calling his mother in the middle of a steak episode^[10] or trying tea eggs at a Taiwanese street food restaurant,^[11] is going to inspire Asian Americans as well as anybody who eats food. ^[1]

Steven was born on November 12, 1990 in Ohio, United States. He is of Chinese Malaysian descent and has a brother named Alvin. He is a Christian.^[12]

Steven identifies as an introvert and his hobbies are basketball, watching sitcoms and relaxing at the beach.^[1]

Steven graduated from Ohio State University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering.^[2]