Steven Lim is an American food creator born in 1991 to Malaysian-Chinese immigrant parents in Cincinnati, Ohio. After graduating from Ohio State University with a chemical engineering degree in 2012 and working at Procter and Gamble on Tide Pods, he joined BuzzFeed and co-created the Worth It series.

What is Worth It on YouTube?

Worth It is a food comparison series Steven Lim created at BuzzFeed in 2016. Each episode compares three versions of the same dish at low, medium, and high price points. The show ran for 12 seasons and 84 regular episodes.

Why did Steven Lim leave BuzzFeed?

Lim left BuzzFeed in 2021 with co-host Andrew Ilnyckyj and cameraman Adam Bianchi to launch Watcher Entertainment, an independent media company they could fully own and control.

Did Worth It feature Asian-American themes?

Yes. Steven Lim has spoken in interviews about how Worth It deliberately wove Asian-American representation into a mainstream food show. BuzzFeed had originally planned for two white hosts with Lim writing the scripts, but he insisted on hosting himself.

Steven Lim: Worth It Creator and Watcher CEO

Q: What is Watcher Entertainment?

Watcher Entertainment is the independent media company Steven Lim co-founded with Andrew Ilnyckyj and Ryan Bergara in 2021. It produces shows like Travel Season and operates the Watcher TV streaming service.

Steven Lim is the American content creator and Watcher Entertainment CEO who turned a side project into one of YouTubes most-watched food shows. Born in Ohio to Chinese-Malaysian parents, Lim left a chemical engineering career at Procter and Gamble to build BuzzFeeds flagship food series Worth It, which racked up over a billion views before concluding in 2023. His follow-up show Travel Season launched in 2024 on Watcher TV and continues the format with longtime collaborators Andrew Ilnyckyj and Adam Bianchi.

TL;DR

American content creator, born November 10, 1990 in Ohio, USA
Chinese-Malaysian heritage, formerly a chemical engineer at Procter and Gamble
Created BuzzFeeds Worth It (2016 to 2023), one of the most-viewed YouTube food shows of its era
Co-founded Watcher Entertainment in 2019 with Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej, now serves as CEO
Launched Travel Season in 2024, a global food and travel show currently in its second season

Key facts about Steven Lim

Born	November 10, 1990, Ohio, USA
Nationality	American (Chinese-Malaysian descent)
Education	B.S. Chemical Engineering, Ohio State University (2012)
Channels	YouTube, Watcher TV subscription streaming
Notable shows	Worth It (2016 to 2023, 84 episodes), Travel Season (2024 to present)
Awards	Three Streamy Awards, Webby Peoples Voice Award, Unforgettable Gala Digital Influencer Award
Spouse	Tammy Cho (married 2021)

Early life and engineering career

Steven Lim was born on November 10, 1990, in Ohio to parents of Chinese-Malaysian descent. His father worked as a mechanical engineer and his mother held a job at a local fast-food restaurant. Growing up in a predominantly white community, Lim has described being one of only two Asian children in his middle school, an experience that later shaped his interest in representation through media.

He attended The Ohio State University and graduated in 2012 with a bachelors degree in chemical engineering. After graduation he joined Procter and Gamble as a research and development engineer, where he worked on Tide Pods. The job was technically demanding but creatively unsatisfying, and within a year Lim began posting personal videos to a YouTube channel on the side.

His breakthrough came in 2013 with a video titled “Asian Parents React To I Love You,” which went viral and caught BuzzFeeds attention. The company offered him a position, and in 2015 he relocated to Los Angeles to join as a junior video producer.

Sushi roll with chopsticks, the type of dish Steven Lim and Andrew Ilnyckyj rated on BuzzFeeds Worth It across 84 episodes — Illustration photo. A sushi roll, the kind of dish Steven Lim explored across the original Worth It series on BuzzFeed. Photo: Unsplash.

Steven Lim career timeline

2012 Graduates Ohio State University with a B.S. in chemical engineering, joins Procter and Gamble as an R&D engineer
2013 Launches the Steven Lim YouTube channel
2015 Joins BuzzFeed as a junior video producer in Los Angeles
2016 Co-creates and launches Worth It with Andrew Ilnyckyj and Adam Bianchi (first episode September 18)
2017 Promoted to executive producer at BuzzFeed, Worth It wins first Streamy Award
2018 NBC Sports commissions a Super Bowl LII Worth It episode
2019 Co-founds Watcher Entertainment with Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej, leaves BuzzFeed as full-time staff
2020 Watcher channel launches in January with Puppet History as its first series
2021 Marries longtime girlfriend Tammy Cho
2023 Worth It concludes after 12 seasons and 84 episodes (final episode April 8), wins Webby Peoples Voice Award
2024 Watcher launches its own streaming service Watcher TV, Travel Season debuts in May
2025 Travel Season Season 2 launches on a new dedicated YouTube channel called Andrew, Steven, and Adam

Steven Lim signature style and creative approach

Lims hosting style blends genuine curiosity with structured comparison. Worth It built its identity on the simple framework of trying the same dish at three price points, and Travel Season carries forward the same chemistry between Lim and Ilnyckyj while dropping the explicit “winner” verdict in favor of cultural immersion.

The throughline across both shows is food as cultural connection. Lim has described his work as an effort to broaden how Asian-American identity appears in mainstream media, using cuisine and travel as natural entry points rather than ethnicity-focused framing. He has acknowledged that BuzzFeeds original Worth It plan was to cast two white hosts with Lim writing the scripts, a decision he successfully pushed back against.

Notable work: Worth It and Watcher Entertainment

Worth It ran from September 2016 to April 2023, spanning 12 seasons and 84 episodes. At its peak in 2018 the show racked up 1.5 billion minutes of watch time, with NBC Sports commissioning a Super Bowl LII episode and BuzzFeed describing it as a Zagat guide for millennials. The series created measurable traffic for the restaurants it featured.

In May 2019 Lim co-founded Watcher Entertainment alongside fellow BuzzFeed alumni Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej. The Watcher main YouTube channel has accumulated over 539 million views and roughly 3 million subscribers. In 2024 the company launched its own subscription streaming service Watcher TV, with Travel Season as the food flagship for the new platform. An initial announcement that videos would move off YouTube entirely was reversed within days after subscriber backlash, and Watcher now releases episodes on the streaming service one month before they appear on YouTube.

Awards and recognition

2017 Streamy Award, Best Online Food Show (Worth It)
2018 Streamy Award, Best Online Food Show (Worth It)
2019 Third Streamy Award win for Worth It
2023 Webby Peoples Voice Award (Worth It)
2023 Unforgettable Gala Digital Influencer Award

Impact and cultural relevance

Worth It helped redefine what food media on YouTube could look like, pushing past short recipe clips into longer-format episodes built around personality and place. The format inspired countless imitators on YouTube and TikTok, and influenced how creators in the wider food-and-travel space approached comparison content. Lim is part of a generation of YouTube food creators including Sonny Side and Trevor James who built audiences in the millions before mainstream food television caught up.

His advocacy for Asian-American representation has been recognized through speaking engagements at universities including Northwestern and Georgia Tech, where he serves as a frequent voice on AAPI visibility in entertainment. Watcher Entertainments decision to bring back the Worth It creative team for Travel Season reflects a model in which creators retain ownership and shape their own platforms, a contrast to the BuzzFeed era they came up in. The broader move parallels what fellow YouTube food creators like Nick DiGiovanni and Guga Foods have done as solo creators outside legacy publishers.

Steven Lim FAQ

Is Steven Lim a chef?

No. Lim is a content creator, executive producer, and CEO rather than a trained chef. His work focuses on hosting food and travel shows including BuzzFeeds Worth It and Watchers Travel Season, where he tastes and discusses food prepared by others.

Where is Steven Lim from?

Lim was born and raised in Ohio, USA. His parents are of Chinese-Malaysian descent. He attended The Ohio State University and graduated with a chemical engineering degree in 2012.

What was Steven Lims job before YouTube?

He worked as a research and development engineer at Procter and Gamble after graduating from Ohio State, including work on Tide Pods, before transitioning to YouTube full-time.

What is Watcher Entertainment?

Watcher Entertainment is a digital media studio co-founded in 2019 by Steven Lim, Ryan Bergara, and Shane Madej, all former BuzzFeed creators. The company produces unscripted shows across food, paranormal, gaming, and comedy genres, and in 2024 launched its own subscription streaming service called Watcher TV.

Is Worth It still on YouTube?

Worth It is no longer producing new episodes after its series finale aired in April 2023. The full back catalogue remains available on the BuzzFeedVideo YouTube channel, while Lim and the Worth It team have continued the format under a new show called Travel Season on Watcher TV and YouTube.

What is next for Steven Lim

Travel Season Season 2 is currently in production on the new Andrew, Steven, and Adam YouTube channel, with episodes also available on Watcher TV. Lim continues to serve as CEO of Watcher Entertainment as the company expands its slate beyond food into paranormal, gaming, and comedy formats. Follow his updates on his Instagram (@stevenkwlim).