November 13, 2019 • 41 mins
If you have never heard of Mukbang, you're about to get a crash course. While Mukbang orginally beame popular in Korea, millions of people worldwide are now watching these "eating shows." The concept sounds simple: Mukbangers eat food on camera...and people watch (and listen). But, Hyunee, a top Mukbanger here in the US, will tell you - there is a lot more to Mukbang than that. In this episode, Hyunee shares how she discovered Mukbang, how she turned making Youtube videos for her 1.54 million "HyuneeBees" into a full-time career, and how she manages to stay healthy while creating content. We got real about ignoring judgment from others, being true to yourself, and the importance of community.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Behind the Influence, a production of I Heart
Radio and t DC Media. So for the longest time,
I didn't tell my friends either that it was crazy.
For almost a year, I think I just want to say,
don't care about what other people think, and just do
you like seriously, just do whatever you love. The people
who love you will stay, and the people who don't whatever.
(00:22):
I didn't think so many people would love me and
support me, and it's just crazy knowing that they're they're
always here for me. So I'm still grateful. Yanni eats
is in the house. How did I do? You did perfect?
Was it perfect? It was like an an It was
actually perfect. We were extensively discussing how to say her name, Yanni,
(00:45):
and the way that you described it was it's yeah
or the age of the beginning, Yanni. Yes. And the
reason we're here is because you eat. I eat like
a pig. You eat, and you make a living eating.
And I'm so enthralled with this entire world of Here's
another thing I don't properly know how to pronounce. Is
(01:07):
it muck bog muck bang? You said it perfectly the
first I muck bang. I mean so many complications already,
it's he on whatever you're here. We're excited. You have
a huge fan base and you've built this all based
off of a world of eating food on camera. And
it's not just eating. You're actually also discussing and you're
(01:29):
talking to your viewers. You're breaking the fourth wall. I
want to break down for people who are not familiar
with this world what it is so explained to us
in layman's terms, what muck bong is so literally it
comes from the words wong Nan pong zong, and mang
Nan is eating and pong zong is broadcast, so it's
(01:50):
eating broadcast. Got it. So in Korea, mukbong started as
like a live streaming thing, so it was basically eating broadcast.
But here in America we pre record our videos and
edit them and upload it. But that's where the word
mukbang came from. Okay, Okay, that makes sense. So my
husband like, seven years ago, I used to work at ustream.
(02:10):
Maybe it was eight years ago, so eight years ago.
My husband's like, okay, these two channels are doing well.
One is just like a puppy cam where puppies are
playing in a in a cage and it's that makes
total sense, right. I could watch puppies for hours. But
then people were so obsessed with watching people eat, and
I was so confused. What do you think it is
(02:31):
about watching people eat that people are obsessed with? So
I was one of the weird people that used to
watch Mukbong eight years ago, which I'm pretty like shocked
that your husband came across eating videos back then because
it wasn't as popular. But I started eating because I
was on this Cayam pepper diet or I started watching
mukbang's because men helped me curb my cravings. Interesting, but
(02:54):
nowadays a lot of people say it helps them with
like going through chemotherapy, So they gained their appetite watching
mukbung videos and also because they feel lonely because they
don't have like a partner to eat with, so they'll
eat with us muck. It's interesting. That's interesting. So I
have my own Muckbong story. So I just had a
baby like three and a half months ago, and I
(03:17):
remember there was a moment there was a little scare
where they thought maybe she has gestational diabetes, which I didn't.
It turned out fine, But they basically were like, you
can't have sugar until we do this next test, and
I am a sugar fiend, like I need carbs, I
need cookies, I need all these delicious things. So my
husband's like, if there's ever a time for you to
(03:37):
cut it off, it's right now. And I was like, fine,
I won't eat my cookies at night, like it's my
favorite thing to eat cookies and night in bed. Anyway,
So I come across who was the video that I
first came across. It was Tricia Patis, So she's like,
it came up on my YouTube feed because I think
we were looking up influencers in general for this show.
And I see it like it says letting the person
(03:58):
in front of me decide what I eat, And I'm like,
what is this? So I click on it and it's
watching someone I don't know eating a burger that I
can't eat, and then eating like churo waffles after that
I also can't eat. And I just sat there and
for some reason I felt satisfied watching someone else eat,
and it was I was kind of embarrassed about it,
(04:19):
so I didn't tell anyone, and then all my recommendations
you and then it was like Nick cock, so he
came up. Stephanie Sue came up, and I'm like, all
my recommendations are food videos, so creepy, but there is
something really satisfying about watching someone else eat right right right.
I always watch mukbum videos before I fall asleep because
I only eat once a day, and that's how I eat,
(04:41):
like such a large amount. It's basically intermittent fasting, and
it helps me like satisfy my cravings watching mukmong videos.
I watched some of these videos and I'm like, how
are you guys healthy and surviving and not going to
the doctor where they're like you have diabetes or you
have a heart condition because the food you guys are
eating is not healthy at all. I'm never seeing somebody
(05:04):
muckbong a chopped salad. It's like fried chicken noodles. You
do a lot of noodles, a lot of it's fast food.
So how does your day look the rest of the
day when you're not doing these I have two huskies,
so they're basically my personal trainers. So I work out
in the morning and at night, like five to ten
miles every day. Yeah, and when I'm not filming muckbungs.
(05:27):
I eat really healthy, like salad or you know, just
like soy milk or anything healthy. So that's how I
keep my health, I guess pretty good. So so we
went We're gonna go back a little bit. So let's
talk about the very first time you decided. So it
was helping you through some things initially, and that's why
you were interested in this whole world. But then you
(05:48):
decided that you were going to start uploading videos. When
was that for you? That was around three years ago.
When I first used to watch muckbugs, A lot of
people thought it was weird, so I never told anyone
about it. But then I came across an English mbong
three years ago and I was like, I love eating
and I want to tell my life story to you know, strangers,
I guess, And that's when I started filming my Spicy
(06:12):
Noodle challenge video. Did you even know that that was
the path to take? Like doing challenge videos? How did
you know what? You know? What I'm saying. Some people
do the drive through things, some people do the challenge thing.
How did you know what you wanted to do? When
I filmed my first video, the Spicy fire Noodle challenge
was going viral, and I knew I could handle spice
(06:32):
really well because I ate kimche since I was like
one or two years old. I would like rip it
up and like eat it by myself, like from the
low tables, and so I knew I could handle this challenge.
So when people came across my videos, they were like,
how does this girl eat the whole thing like without
being all like you know, like, so they were like
very like surprised that I could do that and handle
(06:55):
the spice. So now that you're you basically make a
living doing this, but did you think when you first
did that first video that this would be a possibility
for you? I actually did because I knew there weren't
a lot of other muck bangers. And when you're like
one of the first ones to do something on YouTube
or anywhere in general, then you're bound to become, you know,
(07:16):
one of the biggest. I guess yeah, I mean you
were absolutely a pioneer in the space for sure. And
then even me mentioning Tricia Patis, that was not her thing, right,
Like it's fine that she's doing it now, but I
think a lot of people jumped on the bandwagon after
it became really popular. But you were a trailblazer in
that space that you knew that it would do well
because in Asia it's doing really, really well. So did
(07:38):
you kind of see that and say, hey, there's a
market for this in the US. Right. I was one
of the first ones who watched muck Bugs when I
was getting popular in Koreos. I was like, I think
this might be it might become a big thing here too,
because I was like, you know what, let's try it.
Even though people think it's weird. Weird things become, you know,
normal is born, I think. So I always thought like,
(08:02):
this is gonna be it. So so what made you
decide too? Because there are live streaming platforms as well
in the US that you could have utilized. Why did
you decide to go to the YouTube route and pre
record versus live streaming like the videos you're watching? Um?
Because I think America is such a big country. Everyone's
like either working when I'm trying to film during the day,
(08:25):
or they're sleeping in another time zone. But in Korea,
a lot of people take you know, the subway or
you know, public transportation, so that's when they find the
time to watch live streams, So I felt like I
did try doing it, but not a lot of people
were watching it because they're doing something else, like they're
working or they're sleeping or so I was like, you
(08:45):
know what this is. I can't go this route. So
I tried just doing YouTube. So you're doing this thing,
you still when was the first time you noticed that
it was really catching on and you've got a surge
of followers and you started to make money, like real
money doing this. After about seven eight months, I started
getting pretty good income um to fulfill like all my
(09:07):
bills and everything. So yeah, after around a year. Okay,
So for people who are watching these videos and they're thinking,
oh my gosh, these people are getting paid so much
money just to eat food. That's they're so lucky. There's
a lot of work that goes into it. Tucked me
through a regular pre production for a shoot. Let's say
you're gonna do what what was the most recent video
(09:29):
that you just shot? I did a nuclear fire, black
bean rice gate, So it's most of your stuff spicy. Yeah,
people love watching spicy food, they really do. It's because
people kind of want to see other people's demise, like yeah,
go down. But then The thing is I can handle
it pretty well. So people like watching it too because
they're like, oh, how is she like handling that? You know,
(09:50):
so what's the pre production like that for? You decide
the topic? You picked the spicy bean. I don't even
know what you just said, but you pick that, and
then you just roll the camera and you start talking. Yeah. Um,
I have like points written down on my phone like notes,
and then I just start talking like my hendy bees
(10:10):
who are my subscribers? Yeah, so you talk to them
like they're your friends. Do you think that that is
the distinguisher between what you guys are doing in the
US versus overseas, because I feel like a lot of
the videos I've watched of the live streams, there's no talking.
It's just or at least from what I've seen, it's
(10:31):
mostly just eating. And what I've seen in the US
has been a lot of not only talking but also
food drama. You know, they'll be like, oh, this person
didn't collaborate me with me, but whatever, as I like
eat a chicken wing and I'm just like, oh, so
there's like muck bung drama, which is crazier. I think
that's insane. I mean whatever to each their own. It's
(10:52):
turned into this thing where your YouTuber that just happens
to eat while you're being a YouTuber because the vlog
style thing is kind of applying to you. But you're eating, right,
So then how do you pick what topics you're gonna
is it? Your fans are asking you questions throughout the
week and you're like, okay, guys, we're gonna answer these questions,
and you just tackle it with whatever food challenge. Well,
(11:13):
in the beginning, I talked a lot about myself and
my life story, but you know, I'm twenty nine, so
there's not enough you know, stories to tell. But a
lot of people ask questions under my videos and they'll
ask like, oh, can you talk about this or what
do you think about this? But a lot of my
videos are more like positive based, so there's no drama
(11:34):
on my channel. That's exactly why you're here. Seriously, I can't.
I watched some of these videos and I'm like, just
eat your pizza, Hut. I don't want to talk about
who you hate and who you're shading like it doesn't matter. Yeah.
I love like sharing like the positive light, and I
really believe in that positive energy. So I just love
(11:56):
like radiating positive you know, stories and topic on my channel,
And it seems like from some of your videos you
also give advice to your honeybees. That I mean, in
a sense, you could technically remove the food element, which
I don't think you will, but you could, and you
would still have a channel that has content that's relevant
and has a fan base. Would you say that that's true.
(12:18):
I think that's true. But I think it's more fun
eating with them, so it helps with the views. Yeah,
this is a weird question, but you know how everyone
has weird fetishes, like this is a food fetish, Like
have you ever had a weirdo? Be like, I really
want you to eat seven twinkies. I just made that.
I don't know, but like, I feel you're pretty, You're beautiful.
(12:41):
I feel like you might get some creeps. You have
to have had. I surprisingly only had a few, but
I had a guy that was like, oh, I'll pay
you this much on PayPal to eat like a whole turkey.
Wait wait, wait either turkeys. You're like, kindly no, I
(13:11):
was like, no, thank you, sorry, that's so random. And
one other one was like, oh, here, let's make a
hybrid baby, and like he made like a video compilation
of me eating noodles and him eating noodles, and I
was like, that so weird. This is what I'm talking about.
There's some weird stuff out there in the two worlds.
(13:34):
Watching people eat weirdly is a fetish, actually is, and
I think that's why. I also read that there were
businessmen who would just sit there and watch these like
beautiful girls with their chopsticks slurping up the noodles. Like
there's a little it's a little sexual, right. I don't
mean to take that. I don't mean to take a
left turn here. Know some people do purposely eat it
(13:55):
more like sexually young like making like because the yeah,
yeah exactly. They'll take a bite and before the food's
actually even hit their mouth, they're like and You're like,
you didn't even eat that yet. But I get what
you do and play it. But yeah, so I think
that's really interesting. And then so who starts all these
food trends? Because we see the one where it's like
(14:16):
let the person in front of me order, or let's
do the talkie challenge? Where does what comes first? Who's
coming up with these trends? I honestly don't know who
started that, letting the person in front of me. I
don't think it was a buck bommer, but I think
it's just trial and error. But there's always a trend, yeah,
for sure. You know, big bites is a thing that
(14:38):
so people love it when I take big bites, and
I call it a honey bite because I can eat
like basically a bowl of noodle and like one bite,
but it's not actually like a one bite. I keep
chewing it in, but it's one scoop. Yeah, exactly. Oh
my gosh, this whole world is So do you guys
have any questions? I feel like, do you have a question, Allison?
(14:59):
I just feel this is so interesting? Oh yeah, good, Yeah,
so you didn't need you passed on the turkey. Is
there anything that a trend that you've seen maybe that
you were like, I am not doing that one, not yet.
I don't think i've seen anything crazy. Maybe like a
whole live octopus. I've seen that, and it's so creepy
(15:23):
because the octopus, like you know, Okay, so there's these
videos where if you guys don't know what we're talking about,
which you probably don't because you're not weird, like but
look it up. There are videos where women and men
I guess it's meant to I've seen it, both are
eating octopus and the tentacles are just like bitch, slapping
(15:44):
them in the face and actually get stuck and they're
continuing to slurp exactly. And that gives me so much
anxiety because imagine that going down your throat. What if
the octopus was just like you, guys can't see what
I'm doing, but my arms are touched out, and the
octopus doesn't want to go down. They're chewing though. Yeah,
they have to chew it before they swallow, because that
(16:07):
would be just a disaster. They'll probably choke and that.
But I also feel so bad for the octopus. Yeah,
I know, Oh man, Peter, don't come for us. This
was not I don't do it. I don't condone it.
So okay, so yeah, that's gross. I'm glad you would
not do that. I'm not about that life. What has
been your least favorite challenge that you've done that you
(16:29):
kind of had to choke it down? My least favorite
challenge had to be the cup noodle challenge? Okay, what's that? So?
I tried eating like as many cup noodles in ten minutes.
I don't know if you guys know Matt Stoney, he's
a food competitor. Yes, yeah, he did. As I was like,
you know what I think I can do? Like sixteen eighteen.
It looks easy, but it's so hard. First of all
(16:50):
noodles like expanding your stuff instantly. Okay, So how many
did you do? I did like seven? Seven, one third fahil.
I honestly thought I could do at least at least
thirteen or fourteen, but seven and that was still hard.
(17:16):
So I was like, how did Matt Stny do this?
And it was like super hot. I let a cool
down for at least like five ten minutes, but it
was still hot inside the cup noodle, And so I
don't know how he did it. But I don't know
how you did as as you did. How did you
feel afterwards? I felt like death, honestly, but I had
to like walk around and let it like go down.
(17:38):
Oh I just I I watched some of these videos
and I don't know how you Where do you place
the food in your stomach? It's is it your only
meal of the day, right? Yeah? It is? It's your
only meal the day. And then how often do you shoot?
I shoot like two or three times a week, and
the rest of the week you're clean, you're eating healthy,
you're working out. Yeah, I just I can't wrap my
(18:01):
head around it. Do you think that, just generally speaking,
you've always had a bigger appetite than average. Yeah. So
I moved to Taiwan when I was little, and I
hated the food there because I hated cilantro and a
lot of Taiwanese food has cilantro in it. So that
would come home and binge eat Korean food after school.
And I used to eat like two three bulls a
(18:21):
day when I was like in second third grade. So
I think that's when my stomach started like stretching. Yeah. Yeah,
So what does your medicine cabinet look like? Are we
talking pepto? Like how many of these supplements are we
also pepto? Yes, Pepto's a plus. Yeah. It helps before
you eat spicy food. Okay, so prior to doing a
(18:43):
you're giving away your secret. Yeah, I'm like, should I shouldn't?
So before you leat something spicy, you maybe take a
little pepto. Yeah, it helps a lot. Like the aftermath too.
Oh yeah, I mean, I want to ask some t
m I questions, but I'm not going to um just
because a lot of these these foods that you're consuming
or don't promote the healthiest flow, right, But I actually okay,
(19:07):
people think it's weird, but I actually kind of like
enjoy got it? No, I hear you loud and clear?
Y um. I could also tell some stories, but I
want to continue doing this show. Okay, I don't enjoy it,
but if no one does know, Yeah, everyone enjoys the
satisfying moment. If you don't, you're sick bird. So talk
(19:37):
me through. When you hit a million subscribers on YouTube,
were what were your parents thinking at this point? Like,
our daughter is making a lot of money eating food. Actually,
my parents don't know. My dad passed away, okay a
few years ago. Hopefully he knows. Oh he and my
mom she's living in Korea and so like she doesn't
(19:58):
really know about this whole long things. So let's talk.
So your mom lives in Korea and she doesn't even
know what you do for a living. What would she
say if you told her, Hey, mom, I'm eating spicy
noodles and I'm paying those I mean, I think she
would be happy, but at the same time, like really
worried about my health, of course, because all my friends
(20:18):
parents are like, oh Yeahney, you know, like you have
to be careful, like your your stomach is gonna you know,
you're gonna have ulcer or something. But I do get
a body check up every year and it's okay so far. Yeah,
that's great. So you don't think your mom's ever seen
any of your videos? I don't think so, because she
hasn't mentioned anything, or she's like me the creep who
(20:39):
watches and doesn't tell anything. Probably I told her and
she's like, oh, yeah, I've watched them all. Do you
do a lot of collaps? Yes, I do. Well, I've
done some with like most Smug Bummers and Tasty BuzzFeed. Yeah. Yeah,
so a lot of people, like food related people I've
collapped with. Who's been your favorite collaboration so far? My
favorite us with Nicicado Avocado and Zach Toy Okay, yeah.
(21:03):
We did a wing race okay, chicken wing nuclear fire
chicken wing ring race. Yeah yeah, and that was really fun.
It's just I think it was Zac and me, like
I was tied Honey and your boys that and today
we're going to be doing a nuclear fire wing challenge.
(21:30):
Nickicado Avocado. I think he's hilarious. Yeah, he's funny. He
just seems like such a pure, nice, gentle soul. And
when he puts the food down, he's so excited. That's
the thing. I love watching his videos because the passion
is really real. You know what else I was gonna
ask you, I noticed a lot of the muck bogers
(21:51):
whatever he said, I'm going with it. Everyone has the
same thermos is. Are you guys all sponsored by the
same like water company? Yeah? I was before, but I
everyone is that why everyone has it in their videos?
Because I was like, everyone has the same water thermois. Yeah,
So how does it work with Obviously you're getting monetized
through views. A lot of YouTubers are getting sponsorships through brands.
(22:16):
How does it work for somebody who eats food for
a living. For me, a lot of noodle brands contact
me and water of course, because we're always drinking stuff
and like pepto, they're interested in sponsoring videos and stuff
like that. So anything related to food they actually contact
us and see like where we can go from there. Yeah,
(22:38):
that's really cool. Yeah, yeah, I was wondering how you
guys monetize outside of just the traditional YouTube videos. And
then what about merch March. So I have haney merch
dot com. Yeah, you have cute March. Thank you. And
actually for this month, October is Breast Cancer Awareness months,
so I'm donating all the profit to National Breasts Their Foundation,
(23:01):
and I'm trying to like design different logos for maybe
like one every month. You guys, if that's not a
good enough reason to go out and get yourself some merch,
now is the time you were going to buy it anyway,
just buy it this month to support. That's incredible that
you do. That you're doing this. You're obviously doing really
really well. You have a solid fan base. Every video
(23:22):
you put out gets tons of us. What's next for you?
Next for me is cooking. I do want to start
cooking in my videos, and I want to expand into
maybe like the restaurant business name it honey honey Bees
or something, and have like all the honey Bees come
(23:42):
in and do like meat and greets there and like
give out free food to some people, you know, like
homeless and stuff too. That's incredible. So we actually just
had Roy Choy in a couple of days ago, and
he was telling us that he basically started the food
truck thing, so you could you could have a little
honey Bee food truck that's buzzing around town. Shape it
like a b Yes, I'm just saying, yeah, I think
(24:05):
that's a good idea. Actually I haven't thought about that.
See you guys, ideas are just being born here. So
what kind of food do you like cooking? I love
cooking Korean food, like kimchi fried rice, kimchi ste You
know if she's a good cook. No, I mean I
haven't been able to cook because of my mukbung videos,
(24:26):
but before that I did cook a lot. But do
you consider yourself a good cook? I think I'm okay.
Where where do you learn? Just like Internet? That's cool,
So you're gonna start cooking? You want to have a restaurant.
How do you think the transition is going to be?
Because a lot of people on YouTube, they transition into mainstream,
whether it be a YouTuber, may go on into mainstream
(24:47):
media and get on a TV show and you might
become a chef right or open up a really successful restaurant.
What happens to the channel. Do you continue to do
the Mukbong. Yes, I'm going to do mukbang hopefully forever.
Maybe not as often, but I just want to keep
my honey bees entertained until I die, so hopefully I
(25:09):
can keep it going forever. I mean, you're doing really,
really well. What do you think the whole world of
m What is the future for it? Because they're more
and more people are jumping on the bandwagon for it.
Where do you see this industry going? Are people just
gonna because the challenges are happening? Is there anything else
that you guys might do that's interesting, because maybe cooking
will be something people start to do. I think if
(25:30):
we integrate cooking and eating, I think a lot more
people will watch because you know, like we're not professional
chefs or anything, but knowing that they can relate to
us like people who can't really cook that well, I
think they'll relate to us and watch it more. And
you said you work with Tasty and and Buzz, Yeah,
I I collapsed with them. That would be a really
(25:53):
great collab because I get hypnotized watching those like the
quick Little Tasty videos where they're making things. It makes
you feel like you can cook. I can't cook for
for but watching those are like, hey, I can make
up whatever. So maybe that's a fun partnership for you. Yeah,
we'll see. Yeah, you never know. Um. So a lot
of people get confused between a s MR and muck bong?
(26:16):
Do you have the high tech audio equipment so that
you're also giving them a little bit of that too?
Actually have an a s m R channel? AMR Oh
you do? Okay, okay, I'm so glad that you have
that because I want to talk through that too. That's
another thing I don't understand. My number one question with
a sm R. Allison and I were talking about it
(26:37):
before the show. We were like, should we eat the
whole time with her? And then she was like, I
can't listen then, because I can't listen to people too.
A lot of people don't like hearing other people Yeah. Yeah, no,
you just did it. You just didn't. Yeah. So there
are people who can't stand it, and then there's other
people who are Why are people obsessed with hearing the
(26:58):
sounds of someone smacking their food? I think it's I
think it's disgusting. What is the appeal? So I think
some people have like a sensitive I don't know nerve
system to hearing, so they feel like this tingle when
they hear like tapping or like is that? Why? Is
that why they tap on everything before they Oh, I'm
like open the box. But then they're like tapping with
(27:20):
their acrylic males. I'm like, oh about it, because it's
when they tap they feel it in their whole body.
The people listening here, some people do. I don't feel
the tingles, but some people actually feel it in their
whole body, so they love that and it helps them
fall asleep. Like white noise. Okay, yeah, I know all
about white noise. My baby has to listen to white
(27:41):
noise to fall asleep. You know what I'm talking about, Brian,
that white noise machine. So okay, I go home and
Atlas is listening to her, being like oh okay. That's
my other question. What's with the whispering that also like
tingles your ears or some people it's like hey, they're
like give it, give us a little SMR intro annipes.
(28:06):
Welcome to any SMR eating noodles? Do you feel so
weird doing that? And there's no no judging. I'm just
like I would feel so awkward being like because you're
also shooting by yourself. So so what you're at home
and you're like, I think it's actually funny, like laughing inside.
(28:32):
Do you watch other a SMR videos? I used to
fall asleep listening to people eat eating what eating, like
noodles or anything? Because yeah, well a SMR slurping is
a little more gentle because you don't is there a
technique to the slurp? Well, yeah, you don't really slurp it.
You kind of go oh, is there an actual noodle
(28:54):
in your mouth? Because that sounded like there was a
noodle in your mouth. There's no noodle in her mouth. Guy,
might be, I swear to unless you're a pack of noodles.
I think I turned into one. I'm dying right out. Okay,
so another thing and they're slicing like bars of soap.
I noticed that I watch, But it's not because I
(29:15):
like the sound. I like watching. It's very satisfying. There
are so many weird trends, and I don't want to
use the word weird because it's that's not cool. It's
not that it's weird. There's so many trends that I
don't quite understand, like the slicing things and people being
like satisfying. There's so many. You go on Snapchat and
(29:36):
there's like it's so satisfying and I click through and
I'm watching and all the like slime slime and oh
and there's a whole world of mixing slime and like
the weird sounds that that makes. Yeah, I actually like
the slime sounds. You guys don't like that. I like
the slime sounds. Oh there's one with a fire like
(29:56):
really hot knife and like cutting into stuff that's really
satisfying to. Okay, besides your own SMR channel, who would
your favorite SMR channel? My favorite? I actually haven't watched
one in a while, but I would say, actually, I
don't know. There's mother. I saw there was like a
she was very young, maybe a thirteen year old girl,
(30:17):
and she's like hi, guys, and she has braces and
I'm like, your parents know that you're doing because oh,
you know what I'm talking about, mac or something super cute.
She she does like role play and she's adorable. But
I guess because i'm a parent now, I'm a new
parent of four months, I think I'm an expert. I
just feel like there's so many creeps out there on
the internet who are probably like pretending to be young viewers,
(30:40):
and they're like, whisper something. It's just weird, you know
what I'm saying. It's you have to have creepy people
following you. I know. I don't confer it to a
lot of other muck bungers, I think, because like when
I eat, I don't go like I go like, you're
like delacious, Yeah, oh yeah, noodle exactly? Was that good? Yeah?
(31:06):
You want to collapse. I go in and I'm like twinkie,
and I'm like twinky Oh man, that's so funny. Okay,
So what do your friends think of what you do
for a living? You know, I couldn't tell my friends
when I had my channel because my best friend actually
thinks the eating sounds is really weird and she gets
hungry often. So she told me that I was about
(31:28):
to tell her, but I couldn't because she told me
it's she thinks it's weird, and you know, she doesn't
understand it. So for the longest time I didn't tell
my friends either that it was crazy for almost a year,
I think, but they found out through YouTube recommendations and
they were like, is this honey? And I get like
all these texts like honey Bees type another noodle challenge
(31:52):
and they're like, what the fun the noodle challenge? Yeah,
and like I do a lot of challenges, so like
I don't look cute, you know, doing it. I'm like, yeah,
you know what. I appreciate the authenticity. I think that's
one of the reasons you probably have such a solid
fan base because you're not all up in there trying
to have a noodle orgy. You're just eating the noodles
(32:14):
right right, right. But my friends are really supportive now.
They actually are very proud of me, So I'm really
thankful because I was scared that they were going to
judge me, and you know, because a lot of people
think it's weird still, but they're like, honey, you should
have told us, like I support whatever you do, and
you know what they really like, I was like really touched,
(32:35):
and I was like, tearing muck Bong is one of
my little dirty secrets that I used to watch when
I was pregnant. What is something that you watch on
YouTube that you know it might be embarrassing? Is it, like,
you know how they make those hamster dishes that are
only small omelets I used to watch those. Well just
blow my own cover here, But anything that you used
(32:57):
to watch or that you think it's weird? Um, do
you guys even know what I'm talking about? I actually
used to watch though, make like the tiniest comelets and
they're like, here you go, Peppe the Mouse. I watched those.
I think that's the weird muck Bong was the weirdest
thing for other people. But yeah, who's your favorite muck
(33:19):
banger besides me? Hi? It was Bent, this Korean muck banger.
I don't know if you guys know, I don't, but
I love watching Nicicato. It has funny and zach toy.
He's an a SMR channel, but he puts a lot
of effort into his videos, like he'll show every ingredient
(33:41):
and make sounds for each ingredient. So they are my
favorite channels to watch. Yeah, I mean, and there's a
technique to muck bong too. You are every bite? Are
you like showing the because I know Nicoicato does that.
He'll be like, look at this little chicken bite and
he'll like, oh yeah, and he dips and he's like,
oh yeah, girl, honey it and he's so happy. Do
(34:02):
you have like a certain way that you do things
or do you just dive in? Um? Sometimes I do,
and I'll go, like go in front of the camera
and be like handy bite because I start with that
honey bite and then take the biggest bite and eat
and share with them. I guess with my viewers, but
that's how I start my videos. I love it. Okay,
So when you're not doing U bang, you're eating really healthy.
What is your favorite If you had a last meal
(34:25):
on Earth, which is going to be very far in
the future, you're like a hundred and fifty, what would
that meal be? That meal would be fried chicken, curry
and fried chicken. I think. Yeah. My husband just had
some Korean fried chicken from Kaytown. It was like one
place that's super famous. I don't maybe that sounds familiar,
but everyone went crazy and said it was the best
(34:46):
fried chicken they've ever had in their lives. Yeah, Crean
fried chicken. If you haven't tried it, you have to
try it. It's seriously one of the best. I think
it's better than like regular it is. Yeah, like KFC
or anything like that. You can't compare the two. That's
a My husband was saying. He was like, it's next
level is crispy? Like crispy? So that would be your
(35:07):
your last And do you have a favorite restaurant in
l A that you like to go to? My favorite
Korean barbecue or like, I don't know if you guys
have ever tried large intestines. It sounds but it's really good.
There is a place called Okay, yeah, that's like one
of my Yeah it's in k Town. Okay, so large intestines? Yeah,
(35:28):
what how is it served? Korean barbecue? So is it grilled? Yeah,
it's grilled, Okay. Yeah, it's really good with sod Okay. Yeah, alright,
So give some advice to somebody because this is a
I think it's a trend that's not going anywhere. It's
been pretty relevant since you started three years ago. Somebody
(35:49):
was watching your videos and they love food and they
want to do their own take on muk bong. What
what advice would you give them? I would say, look
at the trends, watch other people's muck bongs, because I
know muk bungers that don't watch muk bungs at all
because they're so like busy with their own editing, their
own they don't want to watch anyone else eat. But
I think researching other mukbung videos it's really helpful and
(36:13):
look at the trends. And also eat what you love,
because you can tell when someone doesn't like what they're
eating and they're just eating it just because it's popular,
you know what I mean. Yeah, a lot of people
tell me, like another noodle video. You know, I keep
doing it because that's still getting reinvent the noodle though,
Like how are you because you're you're clearly keeping the
content fresh. Do you run out of noodle ideas? I
(36:36):
am a little bit, but you know what, I have
to keep thinking of new things, Like I invented, well,
I didn't really invented kind of no, you invented everything.
This kimchi wrapped spicy fire noodles, so big bites are
in like it's trending. And then I love noodles spicy noodles,
so I combined the two and I wrapped it in
kimchi like a whole kimchi, and I took big bites
(36:58):
and that became like fire role. Yeah, so like kind
of like combining whatever. You're definitely invented that, by the way,
right now, I'm just saying it, so it's official, and
it's on air, so it's even more official. We're just
spreading rumors here, and so you're just constantly trying to
think of ways to reinvent. Basically, what's been your least
favorite video? Do you have one? We all have something
and we look back on and we're like, oh, I
(37:20):
wish I didn't do that. Um, I think trying Okay,
sorry burger king, but trying the whopperrito. It was so
it's like it was like a whopper in a tortilla.
Oh my god, that just sounds like, why do that
to yourself? Yeah, So I think I was like one
(37:40):
of my worst worst videos because it was so disgusted
and I actually eat it. I did you ate the
whole thing? I tried? Oh, that just sounds painful doing
it for the people doing it for your honeybees. Are
there some people who don't actually eat everything? Because sometimes
I watched these videos and I'm there is no way
(38:01):
and I know the power of editing. Do you think
there's a conspiracy with some people not eating everything on
the plate? Yeah? I think some people do hide it
like under and kind of like take a bite and
then put it down and then bring another. Do you
do slice of people? No, I don't know. You eat
those noodles? I would say, like, if I couldn't finish it,
I'll just say like, well I don't feel Yeah, like
(38:23):
I tell the truth. You know, have you ever thrown
up after? Yeah? Like challenges challenges. Okay, so you're you've
given some really good advice to your fans. Is there
anything you'd like to say to your fans because they're
the reason you're here, and they're really you have a
very unique fan base. They're very supportive of you, they're
really really engaged. Anything you want to say to them.
(38:43):
I have a lot of honey babies that watch with
their parents, so I just want to say, don't care
about what other people think, and just do you, like, seriously,
just do whatever you love because the people who love
you will say and the people who don't whatever, like
brush them off your shoulders. They don't have to be
in your life, but the people who love you will
(39:04):
always support you. So just dear thing. I love that
you said that, because one of the things that really
stuck out to me with you our videos, because there's
obviously many muck buggers out there. We chose you specifically
because not only are you doing this really well and
you have a really engaged fan base, but you seem
to really inspire and keep it super positive with your viewers,
(39:26):
which I really appreciate. I think it's really authentic, and
just meeting you today, it's not it's not a show,
it's genuinely who you are. So to know that you
make such an impact on such a wide variety of
you said from five to fifty. How does that feel
now looking back three years down the road, It's really insane.
I never thought I would have like all these people
(39:47):
supporting me. And when I first started my videos, a
lot of people are like, oh my gosh, she's so cringe, Like,
you know, I can't watch her, she's so weird. But
I just kept doing that and it's I didn't think
so many people would love me and support me, And
it's just crazy knowing that they're they're always here for me.
(40:08):
So I'm so grateful. And that's a testament to your
message saying be yourself because people called you cringe and
you kept being yourself, and then you you through that,
you curated the exact right people to be your honey.
Bees and honey Bees. We have a little surprise for you.
We have signed well I haven't. I had nothing to
(40:28):
do with this. I brought the noodles your queen Bee.
Can I call you that? A lot of people. Your
Queen Bee has signed two packs of noodles, and we're
going to give these noodles away to two very special
honey Bees. So we will let you guys know on
our Instagram what the instructions are to win this. These noodles.
(40:49):
But they're great. You can even eat them if you
want their their package, they're closed. You didn't take any bites,
did you. They probably wanted more you did, they'd want
it even more. It goes viral and stilling. Well, we're
really excited for all the things you have going on.
I can't wait to go to your restaurant or visit
your buzzing around bee honey truck. But keep us happy,
(41:12):
keep us posted, congratulations, and keep doing your thing, keep
killing it. Thank you so much. All right, we'll talk
to you soon. By Behind the Influence is a production
of I Heart Radio and TDC Media
Welcome to Behind the Influence, a production of I Heart
Radio and t DC Media. So for the longest time,
I didn't tell my friends either that it was crazy.
For almost a year, I think I just want to say,
don't care about what other people think, and just do
you like seriously, just do whatever you love. The people
who love you will stay, and the people who don't whatever.
(00:22):
I didn't think so many people would love me and
support me, and it's just crazy knowing that they're they're
always here for me. So I'm still grateful. Yanni eats
is in the house. How did I do? You did perfect?
Was it perfect? It was like an an It was
actually perfect. We were extensively discussing how to say her name, Yanni,
(00:45):
and the way that you described it was it's yeah
or the age of the beginning, Yanni. Yes. And the
reason we're here is because you eat. I eat like
a pig. You eat, and you make a living eating.
And I'm so enthralled with this entire world of Here's
another thing I don't properly know how to pronounce. Is
(01:07):
it muck bog muck bang? You said it perfectly the
first I muck bang. I mean so many complications already,
it's he on whatever you're here. We're excited. You have
a huge fan base and you've built this all based
off of a world of eating food on camera. And
it's not just eating. You're actually also discussing and you're
(01:29):
talking to your viewers. You're breaking the fourth wall. I
want to break down for people who are not familiar
with this world what it is so explained to us
in layman's terms, what muck bong is so literally it
comes from the words wong Nan pong zong, and mang
Nan is eating and pong zong is broadcast, so it's
(01:50):
eating broadcast. Got it. So in Korea, mukbong started as
like a live streaming thing, so it was basically eating broadcast.
But here in America we pre record our videos and
edit them and upload it. But that's where the word
mukbang came from. Okay, Okay, that makes sense. So my
husband like, seven years ago, I used to work at ustream.
(02:10):
Maybe it was eight years ago, so eight years ago.
My husband's like, okay, these two channels are doing well.
One is just like a puppy cam where puppies are
playing in a in a cage and it's that makes
total sense, right. I could watch puppies for hours. But
then people were so obsessed with watching people eat, and
I was so confused. What do you think it is
(02:31):
about watching people eat that people are obsessed with? So
I was one of the weird people that used to
watch Mukbong eight years ago, which I'm pretty like shocked
that your husband came across eating videos back then because
it wasn't as popular. But I started eating because I
was on this Cayam pepper diet or I started watching
mukbang's because men helped me curb my cravings. Interesting, but
(02:54):
nowadays a lot of people say it helps them with
like going through chemotherapy, So they gained their appetite watching
mukbung videos and also because they feel lonely because they
don't have like a partner to eat with, so they'll
eat with us muck. It's interesting. That's interesting. So I
have my own Muckbong story. So I just had a
baby like three and a half months ago, and I
(03:17):
remember there was a moment there was a little scare
where they thought maybe she has gestational diabetes, which I didn't.
It turned out fine, But they basically were like, you
can't have sugar until we do this next test, and
I am a sugar fiend, like I need carbs, I
need cookies, I need all these delicious things. So my
husband's like, if there's ever a time for you to
(03:37):
cut it off, it's right now. And I was like, fine,
I won't eat my cookies at night, like it's my
favorite thing to eat cookies and night in bed. Anyway,
So I come across who was the video that I
first came across. It was Tricia Patis, So she's like,
it came up on my YouTube feed because I think
we were looking up influencers in general for this show.
And I see it like it says letting the person
(03:58):
in front of me decide what I eat, And I'm like,
what is this? So I click on it and it's
watching someone I don't know eating a burger that I
can't eat, and then eating like churo waffles after that
I also can't eat. And I just sat there and
for some reason I felt satisfied watching someone else eat,
and it was I was kind of embarrassed about it,
(04:19):
so I didn't tell anyone, and then all my recommendations
you and then it was like Nick cock, so he
came up. Stephanie Sue came up, and I'm like, all
my recommendations are food videos, so creepy, but there is
something really satisfying about watching someone else eat right right right.
I always watch mukbum videos before I fall asleep because
I only eat once a day, and that's how I eat,
(04:41):
like such a large amount. It's basically intermittent fasting, and
it helps me like satisfy my cravings watching mukmong videos.
I watched some of these videos and I'm like, how
are you guys healthy and surviving and not going to
the doctor where they're like you have diabetes or you
have a heart condition because the food you guys are
eating is not healthy at all. I'm never seeing somebody
(05:04):
muckbong a chopped salad. It's like fried chicken noodles. You
do a lot of noodles, a lot of it's fast food.
So how does your day look the rest of the
day when you're not doing these I have two huskies,
so they're basically my personal trainers. So I work out
in the morning and at night, like five to ten
miles every day. Yeah, and when I'm not filming muckbungs.
(05:27):
I eat really healthy, like salad or you know, just
like soy milk or anything healthy. So that's how I
keep my health, I guess pretty good. So so we
went We're gonna go back a little bit. So let's
talk about the very first time you decided. So it
was helping you through some things initially, and that's why
you were interested in this whole world. But then you
(05:48):
decided that you were going to start uploading videos. When
was that for you? That was around three years ago.
When I first used to watch muckbugs, A lot of
people thought it was weird, so I never told anyone
about it. But then I came across an English mbong
three years ago and I was like, I love eating
and I want to tell my life story to you know, strangers,
I guess, And that's when I started filming my Spicy
(06:12):
Noodle challenge video. Did you even know that that was
the path to take? Like doing challenge videos? How did
you know what? You know? What I'm saying. Some people
do the drive through things, some people do the challenge thing.
How did you know what you wanted to do? When
I filmed my first video, the Spicy fire Noodle challenge
was going viral, and I knew I could handle spice
(06:32):
really well because I ate kimche since I was like
one or two years old. I would like rip it
up and like eat it by myself, like from the
low tables, and so I knew I could handle this challenge.
So when people came across my videos, they were like,
how does this girl eat the whole thing like without
being all like you know, like, so they were like
very like surprised that I could do that and handle
(06:55):
the spice. So now that you're you basically make a
living doing this, but did you think when you first
did that first video that this would be a possibility
for you? I actually did because I knew there weren't
a lot of other muck bangers. And when you're like
one of the first ones to do something on YouTube
or anywhere in general, then you're bound to become, you know,
(07:16):
one of the biggest. I guess yeah, I mean you
were absolutely a pioneer in the space for sure. And
then even me mentioning Tricia Patis, that was not her thing, right,
Like it's fine that she's doing it now, but I
think a lot of people jumped on the bandwagon after
it became really popular. But you were a trailblazer in
that space that you knew that it would do well
because in Asia it's doing really, really well. So did
(07:38):
you kind of see that and say, hey, there's a
market for this in the US. Right. I was one
of the first ones who watched muck Bugs when I
was getting popular in Koreos. I was like, I think
this might be it might become a big thing here too,
because I was like, you know what, let's try it.
Even though people think it's weird. Weird things become, you know,
normal is born, I think. So I always thought like,
(08:02):
this is gonna be it. So so what made you
decide too? Because there are live streaming platforms as well
in the US that you could have utilized. Why did
you decide to go to the YouTube route and pre
record versus live streaming like the videos you're watching? Um?
Because I think America is such a big country. Everyone's
like either working when I'm trying to film during the day,
(08:25):
or they're sleeping in another time zone. But in Korea,
a lot of people take you know, the subway or
you know, public transportation, so that's when they find the
time to watch live streams, So I felt like I
did try doing it, but not a lot of people
were watching it because they're doing something else, like they're
working or they're sleeping or so I was like, you
(08:45):
know what this is. I can't go this route. So
I tried just doing YouTube. So you're doing this thing,
you still when was the first time you noticed that
it was really catching on and you've got a surge
of followers and you started to make money, like real
money doing this. After about seven eight months, I started
getting pretty good income um to fulfill like all my
(09:07):
bills and everything. So yeah, after around a year. Okay,
So for people who are watching these videos and they're thinking,
oh my gosh, these people are getting paid so much
money just to eat food. That's they're so lucky. There's
a lot of work that goes into it. Tucked me
through a regular pre production for a shoot. Let's say
you're gonna do what what was the most recent video
(09:29):
that you just shot? I did a nuclear fire, black
bean rice gate, So it's most of your stuff spicy. Yeah,
people love watching spicy food, they really do. It's because
people kind of want to see other people's demise, like yeah,
go down. But then The thing is I can handle
it pretty well. So people like watching it too because
they're like, oh, how is she like handling that? You know,
(09:50):
so what's the pre production like that for? You decide
the topic? You picked the spicy bean. I don't even
know what you just said, but you pick that, and
then you just roll the camera and you start talking. Yeah. Um,
I have like points written down on my phone like notes,
and then I just start talking like my hendy bees
(10:10):
who are my subscribers? Yeah, so you talk to them
like they're your friends. Do you think that that is
the distinguisher between what you guys are doing in the
US versus overseas, because I feel like a lot of
the videos I've watched of the live streams, there's no talking.
It's just or at least from what I've seen, it's
(10:31):
mostly just eating. And what I've seen in the US
has been a lot of not only talking but also
food drama. You know, they'll be like, oh, this person
didn't collaborate me with me, but whatever, as I like
eat a chicken wing and I'm just like, oh, so
there's like muck bung drama, which is crazier. I think
that's insane. I mean whatever to each their own. It's
(10:52):
turned into this thing where your YouTuber that just happens
to eat while you're being a YouTuber because the vlog
style thing is kind of applying to you. But you're eating, right,
So then how do you pick what topics you're gonna
is it? Your fans are asking you questions throughout the
week and you're like, okay, guys, we're gonna answer these questions,
and you just tackle it with whatever food challenge. Well,
(11:13):
in the beginning, I talked a lot about myself and
my life story, but you know, I'm twenty nine, so
there's not enough you know, stories to tell. But a
lot of people ask questions under my videos and they'll
ask like, oh, can you talk about this or what
do you think about this? But a lot of my
videos are more like positive based, so there's no drama
(11:34):
on my channel. That's exactly why you're here. Seriously, I can't.
I watched some of these videos and I'm like, just
eat your pizza, Hut. I don't want to talk about
who you hate and who you're shading like it doesn't matter. Yeah.
I love like sharing like the positive light, and I
really believe in that positive energy. So I just love
(11:56):
like radiating positive you know, stories and topic on my channel,
And it seems like from some of your videos you
also give advice to your honeybees. That I mean, in
a sense, you could technically remove the food element, which
I don't think you will, but you could, and you
would still have a channel that has content that's relevant
and has a fan base. Would you say that that's true.
(12:18):
I think that's true. But I think it's more fun
eating with them, so it helps with the views. Yeah,
this is a weird question, but you know how everyone
has weird fetishes, like this is a food fetish, Like
have you ever had a weirdo? Be like, I really
want you to eat seven twinkies. I just made that.
I don't know, but like, I feel you're pretty, You're beautiful.
(12:41):
I feel like you might get some creeps. You have
to have had. I surprisingly only had a few, but
I had a guy that was like, oh, I'll pay
you this much on PayPal to eat like a whole turkey.
Wait wait, wait either turkeys. You're like, kindly no, I
(13:11):
was like, no, thank you, sorry, that's so random. And
one other one was like, oh, here, let's make a
hybrid baby, and like he made like a video compilation
of me eating noodles and him eating noodles, and I
was like, that so weird. This is what I'm talking about.
There's some weird stuff out there in the two worlds.
(13:34):
Watching people eat weirdly is a fetish, actually is, and
I think that's why. I also read that there were
businessmen who would just sit there and watch these like
beautiful girls with their chopsticks slurping up the noodles. Like
there's a little it's a little sexual, right. I don't
mean to take that. I don't mean to take a
left turn here. Know some people do purposely eat it
(13:55):
more like sexually young like making like because the yeah,
yeah exactly. They'll take a bite and before the food's
actually even hit their mouth, they're like and You're like,
you didn't even eat that yet. But I get what
you do and play it. But yeah, so I think
that's really interesting. And then so who starts all these
food trends? Because we see the one where it's like
(14:16):
let the person in front of me order, or let's
do the talkie challenge? Where does what comes first? Who's
coming up with these trends? I honestly don't know who
started that, letting the person in front of me. I
don't think it was a buck bommer, but I think
it's just trial and error. But there's always a trend, yeah,
for sure. You know, big bites is a thing that
(14:38):
so people love it when I take big bites, and
I call it a honey bite because I can eat
like basically a bowl of noodle and like one bite,
but it's not actually like a one bite. I keep
chewing it in, but it's one scoop. Yeah, exactly. Oh
my gosh, this whole world is So do you guys
have any questions? I feel like, do you have a question, Allison?
(14:59):
I just feel this is so interesting? Oh yeah, good, Yeah,
so you didn't need you passed on the turkey. Is
there anything that a trend that you've seen maybe that
you were like, I am not doing that one, not yet.
I don't think i've seen anything crazy. Maybe like a
whole live octopus. I've seen that, and it's so creepy
(15:23):
because the octopus, like you know, Okay, so there's these
videos where if you guys don't know what we're talking about,
which you probably don't because you're not weird, like but
look it up. There are videos where women and men
I guess it's meant to I've seen it, both are
eating octopus and the tentacles are just like bitch, slapping
(15:44):
them in the face and actually get stuck and they're
continuing to slurp exactly. And that gives me so much
anxiety because imagine that going down your throat. What if
the octopus was just like you, guys can't see what
I'm doing, but my arms are touched out, and the
octopus doesn't want to go down. They're chewing though. Yeah,
they have to chew it before they swallow, because that
(16:07):
would be just a disaster. They'll probably choke and that.
But I also feel so bad for the octopus. Yeah,
I know, Oh man, Peter, don't come for us. This
was not I don't do it. I don't condone it.
So okay, so yeah, that's gross. I'm glad you would
not do that. I'm not about that life. What has
been your least favorite challenge that you've done that you
(16:29):
kind of had to choke it down? My least favorite
challenge had to be the cup noodle challenge? Okay, what's that? So?
I tried eating like as many cup noodles in ten minutes.
I don't know if you guys know Matt Stoney, he's
a food competitor. Yes, yeah, he did. As I was like,
you know what I think I can do? Like sixteen eighteen.
It looks easy, but it's so hard. First of all
(16:50):
noodles like expanding your stuff instantly. Okay, So how many
did you do? I did like seven? Seven, one third fahil.
I honestly thought I could do at least at least
thirteen or fourteen, but seven and that was still hard.
(17:16):
So I was like, how did Matt Stny do this?
And it was like super hot. I let a cool
down for at least like five ten minutes, but it
was still hot inside the cup noodle, And so I
don't know how he did it. But I don't know
how you did as as you did. How did you
feel afterwards? I felt like death, honestly, but I had
to like walk around and let it like go down.
(17:38):
Oh I just I I watched some of these videos
and I don't know how you Where do you place
the food in your stomach? It's is it your only
meal of the day, right? Yeah? It is? It's your
only meal the day. And then how often do you shoot?
I shoot like two or three times a week, and
the rest of the week you're clean, you're eating healthy,
you're working out. Yeah, I just I can't wrap my
(18:01):
head around it. Do you think that, just generally speaking,
you've always had a bigger appetite than average. Yeah. So
I moved to Taiwan when I was little, and I
hated the food there because I hated cilantro and a
lot of Taiwanese food has cilantro in it. So that
would come home and binge eat Korean food after school.
And I used to eat like two three bulls a
(18:21):
day when I was like in second third grade. So
I think that's when my stomach started like stretching. Yeah. Yeah,
So what does your medicine cabinet look like? Are we
talking pepto? Like how many of these supplements are we
also pepto? Yes, Pepto's a plus. Yeah. It helps before
you eat spicy food. Okay, so prior to doing a
(18:43):
you're giving away your secret. Yeah, I'm like, should I shouldn't?
So before you leat something spicy, you maybe take a
little pepto. Yeah, it helps a lot. Like the aftermath too.
Oh yeah, I mean, I want to ask some t
m I questions, but I'm not going to um just
because a lot of these these foods that you're consuming
or don't promote the healthiest flow, right, But I actually okay,
(19:07):
people think it's weird, but I actually kind of like
enjoy got it? No, I hear you loud and clear?
Y um. I could also tell some stories, but I
want to continue doing this show. Okay, I don't enjoy it,
but if no one does know, Yeah, everyone enjoys the
satisfying moment. If you don't, you're sick bird. So talk
(19:37):
me through. When you hit a million subscribers on YouTube,
were what were your parents thinking at this point? Like,
our daughter is making a lot of money eating food. Actually,
my parents don't know. My dad passed away, okay a
few years ago. Hopefully he knows. Oh he and my
mom she's living in Korea and so like she doesn't
(19:58):
really know about this whole long things. So let's talk.
So your mom lives in Korea and she doesn't even
know what you do for a living. What would she
say if you told her, Hey, mom, I'm eating spicy
noodles and I'm paying those I mean, I think she
would be happy, but at the same time, like really
worried about my health, of course, because all my friends
(20:18):
parents are like, oh Yeahney, you know, like you have
to be careful, like your your stomach is gonna you know,
you're gonna have ulcer or something. But I do get
a body check up every year and it's okay so far. Yeah,
that's great. So you don't think your mom's ever seen
any of your videos? I don't think so, because she
hasn't mentioned anything, or she's like me the creep who
(20:39):
watches and doesn't tell anything. Probably I told her and
she's like, oh, yeah, I've watched them all. Do you
do a lot of collaps? Yes, I do. Well, I've
done some with like most Smug Bummers and Tasty BuzzFeed. Yeah. Yeah,
so a lot of people, like food related people I've
collapped with. Who's been your favorite collaboration so far? My
favorite us with Nicicado Avocado and Zach Toy Okay, yeah.
(21:03):
We did a wing race okay, chicken wing nuclear fire
chicken wing ring race. Yeah yeah, and that was really fun.
It's just I think it was Zac and me, like
I was tied Honey and your boys that and today
we're going to be doing a nuclear fire wing challenge.
(21:30):
Nickicado Avocado. I think he's hilarious. Yeah, he's funny. He
just seems like such a pure, nice, gentle soul. And
when he puts the food down, he's so excited. That's
the thing. I love watching his videos because the passion
is really real. You know what else I was gonna
ask you, I noticed a lot of the muck bogers
(21:51):
whatever he said, I'm going with it. Everyone has the
same thermos is. Are you guys all sponsored by the
same like water company? Yeah? I was before, but I
everyone is that why everyone has it in their videos?
Because I was like, everyone has the same water thermois. Yeah,
So how does it work with Obviously you're getting monetized
through views. A lot of YouTubers are getting sponsorships through brands.
(22:16):
How does it work for somebody who eats food for
a living. For me, a lot of noodle brands contact
me and water of course, because we're always drinking stuff
and like pepto, they're interested in sponsoring videos and stuff
like that. So anything related to food they actually contact
us and see like where we can go from there. Yeah,
(22:38):
that's really cool. Yeah, yeah, I was wondering how you
guys monetize outside of just the traditional YouTube videos. And
then what about merch March. So I have haney merch
dot com. Yeah, you have cute March. Thank you. And
actually for this month, October is Breast Cancer Awareness months,
so I'm donating all the profit to National Breasts Their Foundation,
(23:01):
and I'm trying to like design different logos for maybe
like one every month. You guys, if that's not a
good enough reason to go out and get yourself some merch,
now is the time you were going to buy it anyway,
just buy it this month to support. That's incredible that
you do. That you're doing this. You're obviously doing really
really well. You have a solid fan base. Every video
(23:22):
you put out gets tons of us. What's next for you?
Next for me is cooking. I do want to start
cooking in my videos, and I want to expand into
maybe like the restaurant business name it honey honey Bees
or something, and have like all the honey Bees come
(23:42):
in and do like meat and greets there and like
give out free food to some people, you know, like
homeless and stuff too. That's incredible. So we actually just
had Roy Choy in a couple of days ago, and
he was telling us that he basically started the food
truck thing, so you could you could have a little
honey Bee food truck that's buzzing around town. Shape it
like a b Yes, I'm just saying, yeah, I think
(24:05):
that's a good idea. Actually I haven't thought about that.
See you guys, ideas are just being born here. So
what kind of food do you like cooking? I love
cooking Korean food, like kimchi fried rice, kimchi ste You
know if she's a good cook. No, I mean I
haven't been able to cook because of my mukbung videos,
(24:26):
but before that I did cook a lot. But do
you consider yourself a good cook? I think I'm okay.
Where where do you learn? Just like Internet? That's cool,
So you're gonna start cooking? You want to have a restaurant.
How do you think the transition is going to be?
Because a lot of people on YouTube, they transition into mainstream,
whether it be a YouTuber, may go on into mainstream
(24:47):
media and get on a TV show and you might
become a chef right or open up a really successful restaurant.
What happens to the channel. Do you continue to do
the Mukbong. Yes, I'm going to do mukbang hopefully forever.
Maybe not as often, but I just want to keep
my honey bees entertained until I die, so hopefully I
(25:09):
can keep it going forever. I mean, you're doing really,
really well. What do you think the whole world of
m What is the future for it? Because they're more
and more people are jumping on the bandwagon for it.
Where do you see this industry going? Are people just
gonna because the challenges are happening? Is there anything else
that you guys might do that's interesting, because maybe cooking
will be something people start to do. I think if
(25:30):
we integrate cooking and eating, I think a lot more
people will watch because you know, like we're not professional
chefs or anything, but knowing that they can relate to
us like people who can't really cook that well, I
think they'll relate to us and watch it more. And
you said you work with Tasty and and Buzz, Yeah,
I I collapsed with them. That would be a really
(25:53):
great collab because I get hypnotized watching those like the
quick Little Tasty videos where they're making things. It makes
you feel like you can cook. I can't cook for
for but watching those are like, hey, I can make
up whatever. So maybe that's a fun partnership for you. Yeah,
we'll see. Yeah, you never know. Um. So a lot
of people get confused between a s MR and muck bong?
(26:16):
Do you have the high tech audio equipment so that
you're also giving them a little bit of that too?
Actually have an a s m R channel? AMR Oh
you do? Okay, okay, I'm so glad that you have
that because I want to talk through that too. That's
another thing I don't understand. My number one question with
a sm R. Allison and I were talking about it
(26:37):
before the show. We were like, should we eat the
whole time with her? And then she was like, I
can't listen then, because I can't listen to people too.
A lot of people don't like hearing other people Yeah. Yeah, no,
you just did it. You just didn't. Yeah. So there
are people who can't stand it, and then there's other
people who are Why are people obsessed with hearing the
(26:58):
sounds of someone smacking their food? I think it's I
think it's disgusting. What is the appeal? So I think
some people have like a sensitive I don't know nerve
system to hearing, so they feel like this tingle when
they hear like tapping or like is that? Why? Is
that why they tap on everything before they Oh, I'm
like open the box. But then they're like tapping with
(27:20):
their acrylic males. I'm like, oh about it, because it's
when they tap they feel it in their whole body.
The people listening here, some people do. I don't feel
the tingles, but some people actually feel it in their
whole body, so they love that and it helps them
fall asleep. Like white noise. Okay, yeah, I know all
about white noise. My baby has to listen to white
(27:41):
noise to fall asleep. You know what I'm talking about, Brian,
that white noise machine. So okay, I go home and
Atlas is listening to her, being like oh okay. That's
my other question. What's with the whispering that also like
tingles your ears or some people it's like hey, they're
like give it, give us a little SMR intro annipes.
(28:06):
Welcome to any SMR eating noodles? Do you feel so
weird doing that? And there's no no judging. I'm just
like I would feel so awkward being like because you're
also shooting by yourself. So so what you're at home
and you're like, I think it's actually funny, like laughing inside.
(28:32):
Do you watch other a SMR videos? I used to
fall asleep listening to people eat eating what eating, like
noodles or anything? Because yeah, well a SMR slurping is
a little more gentle because you don't is there a
technique to the slurp? Well, yeah, you don't really slurp it.
You kind of go oh, is there an actual noodle
(28:54):
in your mouth? Because that sounded like there was a
noodle in your mouth. There's no noodle in her mouth. Guy,
might be, I swear to unless you're a pack of noodles.
I think I turned into one. I'm dying right out. Okay,
so another thing and they're slicing like bars of soap.
I noticed that I watch, But it's not because I
(29:15):
like the sound. I like watching. It's very satisfying. There
are so many weird trends, and I don't want to
use the word weird because it's that's not cool. It's
not that it's weird. There's so many trends that I
don't quite understand, like the slicing things and people being
like satisfying. There's so many. You go on Snapchat and
(29:36):
there's like it's so satisfying and I click through and
I'm watching and all the like slime slime and oh
and there's a whole world of mixing slime and like
the weird sounds that that makes. Yeah, I actually like
the slime sounds. You guys don't like that. I like
the slime sounds. Oh there's one with a fire like
(29:56):
really hot knife and like cutting into stuff that's really
satisfying to. Okay, besides your own SMR channel, who would
your favorite SMR channel? My favorite? I actually haven't watched
one in a while, but I would say, actually, I
don't know. There's mother. I saw there was like a
she was very young, maybe a thirteen year old girl,
(30:17):
and she's like hi, guys, and she has braces and
I'm like, your parents know that you're doing because oh,
you know what I'm talking about, mac or something super cute.
She she does like role play and she's adorable. But
I guess because i'm a parent now, I'm a new
parent of four months, I think I'm an expert. I
just feel like there's so many creeps out there on
the internet who are probably like pretending to be young viewers,
(30:40):
and they're like, whisper something. It's just weird, you know
what I'm saying. It's you have to have creepy people
following you. I know. I don't confer it to a
lot of other muck bungers, I think, because like when
I eat, I don't go like I go like, you're
like delacious, Yeah, oh yeah, noodle exactly? Was that good? Yeah?
(31:06):
You want to collapse. I go in and I'm like twinkie,
and I'm like twinky Oh man, that's so funny. Okay,
So what do your friends think of what you do
for a living? You know, I couldn't tell my friends
when I had my channel because my best friend actually
thinks the eating sounds is really weird and she gets
hungry often. So she told me that I was about
(31:28):
to tell her, but I couldn't because she told me
it's she thinks it's weird, and you know, she doesn't
understand it. So for the longest time I didn't tell
my friends either that it was crazy for almost a year,
I think, but they found out through YouTube recommendations and
they were like, is this honey? And I get like
all these texts like honey Bees type another noodle challenge
(31:52):
and they're like, what the fun the noodle challenge? Yeah,
and like I do a lot of challenges, so like
I don't look cute, you know, doing it. I'm like, yeah,
you know what. I appreciate the authenticity. I think that's
one of the reasons you probably have such a solid
fan base because you're not all up in there trying
to have a noodle orgy. You're just eating the noodles
(32:14):
right right, right. But my friends are really supportive now.
They actually are very proud of me, So I'm really
thankful because I was scared that they were going to
judge me, and you know, because a lot of people
think it's weird still, but they're like, honey, you should
have told us, like I support whatever you do, and
you know what they really like, I was like really touched,
(32:35):
and I was like, tearing muck Bong is one of
my little dirty secrets that I used to watch when
I was pregnant. What is something that you watch on
YouTube that you know it might be embarrassing? Is it, like,
you know how they make those hamster dishes that are
only small omelets I used to watch those. Well just
blow my own cover here, But anything that you used
(32:57):
to watch or that you think it's weird? Um, do
you guys even know what I'm talking about? I actually
used to watch though, make like the tiniest comelets and
they're like, here you go, Peppe the Mouse. I watched those.
I think that's the weird muck Bong was the weirdest
thing for other people. But yeah, who's your favorite muck
(33:19):
banger besides me? Hi? It was Bent, this Korean muck banger.
I don't know if you guys know, I don't, but
I love watching Nicicato. It has funny and zach toy.
He's an a SMR channel, but he puts a lot
of effort into his videos, like he'll show every ingredient
(33:41):
and make sounds for each ingredient. So they are my
favorite channels to watch. Yeah, I mean, and there's a
technique to muck bong too. You are every bite? Are
you like showing the because I know Nicoicato does that.
He'll be like, look at this little chicken bite and
he'll like, oh yeah, and he dips and he's like,
oh yeah, girl, honey it and he's so happy. Do
(34:02):
you have like a certain way that you do things
or do you just dive in? Um? Sometimes I do,
and I'll go, like go in front of the camera
and be like handy bite because I start with that
honey bite and then take the biggest bite and eat
and share with them. I guess with my viewers, but
that's how I start my videos. I love it. Okay,
So when you're not doing U bang, you're eating really healthy.
What is your favorite If you had a last meal
(34:25):
on Earth, which is going to be very far in
the future, you're like a hundred and fifty, what would
that meal be? That meal would be fried chicken, curry
and fried chicken. I think. Yeah. My husband just had
some Korean fried chicken from Kaytown. It was like one
place that's super famous. I don't maybe that sounds familiar,
but everyone went crazy and said it was the best
(34:46):
fried chicken they've ever had in their lives. Yeah, Crean
fried chicken. If you haven't tried it, you have to
try it. It's seriously one of the best. I think
it's better than like regular it is. Yeah, like KFC
or anything like that. You can't compare the two. That's
a My husband was saying. He was like, it's next
level is crispy? Like crispy? So that would be your
(35:07):
your last And do you have a favorite restaurant in
l A that you like to go to? My favorite
Korean barbecue or like, I don't know if you guys
have ever tried large intestines. It sounds but it's really good.
There is a place called Okay, yeah, that's like one
of my Yeah it's in k Town. Okay, so large intestines? Yeah,
(35:28):
what how is it served? Korean barbecue? So is it grilled? Yeah,
it's grilled, Okay. Yeah, it's really good with sod Okay. Yeah, alright,
So give some advice to somebody because this is a
I think it's a trend that's not going anywhere. It's
been pretty relevant since you started three years ago. Somebody
(35:49):
was watching your videos and they love food and they
want to do their own take on muk bong. What
what advice would you give them? I would say, look
at the trends, watch other people's muck bongs, because I
know muk bungers that don't watch muk bungs at all
because they're so like busy with their own editing, their
own they don't want to watch anyone else eat. But
I think researching other mukbung videos it's really helpful and
(36:13):
look at the trends. And also eat what you love,
because you can tell when someone doesn't like what they're
eating and they're just eating it just because it's popular,
you know what I mean. Yeah, a lot of people
tell me, like another noodle video. You know, I keep
doing it because that's still getting reinvent the noodle though,
Like how are you because you're you're clearly keeping the
content fresh. Do you run out of noodle ideas? I
(36:36):
am a little bit, but you know what, I have
to keep thinking of new things, Like I invented, well,
I didn't really invented kind of no, you invented everything.
This kimchi wrapped spicy fire noodles, so big bites are
in like it's trending. And then I love noodles spicy noodles,
so I combined the two and I wrapped it in
kimchi like a whole kimchi, and I took big bites
(36:58):
and that became like fire role. Yeah, so like kind
of like combining whatever. You're definitely invented that, by the way,
right now, I'm just saying it, so it's official, and
it's on air, so it's even more official. We're just
spreading rumors here, and so you're just constantly trying to
think of ways to reinvent. Basically, what's been your least
favorite video? Do you have one? We all have something
and we look back on and we're like, oh, I
(37:20):
wish I didn't do that. Um, I think trying Okay,
sorry burger king, but trying the whopperrito. It was so
it's like it was like a whopper in a tortilla.
Oh my god, that just sounds like, why do that
to yourself? Yeah, So I think I was like one
(37:40):
of my worst worst videos because it was so disgusted
and I actually eat it. I did you ate the
whole thing? I tried? Oh, that just sounds painful doing
it for the people doing it for your honeybees. Are
there some people who don't actually eat everything? Because sometimes
I watched these videos and I'm there is no way
(38:01):
and I know the power of editing. Do you think
there's a conspiracy with some people not eating everything on
the plate? Yeah? I think some people do hide it
like under and kind of like take a bite and
then put it down and then bring another. Do you
do slice of people? No, I don't know. You eat
those noodles? I would say, like, if I couldn't finish it,
I'll just say like, well I don't feel Yeah, like
(38:23):
I tell the truth. You know, have you ever thrown
up after? Yeah? Like challenges challenges. Okay, so you're you've
given some really good advice to your fans. Is there
anything you'd like to say to your fans because they're
the reason you're here, and they're really you have a
very unique fan base. They're very supportive of you, they're
really really engaged. Anything you want to say to them.
(38:43):
I have a lot of honey babies that watch with
their parents, so I just want to say, don't care
about what other people think, and just do you, like, seriously,
just do whatever you love because the people who love
you will say and the people who don't whatever, like
brush them off your shoulders. They don't have to be
in your life, but the people who love you will
(39:04):
always support you. So just dear thing. I love that
you said that, because one of the things that really
stuck out to me with you our videos, because there's
obviously many muck buggers out there. We chose you specifically
because not only are you doing this really well and
you have a really engaged fan base, but you seem
to really inspire and keep it super positive with your viewers,
(39:26):
which I really appreciate. I think it's really authentic, and
just meeting you today, it's not it's not a show,
it's genuinely who you are. So to know that you
make such an impact on such a wide variety of
you said from five to fifty. How does that feel
now looking back three years down the road, It's really insane.
I never thought I would have like all these people
(39:47):
supporting me. And when I first started my videos, a
lot of people are like, oh my gosh, she's so cringe, Like,
you know, I can't watch her, she's so weird. But
I just kept doing that and it's I didn't think
so many people would love me and support me, And
it's just crazy knowing that they're they're always here for me.
(40:08):
So I'm so grateful. And that's a testament to your
message saying be yourself because people called you cringe and
you kept being yourself, and then you you through that,
you curated the exact right people to be your honey.
Bees and honey Bees. We have a little surprise for you.
We have signed well I haven't. I had nothing to
(40:28):
do with this. I brought the noodles your queen Bee.
Can I call you that? A lot of people. Your
Queen Bee has signed two packs of noodles, and we're
going to give these noodles away to two very special
honey Bees. So we will let you guys know on
our Instagram what the instructions are to win this. These noodles.
(40:49):
But they're great. You can even eat them if you
want their their package, they're closed. You didn't take any bites,
did you. They probably wanted more you did, they'd want
it even more. It goes viral and stilling. Well, we're
really excited for all the things you have going on.
I can't wait to go to your restaurant or visit
your buzzing around bee honey truck. But keep us happy,
(41:12):
keep us posted, congratulations, and keep doing your thing, keep
killing it. Thank you so much. All right, we'll talk
to you soon. By Behind the Influence is a production
of I Heart Radio and TDC Media
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!