Editor's note: This story originally appeared in the spring 2022 issue of ASU Thrive magazine.
During the early days of the pandemic, Arizona State University alumnus Max Miller, '06 Bachelor of Music Performance (voice), was furloughed from Disney. He made a career pivot to create the popular YouTube food and history show, "Tasting History," which boasts more than 1 million subscribers and channel views at 82 million, as of April 2022
During the show Miller showcases historic recipes with a history lesson — all during entertaining, well-produced videos. He shares how he made his career change and success tips for any endeavor.
1. Be curious. “Never be done learning. When you graduate from college, that's the beginning,” Miller says.
2. Learn as much as you can in all your jobs and experiences. “I loved working for Disney. While I was there, I learned a lot of different skills that I didn't expect to ever learn, things like editing and storytelling,” he says as an example.
3. Study your craft. Miller had a performer background and then learned many additional technical and storytelling skills from Disney. He then added onto that before launching the YouTube channel. “I watched hundreds of hours of other YouTubers talking about how they make their videos, how they've created a channel, how to do storytelling.” He continues to build upon his skills.
4. If you fail, try again. “Every single failure gave me another tool in my toolbox,” Miller says. “That's especially the thing with YouTube, it can take a long time to learn the skills. It's not just being on camera, it's having the camera presence, having the editing skills, having the timing, storytelling, being able to come up with ideas.”
5. Communicate well. “When you have an idea in your head, being able to get someone else to picture that idea,” Miller says. “It’s very important. Not just with Tasting History, but in the corporate world too.”
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story had outdated subscriber and channel view totals.
Top photo: Max Miller’s Youtube show "Tasting History" has recently been profiled in America's Test Kitchen, Chowhound, Digital Trends, KTLA Morning News, Phoenix New Times, PopCulture.com, Foodsided, New York Post, LA Weekly, Today.com, UPROXX, among others and he has been tapped for a recurring segment on Arizona Midday.