Search for Mark Wiens on YouTube and you'll find videos of him chowing down in overseas destinations from the Philippines to Pakistan.
With more than 5 million subscribers to date, Weins' YouTube channel showcasing the world's street food scenes has become his full-time job. But before he was eating his way around the world, Wiens was shaped by his roots in the Valley.
Wiens, 33, was born in Phoenix, but he didn't stay long. His parents, both missionaries, moved the family to France when Wiens was 5. They later moved to Africa, first to Tandala and then to Kenya, where Wiens graduated high school.
He did eventually return to the Valley, taking classes at Glendale Community College for a year before transferring to Arizona State University, where he earned a global studies degree.
On a recent trip home to visit family, Wiens returned to ASU for the first time since his 2008 graduation. Sitting outside the Tempe campus' Memorial Union building, he reflected on his time there and how his global studies degree inspired the career he's paved for himself.
“The mindset of having an international degree focusing on cultures, focusing on art — it was a drive to see more places," he said.
A growing independent food culture in Arizona
Wiens was impressed with the diversity he found in Arizona's food cultures.
“I even remember back in university I would go to some Ethiopian restaurants and I’d go to a Somali restaurant,” he said.
Surveying ASU's campus for the first time in 12 years, Wiens predicted a bright future for the mom-and-pop shops and street food of metro Phoenix.
“There’s a lot more individually owned businesses where people care about the food, where people care about the business,” he said.
For Wiens, Little Miss BBQ immediately came to mind. He highlighted the restaurant in a YouTube video that amassed 7.6 million views.
“I think the owner and the whole family — they have so much passion," Wiens said. "They love what they’re doing, and it’s a good product.”
'It’s really about determination'
Wiens' YouTube fame began with a travel blog.
He started his website, Migrationology.com, in 2009 and, shortly after, bought a one-way ticket to Bangkok. He traveled through Southeast Asia for months before landing a job as an English teacher in Thailand.
"With a lower cost of living, I could afford to spend time working on my own projects ... Things grew slowly, but I kept persisting, and experimenting."
He turned his food blog, where he immersed himself in local food scenes, into a YouTube channel.
“I started publishing videos eight years ago and it’s been two videos per week since then," he said. "It’s been a big commitment and a major consistency of publishing.”
That type of commitment can make a work-life balance tough to maintain. When he travels, Wiens said he films each day from 6 a.m. to midnight. On top of that, about 12 to 20 hours of editing goes into the episodes you see on YouTube, which usually range from 20 to 40 minutes long.
But it's a labor of love for the YouTuber, and his persistence has paid off. Wiens' channel now ranks No. 2 for travel accounts on Socialblade, a website that tracks YouTube and other social media analytics. The site estimates he earns up to $1.5 million per year from video views.
With his own success cemented, Wiens has a simple piece of advice for those trying to make it in his — or any — industry: Just go for it.
“If you love to do something, it’s really about determination, it’s about consistency … and it’s about just going for it.”
Do you spend way too much time on Twitter, Facebook or Reddit and have a story idea? Reach social reporter Angel Mendoza at amendoza@gannett.com or slide into his Twitter DMs at @angelmendozaAZC.
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International YouTube food blogger Mark Wiens reflects on his Arizona roots - AZCentral
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