Twitch has become synonymous with gaming, whether it’s streamers sharing their favourite games or esports tournaments being broadcast at large. But there’s more on Twitch than just video games if you know where to look.
We spoke to one half of Miss Molly Makes, a streamer in Twitch’s Food & Drinks category who recreates food from popular video games. What started as a hobby for her and her husband has grown into a thriving community of food lovers and gamers. Their channel is a place where people can come together to learn new recipes, watch someone create beautiful foods and chat with like-minded people. They’ve even expanded beyond Twitch, having just released their second self-published cookbook.
We chatted to Miss Molly Makes about what it’s like to stream from her kitchen, how she comes up with these video game-themed foods and what exactly you need to get started on Twitch, from technology to safety precautions.
POPSUGAR Australia: Hello! You’re a streamer on Twitch with a very fun and unique channel! Can you tell us a bit about it?
Miss Molly Makes: The stream is a culmination of my passion of cooking and my husband’s passion of eating (and also technology). At its core it’s about making food fun and showing people tips and tricks from a self-taught cook — I don’t profess to be anything fancy although I like to get a bit fancy every now and then — and making food look as though it’s achievable.
Food brings people together and that’s what Twitch does as well. We welcome people into the kitchen, you pull up a chair, you’re part of the community and it’s a really positive, warm and welcoming community.
What inspired you to start cooking foods from video games? Have you always been a gamer?
MMM: I grew up with two older brothers who were gamers, and I dabbled in it. I was definitely influenced by Mario and The Sims. It wasn’t until I met my husband and he showed me the community behind gaming, and that’s what I love — that connection with people through their passions, what excites them and learning more about them.
And that’s what Twitch is. When we started cooking, we were doing something very different to what Twitch was known for, which was gaming. And so, as a way to connect with the audience, I’d ask them, “What game are you playing at the moment?” And one day we made some Zelda-themed pies and everyone just loved the Hyrule symbol. The way gaming brings people together, so does food.
There are also people who may not necessarily like the game that we’re theming but they love the cooking aspect. And so you’re connecting those two groups and people have a little bit of banter and a few laughs. It’s a really great way of connecting with people.
You’ve worked with EA to make food inspired by The Sims 4 and Bethesda for Elder Scrolls Online – how did these partnerships come about?
MMM: We used to have a segment on the stream called Gamer Grub where we recreated different items from games. Sometimes companies would see that and would chat to us, but primarily it was us reaching out to companies when we were at a level that we thought may be impressive.
We would reach out to them and say: “These are our stats. We’re really, really excited for your game release. Is there an opportunity to work with you?” It started really small — we started by charging a small fee to cover our groceries and then it grew. Basically being like, “This is what we did last time, imagine what we could do for you this time.”
How do you build the confidence to reach out to companies like that? It sounds quite daunting.
MMM: My husband and I were talking about this and how we were gonna answer, and the biggest thing that kept coming up was authenticity. It’s about deciding how you want to show up and being confident in how you’re showing up. Whether you’re being yourself or you’re playing a character, you have to be really happy with that. And then when it comes time to reach out to companies, you can be confident sharing who you are, how you’re different from other streamers and what you’re going to give to the company.
But it is super scary. You could get knocked back, but the more you do it, the better your chances are. They say your connection rate is 10%. If you throw out 10 emails, one of them might come back, but if you send out 100 emails, 10 of them will come back.
It’s about repetition and revisiting as well. The company might not be right at that time, but if your stats have changed in six or 12 months, the company might be ready. Or they might be keeping an eye on you. We’ve connected with companies and sent them emails and they’re like, “We saw the work that you’ve been doing on social media, we’ve seen the work that you’ve done with other companies and it’s so impressive.”
People are always watching and that’s one of the biggest things when you’re streaming.
How do you come up with the ideas for your recipes, especially the video game-inspired ones?
MMM: I love having an idea and making it up as I go sometimes. But when it comes to video games that I’m not too familiar with, I need to crowdsource ideas and a big portion of that is talking to our community and moderators.
That’s one of the big things that we say to other streamers about growth. You’re not just the face of the stream, you’re a part of that community as well. And asking for advice creates a connection — if you don’t know about something so you ask your community, it garners a type of respect and relatability.
I’ll say, like, “I’m excited about this new video game but I’m not really sure about it,” and there are people who live and breathe it who’ll be like, “No, that’s not the lore, you’ve got to do this or it would be really surprising if you added this detail.”
Rather than me pretending that I know everything, isn’t it better to make an authentic product because I’ve asked around?
What kind of equipment do you need to start streaming, especially from a kitchen? And what are the things you don’t need right away but might want to get as your channel grows?
MMM: To get started you can just use a mobile phone. It’s got your camera and your microphone.
When you want to upgrade, one of the best recommendations is audio. As a viewer, it’s okay watching something that’s a bit spotty or a bit low-res, but it’s really hard to engage with bad audio. So an audio setup would be good, whether it’s a lav mic or a USB microphone.
Before you start spending money, you need to start with your foundation, and enjoying yourself is the biggest thing. If you’re passionate and excited, it’s magnetic. You know it when you see someone who’s just loving themselves sick and having a good time, compared to someone who’s stressed, worried about viewership or their technology or whatever. You just need to enjoy the process.
And then once you start to connect with people and create that reciprocal engagement where you’re chatting with them and they’re chatting with you, then they’re magnetised. They’ll start talking about you and bringing people into the community. And after that you can build on it with technology and your setup.
How do you keep yourself safe when you’re streaming, especially when you’re doing it from a more public area of your home?
MMM: One of the things you should consider when you’re starting is whether you’re going to use your real name or whether you’re going to use a pseudonym or a streamer tag. And if you are then you should create social media profiles in that name and then lock down your private stuff.
It’s important to create boundaries. We have a PO box in another suburb. It’s nearby but not in our area, just to create that little barrier to protect ourselves.
It’s really great when friends and family pop into the streams, but sometimes they don’t understand Twitch so it’s important to give them the heads up, like, “I’m going by a pseudonym, please don’t talk about names or personal details.” Sometimes it’s even not acknowledging that they’re your friend IRL, because then people, if they were that way inclined, could connect the dots. I might have my social media locked down but my friend might not.
I think one thing that you’ll agree with is that the internet is sometimes not the best place and people don’t always have the best intentions. Sometimes you need to keep people at arms length.
How much does a streamer make, and how long does it generally take for a channel to start being profitable?
MMM: To generalise, most streamers take a long time, like mostly years, to earn a consistent income. The biggest thing is setting people’s expectations. It’s very rare that people are going to stream for a few days and hit it big. It does happen and it’s incredible for those people, but it’s rare.
It’s important to not just rely on Twitch but also reach out to companies to do collaborations with, work with different streamers and also make merch. We’ve released some self-published cookbooks and merchandise that have helped. But it does take time.
What separates a good streamer from a great one?
MMM: You have to find the intersection of being authentic and finding what people are entertained by. A stream could be incredible to someone but other people just don’t get it, but if enough people love that thing, then it’s great.
There are going to be people out there who find you incredible, and it’s about being persistent and not trying to change yourself or your content for what you think might give you the better numbers.
Tune into Miss Molly Makes on Twitch to see what they cook up next, or visit their website for new recipes.
