Nish Cooks Talks Food, Fame, and Finding His Voice Through Being Himself
Korean-American food creator Nish Cooks opens up about cultural identity, self-belief, and staying grounded while going viral. A must-listen episode of Time for More.
At Cutback, we’re building Selects, an AI-powered assistant editor that helps video creators turn long hours of footage into meaningful stories faster. But we know tools don’t exist in a vacuum. Behind every edit is a human creator with unique challenges, inspirations, and workflows. That’s why we launched the Time for More Podcast: to explore the real, behind-the-scenes experiences of artists, musicians, editors, and founders navigating today’s creative landscape.
In the 7th episode, we spoke with Joshua Nishi (better known as Nish Cooks) about authenticity, identity, creative flow, and being yourself to find your true voice.
Hosted by Tom Kim, the co-founder and CEO of Cutback, the company behind Selects, this episode continues a series exploring the behind-the-scenes stories of modern creatives.
Missed the other episodes of the “Time for More” Podcast? Catch up on past conversations with musician Late, content creators Hafu Go and Jipseekid, and more on our blog.
Key Topics Covered
In this episode of “Time for More,” Nish Cooks shares:
From SF math class to Whole Foods toilet breaks: How a craving to remake the Popeyes chicken sandwich in 2019 launched his first viral video, and the start of Nish Cooks.
Raw voiceovers, low-budget edits, high impact: Why going off-script with zero production polish became his signature style, and why it still works.
Cooking to create a life, not just a brand: Raised in a single-parent household, Josh started cooking to support his dad, get healthier, and eventually build a career around food that felt authentic and easy to replicate.
Post-viral reality check: He opens up about losing direction at his peak, how easy money made him complacent, and why becoming a husband and father forced him to redefine success.
How fatherhood re-ignited the hustle: From 5:30 a.m. walks to giving up spicy food for his daughter, Nish explains how “being needed” reshaped his identity, priorities, and content.
Pressure as the ultimate ingredient: His mantra—“Pressure makes diamonds”—isn’t just a metaphor. It’s how he rebuilt structure, purpose, and momentum after burnout.
As Josh says, “Cooking is simple. Life isn’t. But when you’ve got people counting on you, that’s when you show up.”
Whether you’re a content creator, tired entrepreneur, or someone looking for more meaning in the mundane, this episode is a reminder that the pressure we resist might be the very thing that sharpens us.
How We Edited This Podcast Episode with Selects
With multiple camera angles, overlapping dialogue, and a conversation that ranged from deeply personal stories to cultural critique, this episode could’ve taken days to edit. However, as one of the best authentic AI for entrepreneurs and use during the content creation process, Selects is changing that.
Luckily, we used Selects to streamline podcast editing by:
Instantly syncing all camera and mic inputs with one-click alignment
Auto-removing dead air, stumbles, and tangents to keep the edit clean
Extracting short-form highlight clips perfect for Instagram Reels and TikTok
From rough cut to final polish, Selects helped us streamline the podcast video editing workflow, so we could focus on what mattered most: letting Nish’s story shine.
Watch the Full Episode of the “Time For More” Podcast
What did you think of the podcast? Leave a comment on the YouTube channel. We’d love to hear your thoughts!
For more in-depth knowledge about the ins and outs of video editing, check out our latest posts on the Cutback blog or our YouTube channel. You can also join Cutback’s Discord community of like-minded video editors.
Cutback Team
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