Remi Cruz Parsons says longevity online comes down to one thing

Remi Cruz Parsons has spent more than a decade inviting viewers into her life. What began with room makeovers and lifestyle vlogs has evolved into a deeply loyal audience of millions that has followed her through every era, from YouTube uploads filmed in her parents' house to podcasts, live tours, and now, her first cookbook.

With her new cookbook, Let's Get Cooking: Everyday Meals, Tipsy Favorites and Comfort Food Cravings, the 31-year-old creator is bringing one of the most beloved parts of her content into readers' homes. Filled with comfort food, Korean recipes inspired by her family, easy weeknight dinners, and dishes longtime viewers will instantly recognize from her vlogs, the book feels like a natural extension of the world she has built online.

We spoke with Remi about building a career online, finding longevity as a creator, protecting your privacy, and why cooking has become one of the most intimate ways she connects with her audience.

I feel like I've really grown up with you, which you probably hear all the time.

Remi Cruz Parsons: I mean, I feel like I've grown up with everybody. We've all grown up. It's been fun to grow up with everyone and go through similar experiences together.

I was looking at the very first video on your YouTube channel, posted 13 years ago. It was a room tour.

There were more, but they're all private, so I need to go back and private them.

In it, you're talking alking about Pretty Little Liars. That was my life.

I love meeting people my age because it feels like we were all doing the same things at the same time. Obviously, the internet has changed tremendously, but I'm still doing room tours.

Cooking has really become a big part of your content for many years. But at what point were you like, "OK, this is what people are connecting with"?

It was probably right around before COVID or during quarantine. At the time, I was making so much lifestyle content — room tours, beauty, fashion, all of that — and I still genuinely love those things. But I remember feeling like I was at a crossroads creatively. I didn't feel as inspired by some of the lifestyle content anymore, and I wanted to challenge myself in a different way.

So I sat down and thought, "What do I really love doing?" And the answer was cooking. I loved cooking, I loved posting about it, and I realized I wanted to explore that more seriously. I still wanted to keep doing everything else because I genuinely enjoy it, but I also wanted to see what it would look like to really dive into the cooking world.

2020 really was the year so many people realized they wanted to turn their hobbies into something bigger.

And also, pretty much all I did was cook all day. I was like, well, if I'm vlogging too, this is perfect.

And people were really connecting with it.

Yeah, that’s why I feel really lucky. Throughout all the different journeys of my life and all the content that I’ve made, I’ve just been able to show what I’m genuinely doing and fall in love with it on camera. Whether it was DIY room decor or cooking, it wasn't even a conscious thought. It was just, this is what I’m doing at the time, and people happen to be in similar places in their lives.

It's because your audience really gravitates toward you.

That’s the dream for a content creator, though. So I feel very lucky.

When you were deciding which recipes should be in the book, what was that process like?

I sat down and thought about the fact that I vlog pretty much every day of my life, even if it’s just little moments here and there. I also dedicated the book to my viewers because I wouldn't have any of these opportunities without them.

So I wanted the book to feel really authentic to the content I make, where viewers could pick it up and feel like there are little “if you know, you know” moments. But I also wanted it to appeal to people who are just walking through a bookstore.

I ended up laying it out almost like a Remi Life vlog. The chapters are split up based on the kinds of things you see in my content. There's a grab-and-go breakfast chapter because I’m always running late or driving to the podcast studio and eating in the car. There’s a Korean chapter, which is really where I found my love for my culture and learned how to cook. There's a weeknight dinner chapter because sometimes I come home after a long day and I don't want to cook, but I still need to eat. I also love hosting. In my vlogs, I'm always posting holiday content, family gatherings, or any excuse to throw a party. So it’s nice because there’s variety, but it also feels really true to my life and my audience.

If someone picked up this book in a bookstore and had never watched your content before, what's the one recipe that feels most like you?

My gut reaction is the cheesy potato casserole. I’m actually making it tomorrow on the Today Show, which makes me so happy because I think it might have been the first recipe I learned to make. My mom always made it growing up, and every holiday, my brother and I would skip the turkey and just eat piles of that. Eventually, my mom was like, "I need help in the kitchen. You can take over this recipe." That felt like such an honor.

Now, every Thanksgiving, Christmas, or family gathering, it's always on the menu. Even my husband asked if we should start doing mac and cheese for holidays, and I was like, no — this is our thing. It's comforting, everyone loves a casserole, and it’s honestly really easy to make.

I love any kind of one-pot meal situation.

Truly. Minimal cleanup, and it’s all basically done in maybe an hour and a half.

You've been on the internet for a long time and shared your life with millions of people, but cooking is its own form of intimacy. What has it been like to share this part of yourself?

I love the idea of cooking being intimate because it’s so true. To me, the kitchen is sacred. It’s the heart of the home. So for people to bring the book into their kitchens and hopefully incorporate these recipes into their holidays or weeknights or family traditions — that's really special. Even seeing people recreate my recipes is so nerve-wracking because I want them to love it as much as I do. But it's also incredibly rewarding. I saw someone on TikTok who got the book early and made my chocolate cookies, which I developed after having a Levain cookie years ago and thinking, "This is the best cookie I've ever had." I wanted to figure out how to make a thick, cakey cookie like that. Now I keep the dough in my freezer all the time so I can make one whenever I've had a bad day or a good day. Watching her make them and react to them felt so intimate. I was sitting on the edge of my seat watching her review the recipe. She said she had to go for a walk because she ate the whole plate. It made me so happy.

It must be surreal to see something you created take on new lives when people start making it themselves.

Totally. My dream is for someone to make the potato casserole or another recipe from the book and have it become part of their family tradition.

You've been creating content for more than a decade now. When you look back at those older videos, do you see something that you instinctively understood about building an audience?

I do. The old content was definitely very of its time, and I cringe a little sometimes, but I’m also so grateful for that younger version of myself. I wouldn’t be sitting here if it weren’t for those videos and the courage it took to post them. It's also really fun seeing creators who are just starting out now because the creator environment is so different.

When I started, it wasn’t a real job. I had to spend so much time convincing my parents to let me post videos in the first place, and then convincing them to let me take a break from school to pursue it full-time. Now it feels so much more accepted. I remember my first PR package. It was from ColourPop, and I was so excited. My dad was like, "Do not give our address to strangers." But I was like, "No, you don’t get it. This is going to be my life." And I was right.

I see that a lot with first- and second-generation kids, too. Your parents came here with one idea of success in mind, and then you've built something completely different.

Totally. Both of my parents immigrated from Korea. My mom always wanted me to go into medicine, and my dad was more like, "Do what you want, but still go to school." Getting them to let me take a break from school was such a huge conversation. But now they're my biggest supporters. My mom is in the book, her recipes are in the book, her photos are in the book. I posted a vlog this morning where I showed my parents the book for the first time, and my mom was hysterically crying before I even pulled it out. It was really sweet.

You mentioned how much the internet has changed. How have you had to rethink your strategy as a creator now versus when you first started?

When I started, it was basically just YouTube. Then Instagram came along, then TikTok, and I'm sure there will be more platforms in the future. One of the biggest things I’ve learned is how to adapt and evolve with those changes. For a long time, I was so used to long-form content, and I'm still teaching myself how to do short-form. It’s funny because when I talk to shortform creators, they’re like, "How do you do longform?" It's like your brain works one way or the other. If I post a 10-minute vlog on TikTok, it's not going anywhere. You have to learn hooks and make things short and punchy.

But beyond the platforms, I think I've also learned to be more thoughtful about what I share. I've always been very open about my life, and that's one of my strengths because people really connect to it. But it can also be a weakness. I think doing podcasts and other projects has taught me to be more aware of the audience and to think carefully about what I want to share and what I want to keep private.

That's really important. I see so many younger creators sharing everything — where they live, posting from their location in real-time — without realizing how much they're revealing.

Absolutely. Years ago, I did a full empty-house tour when I moved, and now things feel different. The internet feels scarier. People are smarter. People can figure things out more easily. Now I’m much more careful about not posting in real-time or giving too much away.

It's also about protecting your mental health.

Exactly. Everything you do online gets put under a microscope. So it becomes a question of, what am I willing to share if it’s going to be scrutinized, perceived, or discussed by strangers? That applies to relationships, family, all of it.

You've built this incredible relationship with your audience, and now you have the cookbook, the podcast, and multiple channels. How do you expand without making it feel like you're just selling something to your followers?

I never want anything to feel like a cash grab. I only want to do things that feel authentic and that I genuinely want to do. At the end of the day, I’m the one showing up and writing the recipes and making the content. There are things people always tell me I should do, like merch, but if I’m not ready, I’m not ready. With the book, I learned early on that it’s such a long process. It took almost three years. At first I thought, "I'm not ready right now," but then I realized, "That’s OK, because I’ll be ready by the time it comes out."

I think newer creators feel a lot of pressure to capitalize on everything immediately.

Totally. Alisha [Marie] and I talk about this all the time. We feel really lucky to have had longevity because we never expected any of this. But I see so many creators going nonstop, and I just don't think there's longevity in that. That's how you burn out. At the end of the day, even if you have a team, you're still the person who has to show up, film, post, and keep going. I wish people talked about that more.

What do you think is the key to longevity?

I think it's just being yourself, as cliché as that sounds. For me, it never feels like work because I’m not playing a character. I can be talking to you right now, turn the camera on, and be the exact same person online. I think that’s what makes it sustainable.

I'm sure the launch of this cookbook is making you think differently about success. What does success mean to you now versus when you first started?

When I was younger, success was numbers. Subscribers, views, all of that. Now I really try to focus on my core community — whether that’s people who have watched my videos since day one, people who found me through the podcast, or people who are newer to my content. I focus on the people who are genuinely excited about what I make and who inspire me to keep creating. It's easy to just see numbers on a screen and forget there are actual people behind them.

That's why meetups and tours are so meaningful. Alisha and I went on tour last summer, and seeing people in real life changes everything. Sometimes people tell me, "I only get 500 views on my videos," and I’m like, 500 people is still a lot of people. You have to think about them as actual individuals.

Those interactions matter more to me now than anything else.

I interview a lot of musicians, too, and it's similar. Maybe they're never going to sell out a stadium, but they can fill a theater with people who know every word.

Exactly. I'd rather have a small theater full of people singing every lyric than a stadium where people got free tickets and barely know who I am.

What excites you most about creating content these days?

Honestly, it’s the feedback and the community. I love the inside jokes, the comments that make me laugh, and seeing how people interact with everything. It feels like such a close-knit community between the podcast listeners, vlog viewers, TikTok audience, all of it. I'm always excited to post and see what people are saying.

So you do read comments?

I do. Unless I'm having a bad mental health day, then maybe not. But for the most part, yes. I've been doing this long enough that I know what to expect. And because we post so much content, especially with the podcast, it creates such an active community. We post two one-hour podcast episodes every week, which naturally leads to many conversations and much community-building.

Now, being a podcast host really means being a content creator too.

Totally. Alisha and I started our podcast eight years ago, and at the time, we were among the first YouTube creators to do so. Our agent called and said, "What do you think about podcasts?" and we were like, "What? Why would anyone want to hear us talk?" We did audio-only for the first three years, and now everything is video. Most people watch podcasts instead of just listening to them. It's wild seeing how much it's changed.

I usually listen while I'm working, but I also see podcast clips everywhere on my social feeds.

Same. We’re constantly recording and thinking, "Clip that. That’s a good clip."

Do you feel like each platform has a different audience?

A little bit, but honestly, I see a lot of the same people everywhere. I'll see inside jokes from the podcast show up in TikTok comments or YouTube comments. People will say things like, "I saw this in the vlog first." I'm sure there are people who only watch TikTok or only listen to the podcast, but for the most part, it feels like a really loyal audience that follows me everywhere.

And with the cookbook, you'll probably bring in a whole new audience.

That's what I’m hoping for. Maybe some aunties, too.

Obviously, all the recipes are your favorites, but if you had to pick one?

I have to go back to the Korean chapter. The tteokbokki recipe is really special to me. I remember moving out on my own and craving it, but not knowing how to make it. I FaceTimed my mom, and she walked me through it step by step.

Growing up, there was always a crockpot of tteokbokki at family parties. That's my ultimate comfort food. Whenever I go to Korea, if it's on the menu, I'm ordering it. That recipe just has so much history and meaning for me.