Creator Voices: Milad Mirg
Jun 23, 2022 – minute read
Milad Mirg is a content creator who has been creating videos on YouTube since he was eight years old. His growth initially came during the pandemic, where Milad provided a behind-the-scenes look at working his fast food job at Subway. Milad is also involved with projects around technology and business, one of which is a sandwich-making AI in collaboration with a Master’s Program at NYU. We asked him to serve up some insights from his YouTube experience, which he offers below.
At 20 years old, it felt as though the world around me was crumbling. Thankfully, a positive perspective saved me.”
At 20 years old, it felt as though the world around me was crumbling. Thankfully, a positive perspective saved me. During the COVID-19 pandemic, my parents' Subway sandwich shop saw the lowest sales in its history. This was especially scary because a few months prior, they were forced to close their other Subway, so this one needed to survive.
The store was practically empty. The only people going in and out of the store were me and my coworkers. We would be lucky to have 10 customers some days during the months of March to May of 2020. Sales were down close to 75% these months, and the world seemed as though it was on pause. During this time, I finally saw my first moments of true creative freedom in my life. I now had time, a business to help take care of, and a phone in my pocket with the YouTube app installed.
Find opportunities everywhere
When I first started making content, I had a coworker named Jeremy who also loves YouTube. During our shifts, we would talk about the platform and videos we watched religiously. Naturally, I wanted Jeremy to make videos with me. When I initially brought up the idea of Jeremy starting his own channel, he was extremely hesitant.
“What would I make videos about?” was Jeremy’s first question. My response was, “Whatever you are already doing.” While saying this to Jeremy, I had my own lightbulb moment. We were already doing so much at Subway, from making sandwiches to preparing foods daily. Why not use the opportunity I already have with something I am already familiar with?
So I had a plan to use the shop as a set for my YouTube videos, while also attempting to somehow bring more business into my parents' store.
And the crazy thing is, it worked.
Sales rose about 700% from March 2020 to March 2021.
Take a 40-minute shower
For me, always working towards a greater goal is essential to having any motivation to work or improve in my life. Philanthropy and the ability to one day impact millions of lives in an extremely positive way is my biggest driver, so when I saw MrBeast tweet about how his newly established charity was looking for projects to help others, I responded immediately. I knew this would have an extremely positive impact for others.
Fast forward to the day of the shoot with Beast Philanthropy (MrBeast’s charity), and I had this lingering thought on my mind. It’s been three days and I haven’t posted any content. At the time, I aimed to post five to seven YouTube Shorts a day, so I was about 15 videos behind in my mind. Yikes. This was an extremely toxic mindset, and almost miraculously, MrBeast snapped me out of it with the first few words he spoke to me on shoot day.
His magic advice? He took a 40-minute shower before coming to the shoot.
The busiest man on YouTube – maybe even the planet. But even MrBeast makes time everyday to relax, collect his thoughts, and focus. Even if it isn’t a 40-minute shower, there is time in every single one of our days to slow down and focus.
I realized how I allowed creating content to infiltrate other aspects of my life. But being able to take moments out of your day to breathe, or do more of the things you love to do, is so important.
My version of a 40-minute shower has become sitting outside on my porch for 40 minutes when I wake up, doing nothing.
Competition Is for losers
The journey of content creation can oftentimes be lonely, but I’ve learned it doesn’t always have to be. Early on, I became good friends with a creator in the same niche as me named Dylan Lemay. Dylan was a 10-year Coldstone manager at the time, creating similar videos of his job. Once me and Dylan began talking, it was insane how well we understood each other.
The types of videos we were both creating are extremely unique to us. There weren’t many everyday people at the time who could relate to our jobs in combination with creating videos, so we were able to learn so much from each other in such a short amount of time.
But, if either Dylan or I was foolish and viewed the other as competition, we would have both missed out on an incredible friendship and so much valuable knowledge.
The point is, YouTube is a massive platform. Nobody is your competition, but it’s insanely beneficial to talk to others in your niche, and teach each other. Together you can innovate rather than compete.