CoStreaming Spotlight: CookSux
Howdy Friends! 👋
Welcome to our new Creator Spotlight series, CoStreaming!
In this series, we’ll feature a StreamElements user who’s found success doing what they love and share with you some of the key things that helped them succeed.
We were fortunate to catch up with one of the top IRL streamers in the game, CookSux, also known as Andy! Let’s dive into the Q & A session 👇
Question: What is your channel name and what do you mainly stream?
Answer:
Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Andy aka CookSux and I’m an IRL Adventure streamer that is trying to transition into not having to live out of a suitcase 10 months out of the year.
Check out Cook’s Twitch Channel Trailer to get a taste of the IRL content goodness:
Question: How did you get into streaming and what inspired you to keep going?
Answer:
I worked in film/television production for twelve years and I wanted to jump off a bridge. There’s a long running meme in the business, that despite working 16 grueling hours a day, we’re living the dream. Yeah… nightmares are dreams. I woke up every night unable to breathe and severe heart palpitations. I didn’t get into the movie business to make deals with vendors, make schedules, hire and fire department heads, make sure everyone eats lunch on time… etc etc. I wanted to tell stories.
Question: What’s been your favorite on-stream moment?
Answer:
In the last 4.5 years of my stream career I’ve experienced so many things, yet sadly I can’t think of any one favorite on-stream moment. I don’t know, off the top of my head, maybe reaching the peak of Korea’s tallest mountain… and then making it back down to the bottom; that was a rough twelve hour journey. If not that, maybe when I crawled from my hotel across Niagara Falls. While the 9 hour crawlathon was a physical b*tch, I think it was a truly entertaining stream. Ending that stream and feeling like you got a homerun is really the best high a person like me can get… well that and shrooms.
Question: How do you decide on your streaming goals, and what steps do you take to reach them?
Answer:
I design my streaming goals with a splash of necessity, a drop of personal desire, and a bucket full of challenge. First; I’m not really one of those streamers that obsess over metrics; so those goals just are pointless to me. I plan my streams around things I want to accomplish in life; like hunt for the Loch Ness Monster or stream from every continent in one calendar year. As an IRL streamer, I have the privilege to create as many achievements as I’d like. Accomplishing these types of goals is not only realistically possible, they’re also great ways to get your community to join in and root for you while you do them.
Question: Do you have any advice or tips for new streamers on how to connect and work together with other streamers?
Answer:
I’m probably the worst person to ask because I don’t really care to connect and work with other streamers. I do, however, care to connect and work with friends. If I meet new streamers and get along with them, that’s one thing, but for the most part I’m pretty self-sufficient and prefer to meet people outside of this industry.
To answer the question though, here’s my advice. Match the energy of the streamer (or anyone else) when you meet them. Let’s say you see me chilling at McDonald’s, enjoying my Quarter Pounder with cheese and extra pickles with an Orange Hi-C (no ice) and a 4-piece chicken nugget… hot mustard or sweet and sour sauce… don’t be all spastic and try to pitch me some stream collab ideas. Bust out that Spicy McChicken sandwich, chomp a little bit, and THEN discuss your podcast idea. That’ll leave a better impression.
Question: What do you think has most contributed to your success as a streamer?
Answer:
Somewhere at sometime, a butterfly just did what it does and that opened the right door for me to walk through. Anyone can be funny. Anyone can be eloquent. But after I quit my job, I seized my opportunities and made many leaps of faith. As Sam Witwicky from the 2007 Transformers movie said, “Fifty years from now, when you’re looking back at your life, don’t you want to be able to say you had the guts to get in the car?” Not a lot of people got the guts; it’s all about guts.
Too many people talk a lot, but they never even start. On the flip side, many people never try to finish what they started. Lastly… I should be the last person to answer this question. I don’t see myself as a successful streamer, yet. I hope the next time I get featured in this newsletter, I’ll have better answers as a subjectively more successful streamer.
Couldn’t agree more Cook! Sometimes just showing up is half the battle. That reminds me of a quote from one of my favorite stoic philosophers, Marcus Aurelius, which some of you might like:
“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: ‘I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?”
Marcus Aurelius
Thanks again to Cook for joining us for our first CoStreaming Q & A interview! 🙏
