DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — A local man turned his passion into a career and now has millions of views from people watching him cook.

Gideon General is now a full-time food content creator after one of his recipe posts went viral.

“After an hour of posting it, it had one like, one view and it was my friend I think after a few hours I started getting notifications and went from one view to 20,000 views. The adrenaline, it was weird, I’ve never felt that before,” said General.

General worked his way up through the local restaurant industry, completing a culinary degree at Sinclair Community College. This path as a sort of food influencer started with an agreement with a friend during the start of the pandemic to start making video content for fun.

“I was really bored because I didn’t work for a month and I talked to my friend who’s also a chef. We were like dude, we know how to cook, we went to school for this, we have knowledge to share! So we made a pact where if one started making videos the other has to do it.”

That decision has opened up doors for General to be able to share his knowledge with the world. His growing popularity on TikTok and Instagram has led him to become a full-time content creator featured on Buzzfeed. He creates all the content in his apartment from his makeshift studio. General says at one point in his life he actually considered going into nursing, fearing life as a chef wouldn’t pay out. He says something told him to keep following his passion.

“I was afraid of waking up 65 and retired and realizing that I wasted my life doing something I didn’t like and I just chased money,” said General.

Now millions of followers are chasing him as General leaves them hungry for more of his recipes! He says he hopes his story inspires other creatives to start making content and sharing their passions with the world.

You check out General’s TikTok here.