The Universal Asian had a chance to learn a bit more about Kate Powers and what drives her to work as a life coach and a mindset coach. Tell us about your background. I was born in South Korea and raised in the USA since I was an infant. I grew up in St. Louis, MO and after college I was excited to experience life in other cities and moved to Washington, DC. It was a great and fascinating change of scenery from my small midwestern town. I experienced culture shock at first but ultimately enjoyed a few wonderful years in DC. I then wanted to experience living in another big city so I moved to Chicago, IL. After these two amazing cities in the U.S., I figured, “Well, why limit myself when the world is so big and grand?" I moved abroad to Seoul, South Korea, eager to explore Asia and this part of the Earth. I was open and ready to take on whatever life threw my way…even a global pandemic! I’ve been fortunate to have a variety of experiences in life, personally and in my work and leisure. I’ve had many interesting experiences, jobs and robust experiences living in different cities. My life feels alive, rich and unique. And a bit wild! How did you get into coaching and specifically life and mindset coaching? It has always seemed to follow me. It really feels like it got into me versus me getting into it! I have been drawn to encouraging others since I was very young. As a teen, I was a dance teacher encouraging young kids to express themselves creatively. I worked in mental health, counseling and psychiatry both in college and after, and that all naturally led me to the world of healing arts. All my work focused on uplifting others and helping people use their potential. Even when I tried to ignore this calling and do other work, it still followed me wherever I went and no matter what I did. The terms “life coach” and “mindset coach” can be confusing and obscure, but it also can be helpful to call my work “something” with a title but overall, ultimately, what I really do is help guide people to change their thoughts and awareness. Some call it coaching, some call it guidance, some call it counseling, some call it therapy, some call it healing. It is essentially all of these. And all of these have been central in my life both personally as a recipient of these modalities and as a practitioner studying these same modalities. I don’t get hung up on the titles though even if others do. I focus more on results I have witnessed in others (and in myself). I help people discover, remember, and reveal their own confidence and live from that place versus living from fear and doubt. We all have potential and I help people stop doubting themselves so they can acknowledge and utilize this potential. We have all had moments of doubt and pain that impacts us both in ways we know and do not know. With awareness and effort, we can live from our place within us that is empowered and strong versus the place within us that has been hurt. Life is so much of how we respond and react to it. Why did you want to be a life and mindset coach? It really feels that it is my true calling in life and one I could not escape regardless of how hard I tried, and I certainly did try. But most profoundly, I have experienced my own enormous changes through the power of a changed mindset and healing arts modalities. I used to have a different mindset than I have today and my outlook was much more fearful and closed. I used to look at life very differently and my life echoed that back to me. The healing arts world turned on all the lights for me, instantly. Very simple but profound tools such as meditation changed my life for the better. I felt a deep reaction in my gut and heart that I was meant to share this with the world. It has been the most valuable and positive change in my life. It feels like a true honor to give this to others after seeing what difference it has made in my life. Who inspires you the most? I’m very inspired by people willing to do what is just in the world even when it means being the outlier. People willing to be disruptive in favor of more conscious and mindful thoughts and habits. This is change, and it doesn’t happen without it. There are many outstanding thought leaders in history and presently. They created an impact and led the change. What can be often easy to overlook is that most of these leaders were quite disruptive and that doesn’t always mean smooth waves, whether we’re talking about the history of Siddhārtha Gautama (Buddha), Jesus, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Audre Lorde, Ruth Bader Ginsburg…I could go on and on. These people did not foster awareness by being silent because it’s the polite thing to do. They were willing to be outliers and rebels—to not follow the crowd and stand for new norms—for the betterment of humanity. Change requires change and change requires discomfort. Whether it is the minority female receptionist demanding a harassment-free workplace to a white male-dominated head-in-the-sand employer or the female celebrity calling out decades of secrets and injustice with prominent media figures, I am inspired by the ones being bold in service of a better world. It takes a lot of courage. What does success mean to you? I’ve learned success and the notion of it changes and varies depending on the country and culture and decade. Success to me is knowing the goal of life is not to strive for perfection. It is also not to strive for a life without challenges or struggle, but to find joy and peace in life despite these things. Success to me is knowing I am using my talents to help the betterment of humanity. There are lots of ways to make lots of money and get a string of words/titles/letters next to your name. Or flashy things like cars or gadgets. Sometimes I wonder what that all really means and if it brings some sort of real inner happiness even though people keep climbing and buying and chasing more and more. It all feels very external, and I think real, authentic success is more of a feeling of achievement, contribution, and contentment from within. What advice would you give to others, especially young people who are navigating everything that has been happening in our world today? Especially those who are struggling to find a job or have just lost their job etc. The world is constantly changing and so we must be willing to change too. People like to say, “the world needs to change,” then do everything the same. Or just complain. I think it is more beneficial to take responsibility and do our part first. We cannot change anyone. We can change ourselves. This part can get really tricky and sticky. Accountability is often super uncomfortable. It makes us realize stuff. About ourselves. We realize we aren’t perfect. We realize we have faults and make mistakes. We realize we are sometimes not the kindest. Whaaaat??? And that can feel really crappy. It’s easier to blame others! It’s easier to point fingers at everyone else! And sometimes we would rather remain in this bubble. I get it. But I think the only way out is through so we all must do our part. A flexible mind is a more resilient one than a rigid mind. This year has shown us the unexpected twists and turns in life can be extreme. Problems didn’t start this year, and they won’t stop next year. Solutions didn’t start this year, and they won’t stop next year. Life doesn’t go as planned. Our attachment to our plans is what usually causes us suffering. There are more ways to contribute, to share your talents, to help humanity than ever. If you’re experiencing hardship…loss of a job, looking for work, illness, etc. acknowledge and honor that and how it can be distressing, but also look for the opportunities it may hold. These are often hidden. Amazing things are often birthed from our biggest hardships when we have the open mindset for it. Struggles are certainly not always easy but they can grow great strength. To me, that is invaluable success. If you want to get in touch with Kate or learn more about her, you can check out her website or find her on Instagram.

Can you tell me a bit about your origin story for starters? I was born in Cheorwon near the DMZ. I’m the youngest of three brothers. My oldest brother was also adopted to the Netherlands to a different family. My middle brother stayed with my family in Korea. Then, there was little me raised in a protective white bubble (in the Netherlands)—at least until I was about 16 or so when I “stopped being cute” to the outside world. I grew up in a loving home, but whenever I stepped outside, it was basically always like going to war. I had a couple of friends, but where I grew up in the Netherlands was a small village. I was the only Korean kid. There was a Chinese family running a Chinese restaurant; but that was it. Did you know that your older brother was adopted as well to the Netherlands, or did you find out from a biological search? Well, I always had the information in front of me. My Dutch parents were really cool about it in the beginning. They always said, “If you want to search for your birth family we will help you.” They were very straightforward about that, which was good. But, my oldest brother sought me out and found me right before I went to Canada. He came to our house and it was uncanny how similar we looked. We hit it off immediately. That was when I was like, “This is real.” My parents immediately became very afraid. They were worried: “Now, he’s gonna leave us and he’s gonna go out and search for his Korean identity and just turn his back on us.” So, yeah, that led to that to some tension. It’s the famous guilt trip all adoptees go through. It was a very difficult time. It took until 2010, when my wife and I were reunited with my birth family. We were welcomed with open arms in the village. It turns out that [my] abeoji (father) and umuni (mother) were still together and living in the same house where we were all born. That was like “Wow!” Also, when I walked into the house and into my middle brother’s room, the first thing I noticed was a guitar and a keyboard. So, it turns out I come from a very musical family. That was so deep, and that made the bond I have with music even stronger. We went back again in 2017 to celebrate our son’s birth as we knew it was such a big deal in Korea. Not long after that, [my] umuni sadly passed away. We were glad that at least she got to meet him. I still every now and then call [my] abeoji and have regular contact with my brothers. Within a year or so, we are actually making plans to make our way to Korea ourselves. You mentioned that growing up was like war—can you talk a bit more about that? How did that affect your sense of identity? Well, I think growing up in a bubble with my parents saying, “You’re adopted from Korea, but you’re one of us now,” was confusing and against how people went out their way to show me I’m not welcome, you know? My parents even went as far as to say, “Racism doesn’t exist, because you are one of us.” At some point, I stopped talking to them about it because it was just no use. With a lot of these struggles, there was literally nobody I could turn to. Instead, I internalized it all. Then, of course, when you do that and something happens, you explode. That’s why I got in a lot of fights, but in the end I just wanted to be left alone. That happened all the way through high school. Basically, in elementary school, it was just incidents, but they became really more structural in high school. Yeah, that was a really bad time. In the end, I started to pick up the pen, and then became an emcee and started showcasing my skills at local talent shows. It was when I debuted at a really big festival about 20 minutes from Amsterdam, [where] from that moment on, that’s when people finally started seeing me more as an artist and respecting me more as a person. They began to care a little less about what I looked like. How would you say, then, that your sense of identity changed? When I was 12, I discovered hip-hop music. That’s where my views began to change because I’ve always been into languages. Music and languages are basically the constants in my life. When I heard hip-hop, I actually understood what they were rapping about. Although I might not have been able to relate to the abject poverty of some of those artists, I could definitely relate to the struggle, the pain, and also the glimmers of hope that are also a part of hip-hop. This helped me greatly further [on] in life when I was not able to turn to my parents with my struggles. I turned to hip-hop because I felt like I wasn’t alone. There were people going through struggles and I realized things can always be worse. A big part of my self-identification became based on the values of hip-hop culture. Now, I think of myself as a hip-hop scholar and student because I just absorbed all the knowledge with the music. But, as for the whole Asian aspect, I think when my brothers came into my life, that’s when I took some time out to really re-evaluate what it means to me to be Asian. In 2008, I discovered some Korean R&B. That was when Jay Park was still coming up and others like him. Now, it has become more cool—more accepted—to be Asian. How does this play into your music and artistry? In 2002, I decided to join a couple of bands, and all of a sudden people started noticing me and saying, “Oh, this guy actually does know what he’s doing.” From 2002 to 2007, I was one of the few higher profile Asian artists in Europe. It took artists like Jin of Ruff Ryders, and artists like myself and DJ Rockid to do the groundbreaking as pioneers, you know. That’s something that helps bring more confidence as an Asian artist, and makes me feel more Asian. In terms of your work, what are you working on now? Back in 2017, I became visually impaired. So, I decided the only way forward was to go back to school. I chose to study ethnomusicology, which is an ugly word for non-Western musicology, or anything other than classical Western music. My speciality is, of course, Korean music. I have to finish my dissertation and a couple of papers, then by next year I’ll graduate and have my second M.A. The other thing is I’ve just released my latest track, “Yellow Peril.” I’m still trying to gain more momentum with that. I really want it to be more of an anthem, and [so I] tied into all the movements that have now sprung up. Some people have started to use it, which is great. Hopefully, it will become more internationally known, because I think it’s one of those songs that kind of resonates. I also have an older song in my catalog that kind of ties into that which I’m going to release within the next few months or so called “No More Yellowface.” People are still very ignorant. So, I have a couple lines about the pretenses with which the U.S. lured Chinese workers to the U.S. to work on the railways, and then came up with the Chinese Exclusion Act. That’s the next song on my agenda. And, I’m working on a song right now sung by a very talented Vietnamese singer. I’ve made the music, and I’m doing the mixing and mastering right now. That’s gonna be released in the course of the coming weeks. I’m trying to stay creative and find ways to stay out there, to stay visible; and hopefully, you know, to attract more and more artists to work with me and collaborate. What would your takeaway be for younger, aspiring universal Asians, or how would you encourage our universal Asian population to pursue their art or to do whatever it is they want to do in life? I think right now is as good a time as any. The wind is now in our sails because of the Korean wave. I think the balance has shifted towards the East. It’s been going on for awhile now, but it looks like it’s picked up momentum in a really, really big way. And, it’s not going to slow down. There’s still so much to do to inspire the next generation. I think right now the most important thing to do is to educate people—to educate ourselves. I think in order to succeed, you gotta see yourself not as an island, but as a part of a whole. Right now is the time to stand together. Basically, what I’m trying to say is to just be you, just stay true to you, to just believe; because people will not believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself. That’s what I am trying to do. I’m just trying to inspire as many people as I can to follow their dreams, whatever their dreams may be, because I’m still trying to fulfill many of my own dreams. But, by doing so and by documenting this journey, I hope that it gives people hope, and that it helps to inspire the next generation. Check out DJ Seoul Train’s latest work: E-1 Ten’s “CCTV,” also featuring well-known Dutch MC Brainpower, just released by indie label Wallboomers Music.

The Universal Asian got to know Paul Kim, a talented comedian who is also a writer, producer, and founder and director of several non-profits. Tell us about yourself. My name’s Paul Kim. My friends call me PK because I’m a preacher’s kid. My dad had a big church—like 3,000 people. I’m the last of five. I have two older brothers and two older sisters; they’re all two years apart. I’m the fifth; I’m an accident—pretty obvious—because I’m 10 years apart. My parents are really conservative, religious, and strict. I grew up in Burbank, California, and at that time it was almost all white. I was one of the few Asian kids, and that really shaped me because all the kids would make fun of me. How did you get into comedy? Growing up, I would always watch stand-up comedy. It was something I always wanted to do, but my parents were super strict so when there was this Eddie Murphy "Delirious" tape that kids were passing around, I remember I had it for a night and it changed my life. I just remember listening to it—it was really vulgar—but I just remember being like: “Oh my God, I want to do that.” So I’ve been pursuing that for the past 15 years. I’m nowhere where I want to be, but it’s been an amazing journey. How would you describe your sense of humor? I would say like Conan O’Brien’s—self-deprecating, sometimes sarcastic, satire, and observational. There’s a lot of New York-style comedy where you call a person out in the audience and it can be kind of mean—I’m definitely not that type. Some people are really good at roasting people, but yeah that’s not my type. I don’t know, I think part of my family, the culture—because I’m a preacher’s kid—you’re just never supposed to do that; you know, put other people down. What is your favorite part about being a comedian? When you get a genuine laugh. Like not when your friends laugh in the audience, but a stranger you’ve never met. You can just tell they’re really, genuinely cracking up. Sometimes they snort, you know, and that’s when you know it’s genuine. Then you know that you’ve connected, and you’ve helped them forget about their problems for a minute. I think that’s very rewarding. They say that the shortest distance between two people is laughter, and I believe that, because I’ve experienced it with strangers. Least favorite? It’s the bombing. Everyone’s gonna bomb, you know? It feels like you asked an entire group of people to dance with you, and they said no. I’ve experienced, in my single days, asking a girl out and being rejected, or asking a girl for her number—and that’s what it feels like when you do a joke and it doesn’t work. You’re like: “Wow, I really thought that was funny when I was writing that in my room,” and the truth hits you in the face. Silence is louder than words. I’ve talked with a lot of other comedians too, where you have nights where they’re amazing and nights where they’re bad. You drive home in complete silence—no music—just staring at the road and thinking about your set. You know you have a good set when your friends are like, “Hey, that was really funny,” but you know you have a bad set when people come up to you and are like: “Hey…that takes a lot of balls, man…that was really brave, you really took chances.” How do you deal with tough crowds? You definitely have to have your energy up, like way more than they are. Some people are going through personal issues; you have no idea. Even a crowd of just a few hundred people, there are hundreds of different family issues going on. You know what I’m saying? There are so many issues that people are worried, stressed out about, so to snap them out of it, the first joke is really important. The first impression is really important. You just cannot come out douchey. If your first joke comes off as: “Oh this guy’s just trying to get famous,” then you just see arms folded everywhere. Do you think comedy should be political? Why or why not? I think if the person is well-versed, well-read, then yeah of course. Personally, I’m liberal. I love The Daily Show; I’m friends with Ronny Chieng; opened for Trevor Noah—that whole crew. I love that style of comedy. I also love Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, but I also know some comedians that aren’t good at it, so maybe they shouldn’t. So for me, I don’t like doing political comedy because I just get too emotionally invested in it. Next thing you know, it’s not funny; you’re just arguing. I have a few political jokes, but I just don’t like getting into it too much. It gets me too riled up. I have noticed that the majority of comedians who do political comedy are on the liberal side. There’s something to that—I remember arguing with my friend who’s conservative, and I was like: “Well, why are most of the funny comedians liberal; is it because they speak the truth?” Of course, he got pissed. I can’t really explain that perfectly, but I definitely think there’s something to that—that most comedians are liberal. What advice do you have for aspiring comedians? I would say if you’re right out of school and you know this is what you want to do, I wouldn’t waste any time. I would just dive right into it, 100%. Do whatever you can to figure out what you need to budget your life, like the bare minimum of what you need to live off of. Then go to a mic every night. That’s the best way to do it. It’s not the only way to do it, but it’s the best way if you ask me. You have to have that singular focus, like Dave Chappelle. The older you get, the harder it is. You’re fighting with younger people for spots. So if you know, and you’re young, literally take an Excel spreadsheet and budget how much money you need to live off of, and go for it. It’s only going to get harder in your 30s and 40s. You founded a non-profit and talent show called Kollaboration. How did that start? I started it when I was 23. I was emceeing these really cheesy Asian shows, and I was like, there’s really no Asian-American talent show—and this was before YouTube. There was no platform, no community show. So, I started one in L.A., in K-town, which is why it’s Kollaboration with a K. For the first year, only 200 people came. Then, the next year 400 people came, then 800, and then 1,200. We put it online and people started forwarding it as email attachments, and I started getting emails from Asians all over the country—14 cities with people wanting to start it in their city. So I flew around everywhere, helped establish it with our staff, and we had an amazing time. We did over a hundred shows across the country. It’s probably the proudest achievement for me, other than being a dad, of course. You also co-founded Liberty in North Korea (LiNK). What is it about and what inspired you to start it? In 2004, my friend Adrian Hong, who was at Yale, was always blogging about what’s going on in North Korea. I just remember it was like, why don’t we start a non-profit that raises awareness for this instead of just blogging about this? Because I didn’t even know all these stats he was putting out there. There are a lot of people starving in North Korea; there are people who get captured trying to escape, and are tortured, sometimes executed. It’s bad. The thing is, it’s the government that’s bad, not the 24 million people that are there. They’re just people, citizens, just trying to live. So, we started the non-profit, and in a year—because the college students were amazing—there were 70 chapters across the country. Then Hannah took over—she’s the new director. She really legitimized it, took it to another level. The website, the staff, volunteers, all of the world, to be honest. She, along with the staff, have helped rescue over 1,200 North Korean refugees. PK Comedy website Kollaboration Liberty in North Korea (LiNK)

The Universal Asian got to know the founders of the "AAPI Narrative Podcast": Nhi, Rachelle, and Zi. Visit their website, and listen to episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or other platforms. Tell us about yourselves. Where are you from, how did you all meet? Rachelle (R): Hi, my name’s Rachelle Quintela. I’m a first generation Filipino-American. I was born and raised in San Francisco along with Nhi and Zi. I moved down to Southern California for school and work, and now I’ve transitioned back up to the Bay Area to work in property management and this podcast. Nhi (N): Hi everyone, I’m Nhi. I’m a first generation Vietnamese-American. I was also born and raised in San Francisco, but now I’m in Irvine, California. I am in higher education, specifically Student Affairs right now. Zi (Z): Hello everyone, I’m Zi. I’m Chinese-American, and I was raised in San Francisco. I moved down to Irvine for college, and how I met Rachelle and Nhi—well, Nhi and I went to the same middle school, and Nhi introduced me to Rachelle when we went to college so we could all be roommates together. What inspired you to start the podcast? R: With the rise of all these podcasts that are coming up, we have been listening to a lot of different ones individually—and like Zi said, we’ve known each other for a really long time—and once I moved back up to the Bay area we still wanted to keep those conversations and our bonds super strong. Ultimately, we wanted to share our own experiences as Asian-American women and amplify our unique narratives, as well as other unique narratives within the Asian-American and Asian community. Because, you know, there are a lot of stories around the world that aren’t being told, and we want to highlight those. N: To add on to what Rachelle said, there’s not a lot of representation on mainstream TV, but we do start to see more of that through online platforms, like YouTube. Being able to create this space and add onto that is really important. Everyone’s experience is so different. There are different intersectional identities that encompass how we navigate the world, and even between the three of us, it will be different how we perceive things or respond to specific things. We also don’t encompass every Asian experience. With that, we hope to continue sharing different stories and learn with the community as well. How do you choose your guest speakers? Z: During the past three seasons, we either reached out to community members or those who were interested would submit an interest form. We will review the submissions between the three of us, and if we have the ability to contact the person or organization, we would do so. Moving into the later stage of our podcast, we will be revamping our outreach. We’re still working on that process, so be on the lookout for updates in Season 4! It’s going to be something different. What goes into the making of a podcast episode? R: There are so many steps. I didn’t even realize all the nitty-gritty details that went into making a podcast when we first started. Generally, we would create an outline of topics or questions we’d want to ask ourselves or the guest speaker, if we have one coming on. If there is a guest speaker, we would do research to ensure that the conversation and the episode is tailored to their specific highlights, or their story. After we record our episode, we spend roughly 10 to 15 hours editing each recording. We do those in-house at the moment. With each review of the episode, we want to make sure the audio is nice and crisp, and that the details are in order. Then, we take a step back and listen to the overall content to make sure that it flows really well and is an easy follow for the listener. I just shortened all our blood, sweat, and tears into two minutes; but yeah that’s pretty much how it goes. How do you build your audience? Z: There are multiple ways, but first we connect and share episodes with relevant pages. For example, we post new episodes on the Asian Podcast Network page every week—shout out to Jerry Won. We engage with the community and connect the topic or episode back to the listeners. We also cross-collaborate and connect with those who have similar visions, whether it’s sharing their own experiences as Asian-Americans, or creating a space for others to share their experiences. And, the last thing is word of mouth. We connect with those in our personal circles. We get support from our friends and our family, so that’s really nice. What advice do you have for aspiring podcasters? N: I would say have a central theme or focus. Check out other podcasts that cover similar topics, and really just take a leap of faith. Sometimes, we get so fixated on little details that we don’t even take the first step. So, it’s okay to learn as you go. Z: Be yourself. I feel like listeners can tell when you’re not being your most authentic self. And have fun with it, that’s the most important part. R: Totally agree. Another thing I would add is don’t worry too much about what other people think. At the end of the day, it’s your podcast. Everything that you create should matter to you; otherwise, you won’t have the drive to see it to the finish line. How does the AAPI Narrative Podcast combat the model minority stereotype? N: I think I have this conversation a lot with my students, and sometimes it’s a really new concept for people. For those who don’t know the model minority myth, it’s a false belief that all Asian and Asian-American experiences are homogenous. That can be pretty detrimental to the community. It strips away diverse identities, cultures, languages, and histories that shape a person’s unique perspective and experience. Like I said earlier, the three of us navigate the world differently; even if we are under the same umbrella, it doesn’t mean we are the same. Our podcast focuses on sharing those different experiences, narratives, and stories that don’t always fit into this expectation of what it means to identify as Asian or Asian-American, so that’s how we combat the model minority myth. What are your thoughts on the rise of hate against Asians and Asian-Americans in the pandemic era? How can we fight against it, and how can we, as a society, heal? N: For me personally, it’s been pretty difficult. It’s been difficult in the workspace, it’s been difficult at home just looking at the news, and as you know, a lot of it has been happening in the Bay Area. Knowing that your loved ones are there, that it impacts them…it’s hard. I think it’s particularly hard for me because I’ve directly been told that someone has been impacted, either someone I know or a family friend. That really is difficult, when it hits home. I think it’s hard when people deny it, and deny that it’s happening, or that it’s not something that should be made into a problem. This isn’t new. The U.S. has a very long history of discrimination against communities under the Asian umbrella. With the rise of it right now, I think it’s important to have those conversations. I also struggle a lot with the expectation for me to talk about it. It puts the burden on the people who are impacted, and I know that it’s important to talk about it, but everyone responds in different ways and has their own way of showing up for their community. Z: When I first heard about this it was through social media. I was actually very angry and confused, because a lot of the victims we saw looked very similar to my parents, my uncles, my aunts. They’re taunted, they’re murdered, they’re shoved, their faces are slashed, they’re set on fire, and they’re beaten. It’s just very saddening to see that. How do you fight against that? I would say the first place to start is education. Teach them everything. For instance, in World War II, there was a combat team that was almost entirely Asian. However, in American history, we were never mentioned or honored. Our stories should be included, because we matter. Secondly, I think politicians should keep fighting to pass bills that protect the AAPI community. Not everyone in this world will stand up for us, but I encourage everyone who believes that humanity still matters to stand with us and speak on our behalf. Hate crimes targeting our community need to stop. They need to stop now, for the generations that come after us. R: I totally resonate with everything that’s been said. I’m in a similar boat where it’s just…this past year has been really tough. Not only with your health, but with the rise of hate, and all these different emotions come up for me. The most significant emotion that comes up for me is disbelief. We’ve had so many different advances, technological or otherwise, within the United States, but why is this still on the back burner? When I think about this question, “How do we fight against it?—there’s so many different avenues. I think the most significant step for me is communication, and having that space to be able to open up and have these discussions. Now is the time to shine a spotlight on certain things and bring them up, although they may be very uncomfortable to talk about.

The Universal Asian got to know Raymond Luu and Alan Duong, cousins, creators, and co-hosts of the "Reel Asian Podcast." There are two other awesome co-hosts, who unfortunately couldn’t join us for this interview: Renee Ya and Baldwin Diep. Check them out at here. Tell us about yourselves. Raymond (R): I’m Raymond Luu. I’m a Bay Area kid through and through. I currently work at San Jose State University—that’s my moneymaker at the moment. And, of course, I’m a producer and co-host for the "Reel Asian Podcast." I also do non-profit work. In terms of my upbringing, I loved watching movies, and I always felt a strong connection with the characters on screen. I enjoy backpacking—Alan and I mountaineer, I’m sure he’ll tell you more about that. We’re an outdoorsy kind of team. Alan (A): So, similar to Raymond, I’m a Bay Area kid, born and raised in—and I’m very proud of this—Eastside, San Jose. I graduated from San Jose State University, and served in the United States Army for about 8 years. I’m currently working at LinkedIn as a senior finance analyst, and I’m an MBA candidate at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. Raymond and I co-founded the Greenfoot Hiking Club, which is a Bay Area backpacking club specifically for minorities. I do a lot of rock climbing—on hiatus at the moment. I’m also a professional photographer on the side, and if you buy my prints, the proceeds go to charity. What inspired you to start Reel Asian Podcast? R: As I mentioned, I loved watching movies, and part of the reason why I started the podcast was that a lot of the male leads at the time didn’t look like me. Now, that narrative is hopefully changing. That’s why I have Alan here joining the team to help talk about it and dissect these movies. I’m sure that there are similar podcasts out there, and we don’t necessarily think we’re creating a new space, but our goal for the podcast is to expand the space. A: Raymond formulated this idea maybe two summers ago, and this was something we were really passionate about, to discuss Asian-American stories or Asian stories in general. We realized that the current sphere of media in today’s day and age doesn’t really tell the true story of what Asian-Americans possess in the world. It’s very stereotypical in a particular manner, male or female, and we wanted the opportunity to leverage our position, show that we’re more than just caricatures that people typically see in media, and at the same time, bring into the podcast our personalities. How has your identity as a member of the AAPI community shaped the way you look at the world? R: For the longest time, my image of a “hero” was basically this white, blue-eyed, dominating male figure, and on the other side of the coin, the way that Asians were portrayed in film was definitely not the most in depth. They’d be side characters or comic relief—just goofy. I think I internalized that for the longest time, and it wasn’t until I was 29 that I started becoming more involved with AAPI community relations. The vehicle that really got me there was my non-profit, Project by Project, and we had so many discussions, meetings, and workshops taking a look at the long history of Asian-Americans in our country that stems from institutionalized and systemic racism. I’m half Chinese, half Vietnamese, so there’s also the Vietnam War aspect, and the narrative I was taught was that the Americans were on the good side of the war. Now, having learned about Vietnamese history—I went to Vietnam, and they have a museum there that completely flips the narrative and talks about America’s aggression towards Vietnam. That shaped my reality and introduced a worldliness that went beyond movies, and so I became more understanding of the different Asian-American perspectives and other Asian hyphenates, and how they choose to define themselves. My definition of “Asian” is not the same as the next person’s, but are there shared values we can discuss and learn from? Certainly. And that’s kind of where I am today. It’s a growing process, honestly. A: I kind of recognized my ethnicity in my late teens. I grew up in a bubble, in the Bay area. It’s pretty diverse, in the sense that there are a lot of Asians around. I never felt out of place. Then, that all changed for me when I joined the military. I went from being in an area where I didn’t feel insecure or even cognizant of my race to all of a sudden having my name made fun of. I joined in 2007, and I was shocked—I didn’t realize that it was so prevalent, but I had to remember that my experience of being in a very diverse area isn’t everyone else’s reality. After my time in the military, I took it upon myself to learn more about my culture, and be more cognizant of who I am as a person. Growing up, I kind of hated being Vietnamese, because—and I’ll be honest about my Viet folks here—we’re loud and our language is not the sexiest thing ever. Shout out to our people here. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve fully embraced that, and I’ve recognized that if I want to be an ally to other minorities in the world and to AAPIs, I have to fully love who I am. How can film and TV combat the model minority myth? A: We need to have movies that show diverse stories. We need to have continuous Asian and Asian-American films where we’re not just the "Crazy Rich Asians" or "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." We’re normal people, and there have to be stories told about us, which is why "Always Be My Maybe" is by far one of my favorite movies that came out after "Crazy Rich Asians." It was just a story about regular people who happen to be Asian. I’m such a huge advocate for these kinds of stories, because normalizing us is one way to combat the stereotype. I want nuanced stories that allow the story itself to drive the narrative. R: I just watched "Nomadland," which is directed by Chloe Zhao, a Chinese director, and it doesn’t focus on an Asian-American story, but it just shows that the talent pool is so vast. That speaks to breaking the model minority myth too. I think one step is having Asian leads, like Henry Golding. We can have our own good-looking, charming kind of guy, but we want more than that. We also want mediocrity. We just did an episode on "Harold & Kumar," and what’s great is that the premise of the movie has two Asian-Americans who are expected to act a certain way, but all they want to do is get super high and go to White Castle. That already challenges the status quo; we need more films like that. Do you think arts/entertainment should be political? Why or why not? R: I think it’s impossible to separate the two. And, I don’t mean that it should be separate. I think they’ve always been tied together. We as audience members should be able to connect the two, and also ask what is the art trying to say about society? What do I learn from it? Does it expand my mind a little bit, or do I disagree with it? Society has always been reflected in art. There’s a very, very fine line. I believe that art should stay as art, and have the full creative freedom to express itself. Cancel culture is a very controversial thing, and I think we shouldn’t use the internet to target and destroy people’s lives without looking at the livelihood of the person. A: Those are really good thoughts. Not much to add, because I agree wholeheartedly. I will say that there are people who will say that there is no such thing as cancel culture, it’s repercussion culture. I don’t necessarily believe in that. I think the challenge is that people aren’t taking things into context. I just don’t like the idea of an artist or comedian saying something that’s a little in poor taste—unless it’s truly atrocious—and losing their job. There’s nothing wrong with challenging jokes that challenge perspective and question society, because art is supposed to reflect that. What advice do you have for aspiring podcasters? A: Be authentic and yourself. Know that whatever story you possess, it’s valuable. You just have to keep at it. Never give up who you really are. The moment you try to pretend you’re someone else or you copy someone else’s idea or personality, that’s when you fail and you’re not authentically you. I believe, to be successful in these types of endeavors, you have to be unique, and the most unique thing about you is yourself. R: That was a beautiful answer, man. For me, on the production side, you have to do the research and do as much preparation as you can. Step one: Do it. I feel like a lot of people get cold feet, and a lot of people get caught up in all the different things you have to do to put out a podcast. It can seem very daunting, but if you take it one task at a time, you’ll be able to publish that episode. From a tactical side of things, record three episodes. Figure out what you want to do in your show. Figure out that two-sentence purpose. In that process of recording and editing, you’ll know by then if you really want to continue. And from an editing side of things, take the time to edit intentionally.

The Universal Asian got to know Song Kim, a holistic life and relationship coach. Visit her website to learn more about Song’s wellness advocacy. Tell us a bit about your background. Where to start? I am Korean-American, and I’ve been living in the United States since I was three years old. I immigrated here from Seoul, was raised in the South pretty much all my life, in Texas and Georgia. Growing up, I had a pretty normal experience, seemingly. I was dealing with a lot of trauma due to cultural clashes and other trauma-related things. I kind of lived through life like that, and as I became an adult I struggled a lot with mental health, addiction, and all the other things that come with that. In my young adulthood I struggled a lot with finding myself and my sanity, if you will. I worked as an HR professional and tried to do my best to make it in the world and do what was right for me, but in reality, I was not happy. And so, it wasn’t until very recently that I was able to pursue a career path that truly makes me happy. What drew you to relationship coaching? Well, I struggled a lot with my relationships in my adulthood, and I always thought that I was the problem. Every single relationship I was a part of either ended badly or was unsatisfying, and I really wanted to have a great relationship. After my last relationship, I was over it. I really thought I was going to be alone for the rest of my life. It was a horrible breakup, and it brought to the surface a lot of trauma responses that I wasn’t expecting. I had been in therapy for years and doing the inner work for years, and yet I was just not having fulfillment in my relationships. And so, I just spent some time after that breakup getting myself together and starting to actively try to figure out what it was. I started doing the work—and that’s something that I teach others with my coaching—and I just started to learn more about our subconscious relationship to relationships, and not just relationships, but everything—like how our childhood beliefs and our core beliefs affect our reality. I learned about all these things, and it worked for me. It really helped me break through some of my greatest challenges in relationships. And I thought, well, whatever I’m doing works, and I’m very unhappy in my job, so let me just do what I love and help other women, because I feel like everybody deserves to have a fulfilling, nourishing relationship. Relationships are quite powerful, you know? In your opinion, what is the most important thing people should do to maintain a healthy relationship? Consistently practice a conscious relationship with yourself, where you are aware of your own needs and you’re aware what parts of you need attention from you. Basically, practice great self-care and great self-love, independent from the relationship. It’s very important to maintain a sense of autonomy and a strong sense of self. Be aware of and meet your own needs, and clearly communicate them in a safe manner to your partner. What are the most rewarding parts about being a coach? Oh my gosh, everything. I learn. I become better, and I learn from my clients. Every time they share with me their stories and their challenges, I’m forced to look at and address the same things within myself. They teach me all the time. And, of course, when I see them get with the person they’ve been wanting to get back with or when they meet somebody that finally shows up for them in a way that they deserve, that just makes me so happy. What does a self-care day look like for you? I’m a single mother and I have two kids, so I ask for help so that somebody can watch the kids. I also communicate to my partner that I need some time to myself. Because, for me, I feel at my best when I’m able to get really quiet. After I’ve made sure everyone is taken care of, I love to just do my hobbies. For me, that means cooking, or taking pictures of random things or people, but usually it’s cooking. First, I’ll identify a recipe that’s ridiculous. Like, ridiculously complicated and very complex, one that no one would ever want to do; and I will want to do it. “Oh, it has 47 steps and takes 4 hours? Okay, I’ll do that.” I’ll go to the market and I’ll get some really good ingredients and start whipping up dishes at home, pretending that I’m some cool main character in a movie. Oh, and taking a bath—a great bath, really long. Meditating, doing yoga, spending time with my dog, and finally, sitting in my bed in my pjs eating whatever I want and reading manga or watching anime. That’s my jam. How can people weed out and keep out toxicity in their lives? It goes back to self. You really have to have a strong sense of self. What that means is, you need to know what your boundaries are. You really have to have a strong sense of what is okay and what is not okay for you, and clearly communicate that as soon as possible to the people who are in your life. Boundaries are everything. It takes consistent practice; like with family members. Let’s say you grew up in a highly enmeshed family, which is quite common in Asian households, communicating [your boundaries] is going to be hard. One thing that I had to practice with my family was my time. “Please respect my time.” “Please don’t call me between this time and this time.” So yeah, boundaries. If you know that, then you’re able to tell somebody when they do something to offend you or disrespect you. It can be as small as somebody touching you on your shoulder. How do you define happiness? Happiness is when you have stepped into the energy of the person you’ve always dreamt of becoming. That’s what happiness is to me. That’ll change, whatever you strive to be will change as you grow. There’s no stagnancy in who you are. If I dreamt of becoming more empowered, successful, loving, and free, and I finally stepped into that energy because of my efforts, I’m like, “Yeah, this feels great.” What advice would you give someone who feels like they’re trapped in their relationship? When I first hear the word “trapped” that makes me think that the person is probably in a really unhealthy space—emotionally and mentally. It’s much more complex than “just get out of it.” I would tell them to begin to ask, “What would you want to feel instead?” I ask that because I felt that way when I was in an abusive relationship, and I didn’t feel like I could leave. When you’re in that space, it’s hard for you to just up and leave. I began to daydream and think about what would make me happier, and as my desire became greater than my will to stay, I was able to finally leave and choose myself. Who are you inspired by? To be honest, I would say it’s the women in my life that I’ve been exposed to, new and old. As I stepped into this role as a relationship coach, I started developing a new community of women who inspired me. There are several people in the same line of work as me, who are also coaches, healers, and the reason why they inspire me is because they really have broken the mold of what it means to be successful. I’m surrounded by women who are truly authentic and doing what they love, and it shows. They inspire me to continue to be that as well. I can’t imagine myself doing anything other than what I’m doing right now. I’m very lucky to have these other women in my life—women of color. Being a woman is oppressive by itself, but being a woman of color comes with a very unique set of challenges. And yet, these women vibe and do whatever they want, and I’m just like, yeah that’s super inspiring, you know? Knowing that we’re building that community and being part of that community is awesome, because there are so many women of color out there who have so much talent and skill and they’re going at it alone, and that can be very isolating. So yeah, my community of women inspires me. What advice do you have for others thinking about becoming a relationship coach? First and foremost, you need to have a pretty strong relationship with yourself. I say strong, and not good. You don’t need to have the best. When I say strong, I mean: “Are you someone who is practicing good self-care and self-awareness, committing to yourself every day?” In my opinion, that’s essentially what a good relationship coach is—somebody who doesn’t necessarily know a lot of knowledge, like skills or techniques, but is practicing a great relationship with themselves. That’s the core of what it means to have a great relationship with somebody else. If you’ve got that, then you’re good to go. Also, another piece of advice is it’s very important to practice presence and full acceptance with your clients. You will come across people who will want very different things from you, who have different preferences in the type of partner that they want. It can be challenging to see a person pursue an ex you don’t think is good for them, but all you can do is practice that presence and allow them to find the best healing option for them moment to moment. You can only just be a sounding board for them. Cover photo credit: Joshua A. Davies

The Universal Asian got to know Jessica Lin, a holistic healer, life coach, and creator of Jess Beyond the Body. Visit her site here. *TW: mentions of suicidal ideation Tell us a bit about your background. Sure. My name is Jessica; my pronouns are she/her. My background is 15 years in holistic health, including yoga, a little bit of Ayurveda, and TCM, which is traditional Chinese medicine. I have a B.A. in art from Scripps College, and that’s a little bit about me! How did you get into wellness and yoga? My story is similar to some other folks; I dealt with a lot of chronic pain and mental health issues. I remember from around age 3, just being filled with a lot of anger, and it was very hard for me to manage it. I could tell from a young age that it was not normal, in the sense that it was beyond what was healthy. It was really affecting my quality of life, and it was affecting my interactions with friends and people at school. In elementary school I went online and typed in how to deal with this kind of feeling or these kinds of issues, and I found therapy and yoga as recommendations. My parents didn’t really believe in therapy at the time—as immigrants and as people of color, a lot of times there’s some stigma around mental health and wellness—but they did let me start yoga. I want to acknowledge, as I do in all of my workshops, that I did have the privilege of my parents speaking English so I could communicate with them, and I did have the financial resources to go to yoga and later on therapy. So, I continued my yoga, and it really kept me afloat, because I was very lonely and dealing with depression and suicidal ideation. The suicidal ideation started really early on in elementary school and my parents didn’t believe me, so the yoga studio was a really good space for me to stay out of trouble. What is the most important thing people should pay attention to when taking care of their bodies? I think that what’s important is finding out what works for the individual. That’s something I say over and over again—find what works for you. Everyone is so different. The example I usually give is my partner, who does martial arts. There’s a spiritual component to that, and yeah, he comes to my yoga classes and he’s done it before, but that might not be the avenue for him. I know folks who prefer other modalities, such as writing, and so I think it’s about experimenting and seeing what feels good, because what works for me may not work for someone else. Also, in terms of therapy, it takes a lot of shopping around, finding out if you want to do EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) vs CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) etc. etc. There are a lot of options, and there’s only 24 hours in a day, so we have to pick and choose. What are the benefits of practicing yoga? How has it changed you as a person? I think it benefits people by helping them live more thoughtfully. It helps me live consciously; thinking about what I actually want in life and whether I’m doing things because I enjoy them and not because I’m supposed to. The way I practice is about self-awareness—similar to my martial arts practice, which I just started. The thing is, it really helps folks live their lives with more intention. Otherwise, we’re just on autopilot. For me, yoga has really helped me cope with my emotions, because, as you know, I dealt with debilitating depression. Now, I feel really excited to wake up and be alive. And yeah, sometimes I’m grumpy and mad, and it’s not that yoga has made me a saint, but when I feel anger or frustration or even jealousy, I understand how to cope with those and slow down to deal with them. I can acknowledge what I’m feeling versus just stuffing it down. I’m a really happy person nowadays; my inner joyfulness has come up to the surface. What was the most rewarding experience for you as a coach? That’s a hard question to answer. I don’t like to do comparisons like “most” or “favorite,” because I think there’s beauty in every experience and situation. That’s actually, I think, the answer to the question: variety. I get to work with such a range of people. I’ve worked with people who are as young as kindergartners, working on their confidence and self-esteem. I’ve worked with people who are in their 60s, helping them with cancer recovery. I get to meet such amazing folks and learn from them, and develop lifelong friendships. These connections are genuine, and I don’t feel that lonely nowadays. Walk me through a typical day for you. It looks different every day. The way I live and the way I encourage others to live is to not compare yesterday to today. As someone who lives with chronic illness, I have to take it one step at a time. I have clients in the afternoon, so I have the morning to myself. I wake up, and my partner and I will chat with each other a bit, and it’s playful—we make a lot of jokes. So, my day starts out with a lot of laughter. Lately, I’ve been taking myself to local parks. I go on Yelp and find parks I haven’t been to before and start exploring. Last week, I went out and counted 31 turtles at this little pond. I often talk to my friends on the phone or video chat, or I’ll do a little bit of coloring or journaling, and yeah, you can see it varies. Around 3:00 or 4:00, I have private clients, and those are usually 1-2 hours in length. I try not to work more than 2-4 hours per day. I usually wrap up my day with more cuddles, and I do this thing called the positives game. We go through and talk about things that went really well during our day. It can be as simple as my partner driving to and from work safely or buying yummy blueberries. The new year ushered a hope for and emphasis on healing. What are your top tips for soothing anxiety and battling depression? Going back to the basics is really important. What I mean by that is: sleep, eating, and drinking water. A lot of times people want a miracle pill and spend tens of thousands of dollars on workshops and treatments, and the thing is, none of that is going to work if you’re sleep deprived. If people ask me what my secret is, I say I sleep 8-10 hours. That’s how I’m going to be functioning and getting through my day. I feel like most people I talk to don’t sleep enough, don’t eat enough, don’t drink enough, and that’s not to put blame on people—there’s so much pressure and expectation to be productive all the time. I used to proudly call myself a productivity nut, and now I think of myself as a recovering workaholic. What advice would you give someone who feels they are too busy/unable to meditate? There’s this proverb that says something along the lines of: “If you’re not busy, meditate for thirty minutes, and if you are busy, meditate for one hour.” I think that’s the best proverb ever. It makes so much sense. A lot of times people are busy or make themselves busy to avoid their feelings. If people are too busy, I think that’s the time to step back and think, well, what am I filling my time with, and does it make me feel fulfilled and happy? I don’t think that being too busy is a real problem; it’s more of an excuse. It’s a signal that maybe that person isn’t ready yet, but the people that are the busiest are the ones who need it the most. Start where you are, start with one minute, five minutes. You don’t have to sit in a lotus position; it doesn’t have to be so formal. You can sit there and just breathe. Meditating doesn’t have to be done with your eyes closed. It can be standing at the sink, paying attention to your dishes, feeling the water washing over your hands, feeling your feet on the earth. Being there in the moment, that’s also meditation. What advice do you have for others thinking about becoming a wellness coach? I’m actually doing a workshop on that soon. I would say go slowly, and don’t expect everything to happen right away. I think it’s about tapping into the heart of it. When you have a genuine connection and you’re in it because you care, it’s going to show to other people. I see a lot of life coaches who are all caught up in making six figures or seven figures, and I think that’s a really crappy reason to get into it. A very small minority of people are going to achieve that. If you want to make a lot of money, go into business or medicine. How do you define happiness? Happiness for me is feeling awake and present and alive. It’s finding joy in the little things, like looking at the sky and enjoying seeing color. It’s something I think about a lot. I’m so happy to see color. Not all animals can. Happiness is being happy with what I have. I’m not waiting for my next client or my next house or car. I am my happiness, and I carry that everywhere. It’s in the little moments of dancing around the room. I don’t even put on music; I just dance to the rhythm of life. Happiness is lots of laughter. I’m a really silly person, but I didn’t always have a space to share that part of myself growing up. Being able to express myself, going out without a bra, just being my true self. Happiness is a life where I’m making decisions because I want to.

Emotional Intelligence fitness coach, founder of the Emotion DOJO, and host of the "Human Up" podcast, Victor Ung is on a mission to create a safe space for self-identifying Asian men to talk freely about their emotions, develop their emotional intelligence (EQ), and break the model minority myth. We talk career change, his reason for it, and some of his plans for the future. Ethnically Chinese, and the first in his family to be born in America, he knows what it is like to be caught up in the (model minority) myth, and understands the feelings of needing to pursue a route toward career stability. “I went into technology consulting as my career, and hit a point of burnout towards the end of the career,” he says. “Not really feeling fulfilled with my trajectory, or the impact that I was making and being recognized for my value” are just some of the reasons that pushed Victor to leave consulting to become a life coach, specializing in EQ. The need to create what he dubs as the Emotion DOJO also stems from the rarity of safe spaces for self-identifying Asian men to develop emotional skills, which they can take into many aspects of life, be it the workplace or intimate relationships. But what exactly is EQ? “It’s stability and the muscle to be able to identify our emotions to regulate and manage them so that they don’t consume us, then to express and communicate them assertively and vulnerably,” says Victor. He adds that it’s giving someone the ability to take action against uncomfortable or negative emotions so that, “we’re not debilitated by emotions, but can be guided by them in a way that allows us to be productive in our own way.” As part of developing EQ, Victor created the DOJO, which is an acronym for Dreams, Opportunities, Joys, and Obstacles, to help his clients develop emotional fitness. Victor says: “We have so many physical gyms to work out our physical muscles, but we rarely have the space to develop our emotional muscles, emotional fitness, or emotional resilience.” The DOJO encourages clients to recognise their dreams, appreciate their joys, and use those as parameters to overcome obstacles they might face. Victor has overcome obstacles of his own; namely the time his good friend pointed out his lack of assertiveness. “They commented that I had no spine,” he says, which made him “realise that there was the people-pleasing tendency within me in just keeping my head down and acquiescing to others especially.” Miscommunication at work led to conflicts, and a sense of not knowing how to deal with adversity, is also what led him to find his own way of developing an EQ and feeling a need to coach others like him to do the same. It seems Victor is not the only one to feel a lack of preparedness when it comes to being assertive in the workplace, as several studies suggest that Asians fall into a stereotype of being highly competent, but lacking social skills. Did the stigma of Asian men to bottle their feelings, and succumb to the model minority myth become a driving factor for Victor to become an EQ coach? “That’s almost exactly what I embarked on to this for,” he says. “Growing up, I very much absorbed [the model minority myth] and believed it, and my family believed it or even used it.” Adding that the pressure of the model minority created “judgement for myself that if I wasn’t being [a model minority]. I wasn’t being the epitome of this poster child that is supposed to do the right thing—listen to authority, keep my head down, [and] get the good grades.” Coupling the model minority myth with the societal pressures of what it means to be “a man,” particularly an Asian American, is also something Victor draws on in his other ventures, such as his "Human Up" podcast and YouTube channel. His mantra is: “Let’s retire the need to ‘man up’. How about we HUMAN up instead? Both men and women alike.” It stems from “being told to man up all the time,” he says, and where he questioned what that notion really means. He decided to flip the notion and came up with “human up” instead: “We are all human beings at the end of the day, not to erase the culture or the different experiences or perspectives that we have, but that there is this common element between all of us.” Humility, awareness, and communication have become central themes in Victor’s work and he has big dreams to take EQ coaching further. Helping many Asian American men online throughout the pandemic, Victor’s post-pandemic plan is to “[find] a physical space that I can host workshops and throw community events” in order to “[allow] others to feel safe to be themselves and grow in that social capacity.” Aside from being able to see his clients face-to-face, one of his main dreams and goals he says is “to be a connecting force in a community, as I create a safe space for men, but also for many other humans.”

Please tell me about your background: Where are you from? What is your job? etc. My name is Joseph, and I am currently working on a documentary about five Korean Americans who ran for the U.S. Congress. So, I’m in the thick of the post-production process. Prior to this, I made a film titled "Jeronimo," which was about a Korean-Cuban revolutionary who was born and raised in Cuba, fought in the Cuban Revolution, went to law school with Fidel Castro, and worked with Che Guevara—who served in the Castro government for 30 years. For the first time in Jeronimo’s life, he visited South Korea at the invitation of the government, and his life transformed as a result. He spent the rest of his 10-plus years reconstructing and rediscovering his sense of Korean identity and reviving the Korean community in Cuba. Those are the two projects that I have my hands on. Prior to all that, I was actually an attorney. I’m a Korean American, who was born in the U.S., raised in Korea, and came back to the U.S. at the end of high school. What inspired you to become an attorney, and what made you shift into a more creative role creating documentaries and films? I actually studied film and video during my undergraduate studies. However, my college, UC San Diego, was more theory-based and less production-based. However, I was primarily interested in film because it is a great means for sharing social causes and stories about social causes, which was how I initially got hooked into the idea of studying film. However, towards the end of college, I realized that film can only show social injustices, and that if I wanted to be more of an active agent of change, I should go to law school. So, the motivation for me to study film and law are actually the same. The funny thing is that life doesn’t necessarily pan out the way you want. Instead of becoming a human rights lawyer, I actually ended up working at a Korean government agency advising intellectual property and startup law instead. However, a serendipitous backpacking trip to Cuba changed everything. What was the inspiration behind your first documentary "Jeromino" and your second project "Chosen"? For "Jeromino," it came down to a random backpacking trip to Cuba when I ran into the descendants of Korean ancestors [sic]. In a way, that serendipitous encounter answered my lifelong query on this notion of identity of: “What does it mean to be a member of the Korean diaspora—those who lived outside their home country, including myself?” Whenever I travelled back to Korea, I would always be questioned as to how authentic I am in terms of my “Koreanness,” how committed and loyal am I, and how much do I identify myself as a Korean. Some believe that Koreans living outside of Korea are not authentic enough or legitimate enough. They don’t even think about how they can build a relationship with Korean diasporians. I think the effort (to do so) from a more national level is also significantly lacking. As such, this has been one of the many questions that I have: “What kind of relationships should exist between the people from the home country and people who live outside (of it)?” It was only when I went to Cuba and ran into the Korean descendants that it opened a can of worms for me. It was not even taught in history books that there are Koreans living in Cuba. I sort of uncovered them by accident. That whole incident really got me thinking that there are some great treasures hidden in their stories. The fact that I was struggling and wrestling with the issue of identity and being a (member of the Korean) diaspora, and somehow ran into a group of people who might know the secret to that treasure, resulted in my deciding to make a film about it. When I finished making "Jeronimo," I didn’t think that I would continue making other films or have a career switch. I just thought that this might be a year or two passion project sabbatical, and that I would then go back to practicing law. However, once again, life doesn’t pan out the way you want it to. I was enjoying the fruit of "Jeronimo" as I was scheduled to screen my film in over 30-40 places around the U.S., Asia, Europe, and other places. But then COVID hit and all the screenings were cancelled. Obviously, that was really depressing because I was just about to share my film. Despite that, I was lucky enough to have my film open in theatres in Korea. So, I was in Korea contemplating what I should do next, and it was during this time that I became increasingly worried about the politics in the U.S. Seeing the way things were going and the mishandling of the pandemic where so many people died was an existential threat to (all of) us. It was around that time that I read that there were five Korean-Americans running for the U.S. Congress, and I wondered if anyone was documenting their story. I started to make contacts and asked them if they minded me tagging along for the next two months or so. They were all fine with it as long as we adhered to safety precautions. If you’re familiar with John Bolton, he was the previous national security adviser to Trump. I read part of his book where he talked about how the peace treaty between North Korea and the U.S. failed. He mentioned that one of the reasons that the deal failed was because of the ego and self-interest of some of the major decision makers, such as Trump, Bolton, Pompeo, and some others, including diplomats. As I was reading this, I was thinking about how the fate of an entire peninsula country is in the hands of a few people who happen to be in this decision-making process. I wondered: “What are the ways to resolve this? Perhaps, if some of the Korean Americans were to occupy important decision-making positions in the U.S. government they might be able to positively influence the outcome of some of the treaties.” At least that was my hypothesis. It was also around then that I read this article about the five Korean-Americans running for Congress, so I thought to myself, I’m going to jump onto this new project! When is the "Chosen" documentary going to debut? The U.S. presidential election was about a month ago (*interview with Joseph was during the beginning of December) so we were able to shoot about three months worth of footage. We are currently doing our story construction because when we first started, we didn’t know how it was going to turn out. What I was interested in was not only on the national level but the candidates’ own personal stories, their role as Korean diasporians, and why they decided to run. So, I’m trying to reconstruct the whole narrative. Once this process is done, I’ll start to edit it. I presume this will take about 6-7 months from today. Are you currently working on this project full-time? Yeah, I’m not working on the side. I’m going all-in on this project, but I still have the desire and curiosity to practice law or something related to human rights or even media law. I do envision myself going back at some point. One of the famous lines in the movie "Parasite" is: “I have no plan and that’s my plan.” That’s not exactly my motto, but I feel that whatever I plan out generally doesn’t pan out. However, in the end I end up in good places. Taking time off from your legal career and going full-time into creating documentaries can be daunting to some people. Have you ever come across any particular barriers that have made you doubt yourself? I think there are a couple of occasions where I think about it…not necessarily self-doubt, but I would constantly think about how I can improve. One of the life lessons that I learned when I was at this conference six years ago by a top-notch designer in NYC was that when he made big decisions, he just jumped off the cliff and then thought about how to open the parachute later. I approach things with the same mentality, especially when I am overwhelmed with passion to tell stories. What would your advice be for younger creatives or film makers? I don’t think I’m in the right position to actually advise them, but I’ll try! I will quote some philosophers because I don’t think I have what it takes to advise others, especially when I’m trying to figure it out myself as well.  Recently, I came across this philosopher by the name of Choi Jin-seok, a very renowned philosopher from Korea. He said: “The only time when a being exists, is when that person questions and not when he answers.” In other words, only by questioning then you are actually existing in the world, because if you have an answer to a set of problems or questions, this means the knowledge already exists in the world and you’re just regurgitating it.

The Universal Asian is excited to introduce Yuyu Kitamura, a talented actress and poet. To see samples of her work, head to http://yuyukitt.com. Tell us about yourself. I am a Japanese actress. I was raised in Hong Kong, and I started acting and doing youth theatre from the age of 10. It was always a passion and hobby of mine, and it was the lifelong dream that every young child sort of brings to mind. I was fortunate enough to go to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where I studied and trained and lived in New York for five years. I got to work professionally for a year after, and then COVID-19 hit, so everyone’s world got turned upside down. My long-term dream is to start a production company where I can help foster and create content and share stories for people; specifically stories that are underrepresented. When did you know you wanted to act as a career and why? I think it was because I was a middle child and my parents were very busy with either the eldest or the youngest. And so, in a sense, it was a very uplifting way that they could come and support me. I also had a lot of creative energy as a child, so it was just kind of like BOOM!—there it is on the stage. I think when I was a child I was always sort of manifesting and telling myself that this was what I wanted to do, so I don’t have this “Aha!” moment—it was never like that. But, the pivotal moment was when I was applying for universities, and NYU was always sort of the ultimate goal. In a lot of Asian cultures, that moment where you think: “What do you want to put your time and your education and your money into?” I think it’s very easy, almost ingrained, to not think about the arts as a career. So, once I got into the school, it sort of affirmed everything I’d been telling myself when I was younger. Like, I can do this; I can do this as a career if I work hard. What are the ups and downs of being an actress? I think, other than the obvious (everyone knows that it’s a lot of rejections, that it might not be immediate success), the sort of thing that I’ve been struggling with over the years is comparison. Comparison to the careers of my friends, the comparison to the careers of the actors and actresses that I aspire to, and also, in this day and age, you have to be multi-faceted. I think it’s not enough just to be an actor. I think with how quickly technology’s evolving you sort of need to be your own content creator, writer—you have to be able to film your own work, you have to be able understand and be with the evolution of filmmaking. You just have to do everything and be the best, and I think that’s something that I’m very excited about, and have also been struggling with. You have quite an impressive resume. What was your favorite role and why? I would definitely say a project that I hold dearly to my heart is a project called “Electable” with Liann Kaye. The reason why I loved the role of Quinn Chinn and working with her specifically is she’s also an Asian creative. From the moment that I even sent my self-tape in and was in communication with her, she made me feel very seen and heard, and I think that is one of the greatest wonders of working with someone who is in your community and who is writing and advocating for stories that we can understand and relate to. It’s a coming-of-age story; so it was so fun. It was all shot in one day, and there were so many different people involved that really made being on set fun, which made the whole creative process a learning process. Do you prefer drama or comedy? I love drama. When I’m sad, when I’m exhausted, I really just want to delve into the heavy stuff. A reason why I love creators and entertainment is that it serves such escapism. It’s a form of “I don’t want to focus on my stress, I want to be watching someone else’s stress.” Comedy is great for the light-hearted, silly moments with your friends, but when I’m alone I’m always picking drama. When I act, it sort of trickles in, that I do enjoy the heavy, raw, edgy, and gritty stuff. Comedy is definitely a beast of its own. It’s hard. It’s so nuanced, and they are so smart. Comedy actors, their timing is just impeccable. It’s a skill that I definitely need to keep crafting and honing. Who is your dream director to work with and why? Recently, I’ve been rewatching Baran bo Odar’s work from "Dark" on Netflix. I remember watching it when it first came out and it was also close to the time when "Stranger Things" came out, and I kind of put it on the back end, but over quarantine I had a lot of time, so I went back and watched it. The colors that he used and the way that his direction is so specific because of how detailed the plot is, I would love to get a chance to one day do something like that, where you really have to take into account so many different elements and make it so cohesive and still manage to keep the tone, the plot, and everything else in mind. I admire his work, and he’s about to do another project that seems really interesting. How would you want your work to be remembered in 50 years? At the moment, at the age I am, the sort of stories that I’m already pitching to myself are stories about very nuanced moments within Asian culture that we don’t normally see played out in film and TV. With my own upbringing, I would consider myself a third-culture kid, and so there are moments where I have a clash within my own cultures, within my own identity. A lot of stories that I’m leaning towards and wanting to write or star in are very family-centric. In 50 years, I want my work to showcase universal themes. I want it to be both universal, but also very culture-centric. I want to write and create stories where they are situationally-based and focused on something, but then these stories can be universal and impactful to a lot of people. I also feel like I want to create and star in things that are both in English and Japanese. There’s more to entertainment and media than just one language. Have you faced any challenges, being a BIPOC actress? When I was in America, working in New York, I was able to get into a lot of rooms and meet people, and it was because the industry was writing for more people of color, and wanting to have more representation and diversity in media. And that is great, and something I’m very proud to see. But, then there was this whole other part of not being American, and the struggles I faced. I sound like I could have grown up anywhere in the states. But within the industry, once people knew of my immigration status, they wouldn’t treat me the same. The immediate switch that I felt of how they saw me was so apparent, and I understand immigration in the States is this whole other Pandora’s box, but to see it happen right in front of you is really traumatizing because you suddenly feel so small. They would make me feel so small. And the words they would use—they would say that I was a waste of time; that I was just more paperwork. I’m a person, I’m someone with aspirations, and I am legally able to work in the U.S. And it felt, in those moments, that diversity was just a trend, because of how I was being treated. It showcased how layered this problem is, that it’s not really just about people of color, but it’s political, and we haven’t even tackled and fully overcome those problems, so how do you go to the next level without actually figuring out how to properly treat people? *For more on immigrant performers, see: https://www.asiancinevision.org/crossing-over-understanding-the-plight-of-immigrant-performers/ You’re also a poet, and you’ve published a book! Can you tell me a bit about that and the type of poetry you write? I would just call it free form. I don’t think it follows any specific structure. But it is often tied to the emotional experiences that I’ve had. I’ve been writing poetry for about five or six years. It first came out of the way that I was journaling. It was very personal, and, quite frankly, I never intended for it to be seen—I never intended to write a book. But a wonderful mentor of mine taught me all the steps of publishing, just as sort of a side passion project of ours, and it got to the point where I could press submit and I could press publish. This book, it’s called "Circles and Lines"; all the poems in there came out of a really dark mental health journey that I had been going through. I would like to say they go through the five stages of grief. When I put these poems together, it was almost cathartic for me to go through the process of rereading my words, knowing I’m in a better place. Buy Yuyu's book here; visit her IMDb page; see more press on Yuyu here! Cover photo credit: THEGINGERB3ARDMEN

Tell me about yourself: Where are you from? What is your job? I was born in Tianjin, China, where I lived for eight years before moving to Singapore, which is where I grew up and lived through high school. For my undergrad, I attended the University of Toronto to pursue a degree in International Relations and Economics; so, my interest in internationalism was there from an early point in my adult life. After graduating and a couple of years working in a boutique capital market advisory firm, I decided to further my studies with a Masters in Social-Organizational Psychology at Columbia University in NYC. I then stayed and worked in New York City for five years, working in consulting doing large organizational transformational projects like mergers and acquisition integrations and expanding to business strategy and development. But working in the corporate world never felt quite right, and towards the end of 2018, I finally took a leap of faith, quit my corporate career, started venturing into the journey of entrepreneurship, and eventually founded CulturedGen. What was your experience like growing up as a third culture kid—having travelled around and lived in different cities/countries? It felt awkward in the earlier part of my life. I never had a clear sense of home and belonging. For instance, when I moved from China to Singapore (where I spent most of my formative years), I always felt more Chinese than Singaporean. When I met other Chinese international students in Canada while at the University of Toronto, I felt more like a Singaporean Chinese and less like Chinese nationals. When I went to NYC for my graduate degree and work, I felt I carried a piece of Toronto with me. Now that I am back in Asia after 11 years in the Western Hemisphere, and having travelled to close to 40 countries, I am more comfortable to say that I cannot be fully defined by one nationality or geography. I’m shaped by every city and country I’ve lived in. What is CulturedGen? CulturedGen creates content and live experiences, with a focus on Chinese artistic and cultural heritage. Through digital content and immersive pop-up experiences and by partnering with artists and creatives, we help young Chinese diasporians around the world reconnect with their roots. Furthermore, through our own voices, we promote a better understanding and appreciation for Chinese culture and heritage. What inspired you to start CulturedGen? It all started with my growing curiosities in people and culture, along with learning about and being immersed in the cultures of places I visited. However, along the way I realized how little I knew about my own culture and heritage. The more I began to reconnect with my Chinese roots, the more I felt compelled to share with others—especially with my fellow Chinese diasporians and with the world. It’s like finding a treasure and having the inner urge to shout, “Hey! Look what I’ve found!” What has been the best thing about running CulturedGen? Finally doing something I believe in and that I’m passionate about! Prior to starting CulturedGen, I followed a rather conventional career path, even though I had the opportunity to explore different industries and roles—from financial services to healthcare, and business development to consulting. But, there was always something missing. I’m happy that I’m finally working towards aligning my personal purpose with my business focus. Have you come across any challenges or hurdles, and how did you overcome them? (For example, have you ever received any hate messages or comments about your platform?) I haven’t received any hate massages or comments—maybe because we are still quite small. That said, there are definitely challenges, and many are not unique to CulturedGen. Without external funding, we have to be extremely thoughtful and ruthless about how we spend our money, because of the lack of resources. What was your aim/goal in creating CulturedGen? I grew up in an environment that assumes Westernization is modernization, and that implicitly regards our heritage and traditions as inferior to that of the West. Unfortunately, even to this day there is still prejudice and racism towards Chinese people globally. My goal with CulturedGen is two-fold: To help my fellow Chinese diasporians to reconnect with their roots and to strengthen our collective cultural confidence. It is important to understand and appreciate our own cultural heritage to appreciate that of others. I believe it is difficult to love others without knowing how to love yourself. To reclaim the narrative of our history, culture, and heritage. We should be the protagonist of our own story, rather than having outsiders tell our story, which I feel happens too often. It is important that we use and assert our own voice and share our perspectives with the world as lived through our own experiences. You’re currently living in Singapore, but do you see yourself moving to another country soon? Do you have a city/country that you see yourself settling in for a very long time? It is sometimes difficult to imagine settling in a city for a very long time. I am still excited by the idea of moving to a foreign city and adapting to a new environment. I would love to be able to split my time across different cities across different continents. Maybe that dream will come true someday. What are your plans for the future? Do you plan to expand your platform? We live in a world of uncertainty. I never thought with all the plans we had going into 2020, we would have to fundamentally change our business model from 100% offline to 50-50. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to make an impact without compromising on my initial goal. So, it could be expanding in reach or it could be deepening the interaction between us and our audience.

The Universal Asian got to know Keyser Nguyen, a Vietnamese-Jewish comedian and producer. Tell us about yourself. Where did you grow up? What was it like? I grew up in Long Beach, California. It was a great place to grow up—a lot of beaches, bonfires, and, you know, house parties. There’s a very good sense of community here. I did a lot of activities growing up: skateboarding, surfing, skim boarding, etc.—a lot of that stuff. Now, my background’s a little funky. I came over here from Vietnam with my family, and when I was 15, I left home. I worked full-time when I was 15. I was, well, people would say “homeless,” but I was jumping from home to home and living out of my truck at the time. Then, when I was 16, I was taken in by a Jewish family. How did you get into comedy? I was actually doing some non-profit work in Arizona, and I met Hannibal Buress’s sister. I’d been a comedy fan for my entire life. My influences were Dave Attell, David Cross, and the biggest impact was Dave Chappelle with "Killin’ Them Softly." So, I met Hannibal Buress’s sister, and she basically took me to his show in Phoenix, and I got to hang out with him backstage for a long time. I wasn’t a comedian back then. We were just talking about the non-profit stuff we were working on, and then, as I was leaving, I was like: “What do you think about me doing stand-up?” I remember he told me: “You know, I used to do open mics back in the day, and there would be about 50 people there, and 49 would just not be there. So it’s kind of like, if those statistics scare you, then it’s probably not for you. If you start comedy in spite of those statistics, then you’re probably made for it.” How would you describe your sense of humor? I’m very sarcastic. I like a lot of history jokes. I like the cultural dynamics, you know, the compare and contrast being born into a Vietnamese family and then growing up in a Jewish family. It’s very fascinating to me, and I’m sure it’s fascinating to other people too, but I kind of have the inside scoop on it. Because I’ve lived it and that’s all I know, it’s second nature to me. So, my comedy is very adaptive, it’s very dialogue-based. It’s me explaining my life experiences from the viewpoint of a Vietnamese Jew. Do you pull your material from your life or the world around you? Oh, definitely my life. I’m just an observer and participant of the world. Everything comes from me, even observations would tie back to me, and how I feel about it. “The world is burning! And I love it.” You know what I mean? My most passionate stories and topics have to do with things that have happened to me. What is your favorite part about being a comedian? My favorite part about being a comedian is having an outlet to express how you feel about things. It’s very dynamic. Even in today’s environment and constraints, I feel there’s a lot of bandwidth for you to let out your feelings, your observations, and your thoughts. I think that’s one of the best parts of comedy, and I think the connection with the audience is almost everything. When you make it personal and you’re talking to the audience, it’s like a monologue masked as a dialogue, right? Because you’re up there by yourself, but you’re talking in dialogue form to the audience. That’s really what amazes me. Least favorite? The worst part of comedy is—and I generally avoid it—is the cutthroat nature of the business. I understand it because I’ve been in the business for a very long time, so I don’t shy away from it, but I see the effect it has on other comedians. How do you deal with tough crowds? I look at it as a challenge. I think every crowd is a learning experience. Preparation is very important. A lot of people don’t even talk about that, but if you’re going on the road, you really want to understand who the audience is, how they look at things, and their viewpoints on the world. You cater your conversation to them in a way that opens up that dialogue, and then they can relate to what you’re saying. How much does your identity as an Asian Jew influence your comedy? It’s everything. It’s an opportunity for me to tell the audience about my experiences that they generally wouldn’t get anywhere else. I mean, everyone has hardships; I do not think mine are unique or worse than anybody else’s, but they are different. It’s made it very confusing, and my job is to make it less confusing and make light of it. So, it’s affected everything, from the material I write, to how I dress, to how I approach comedy. What are your proudest achievements so far? I definitely think what we’re building with Electric Comedy is one of them. Just to give you a little background: we’re a media and comedy production company. So, we produce live shows; we also produce branded content, and we’re pushing the boundaries of technology when it comes to how a comedy show should be produced. All our live shows have an element of online digital streaming. We’re basically taking the best practices from other industries and applying them to a very archaic system in the industry of comedy and entertainment. I believe it’s the future. It’s additive; it’s not that we’re changing live comedy; we’re just adding elements on top of it and making it more accessible. What advice do you have for up-and-coming comedians now? Number one: learn the business side. It may be as, or more important, than being funny. Number two: just be respectful to everybody. It’s not a competition. It’s not a race. It’s only a competition versus yourself. Be professional, don’t burn bridges. Just be a kind human being. If you could travel back in time, what would you tell your younger self? I would just tell him: “You’re doing great. Don’t worry, you’re doing great.” People think life is this complicated thing, but you know what complicates it? You. People over-analyze and over-complicate things all the time. I’ve dealt with lifelong, chronic anxiety, and many times you think about the core issues there, and it’s like: “Wait, why am I even worried about that?” And, many times you just have to stop and give yourself credit for being resilient, for just being present. Website: https://vietpholife.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoZzILNjs6CfgwHB6Z38wtQ

Our insecurities, anxiety, and depression often reinforce the misconstrued conception that we are not enough. Kyla Mitsunaga, a certified Theta Healing, life, and happiness coach spoke with The Universal Asian with full vulnerability, authenticity, and transparency to share her personal journey and practices for cultivating our truest form. Can you tell us a little about yourself? I was born and raised in Hong Kong to a Singaporean mother and Japanese-American father. I grew up around British people with English being my first language. Because I grew up in the '80s, there was no term for third culture kids (TCKs), who are children raised in a culture different from their parents. I’m so happy for TCKs and their community, but it was called an identity crisis in my day! I can empathize with the #hyphenatedAsians identity because growing up I was never American, British, nor Asian enough. Graduate school at Harvard was like a jumpstart in being American, even though I have a U.S. passport! I’m living in Korea now, and I feel very comfortable here. Korea is my home; even though everyone thinks I’m Korean or Korean-American, no one understands I have no Korean blood. What caused you to transition from being a Harvard professor to a life and happiness coach? I went to graduate school at Harvard, and I spent my 20s and most of my 30s clueless career wise. After graduate school, I was offered a position as a professor at the University of Yonsei in Korea and fell in love with the campus. Concurrent to my job as a professor, I was building my career on the global speaking circuit. I met the Dean of the University of Mexico at my first speaking gig in Austria, and he invited me to speak and inspire students to give back to their communities in Mexico. After extensive research, I found all roads lead back to happiness with the simple premise that if you give back to others, you become happier. I built a happiness workshop and brought it to the University of Mexico, and was featured on the evening news! I then brought my workshop around the globe to 16 countries across Asia, the U.S, and Europe! Back at the University of Yonsei, I created a freshman seminar based on my happiness workshop in which 150 students enrolled. For reference, our freshman seminars usually max out at 15 students. Then, my mom was diagnosed with early onset dementia, which was a pivotal turning point because I had researched and workshopped happiness, but I couldn’t help myself. I ended up taking 2017 off and did things I always wanted to do. I quit my job as a professor, wrote a book, hired a certified life and happiness coach, and created a private cafe in my apartment. The best thing I did for myself was go on a retreat in Bali where I met a Theta Energy Healer. I didn’t know what it was, but I was determined to heal myself organically since I knew the research behind antidepressants. I took this leap of faith and ended up working with her for two years. Last year, I became a certified Theta Healing Practitioner so I can certify others! It completely transformed my life as evidenced by my client’s results and my own! I built my business, WITH Warriors, to incorporate one-on-one theta healing, virtual retreats, eight-week online programs, etc. I’ve researched the tools, tips, and strategies that worked for me. I’ve experienced 15 different healing modalities, but Theta Healing reliably and continuously gets me out of depressive states. Can you describe what Theta Healing is? Clients usually come in with fear, anxiety, or stress. The majority come in with anxiety, especially during COVID-19. The coronavirus has been this magnifying glass for what has gone unhealed because there aren’t distractions like clients are used to. Routines at work have changed, and there are many factors beyond their perceived control. We briefly engage in talk therapy, then I guide us into the theta brain wavelength, which is a scientifically rooted brain state between alpha brain wavelengths that is similar to meditation, and delta brain wavelengths, which is synonymous for sleep. I ask questions like: “Who told you that you’re not enough?” “Why do you believe that?” “Why do you seek evidence to support that story?” “Is that your story?” “Is that someone else’s story imposed on you?” So many of us, especially women, have bought into that “I’m not enough” story. In life, we tend to neglect the limiting belief and focus on the repercussions it brings. We pile more on until everything collapses due to an unstable foundation. In Theta Healing, we get to the root of the limiting belief and pull it. This way, all the limiting beliefs that were built on top are broken down, and we begin rebuilding like a game of Jenga. During a theta session, you don’t notice anything. It’s not until triggers no longer stress you where you experience results. Theta may not work for everyone and some people prefer Reiki, which is our more known cousin. Maybe others prefer yoga or meditation, but whatever it is, as long as you’re getting results, I say do it! It’s safe to assume that your clients come to you because they have a desire to heal, but what advice would you give those who struggle with mental illness and lack the motivation to get better? Take your life a day at a time. One thing that was really helpful for me was to stop burning the candle at both ends. What I mean is making a decision, and then judging yourself for that decision. We spend our time in high judgement of ourselves and others and typically our forgiveness for ourselves and others is very low. The great thing is that when we start realizing we judge less, we actually become more forgiving. How do you balance being forgiving of yourself and others and not letting others take advantage of you? Being understanding and empathetic are different from forgiveness, which comes later. In theta, we call resentment one of the three Rs (resentment, rejection, and regret). A large part of why we hold resentment is because we don’t forgive. In the initial stages it’s really challenging, but the more you get to know yourself, the more you love and respect yourself. I would say my top core value is being true and with myself. I spent 38 years of my life as a people-pleaser. When I reevaluate my top core value, if something’s at the expense of my mental health and mental sanity then I pull back. Most of us spend 15 plus years learning about subjects other than ourselves. We don’t learn about fear, handling emotions, banking, or real life skills, so we spend a lot of time needing external validation. I saw that you gave a TED TALK on "Why Teachers Must Learn WITH Their Students." Were you always a strong public speaker, and what advice would you give to those who aren’t? I think judgement is the reason why public speaking is feared more than death. My story started in high school when my dad enrolled me in an acting class because I was so shy. I’m actually an extroverted introvert because I spent a lot of time recuperating myself and WITH myself. I started in a workshop class in high school and began winning speech competitions. We’d have to give a speech in front of the whole school if we won. I would say I was never confident, and I was always afraid. But, after high school and then becoming an educator, I realized I cannot stand in front of an audience and tell others to change their lives if I couldn’t express myself! I’m also on the global speaking circuit with a lot of older white men, and I’m usually the only woman and certainly the only Asian woman. Self-transcendence was a huge motivator for me, especially when fighting self-doubt thoughts. I wrote a book with myself on the cover, the transcendence part is not about me. It’s about younger Asian women who can see what’s possible for her! What life advice would you give to others, especially young women of color? Don’t follow the path that other people have created just because it may be easy. Instead, create your own path, even though you may have to use your machete, avoid mosquitos, get cut and cry, and it may be very challenging, but you will create and inspire other women to do the same. No matter how challenging, it’s that moment of self-transcendence where you realize your body is just a vessel. We’re only here for a finite amount of time on this earth. Every morning I get up and ask if today was my last day on this earth, would I be ok? If your answer to that question is no, then you just change something. It’s not always easy doing happiness and growth work. When I was depressed I didn’t want to get out of bed, and that’s okay! But if I share that with someone, they know they are not alone. We just don’t talk about it, but it doesn’t mean it’s not there. Try to learn about who you are inwardly and whatever is meant to be will follow.

Can you tell me a bit about yourself? I was born in Australia. My parents came from Vietnam. Growing up, I would say it was pretty stereotypical. As an Asian-Australian, there’s the physical punishment side, which I think everyone’s quite familiar with, and the constant tutoring in order to get into good schools to study something relating to STEM. I have two older brothers; one of them was pushed to become a pharmacist and the other to be a doctor and me to be a dentist. However, I had zero interest in that. I was really interested in computers, and I always liked to mess around with them. So I thought, why don’t I find a job that lets me use computers even more? I kind of used that as an excuse to use the computer to claim that I was studying, but I was playing games. My parents didn’t know much about it and they wouldn’t even believe that I could earn six digits unless they heard it from friends. What inspired you to start the podcast? I wanted to start the podcast "Rice n Mics" to share stories of people that aren’t doing a typical STEM degree. Although that is just a subcategory of topics that I cover, that’s probably one of my favourite ones. I’m planning to interview a friend who is a doctor and I would love to know his perspective on whether he actually wanted to be a doctor and how much his parents pushed him into it. That’s something interesting that I’m really looking forward to. Originally, it was more just to share experiences of Asians living in Australia. When you’re in high school, you have to pick the subjects for the Higher School Certificate (HSC): a big exam that everyone has to take during their last year of school. All the exams they do during that final year will accumulate into a score which is called an ATAR (Like the SAT in the US). Depending on the score, it can get you into the course that you want. I felt that it would be really helpful to share my own experiences with the choices of subjects. I wanted to help others because I didn’t have that kind of advice when I was younger. I covered the schooling and education subcategory of episodes to inspire other kids and teenagers that may not have the help and support. Ultimately, I see it as a platform of sharing the stories of everyday people and experiences that might make you go, “Oh yeah, that’s happened to me” or “That’s so true!” In your podcast, you cover a wide range of topics from anime and dating to travelling and COVID etc. How do you plan what topics you want to discuss? I cover a lot of broad topics, but they all tie back to being an Asian-Australian. I currently have an Excel spreadsheet that I’ve created for future and discussed topics. Every time something pops in my head that I think might be interesting to talk about, I add it into that ever-growing list. When I first started, I wasn’t able to find a lot of podcasts about Asian-Australian culture. It’s predominantly mostly Asian-American podcasts. I’ve covered common things such as green card marriages, the money game and interracial dating—which is still pretty controversial with our parents. Sometimes people reach out to me and suggest topics to me, which is really thoughtful. A friend asked me if I will run out of topics eventually. I personally think it wouldn’t be for a while. I guess that’s why I enjoy mixing my topics with interviews about people’s lives, careers, current affairs and topics that affect us. The best example is COVID which I feel is a bit overdone nowadays. Since you mentioned COVID and you also talked about it on your podcast, what is it like living in Australia, especially since the COVID pandemic? Have you personally experienced racism as a result of that? Not to the extent that some people may have experienced. I think now, because people understand that everyone can get it, it has become an even playing field. In general, I think racism is a whole other topic to talk about in Australia. The racism here is pretty casual and it happens quite often. Most of the time it’s banter between mates and it’s kind of normalised as well. Sometimes even people I’m not that close with would throw out racist comments as a joke. I don’t know if it’s because they feel that we are seen as "submissive" so it’s okay. I haven’t put in much thought into this, but this is definitely something I want to discuss more. As Asians, we are sometimes seen as people who are less assertive and I believe that ties back to how we were raised. We were taught to avoid confrontation because it would make your family look bad. Do you have a specific target audience for your podcast? When I originally started, it was just something between friends. I didn’t really advertise it at all! I think it just stemmed back to the fact that during my high school days, everyone was pretty judgemental with everything that you did. When I initially started, you might notice a gap between the first few episodes. This was because I was still testing the waters. I don’t know what it was, but at that time, I was going to the gym and I had a personal trainer. He was actually a friend of mine and he started a PT business and was doing pretty well. I asked him if he ever thinks about what people think about his posts on Instagram. He told me he had the same feeling but eventually just said “F*** it! Just put it out there. What’s the harm? Everyone will say something but if you can make something out of it, why does that matter?” I think that really pushed me and made me stop caring about what other people thought. Eventually I made the Instagram account and started sharing the stories on my own personal account. Honestly, I was really surprised with the feedback that I received. People told me that the podcast was a really good platform to share their own stories and rant. That really inspired me to put some more effort into it. My podcast then branched out to people through word of mouth between which eventually led to people messaging me outside of Australia. I thought that was crazy and it really made me feel good about it. Even though I don’t have a huge audience, I just want to share everyone’s story. As long as a few people enjoy it, I’ll be happy with the results. Do you see yourself working as a full time podcaster one day? That’s something that I’ve definitely thought about as I’ve always leaned towards the entertainment industry. When I was in high school, I tried to get into streaming on Twitch, but the internet in Australia is pretty abysmal. But let’s not get into it because that’s quite political… If it does kick off, that would be a fun career to focus on full time.

As a follow-up to our highlight of Daniel W.K. Lee’s "Anatomy of Want" book release, The Universal Asian was able to get to know Daniel a bit more. Can you tell me a bit more about your poem collection "Anatomy of Want"? And, what inspired you to write it? A lot of the poems were written a while ago, and a lot of them are dedicated to a specific person that inspired the poem. What I was interested in exploring with the poems were the ideas of desire, clinging, and those dimensions of it. The poems span both light-hearted topics and more intense pieces. There are several ghazals, which is a kind of Persian form, that I fell in love with many years ago. Towards the end of the collection, there’s this piece called "Commitment" which hijacks the form of the Cosmos sex quiz. I’m interested in this kind of meta-textual dialogue between the questions and the answers. Do you have a favourite poem that you’ve written in your collection? I would say the ghazals are typically the ones that I worked the hardest for because the form is so demanding, especially with the economy of words. I would say "In the Dark" is one of my favourites. Even though the ghazals are against the grain of much of contemporary American poetry, I just really love them and I’m really happy to have been able to include them in the collection. How did you get into poetry writing? Is this something you’ve always done growing up? Yeah, I remember the first two poems I’d ever written were in fifth grade. I was probably 10 years old or so and they were saccharine love poems to a girl that I thought I was really into. But she, to use current nomenclature, friend-zoned me. So, I wrote a couple of poems about her and I was really shameless so I gave them to her, which I don’t think anyone would do at 10 years old. This was also during my pre-queer identity. When I was in junior high, which was my sixth and seventh grade, I used to write poems for my friends to give to their girlfriends. Most of those were love poems. I was in high school when my political consciousness made me more interested in writing about what is going on in the world and addressing those things. I was certainly looking to poetry as a mode to express my dissatisfaction or desire for a more peaceful and just world. That became an anchor to me because I was interested in various kinds of arts. In fact, I initially applied to go to undergrad to become a photographer. So, I’ve always got my hands in a lot of creative buckets, but poetry seems to be the one that sticks around for the longest periods. Is writing your full-time role or is this only a side passion that you enjoy doing? Whenever people ask me about my job, I’d tell them my job is to make myself happy. What I do to make money is something else. It’s an office job. Writing does in a way keep me going. It’s an outlet. There are times when I oscillate between wanting and not wanting to become a creative writing teacher. Do I take this passion that I have and make it a job? That is frightening to me because I’m scared that I might become exhausted by poetry. I’m the kind of writer that gets a lot of inspiration reading other people’s work, but if I see it as something that I have to trudge through, I could also see myself losing that passion for it and not wanting to do it anymore. Currently, I’m not making money out of writing and it’s great that other people can do that, but life as a poet, financially, isn’t the kind of career that you can really live off of. I also like to write cultural criticism pieces. When I feel very strongly about something I’ve noticed in culture, it gives me an outlet to concretise them and argue it in the public sphere. I like to opine about certain things, especially issues surrounding Asian-American representation and Asian American masculinity. These days, I’m very interested in what’s going on in Hong Kong. The cultural resistance really interests me especially because I’m part of the Chinese diaspora through generational refugee experiences, but maintain an emotional, cultural attachment to Cantonese culture. I worry about the Cantonese language and culture in the face of a more homogenised ethno-national identity from the Mainland that seeks to suppress regional languages. Do you feel that the poems that you’ve written help inspire other people to be interested in the issues and topics that you have highlighted? My approach intellectually is interdisciplinary. I’m not saying I’m a China or Hong Kong specialist and that I know everything, but the things I tend to write about are areas that I know a little bit more about and I hope that the things I do write about start conversations. The Black Lives Matter movement is creating this air around socio-political discourse that demands individuals to self-investigate where they are within systems of oppression. I don’t have any expectations, but I just hope that if someone does read my work, they will see it as a platform for which they can further explore the issues and ideas surrounding racism, queerness, etc. What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far? When I got into a Master’s of Fine Arts programme back in New York, my parents didn’t really understand why I was willing to go into further debt for something that you don’t necessarily come out of with better job prospects. This didn’t make sense to them, and when my mom was asked by others what I was doing, she would tell them that I was studying journalism. I think for me, the biggest challenge is just being inspired because my head is just all over the place. I’m not a particularly prolific writer. However, what’s been great about now living in New Orleans is that I’ve been inspired by not just what’s been happening around COVID-19 and racial justice, but the city itself. But, I don’t make too many expectations for myself to either write a certain number of poems or anything. I just kind of go with it. If my next book takes 10 years, then so be it. I am working on a new manuscript, though. When I got my first book published, it definitely created momentum for me to write. What is your idea of success? Since my job is to make myself happy, I’m focused on the things that bring me joy. I would be disappointed if I don’t write another book, but it won’t be the final measure of success. With my first book, I knew in my gut that it would get published. I just believed in my work. It took me 10 years, but I can now tick it off the bucket list. I hope the second book shows a different aspect of my writing, but again, I don’t have specific expectations. To me, ambition can be a setup for emotional letdown and unnecessary suffering. I’m more interested in putting in the right effort and see what transpires. In my youth, I was more preoccupied with this idea of legacy and how influential I could be. But with writing and poetry, you could very well become famous after your death so sometimes it’s just outside of your control. I’m just going to continue crafting the best poems that I can, and hopefully, people will be interested in reading them. What advice would you give to younger people who are also interested in entering the creative space or writing in particular? I think there’s a couple of things, but first off, I would say we have to do some deprogramming especially if you come from a heavily Confucian culture where one strives for status and money at all costs, where your happiness is a non-priority. You should also believe in your work and yourself. It’s great to have an audience for your work, but to paraphrase the drag queen Alyssa Edwards: Before you can to sell it, you gotta buy it yourself. It’s also important to find a community, people who share your passion and will help you stay accountable. I’m inspired by other people. On one hand, while I have a laissez-faire approach to many things, I’m also very competitive. If someone is working on something and they finished it, I also want to be able to push ahead. It’s competition as inspiration rather than self-destruction. Do something that makes you enough money, but orient yourself towards happiness. Happiness is the point of life. You mentioned that your parents were from Vietnam and you moved around a lot. Do you ever find yourself struggling with your own identity and where you belong? Not so much now. I do think it’s a very common struggle for Asians in the diaspora especially if they were born in Asia. We often have difficulty identifying where “home” is…nationally, but also culturally. The refugee experience that my family and I were subjected to is probably a huge reason why I am comfortable with dislocation, with crossing borders and inhabiting new cities. As background, my grandparents on both sides started off in Guangdong, China. They, then, escaped during the Japanese occupation. My parents were born and raised in Vietnam, but then the whole family during the purge of ethnic Chinese in the late '70s were eventually taken to Malaysia, which was where I was born. Then, via sponsorship, my family moved to Chicago which was where my sisters and I were raised. I would later live in New York City for 17 years, Seattle, Washington, for five and now in New Orleans. I just learned to embrace this kind of movement. My identity moves with it and it’s ever changing. It’s the Law of Impermanence, as we Buddhists call the condition where all things are subject to change. I hope people find ways to manage or address the struggle with identity whether it be creatively, intellectually or politically, so long as they don’t fall into despair. This makes me think of Audrey Lorde, where she talks about the creative uses of difference. We often hammer inside ourselves this idea that the only way towards acceptance is homogeneity—to assimilate. But, our differences between each other can be a source of creativity and empowerment, too. My personal mantra is: choose happiness. You have the agency at all these moments in your life to decide whether or not you are going to indulge in misery and anger, or let it go and lean toward something or someone that brings you joy. It’s not to say one can always choose happiness, but it’s great to be reminded that we have power over our lives and our condition is not solely towards helplessness. You can purchase Daniel’s first poetry collection "ANATOMY OF WANT" at RebelSatori.com, Bookshop.org & that "A" online retailer.