PODCAST

Brave 7-year-old Lauren Vuong escaped Vietnam with her family and 57 other refugees on a small wooden fishing boat at the end of the brutal Vietnam War. After 10 days at sea, they were lost and depleted of food, water, and fuel. Death seemed imminent. From seven miles away, a U.S. flagged cargo ship spotted … Read More about Rescued at sea at 7-years-old

Isabell Rossignol’s parents and grandfather were 3 out of 80 people in her entire family who did not become victims of the holocaust.  “When you talk about the American dream, it was more than a place where you become wealthy … it was a place where you would not be killed.” Her mother told horror … Read More about And Then There Were 3

“We were forced out of our home into the direction that gunshots were directing us with.” The first 8 years of Thear’s life were spent in war and refugee camps. When the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia, her parents and 4 siblings were forced out of their homes and sent into different labor camps. Thear, … Read More about Eating Bugs On The Journey To Freedom

Seema Deshpande came from humble beginnings. From a small town in India, she was determined to move to the US to get her Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering. While in the states, she fell in love and got married. Unbeknownst to her, this change in marital status also changed her immigration status and was told … Read More about People Come Into Your Life For a Reason, Season or Lifetime

“If anybody was educated, if you could speak a different language, if you wore glasses, you were executed.” Mey’s mom had to make herself ugly and unappealing so that she wouldn’t be a target of rape. Children were taken away from their families, brainwashed and trained as soldiers to fight for the Khmer Rouge Entire … Read More about Surviving the Cambodian Genocide

14 million people were displaced and 1 million people died during the Partition of India. Neena Newberry shares the story of her family’s history, a time of insane violence because of a religious partition line; the separation of India and what is known today as Pakistan. That was just one of the many  struggles her … Read More about Every Struggle Becomes a Strength

Carina Reyes is the middle child of 9 children. Her parents had successful careers in the Philippines while under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. Even though she was from a upper middle class family, her parents feared that the conditions of the country would only become worse with this corrupt government. There would be no … Read More about The Journey From Poverty to Prosperity

As a girl born last into a traditional Chinese family in the 1960s — when boys were valued over girls and birth order often decided a child’s future in the culture — Cynthia learned about the concept of inequity. She was fortunate. Her family moved to America when she was a year old, so she … Read More about Big Purpose, Big Title, Big Mission

My dear friend Carmen Pei shares about the loss of her mom who suffered with depression and took her own life. This is not a topic she shares openly very often. I asked if she would be vulnerable and courageous to speak about how the aftermath of mental illness has affected her life growing up … Read More about Scar Tissue Left From The Past

Senator Tina Maharath shares about the physical abuse by the hands of her father, what life was like without her mom and two brothers after they were killed in a car accident and living with depression. It has not been an easy journey for her. When she ran for office, the odds were stacked against her, … Read More about The Unlikely Woman Who Won the Race for Senator

Grace Koo’s family story is a fascinating one. Grace’s great grandfather was a martyr. He was killed for trying to set up a Southern Baptist church in Korea. Her family fled to Manchuria to avoid persecution of their religious beliefs. Grace shares about how her family was sponsored over to the US and her life … Read More about It All Started With Her Great Grandfather, a Martyr

Mary Ann Thompson Frenk is the daughter of the former 7-11 Corporation founders. She was born in Mexico, adopted by these amazing people. She is one of the most humble, genuine, passionate and giving people I have encountered. I strongly feel like it is important for people to be aware of this. Why? Because while … Read More about This world owes us nothing, yet we owe it to the world to make it a better place

“Our Vietnamese names were butchered before we arrived in America. “Tram Nguyen” looked like a fragmented sentence to me on our refugee paperwork. Cutting out half of my name was like truncating my identity and mutilating what remained. Trâm quickly degraded to Tramp or Tram (the mode of transportation). In English-speakers’ struggle to say my … Read More about Fitting In As A FOB

Quynh Chau Stone is a firecracker! Her story will touch many of you and it is one of the most compelling and lengthiest podcasts because I couldn’t decide what to cut out. At the age of 13, she left Vietnam with her four brothers for 13 days without any food or water. They were captured … Read More about Relentless Determination to Survive

Meet Sarah Porkalob. She’s funny, witty, bold and beautiful. I think she’s going to be my new west coast BFF. Sara is an artist activist and award winning solo-performer based in Seattle. She served as Intiman Theatre’s 2017 Co-Curator and is the Programs Director for their Emerging Artist Program. She was one of the first … Read More about Granddaughter of the Dragon Lady

Uyen’s parents planned their escape from Vietnam for 10 years after the Fall of Saigon. One failed attempt after another only motivated them to find new ways to leave a country that was no longer “home” to them. Even during the “successful” moments in their lives when their family was creating income, the Viet Cong … Read More about A Calculated Plan With Unexpected Surprises

Nikki’s dad was a Vice President of one of the Banks in Vietnam and owned a chain of gas stations. Her mom was a Biology Professor. They were incredibly successful and well off until the Fall of Saigon when the Viet Cong took everything away. In the early 80’s, after the 7th attempt to escape … Read More about From Being a VP of a Bank and Biology Professor to Workers in a Factory – Sacrifices Made By Immigrants

“We invited all of my dad’s family to join us in church for our ceremony, unsure if our Muslim family would feel comfortable coming. They showed up, alongside our Jain friends, our Jewish friends, our Hindu friends, our non-denominational friends and our international, multigenerational cast of friends and family. My uncle, showed up fully dressed … Read More about My Family is a Melting Pot

This week, we talk with writer, Amber Wong, who shares her personal stories about her fifth-generation Chinese American life. We hear about how her physician Chinese dad was rejected because of his ethnicity when he wanted to join a local country club, how even recently, someone shouted “Hey you! Chinese lady! You! Get out!” These stories are not to … Read More about I Am a 5th Generation American

“To live life you have to FREE FALL in order to FEEL.” Oh man. Loved this quote from Theresa Pham. We had so much to talk to about in this awesome interview.  During the fall of Saigon, Theresa’s dad refused to leave his single mom behind and faced the punishment of living in a “reformation … Read More about Finance, Fashion Design, Fertility and Free Falling

Talk about crazy, insanely successful. My jaw dropped when I read about this young woman who not only has a career in medicine, but also a nationally-published writer and speaker AND part time actress. How awesome and fun it was to chat with the fabulous Amy Ho in this episode. Her parents immigrated from Taiwan … Read More about Writer, Speaker, Actress, ER Doctor … and Under 30

In this week’s episode, my friend and entrepreneur, Cindy Park, shares about how after many attempts by her family to escape Vietnam and subsequently put in jail, her parents made a heart-wrenching decision … they had to split up the family and have 7 year old Cindy and her brother leave in the middle of … Read More about The Ultimate Sacrifice – Splitting Up To Be Free

It’s funny that Eddie can relate almost any of my challenges and obstacles related to entrepreneurship to FISHING. Yes, you read that right. We have a great discussion and comparison about fishing and how we can use the same thought process and beliefs and apply it to business. Only Eddie would creatively come up with … Read More about Fishing Solves Everything …. According to Eddie

Marriage is EASY – said no one EVER!! In this episode, we speak openly about what frustrates us in our marriage – specifically what we do that bugs the other person. We didn’t script this out at all and thankfully, no one slept on the couch that night! It’s all about us and how we … Read More about How to NOT Find Yourself Sleeping on the Couch

Bo Thao – Urabe is a community leader and world shifter.  We were honored to have her on the podcast and have her share with us about her life growing up in the projects of St. Paul, Minnesota.  As early as second grade, her english was good enough to become the translator for her parents … Read More about From the Projects to An Appointment By the White House

In this episode, we talk with Tina Somsith, the founder of Wanderwear, an online boutique, where Tina is able to influence other women and let them know that they too can and will see light through their darkness. In addition to this company, Tina also owns 2 Painting With a Twist franchises as well as a … Read More about Finding the Light When You Are Forever Deep in Darkness

One of the first things Kristy Yang did when she came to the United States as a 6 year old refugee, was grab one of the flight attendants and pointed to the vending machine, saying the only words in English she knew, “Pepsi, please”.  Today she is the FIRST elected Hmong Judge in the nation … Read More about Pepsi, Please

Bee Vang Moua shares her story and her husband’s family’s story of their escape from Laos to Thailand and then to the US. Bee’s husband and his family escaped Laos in 1973 and crossed the treacherous Mekong river until they reached a refugee camp in Thailand. Bee was part of the generation of children who … Read More about A Narrative of In Between Generations

We are not victims. We are VICTORS. My friend Tammy Nguyen Lee shares with us her mom’s story of escape and how Tammy almost died as a child before making it to the US. Her amazing mom, started working the lowest paid positions to then years later earning her Master’s Degree and becoming one of the few … Read More about Two Generations Going Against the Grain