First Generasian

In this episode, I’m super excited to speak with Amy Yip ( @amyyipcoaching ) — a mental fitness coach, keynote speaker, and author. As a first-gen Chinese American herself, her work has come full circle as she works with women of color leaders, primarily AAPI women, to identify and let go of the “shoulds” that weigh them down, so that they can be authors of their own lives. We chat about her 16 ye...

How do you “balance” both sides of your identity? On this episode, I chat with my friend Shalini about her experience growing up in Chicago while being in touch with her Indian roots. We chat about living in San Francisco (where we met!), and now and her recent soul-searching about where to go next—home to Chicago where her mom is, or stay in SF? We also chat about how, as first-gens, we can somet...

What would you do if you could start over? In episode 12, Annes Kim — a first generation Korean American, born and raised in Philly — shares with me how she gradually realized that she was living someone else’s definition of success. Being a child of immigrant parents could often subconsciously shape the way we make choices — choices that optimize for stability — starting from high school, to coll...

It’s been a minute. I’m back with Season 2! In June 2022, when I wrapped up Season 1, I had just landed back in New York City after two years of being in Hong Kong. I took a break with the best of intentions — I’ll adapt to life back in New York City, start planning my move to SF, start a new job, and record as I go. It’s now April 2023 - needless to say, life didn’t quite play out exactly as I ex...

Episode 10 is about life transitions. This will also be the end of Season 1! Did something a bit different for this 8-minute season finale, where it's just me 🙉 As some of you may know, I started this podcast while living abroad in Hong Kong, eight-thousand miles away from my hometown in NYC. And now, after almost two years here, I said goodbye to Hong Kong, closed this chapter of life, and m...

Back with episode 9 (two weeks late 😅)! Life happened and I procrastinated 🥲 On today’s pod, I chat with a good friend, Sharon Chan, about how we used to work at a community health center in NYC's Chinatown when we were teenagers (she was 15 and I was 19). Almost a decade later, Sharon’s now a digital product designer! Our day to day work isn't related to the Chinatown or Asian American...

I invited Tina back from episode 2, and we talk about how she took the leap to create her own brand of leather camera bags, called No More Ugly ( nomoreuglycamerabags.com ). As first-gens, we may be more risk-averse for a variety of reasons — family, finances, or even expectations we put on ourselves. Tina and I reflect on how it’s easier to take risks if we reframe them — breaking them up into sm...

Friendships are weird. Anita and I talk about the confusing nature of friendships in our 20s and 30s: when we realized that making friends as an adult requires active effort, being more open to different types of friendships, and lastly, the lack of clear guidelines. How exactly do you grow a friendship? How do you know where you stand with someone? And how do you address issues or handle a friend...

How does being bicultural shape your life? This week, I speak with my friend Denny, who was born in Taiwan, grew up in Argentina(!), and then moved to Hong Kong for University. We talk about how his family decided to move from Taiwan to South America, how he had to quickly learn Spanish when he moved at the age of 12, and how, because he’s lived in different places during the formative years of hi...

Ever tried asking your Asian mom for her recipes, only to be left with missing steps and no measurements? We did! And that was exactly the outcome. Larissa and I talk about how we’re increasingly more appreciative of the food that we grew up with, how we’ve tried to learn from our parents, and how we’ve turned to Asian food bloggers—The Woks of Life, Made with Lau, and even Chrissy Teigen—for insp...

How do you feel comfortable offering opinions in a free form, unplanned environment? How do you trust that what you’re thinking is valid? I talk about this with a good friend of mine, Emily Chen, who moved to New York from the southern part of China when she was 14. She had to adapt not only to an entirely new country and language, but also to a culture that is heavily biased towards being vocal (...

In episode 3, I chat with Andy C. Ng, a child of modest immigrant parents who went on to accomplish a lot for himself—NYU, Google, Harvard—just to paint a picture. But instead of focusing on this accomplishments, we talk instead about how coming from a low-income background makes opportunities feel precious and fragile, how it creates the habit of overextending ourselves, and the tendency to alway...

What does it mean when someone calls you a “banana”? How is your “home self” different from the “outside self” that you present to the world? How has your connection with your roots changed over time, from high school to now, as a working adult? We explore all of these topics in episode 2 with Tina Lee ( tg-lee.com ), a talented Australian product designer, photographer, and entrepreneur who’s cur...

Anita is a really good friend of mine that I met in Hong Kong, and we casually chat about how her ambitions (and the pandemic) led her from her home in Toronto to working here in Asia right after college. We talk about romanticizing our family’s homeland, language barriers while working at a Chinese Tech company, and how our immigrant parents feel about us living abroad (hint: not exactly stoked ...

Hey there! Welcome to episode zero of First Generasian. I'm your host, Jenn, and in this intro episode, I'll share a bit about my background, how I ended up moving from my home in New York City to Hong Kong, and what I hope to share with you going forward on this pod. Thanks for listening! Follow on Instagram: @firstgenerasianpod