The Nonnative Creative Podcast

David Kaye, Brand Director for Wink Hotels, was the first hire for the company in 2019, and was tasked with building the brand from the ground up -- before there were even any hotels to stay in. In this interview, David shares about how his background in editing and publishing led him to working in Saigon, Vietnam, and how by putting his focus on understanding his audience, he's been able to launc...

The best cup of coffee you've ever had might be in your near future. Lacàph coffee founder Timen Swijtink explains all about the fascinating world of coffee in Vietnam in this interview. You'll hear his insights about the rapidly evolving markets in Vietnam, learn about how he built a story-driven brand from the ground up, and hear about why he feels providing people with meaningful experiences is...

CGI Director Vicki Dang grew up in Vietnam, studied abroad in the UK, worked in Shanghai, and is now based once again in Vietnam, where she is focused on her studio, from.an0ther. In this talk, she explains how she was drawn to mythological forms, how she questioned why these creatures were portrayed as dangerous or evil, and how she might look at them in a new light with her uniquely defined set...

Ben Nguyen is a Saigon-based creative whose work focuses on illustration, interior design, and visual merchandising. In this talk, he shares about how while his road to his artistic career was certainly not a straightforward one, the experiences, connections, and opportunities he found along the way all contributed to him ultimately becoming the multi-talented individual he is today. You'll get so...

In this episode of Nonnative Creative, Toronto-based Ibraheem Youssef shares about how his road to becoming a creative director (though now he calls himself simply a "creative"). Beginning with the story of his Egyptian-Canadian upbringing, we hear about how Ibraheem started drawing comics for friends and family in his childhood, how he designed a logo for a community member, and eventually attend...

In this episode of Nonnative Creative, writer and photographer Lance Henderstein talks about how he got interested in learning languages, the road that brought him from Detroit (USA) to various parts of Japan, and now to Italy. He talks about how he gradually built skills in writing and photography and used them together to create works like travel articles and travel guides. This talk covers some...

Osaka-based New Yorker Ayana Wyse shares about her creative and community-building work in Japan. Ayana founded Black Creatives Japan in 2015 to create a community for Black creatives, and she now organizes events and manages online spaces to help people connect and collaborate. She co-hosts Kurly in Kansai, a series focused on the experiences of Black women in Japan (and which provides tons of gr...

In this episode of Nonnative Creative, Tokyo-based photographer Irwin Wong shares about how he got his start behind the camera, the interests that brought him to Japan, and his upcoming photobook Handmade in Japan. Irwin was born in Hong Kong and raised in Australia. He came to Japan on the JET program (Japan Exchange and Teaching program) and built his photography skills in his free time. This ha...

In this episode of the Nonnative Creative podcast, Zélia Sakhi shares about how her creative career and her interest in learning languages kicked off. When her mother brought home a computer, Zélia used it to get into Pokemon (and other games), web design, and languages. In this discussion, she talks about her experience growing up as a child in an immigrant family in a small town in France, how h...

In this episode of Nonnative Creative, Max Frenzel shares about how his studies led him from his home country of Germany to London, Greece, and Japan. While working and studying, Max had the opportunity to travel and reflect on his work, leading him to realize that "busy" does not always equal" productive." In this discussion, Max talks about his brand new book "Time Off: A Practical Guide to Buil...

In Episode 12 of the Nonnative Creative podcast, we hear from James Catchpole (aka Mr. OK Jazz). James was born in Brooklyn, New York and moved to Seoul, South Korea for a few years with his family when he was 10 years old. Eventually, his interest in film and music motivated him to explore Japan. Through living in Japan, he found out about jazz cafes (jazz kissa), and decided to launch TokyoJazzS...

Episode 11 of the NNC podcast is from Seoul, South Korea and features Maltese videographer Franco Rizzo. In this talk, you'll hear about how Franco got exposed to Korean movies when he was a kid and how his interest in Korean films led to explorations in videography. This eventually kicked off his studies into Korean and ultimately brought him to Seoul. Franco shared about some cultural difference...

Episode 10 of the NNC podcast is from Seoul, South Korea and features Canadian singer/songwriter Erockfor (also known as Rocky). In this talk, you'll hear about how Rocky encountered career challenges in Canada that pushed her to explore other options that eventually led her to Korea. You'll also hear about how she gradually shifted to doing entertainment work overseas. She also shared about her o...

In Episode 9 of the NNC podcast, Egyptian dentist/cartoonist Sherif Adel shares about how he got his start making humor-based comics, how he brought this interest to Japan with him as he worked toward his PhD in dentistry, and how he uses his work to make observations and share commentary. Sherif describes how comic books in Egypt are a kind of "alternative art" and explains why he chose to poke f...

Episode 8 of the NNC podcast features Maurice Jones, the Artistic and Communications Director for MUTEK Japan. MUTEK is a worldwide organization that produces events at the intersection of art, music, technology, science, and more. In this discussion, Maurice described what brought him to Japan from Germany in the first place, how he found his current position with MUTEK, and what they're working...

In this episode, author and food consultant Momoko Nakamura shares about her experiences working in food media and how it led to her publishing a book resource for plant-based food in Tokyo. With a background in making shows like Iron Chef and Master Chef during her time outside Japan, Momoko is now based in Tokyo and working to better connect people with the Japanese countryside. In this discussi...

In this episode, New Zealand-born Hikosaemon talks about the experience of growing up an "army brat" and moving around the world a lot. He shared about how he established his life in Japan and how the online community (especially YouTube) has evolved and grown and been a part of his non-work life for more than 10 years. His projects and interests span many fields, including music, video, and, most...

In this episode, Jamaica-born and Toronto-raised restaurant owner Dexter Greenwood shared about the road that brought him to Japan. He described the process of visiting Japan for the first time, returning to Canada (where he gained experience in the broadcasting world), and ultimately determining life in a small town in Gunma prefecture was right for him. Dexter runs two seasonal restaurants (one...

Freelance Japanese to English translator Emily Balistrieri talked about how he got his start in the translation world, what it's like to be a translator for a Japanese publishing company (even part time), described some of the challenges translators face in their work. This discussion includes some great suggestions for how to practice translation. Emily also shared some very exciting news about a...

Tokyo-based Luuvu Hoang works in the role of creative director for food-related projects. Though he doesn't call himself a food photographer, you'll find his amazing food photos in international publications from time to time, too. In this discussion, Luuvu shared about what helped him move from the world of banking to the world of food and photography. He talked about his experiences running a fo...

Born in the Phillippines, videographer and cinematographer Ice Elloso found herself drawn to visual media and gadgets from a young age, even using cables she found around her house to record music from her favorite anime and play tricks on her classmates. In this episode of Nonnative Creative, Ice talks about how those interests eventually inspired her to come to Japan, where today she works as pa...

Freelance videographer and video editor Meg Igarashi was born in the United States and had to move to Japan when she was a teenager. Not so interested in school, Meg found she had a passion for video making when she started making videos for fun with the webcam on her laptop. In this week's episode of Nonnative Creative, learn how Meg turned this passion into a freelance lifestyle in Tokyo!  Meg s...