Tigress by Nadya Okamoto

*This episode originally aired on February 2, 2022 * my best friends are my two younger sisters. but we weren't always as close as we are today. as you heard in a previous episode of tigress, ameya and i went about 8 years without talking! in this episode, we talk about all the work and healing that went on behind the scenes to get to where we are now, and why our sister friendship means so mu...

when Ameya and I moved out of our family home, our youngest sister Issa felt an absence in her life that she wasn’t quite sure how to fill–until she and my mom adopted our family dog, Romeo Blue. Blue became more than just a pet for Issa, and she even credits him for saving her life. she explains the immense impact Blue had, and how his sweetness even tricked her into thinking she might want to be...

My sisters and i have spent a lot of time on this podcast unpacking our dynamic, our traumas, both collective and individual, and how it’s impacted our relationships…but this is the first time i’m doing a solo deep dive with my youngest sister, Issa. we get real about our sister dynamic, how it impacted her as she grew up, and how we healed parts of our friendship. Executive Producers: Nadya Okamo...

you met Darius last week when we unpacked our past hookup – this week, we’re changing gears and digging deep on the subject of mental health and how it relates to community. i’m a believer that therapy can heal and Darius is too–now having completed 10 months with his therapist he talks realizing his depression, the burnout that sent him escaping from the country, talking with kids about social an...

many of you have seen my boyfriend on my social media, but what you don’t know is that just hours before i met him, i woke up in bed with my close friend, Darius Baxter. Darius and i decided its time to unpack that night where we found ourselves hooking up and how one simple move in the bedroom prompted a day-after conversation that would ultimately change the way we interact with sexual partners...

*CW: This episode includes mentions of CSA and self-harm. i’ve personally struggled with drugs and alcohol as a method of escapism from trauma and ptsd. activist, organizer, and model jeannie jay park can relate, after going through own complicated journey with substance abuse & coping with trauma. but one of the most important things we’ve both learned is that sometimes you have to open your...

I grew up feeling like a ‘bad asian’ – but connecting with asian-american activists who fight for racial equality and representation has transformed my belief on what it means to me to be asian-american. Jeannie Jay Park had her own complicated journey with her asian-american identity, which ultimately led her from modeling to activism and organizing, which we get into in today’s conversation. Jea...

Polyamory is something that we have been exploring in past Tigress episodes, and today we’re talking about open marriage! More specifically, Alex’s experience with it. This is a topic I’ve been really interested in both for myself, and understanding where my beliefs on love and relationships come from. Alex is someone that I’ve looked up to as a friend and fellow female founder for so long, so rea...

Ameya has been on a recent spree of getting more tattoos. You might’ve seen on tiktok, but we thought we’d take a moment (about 30 minutes to be exact) to talk about the new tats! And yes, we have a matching one! Executive Producers: Nadya Okamoto, Adell Coleman, Brittany Temple Senior Producer: Quinton Hill Producer: Kelsey Klein, Larry Shapiro, Kacey Lee and Maiqi Qin Distributor: DCP Entertainm...

Trigger Warning : Mentions of Suicide and CSA Ameya recently got diagnosed with adhd, and it’s been an eye-opener for her, to say the least. Adhd is also something that has come up in a lot of my therapy sessions over the last few years, though it’s a diagnosis I have previously been resistant to. In this episode, we talk about our adhd learnings and eagerness to find solutions. Executive Producer...

This month, about a year after my last harvard finals, i finally walked the stage to graduate. And next week, my family will all be in portland, oregon to celebrate my youngest sister’s high school graduation. In this episode, my sisters and i sit down to catch up about all the emotions we’re having about graduation weekends, ex-boyfriends, and growing up. And yes, in this episode we talk about wh...

I’m proudly pansexual, but i didn’t publicly come out until a couple years ago. We just finished asian heritage month and jumped into june, pride month, so it felt like the perfect moment to discuss queer identity as two gay-sians. In this episode, i’m joined by my sister-friend, jalena keane-lee, whom you’ve met before on this podcast, to reflect together. Executive Producers: Nadya Okamoto, Adel...

what role does power play in intimacy? this is a question i've found myself asking a lot in my own pleasure research. bdsm is an acronym that comes up a lot in conversations about power play and sex. it stands for Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadochism and Masochism -- a lot of big and complicated words! but what does that actually mean? today i sit down with my dear frien...

entrepreneurship is not an easy thing to pursue, but we do it because we love our work and believe so whole heartedly in the mission behind what we're creating. and my friend, chris colbert, the founder of dcp entertainment, knows that first hand as an entrepreneur himself. on the side of his multiple businesses, he's also the host of a podcast called "the entrepreneur struggle." i...

i'm currently in a monogamous relationship, but have been really curious to learn more about polyamory and what it looks like for different people as i've progressed in my own sex and love-positive journey. in this episode, i sit down with ceo, founder, entrepreneur, and podcast host, chris colbert, to ask all the burning questions i have about his own poly journey! chris is the founder an...

one of my favorite books that i've read in the past few years is "pleasure activism: the politics of feeling good" by adrienne maree brown. i've discussed my own complicated journey of self-pleasure on the podcast before, and in this episode i sit down with my new friend, tauri, to talk about our shared love for this book and its author, and how pleasure activism now plays a role i...

chronic constipation is something that I've talked about on the podcast before, and oh boy, do I have updates for you! A couple weeks ago I had to get a little medical procedure trying to figure out what's happening in my gut, and I just got the results back. Disappointing to say the least. If you're unafraid of having some potty talk, listen here! Executive Producers: Nadya Okamoto, A...

after having my first post-grad apartment in nyc this last year, I'm moving! Stability is terrifying to me, but it's something that I am leaning into. It feels like such a beautiful and big moment to be settling down into a more permanent home. in the episode we're going to dive into all the emotions around moving right now! Executive Producers: Nadya Okamoto, Adell Coleman Senior Prod...

when i reunited with my sister friend, jalena, she asked me how i was feeling and if i was feeling safe as a fellow asian american woman walking around nyc. i was surprised because nobody has asked me that over the last few months, yet my answer was that i absolutely have been feeling nervous and uneasy with the continuous headlines about asian hate. in this episode we reflect on what's happen...

back to continue our conversation about being a recovering girlboss, in this episode i sit down with my dear sister friend, jalena keane-lee, to talk about how we've grown over the last 5 years of friendship. jalena has been a friend and even collaborator over the last few years, and she's seen me through some shittttt. here we talk about what it's been like as female founders trying t...

Check out this special preview of the new podcast, Well-Read Black Girl from Pushkin Industries. Well-Read Black Girl is the literary kickback you never knew you needed. Glory Edim, author and founder of the Well-Read Black Girl community, sits in deep, honest and close conversation with authors like Tarana Burke, Anita Hill, Gabrielle Union, Nikole Hannah-Jones, and more. You’ll also meet book cl...

in this episode, ameya and i sit down to talk about porn, and more specifically, our porn preferences, for the first time ever. and yes, we're brutally honest about it. talking about sex is one thing, but talking about what turns you on and even what you watch to get turned on, is a whole other. i'm nervous to be sharing this episode, but i think these are important convos to have. Executi...

we're spending the afternoon in the podcast studio on ameya's birthday, reflecting on all the incredible growth she's had personally over the last year. i'm truly so proud of and inspired by her, and how she approaches life, art, and pleasure. we can all learn from my little sister, and in this episode, we dive into it all! follow ameya @ameyaokamoto to stay in touch with her and u...

in this episode, i sit down with my friend and fellow female founder, hayley caddes, to talk about her story from being in the troubled teen industry in high school, to now being an ivy-educated venture-backed founder of mental health app, chill pill. i met hayley last year when i slid into her twitter dm's, interested to learn more about what she was building with chill pill. from there we be...

This is one of the most common questions i receive from commenters on social media, and also one of the hardest to answer. In this episode, I finally got to a point of being able to verbalize my answer, and also reflect on the emotions I feel about past instances where I’ve reported and often felt let down by the system... tw: sexual assault and abuse Executive Producers: Nadya Okamoto, Adell Cole...