Melting Pot

Federico Folcia wants to use technology to make a meaningful impact and drive positive change in our communities. The CEO and founder of Crane is passionate about  improving the quality of life of our silver generation. Crane is a Singapore based ecosystem for lifelong learning born to help different generations of people relate and socialise based on common interests, in an inclusive and aff...

Brittany wants people to feel strong and empowered by the Nope Sisters clothing and use them as a tool for change, just like herself. The high school dropout found success in running her own business. Nope Sisters was originally started by Brittany and her sister and is now just run by her as a way of starting conversations about social issues that need to be addressed. Original music credit: Rish...

Shibal Bhartiya is an eye surgeon who has transformed lives through her expertise in India.  She also is the founder of Vision Unlimited, a bootstrap social organisation, involved in skill transfer, disaster relief, food security and health care access. Apart from a million prescriptions, she regularly writes up randomised control trials on glaucoma for medical journals, and contributes to ma...

A crypto and blockchain enthusiast, Dominic Kapalu turned his interests into a thriving career. He became a network marketer and is the Chairman of the recently formed Blockchain Zambia Limited. He is also a published author of two books, The Financial Fitness System and THINK an acronym of Thoughts, Humour, Ideas, Notes and Knowledge.  He is also passionate about youth development who are no...

“I am a good actor, but let me forget all this. Let me understand what is required in this play. Who is this character I am doing?” Did you enjoy my conversation with Preeta last week? Join me for part 2 of the conversation where Preeta continues to chat about her passion for theatre. Original music credit: Rish Sharma. His music is available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and other streaming pl...

Preeta Mathur Thakur is a respected game changer in the India theatre world. She shares her experience as a woman in the industry who has broken the glass ceiling while innovating and excelling as a theatre professional. As a leading  figure, with almost 4000 shows of about 50 plays she has made significant contributions to the Mumbai Theatre world. She possesses a unique knowledge and first...

Meet Julia Atzesberger who is passionate about living healthy and sustainably. She shares her mission to inspire others enabling them to make meaningful changes in their lives. An Austrian with a mediterranean soul, Julia has called Barcelona her home since 2001.  She pivoted from fashion studies in New York to marketing and technology positions before becoming a skincare pioneer. Julia is th...

Jolene Lo quit the corporate world 3 years ago to discover the future by finding the next destination to continue her passion in online healing, food, and charity businesses. Having lived a roller coaster life, the World Spiritual Traveler believes in self-awareness and shares with us how she hopes to impact lives by bringing in love, peace and happiness to every situation. The Malaysian is also a...

For our first episode of Season 2, meet Galo Blanco who has been impacting lives through tennis. We speak to Galo about his athlete and coaching career as well as his plans to champion the sport of tennis to a new generation of audience and new players through Davis Cup.  A professional tennis player from 1994-2006, he has a career-high singles ranking of No. 40.  and his best result in...

Welcome to a new season of Melting Pot! The past three months have been an incredible journey for us, where we had the opportunity to meet with some very inspirational people. In the first season, the focus was on guests from diverse cultures with  a common passion for food. We are so excited to now launch season 2.which will also  focus on diverse cultures from all over the world, featu...

Scott Marquis is an American Chef making his home in Vietnam. La Fiesta was an opportunity to fill a niche here in Saigon, as there weren't that many places taking Tex-Mex/Mexican seriously when he and his wife opened up 6 years ago. They worked hard to build themselves a great reputation for making tasty Tex-Mex food and drinks, with big portions and great service. Their second location La Fiesta...

Noor Khan is an educationist by profession and supporter of Lucknowi/ Awadhi culture by passion. Specialising in English, she taught for many years at the Karamat Husain Muslim Girls' College from where she retired as the Principal. Currently she is an Executive Committee Member of Alliance Francaise in Lucknow. She works closely with Sanatkada, a weaves and crafts outlet in Lucknow. Sanatkad...

Awadhi cuisine is famous for its cooking style achieved through the magical blending of spices, slow-fire cooking and its seasonal harmony with nature. Prashant , a senior advocate from Lucknow, is an ardent connoisseur of Awadhi food and takes great pride in his knowledge of all things food. He was once featured on an episode of “Lost Recipes” (History Channel), where he demonstrated wood fire co...

As a feminist,Tanushree uses her words to inspire other women to question the norms of our largely patriarchal society. She aims to employ more women into her business due to their better work ethic and resilient nature.  She and Ram Gupta are not just the dynamic duo which makes Mr. Brown bakery such a hit, but more importantly they are each other’s better halves.  Listen to her story t...

Ruchi, considers herself a wall painter and a mom above all the other roles she plays in her life. Art changed her life and helped define who she is. Now she makes it her mission to help children from low-income and vulnerable communities find themselves through art.  A self-taught artist and art teacher, she's been a part of the Akanksha Foundation India for 17 years and developed a visual a...

“I once was lost but now I'm found; Was blind, but now I see”!   Five is the number of times Bruce Mathieu, 50, has been in and out of prison for drug-related offences. He started drugs at 13 and spent the next 30 years in the bondage of drug addiction, including a sentence for about 20 years for drug consumption and drug related offences.  Now Bruce has been out of prison for 4 yea...

Did you enjoy my conversation with Jo last week? Join me for part 2 of the interview this week. Like her mother and grandmother, Jo loves cooking. Encouraged by friends who loved her recipes, Jo launched Jo's Kitchen in March 2019 and now enjoys a long list of regular clients for her trademark Pork Vindaloo, Konkan Coast seafood, and many other delicious dishes. Original music credit: Rish Sharma....

Jo imbibed a love for cooking from her mother, her treasure house of recipes includes old favourites and new discoveries across Indian and International cuisines.  Encouraged by friends who loved her recipes, Jo launched Jo's Kitchen in March 2019. Jo's Kitchen is a small home business that is an outpouring of her passion for great food and offers high-quality home-cooked food in Singapore.&n...

 Growing the vegan community in Vietnam with Anya June 26 2020 Meet Anya who makes healthy & delicious cakes without the need of an oven. She is working on developing new recipes and contributing to the growth of the vegan community in Saigon, Vietnam. Born and raised in Ukraine, she is currently living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.  Anya has always been interested in cooking,but nev...

Did you enjoy listening to K-Lin's story from last week? Join us now for part 2. Successful Entrepreneur of the year in Singapore, trained Economist and Economics Educator at heart. An avid and experienced International property investor K-Lin used to head an International property investment company with a dynamic team. K-Lin left the corporate world in 2013 setting up Paak Dang in Chiang Ma...

Successful Entrepreneur of the year in Singapore, trained Economist and Economics Educator at heart. An avid and experienced International property investor K-Lin used to head an International property investment company with a dynamic team. K-Lin left the corporate world in 2013 setting up Paak Dang in Chiang Mai Thailand with a mission of “changing lives”.   With a wealth of exper...

Donato & Pedro met at a hospitality school back in 2008. After separate different adventures around the world in the hospitality industry they got back together to work in a Michelin star restaurant on the island of MALLORCA.   Donato & Pedro then decided to travel around Vietnam for 2 months. They fell in love with the country as the food, weather, people and ambience was a...

Meet Saira Malhotra who believes that efficiency rules the day when it comes to cooking. That’s what her cooking classes in New York City are about: recapturing the sense of fun and discovery that’s still possible in home cooking, if you open yourself up to it. It makes much more sense to throw together something easy and accessible, finding inspiration in everything from fresh farmer’s marke...

Three years ago, Malavika Raghavan  made a career change from food marketing to food creation and decided to go to culinary school to become a Certified Pastry Chef.  The ex-marketing professional has over 9 years of brand management experience working in the food industry on brands like Oreo, Philadelphia Cream Cheese & Haagen-Dazs ice-creams in the Middle East and Africa.&nbsp...

Meet Vaishali Dasgupta, a hotelier and artist, Vaishali is fluent in English, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Spanish. She was brought up in Calcutta while her roots are in Maharashtra, India. Her multi-ethnic background automatically makes Vaishali multi-lingual.  Doing justice to her warm, vibrant nature, and a permanent curiosity for knowing places and creative things – Vaishali took up Hotel...