ComebaCK: What’s Your Story?

Lloyd Roodt is a South African and founder of the ‘Community Food Garden’ project, having begun in April 2020 as the pandemic hit big time. We discuss his reasoning behind the project, farming benefits for life, feelings in seeing crops yield and grow over time, future aims, importance and value of the practice for the local community and beyond, and gratitude for the food on our plates. You can f...

Nicole Moehring is the Founder of Voices of Change 2018 (VOC), a nonprofit organization. Their mission is to reduce the risk of sexual abuse for children with disabilities. Nicole’s daughter and son, who is autistic, were both victims of sexual abuse and assault. Nicole witnessed the differences in the justice system of how her daughter was believed and treated so well, and her son was not. Nicole...

Damien Cole is a Saigon expat initially from San Francisco, USA, and has lived in Vietnam for five years. He’s done plenty of work in that time - competing in MMA, teaching basketball, writing movies, and hosting ‘XLT Podcast’ for expats, locals and travelers. We discuss all of these here, and why often it’s crucial just to dive into expat life. You can find out more about Damien and the podcast a...

Shing Chan is the founder of ‘Paperbacks Saigon’, here in Vietnam, looking at shipping out custom books and English books for customers. We talk about his background in Vietnam and UK, importance and value of reading, and more. You can find out more about Paperbacks at ‘Paperbacks Saigon’ on Instagram and social media, and more about ComebaCK at @thecomebackwithck on Instagram.

James Hammond is the host of the travel podcast, ‘Winging It’, based in Vancouver, and is making his second appearance on ComebaCK, having previously appeared on Episode 111, ‘Football and Travel’ on the eve of England vs Italy Euro 2020 final, (less said about that the better). We again delve into the topics of football and travel, but go deep on specific areas - Lionel Messi and his next move po...

Luc Loewen is a rap artist, initially from Canada, and currently living as an expat in Hanoi, Vietnam. We discuss a range of topics related to his musical experiences so far, with the primary theme being “just do it”, related to any creative endeavor when you start out. We discuss anxiety, challenges faced, the portfolio Luc currently has, including his appearance on Shadylanes’ track, ‘The Confin...

Tony Fornaro is an American currently living as an expat here in Saigon, Vietnam, where he’s done a variety of work, including cooywriting, voiceovers, dog walking volunteering, and emulating an inspiration, Anthony Bourdain, by hosting three cooking and food review shows. We discuss his travel background, decision to begin his adventures aged 32, experiences in the vibrant city of Saigon so far,...

Phi Dang is a life coach from Sydney, Australia, host of ‘Grow Through It With Phi Dang’ podcast, and is back, having made her first ComebaCK appearance on Episode 28. Phi also was my first ever ComebaCK interview in August 2020, under @inhervitality, after her page went viral for promoting men’s mental health week, as a woman. (Kudos, Phi 👊👊). Phi elaborates on her practice in this episode, inc...

Tricia Nguyen is from Saigon and through the projects of art, music, theatre, dance and movement, looks to express mental health awareness in a creative manner. We discuss the core themes of raising awareness behind her work, particularly Vietnamese attitudes, the creative projects that she’s involved with, challenges due to Co-vid, and her background having spent 11 years schooled in Fleetwood, U...

Will Everett is an NLP Master Practitioner, CBT Coach, Clinical Hypnotherapist, , Mental Health 1stAider, and Positive Mindset Coach. Hailing from the South of England, Will uses his experience and knowledge of these various practices to help his clients overcome limiting blocks, beliefs, phobias and traumas. We discuss his practice in some detail related to the areas above, and explore how you ca...

Dana Bradley is a brand and marketing consultant, running 'Where in HCMC', curating and sharing lifestyle, culture, events, small businesses and more from the world of Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, Vietnam. We discuss her work, the aims and project of 'WhereinHCMC', collaborations, her background and work both in Brooklyn and London, and the beauty of Saigon - the vibrancy, the diversity, the food scen...

Mai Nguyen currently works in the fitness industry at California fitness here in Saigon, Vietnam. Initially from Da Lat, we discuss her fitness journey, work, mental health attitudes in Vietnam, advice to beginner, benefits of cardio/weights/yoga, and more. You can find out more at www.californiafitness.com and more about ComebaCK at @thecomebackwithck on Instagram, (website coming soon!)

Lara Rosales is an Argentinian lady currently climbing the PR ladder in Florida, USA, and is the host of the podcast ‘Cats, Milfs And Lesbian Things’. We discuss life in Latino countries, the Florida lifestyle, reasons for climbing into PR, sexuality, focus of the podcast, and a hint on future writing projects. You can find out more about Lara and her podcast at ‘Cats, Milfs And Lesbian Things’ on...

Thomas Noyer is a multi-instrumentalist musician from France, currently living in Saigon, Vietnam, and joins me today to expand upon his jazz music and career up to date in depth. You can find out more at 'Thomas Noyer', on Facebook and Youtube, and more about ComebaCK at @thecomebackwithck on Instagram (website also coming soon - stay tuned!) 

Indy Laville is a French/Vietnamese musician, currently living in Saigon, where he has played music as a full time job since 2015. His current projects include 'Saigon Soul Revival', exploring themes of late 60's Saigon (The Vietnam War era), and 'Moon Rise City'. We discuss both of these projects and his background, influences and more. You can find out more about 'Saigon Soul Revival', and 'Moon...

Prinyaka Mehta is an artist and artist designer working in Saigon on a multi-range of creative projects. We discuss her work, practice, background, life in both countries, work with 'Genderfunk', a successful community based project in Saigon, and future aims. You can find out more about Priyanka at @meta_pri on Instagram and more about ComebaCK at @thecomebackwithck on Instagram - (although chang...

Professor Damian Hughes is an international speaker and author. He has a practical and academic background within sport, organisational development and change psychology. He also co hosts the ‘ High Performance Podcast’ alongside BT sport presenter Jake Humphrey, interviewing a range of elite performers from sport, business and beyond. Guests include Jonny Wilkinson, Matthew McConaughey, Tim Peake...

John Gerard Fagan is a writer, initially from Scotland, and is the author of his memoir 'Fish Town', chronicling his experience of living in Japan for six years between 2013-2019. We discuss his background in Scotland, creative writing, reasons for moving to Japan, and the challenges faced through undertaking that journey, including advice for anybody looking to teach in Asia, particularly Japan....

Brent Trotter is a blogger and mental health advocate from Victoria, Australia, running the account 'The Black Dog Community'. We dive into drug use, societal attitudes towards mental health and how they can change, the importance of a fitness routine, and aims for the future. You can find out more about Brent at black_dog_community on Instagram and more about ComebaCK at @thecomebackwithck on Ins...

Ricky from 'The Gay Narratives Podcast' joins me for Episode 130 to discuss his podcast, key themes, ultimate core mission, and future aims. We also challenge sexuality assumptions, discuss 'the coming out process', and talk about how we can challenge societal attitudes towards the LGBTQ community. You can find out more at 'The Gay Narratives Podcast', on all streaming platforms and Instagram, and...

Aidan Martin is an author from Scotland - his first memoir, 'Euphoric Recall', encounters themes such as drug addiction, suicide, mental health and more - we dive wholeheartedly into all of these themes, and we talk about his comeback journey, future aims, importance of creativity, the fulfillment vs pleasure, and what more can be done to handle the drugs crisis. It is a very inspiring comeback st...

Madeleine Black is a podcaster, patron of 'Say Women' charity, activist, 2X TedX Speaker, and author of 'Unbroken', which documents her story. Madeleine was raped aged 13, and suffered a lot afterwards - she delves into the immediate aftermath of the attack, problems faced as a result, and how she has used her journey to heal, and her story to help and inspire others, through her book 'Unbroken',...

Erica Schlick is a life coach, author, and glutens-free recipes creator, running the popular 'The Trail To Health' blog, run out of Los Angeles. Her cookbook 'Wandering Plate', is a 28-day plan of healthy paleo travel-inspired recipes that helped her stay healthy after years suffering from Lyme Disease. She has been featured on numerous TV segments, including 'Afflicted', on Netflix, Episode 4. We...

Rob Shevlin is the host of the 'In This Life Podcast', aiming to spread awareness of different people's stories, based in Dublin, Ireland. Topics include hate crime, stalking survivors and an interview with Ireland's first same sex married couple. We discuss in depth the six fascinating stories that Robb has had access to so far, thoughts behind starting a podcast and delving deeper into the pract...

England Block 109 is a supporters group who are seeking to improve the atmosphere at Wembley, by organizing coach travel and fundraising draws. I talk to Kunal about England's experiences abroad, traveling home and away for the matches, the recent tournament, and their projects, including their beer 'Wembeerly', raising money for grassroots football. You can find out more at block109.co.uk and mor...