Immigrant Squared

Pramod came to the US to pursue a Masters in civil engineering and later transitioned to designing software. He came across a problem while reading some PDF documents, which got him wondering whether this was the final stage of the digitization of a document. This is where his company Dynos was born with the mission to create a dynamic document that we can interact with. After completing an MBA, P...

In September 2022 I had the honor to present at the 2022 DC Startup Week (in Washington DC). My session was titled "Why Every Entrepreneur Should Have a Podcast, and How to Start One". This podcast episode is  the original audio from the session (excuse the noise from the audience). Stay tuned for a surprise announcement.  Are you an immigrant entrepreneur? would you like to share y...

ליה אוקון היא מורה לעברית באולפנים לעולים חדשים ובת למהגרים מרוסיה שהגיעו לארץ בשנות השביעיים. ליה התחילה ללמד עברית את הסבים שלה מגיל 6 היא תמיד הרגישה חצויה בזהות שלה, הרבה פעמים חברים שלה ילידי הארץ לעגו לה שהיא מסתובבת עם עולים חדשים. היום ליה מאד שלמה עם שתי הזהויות שלה. המטרה של ליה היא לעזור לעולים החדשים להשתלב בחברה ולא רק ללמד אותם עברית. ליה עובדת על מיזם כדי להביא ישראלים ילידי הארץ לא...

Simone is a child of Ethiopian immigrants and a comedian in Washington DC. Growing up he struggled with his identity being Ethiopian at home and American outside. Now as a father, he teaches his child to embrace her multicultural identity. Simone believes that comedy can bring people together across cultures. His new storytelling comedy album is coming out soon where he shares a dating story about...

I had the pleasure of hosting Will, the President and Co-Founder of KAMA DC. KAMA DC is a volunteer-run non-profit organization that allows immigrants in the Washington DC area to share their skills, stories, and experiences. KAMA is based on a model that started in Austria in 2008 to showcase the skills that immigrants bring with them to their new communities. Will is also an immigrant from the U...

Audrey immigrated from Taiwan to fulfill a lifelong dream to study and live in the US. Her biggest challenges have been her mindset, overcoming the imposter syndrome, and being far away from her support group while going through personal problems. Getting out of her comfort zone and interacting with locals helped her realize that we are all humans that have the same needs, and we should not be wor...

Manu Kailom sought asylum in Australia after spending time in jail in his home country Papua New Guinea for being a member of the LGBTQ community. Manu shared the struggles he faced being a gay man of color in the LGBTQ refugee and asylum seeker community in Australia. Language barriers, culture shock, and difficulties finding a job and a community, did not stop Manu from becoming successful. Toda...

Klarina immigrated to Israel as a teenager, and while she struggled learning Hebrew, studying English became her bridge to the Israeli identity. Klarina managed to interpret her immigrant story in Israel through the writings of American poets. She believes that if you learn a new language you create a new self. Writing poetry in Hebrew helped her to deal with the grief of losing her father. Klarin...

I had the honor of hosting the President & COO of Welcome. US Anya McMurray on the podcast. Welcome. US was founded in response to the fall of Kabul in September, 2021. In partnership with the US government, Welcome. US has been helping to resettle over 80 thousand Afghans in the US. They also expanded their help to support Ukrainians who are fleeing the war. Anya talked about the value and re...

Suzie migrated to Singapore from China when she was 4.5 years old. Despite experiencing some discrimination, she assimilated by learning Singaporean English-Singlish. Suzie studied abroad in Paris, and Beijing, before arriving to the US. Coming to the US to study at Johns Hopkins University has been the easiest transition for her thus far, although she is still exploring her "US identity". Suzie f...

קלרינה מספרת מה בעצם גרם למשפחה שלה להחליט לעלות לארץ, וכמה קשה ומסוכנת הייתה הדרך לעזוב את אוזבקיסטן. האנטישמיות שהם התמודדו איתה בדרך לארץ, הקשיים בשנים הראשונות בארץ, ועד כמה המדינה לא הייתה מוכנה מבחינה לוגיסטית לקבל כל כך הרבה עולים. קלרינה התחילה את החינוך שלה בארץ בבית ספר דתי, ונאלצה להתמודד עם הפער בין החינוך הדתי לחיים המאד חילוניים בבית, והצורך להחביא את הזהות שלה שוב כמו שההורים שלה הי...

Amy is a social entrepreneur and a child of Chinese immigrants. At a very young age, she became an interpreter and translator for her parents. Amy shared examples of intergenerational trauma, cultural norms, ,and abuse, which all led her to be strong and outspoken. We discussed mental health issues that immigrants and their children face, and how in many immigrant communities it is taboo to seek h...

אולגה עלתה לארץ בגיל שש מאזרבייג'ן ב1990. העלייה שלה התחילה בבני ברק בבית ספר דתי. ההשתלבות מבחינת שפה לא הייתה פשוטה ולאחר מכן בבית ספר חילוני אולגה הייתה צריכה להתמודד עם איומים מאח של חברה שלה וניסיונות לשנות את השם שלה לשם עברי. בצבא היא הייתה בבסיס חייל אוויר עם המון עולים כמוה וזה פתאום גרם לה לראות את המצב מנקודת מבט שונה. אולגה ובעלה שניהם עולים לשעבר אבל עם הילדים הם מדברים עברית בבית. או...

Alex rediscovered her immigration story by writing poems about her immigration experience. When she attended a cinema school and learned script writing, Alex realized that her immigration story is an inspiration and not something to be embarrassed about. That’s how the docuseries Generation 1.5 דור אחד וחצי was born. Alex believes that to make a marginal group mainstream you have to start by educa...

Ilya and I discussed the social and emotional impact of moving from one culture to another, as he shared his immigration story coming to NYC at 17 from Moscow. Ilya also shared the adventure of moving to Hong Kong with his family, and how he teaches his children about his culture of origin through humor. We also discussed the importance of community, and getting to know people based on who they ar...

"When you are speaking to other people about your journey you suddenly realize how much you have accomplished". Jamie shares how her career in International Development allows her to give back to the community she left behind, and how being part of Toastmasters International is contributing to her success.  Check out https://www.toastmasters.org/ to learn more.  #Immigrant² Podcast #immi...

I had the honor of hosting Luba Laor. Luba is one of the million immigrants who came to Israel with their family in the early 1990's when the former soviet union fell apart. Her story is featured in a recent docuseries in Israel called generation 1.5. which illustrates several stories of those children who immigrated with their parents in the early 1990's from the former soviet republics to Israel...

In this episode, I had the honor of chatting with victor who escaped gang violence in El Salvador and came to the US on a bicycle to find a better future, and he sure did. Although the journey from being undocumented to becoming a citizen has not been easy, Victor never lost sight of his dream to become an electrical engineer. Victor discussed the fear and struggles while being undocumented, and h...

Mina is a human rights lawyer who was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt and moved to the US in his early 20s. As a Coptic in Egypt, he always felt like a second-class citizen. In the US he has more Jewish friends than Coptic friends, because of the similarities in the cultures. Thanks to help from great American friends, Mina integrated well in the US and feels that he has both the Coptic Egyptian c...

Betty Artes was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and immigrated to the US at the age of seven. Her family was getting ready to immigrate during the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and her cousins who already lived in the US suggested they delay the journey. Betty's father, who was briefly arrested during Juan Perón's regime in Argentina said that if there was going to be a nuclear war, it d...

St. Clair Detrick-Jules is an Author, Photographer, Videographer, and Documentarian. Born and raised in Washington DC to an immigrant father from St Barths and growing up surrounded by immigrants, St. Clair became interested in immigrant stories. She is currently working on a photojournalism book about immigrants and physical objects they brought with them to the US. She believes that storytelling...

Today's episode is dedicated to my birthplace Ukraine! To all the brave people who are fighting for their life. I won't go into politics historical analysis or commentary. I want this episode to serve as an encouragement to help Ukraine but also as a reminder, as Albert Einstein once said "The world is a dangerous place to live not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who...

Annick lives in Montreal, Canada, and her podcast "Immigrant Dilemma" focuses on the identity we develop as immigrants. In this episode, she shared her journey to discover her identity, which is a fusion between the French and English speaking parts of her home country Haiti. Annick shared her struggles with picking a career that did not meet her parent's expectations, and how she chose to view he...

This is part two of episode 3 where I interviewed Tinatin Japaridze. To celebrate Tinatin's book Stalin’s Millennials: Nostalgia, Trauma, and Nationalism which is coming out this week on February 15, you will get a sneak peek into the book. The idea to write about Stalin was born as a class paper for Soviet Legacy Seminar at Columbia University, turned into a term paper, and now a book. Since 2016...

I had the pleasure of interviewing a fellow immigrant and woman in security Sonia Knowles. Sonia immigrated from Peru in pursuit of educational opportunities. She assimilated into the American culture by becoming a military spouse. While adapting to the culture of military life she was not able to identify herself as an immigrant, but she found a community. Years later she started to wonder what i...