The Old Asian Lady Show

What if the most meaningful stories aren't the ones making headlines, but the ones quietly shaping our lives every day? Season 3 of #OldAsianLady is a collection of conversations with people from different backgrounds, generations, and walks of life who share the experiences that have influenced their perspectives, values, and choices. These aren't stories about having all the answers—they...

Why is it so much easier to point out what's wrong than what's right? In this clip from #OldAsianLady, William Lu reflects on the cultural differences he experienced while working in the United States, Europe, and Taiwan. After years of teaching dance internationally, William noticed a powerful pattern: environments that encourage people to embrace their strengths often create more confide...

Sometimes the biggest challenge isn't learning a language. It's finding where you belong. In this clip from #OldAsianLady, Marie Mestdagh shares the joys and challenges of raising a multilingual child in Taiwan. At just 2.5 years old, her son speaks French, English, Mandarin, and even some Taiwanese. But while language comes naturally, identity can be much more complicated. As a Bi-racial...

Home isn't always where you're born. Sometimes it's the place that helps you become who you're meant to be. In this thoughtful conversation on #OldAsianLady, Karen Chung reflects on witnessing Taiwan's transformation from the late martial law era through democratization, cultural renewal, and modernization. Her personal theory is that she and Taiwan have been growing together all these years. The...

How many people spend their lives discovering: Who Am I? In this clip from #OldAsianLady, Jaime Cham reflects on growing up as a Spanish speaking 3rd-generation Chinese Panamanian, moving to the US and then working and living in Asia. He always thought of himself as Chinese—until he met Chinese people from other parts of the world. This is a thoughtful conversation about identity and raising his m...

What does survival mode actually look like? In this clip from #OldAsianLady, Sophie Lee opens up about burnout, financial pressure, and the years she spent pushing herself past her limits just to keep going. From working multiple jobs to breaking down crying in the street—this is a conversation about self-reliance, survival mode, and what happens when your entire life becomes work. Sometimes stren...

What makes someone different from the generation or culture they grew up in? In this heartwarming clip from#OldAsianLady, Sterling Hsaio reflects on Aging, Independence and Parenting. While many Asian parents are known for being strict, controlling, or heavily focused on academic achievement, he chose a different approach. Perhaps influenced by his early love of English with Western ideas and his...

What do you do when life keeps forcing you to change direction? In this clip from #OldAsianLady, animator and filmmaker JJ Chen opens up about rejection, failure, and trying to rebuild his life while dealing with his mother's cancer diagnosis. After losing 2 projects that later went on to receive Oscar nominations, JJ returned to Taiwan hoping to regroup and focus on his own creative work. Ins...

What happens when you grow up feeling like something is “off”… but no one can tell you why? In this clip from #OldAsianLady, Mrinal Gakhale shares what it was like growing up undiagnosed with autism—and being labeled as someone who just wasn’t trying hard enough. Facing social challenges and bullying, her experience highlights how autism can go unrecognized, especially in girls. It wasn’t until th...

What happens when you lose a part of who you are? In this video from #OldAsianLady, dance artist Wei-Shan Lai shares her journey through thriving career, motherhood, identity, and the quiet struggle of trying to find her way back. After becoming a full-time mom caring for a newborn with medical needs—she stepped away from her creative life. Now at 43, she reflects on self-doubt, cultural pressure,...

Sometimes, going “home” isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. In this clip from #OldAsianLady, Brian Foden shares the deeply personal decision to leave Taiwan and move back to Canada with his Taiwanese wife and daughter. After building a life, raising a bilingual child, and calling Taiwan home for decades, the choice to leave isn’t simple. It’s shaped by family, identity, and time—especially as h...

What if you couldn’t recognize the people in your life—not even someone you love? In this episode of#OldAsianLady, Antonella Gismundi shares what it’s like to live with face blindness—a neurological condition that makes it difficult to recognize faces, even familiar ones. She talks about how this has shaped her daily life, from navigating social situations to developing other ways of recognizing p...

👍What if aging isn’t something to fear—but something that actually sets you free? In this #OldAsianLady video, Shashwati and I talk about what it's like growing older as a woman—letting go of expectations, finding confidence, and redefining identity beyond youth. From choosing not to have children, to embracing gray hair, to navigating how society sees older women, this conversation explores...

In this video from #OldAsianLady, Helen Lee shares her journey living with epilepsy and the life-changing decision to undergo surgery to remove part of her brain. The procedure involved removing part of her hippocampus—a critical area of the brain responsible for memory. It was a high-risk choice, with no guarantees. But her story isn’t just about surgery. It’s about learning to live with uncertai...

Some moments change you in ways you don’t fully understand until years later. In this video from #OldAsianLady, Michelle Kao shares how discovering her boyfriend’s mother after suicide during her college years shaped her emotional world and her relationships for years to come. Growing up in an environment where feelings weren’t openly discussed, she learned to stay silent and carry her pain alone....

She visited Dubai on vacation and it became a 6 year international career working in private aviation with a company owned by the Jordanian Royal Family. In this #OldAsianLady video, Sandra Fu shares her experience moving from Taiwan to Dubai and navigating a completely different culture and workplace. She talks about the warm feeling of belonging to a city, but also the reality of bias, stereotyp...

In many Asian families, success often follows a familiar path: doctor, engineer, or another “safe” profession. In this clip on #OldAsianLady, Wen Shaw reflects on growing up with these expectations — navigating parental influence, academic pressure, and the “right” career path. After failing a crucial entrance exam, Wen pushed himself through 6 months of intense self-discipline to prove he could s...

What happens when your parents choose your future for you? In this #OldAsianLady video, Vicky Sun shares what it was like growing up with a “tiger dad”( not the typical tiger mom)— strict expectations, language immersion, boarding school at 14, and a future largely chosen for her. For some children, it produces resilience and opportunity. For others, it leaves lasting tension. This conversation as...

What does it feel like to leave the place you’ve called home for your entire adult life? In this #OldAsianLady video, Erin Clark shares openly about her fears and the logistics of repatriation — finding housing, navigating healthcare and insurance, rebuilding a career, and returning to a society that no longer feels familiar. After building an entire adult life in Taiwan, the idea of “starting ove...

In this powerful clip from the #OldAsianLady, Vincent Soberano dives into the raw realities of growing up Asian in California during the 1980s and 90s. It’s a conversation about navigating racism, dating rejection, stereotypes, and the subtle ways media shaped our sense of worth. From being called racial slurs to hearing the painful phrase, “I don’t date Asian guys,” we explore how discrimination...

February is National Cancer Prevention Month—but behind the statistics are real lives, real scars, and real resilience. On this episode of #OldAsianLady, Amy Marcs shares her deeply personal journey: a mother lost to breast cancer and her own diagnosis & treatment. She recalls the shock of hearing “It Is Cancer,” the pain of losing her breasts and the empowerment of reconstruction. 💬 “It’s not ab...

What happens when your parents age, and the roles reverse? In this heartfelt conversation on #OldAsianLady, Aileen Chang shares her difficult decision to leave the U.S. and move to Taiwan to care for aging parents. This is about obligation, love, and the cultural differences in how we care for our elders. 💬 “You don’t plan for illness and aging. But when the time comes, you know you’re needed.”...

What starts as a dream can become reality. In this episode of #OldAsianLady, we follow the journey of Carrie Kwok who discovered her passion at 16 with a trial flight voucher—and turned it into a career spanning 14 years. From cadet training to long-haul flights, from second officer to captain, she shares how determination, resilience, and support transformed a late discovery into a lifelong calli...

What happens when you grow up abroad in multiple countries, then land in America for college—and realize you’re in total culture shock? In this #OldAsianLady clip, Carol Yao shares her layered shocks of identity: meeting classmates who thought cowboy boots in Malaysia made them Texans, missing 15 years of American pop culture, and being taught by "Hippies" at MIT’s socialist architecture...

Parenting looks different across cultures—in this #OldAsianLady chat with Marie Mestagh, she shares what happens when East meets West. From setting screen-time limits and using timers, to blending science with gentle parenting, she shares how boundaries can be firm and compassionate. We also talk about parenting contrasts: Emphasis on reasoning vs. traditions of obedience, and how kids quickly lea...