Michael Huang is a 1st generation Taiwanese American, Seattle native, advertising veteran, and nearly retired breakdancer. In this episode, we learned about his early beginnings in discovering his purpose and passions, his commitment towards racial equity and social justice, and how his identities have molded him into the leader he is today. During college, Michael founded the University of Washington (UW) Hip Hop Student Association and organized international dance competitions throughout the ...
Mar 01, 2021•51 min•Season 2Ep. 37
While climate change is irreversible, we still have the responsibility to take care of our planet so that we and future generations can live healthier, safer, and happier. What are some simple steps we can take to live a “greener” life? From sharing stories of experiencing culture shocks in Costa Rica to the odd but resourceful things our refugee parents made us do as kids, this informational bonus episode will encourage you to re-evaluate your lifestyle routines and habits to reduce your ecolog...
Feb 26, 2021•41 min•Season 2Ep. 36
In celebration of Black History Month, Darrell Nelson II, a Data Scientist from L.A., who identifies as African American & ADOS, shares his story and upbringing. Darrell talks about his personal experiences of facing racial discrimination and stereotypes and its impacts on him and his Black peers. He also gives helpful career tips on how to negotiate for the salary you deserve and get promotions. Darrell's grateful for his mom for instilling positive values and all of her sacrifices to provi...
Feb 22, 2021•52 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Mandy Kwan is a proud 1st generation college graduate, who enjoys languages, travel and learning about other cultures. Mandy has always been a huge advocate for multiculturalism and empowering the BIPoC youth and community as a whole. We chat with her about living in a diverse neighborhood, experiencing the workforce as a professional of color, racism while traveling, and finding ways to plant our seeds to make this world a better place.
Feb 15, 2021•31 min•Season 2Ep. 34
Brothers David and Shawn from Arizona opens up about their painful and heartbreaking experience of being separated by the U.S. deportation law. Shawn is the oldest brother and has spent a majority of his life growing up the states. He is one of the thousands of other similar stories on how the U.S. deportation policies have stripped the lives of so many families. Shawn explains the culture shocks of living in Cambodia as an American, the realities of what Cambodians deportees face, and how he is...
Feb 08, 2021•38 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Mellissa shares 6 biggest life lessons from podcasting: 1) Taking Risks & Having Courage, 2) Leveraging Creativity, 3) Letting Go of Perfection, 4) Listening & Empathizing, 5) Speaking Consciously, 6) Giving Back. As a podcaster, she has become a better and more well-rounded leader.
Feb 05, 2021•12 min•Season 2Ep. 32
Code switching is an essential skill, especially as a PoC. As 2 females who come from a multicultural background, we talk, act and carry ourselves differently when we speak with our family vs. friends vs. colleagues. Our conversation touches on what it's like to alternate between our codes to become more adaptable, approachable, and accepted in various social settings, including the workforce. There are many strengths and challenges that come with code switching, and we discuss how we can balanc...
Feb 01, 2021•29 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Peter and Tony started their Southeast Queer Owned start-up business, Happy Balloon Decorations, to bring joy through custom balloon arrangements for any special events across the Greater Puget Sound area. In this episode, we got the chance to get to know the Khmer American & Vietnamese Queer Co-Owners, who are business and life partners. We discussed what inspired them to start their small PoC business, some of the challenges they’ve experienced as new business owners while juggling full-ti...
Jan 25, 2021•32 min•Season 2Ep. 30
Jasmine Kong is a Student Athlete at Westcliff University, who values family, giving back and staying humble. As a child, Jasmine turned to sports to get away from the bad environment at home. She was practically raised by her late grandma (Ma Yey) who helped her stay connected to her Cambodian roots. Jasmine, one of the few Khmer American Student Athletes, talks about the importance of representation as well as recognizing her family, mentors, and coaches who have all played an integral role in...
Jan 18, 2021•33 min•Season 2Ep. 29
Neng Om is a 1st Generation Khmer American who immigrated from Cambodia to the U.S. at 11 years old. Neng is deeply passionate about advocating for human rights and upholding the traditional Cambodian culture as well as remembering the history of the Golden age of Cambodia, the Angkor period. She is a single mother with two young kids, who has had to overcome many struggles, including bullying and adjusting to a new life as an outsider. Neng is truly an inspiration and has many deep insights to ...
Jan 11, 2021•29 min•Season 2Ep. 28
Our Ma recounts her experiences of coming to the USA for the first time after fleeing the Khmer Rouge Regime and leaving the Thai refugee camp, Khao I Dang. She shares what it was like starting high school immediately, meeting our Ba at one of the blueberry fields in Oregon, and learning to survive and navigate a new life in a new country that she barely knew with limited resources and support. This is one of the many revealing stories that highlight the challenges and realities of an immigrant'...
Jan 04, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 27
As 2020 comes to an end, we take a moment to reflect on the past 6 months of the 2 Khmerican Sisters passion project, celebrate all of our achievements, and chat about our goals/lessons for 2021. We will also finally answer the question of what it means to be Khmerican "Khmer-American".
Dec 28, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Chanira Reang Sperry, a 1.5 Khmer American and daughter of Refugees, is an influential leader advocating for equitable opportunities in the field of education for over 20 years. As a Director of Student Services at UW School of Dentistry, she uses a race and equity lens to inform her work in mentoring students and teaching from a culturally responsive curriculum. In this episode, she shares her experiences of what it was like having to acculturate into American culture, raising her mixed-race ch...
Dec 21, 2020•47 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Mark Juaton is a Pilipino educator with over 9 years of experience teaching primary grades in Seattle, Kent, Los Angeles, and San Diego. He was born in the Philippines, identifies as part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and can also speak Chavacano, Tagalog, and some Spanish. In this episode, Mark shares his advice on staying true to who you are and always presenting kindness, love, and understanding to others, regardless of who they are. He also talks about the important roles that the arts & so...
Dec 14, 2020•42 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Michelle shares her unique upbringing as a Cambodian American living in the Bay Area, who started figure skating at a very young age. She talks about her family's resourcefulness in navigating around financial challenges in this highly exclusive, elite sport and opens up about the mental challenges of transitioning from competitive figure skating to college and coaching. Today, Michelle is Founder and CEO of Coach Michelle Hong and a Global Coach and Choreographer. She’s created the first-ever o...
Dec 07, 2020•45 min•Season 1Ep. 23
COVID-19 has been a roller coaster of emotions for many people, including Soup Pha, who has had a lot of time to be idle in his thoughts. Soup is a Thai-Khmer American Singer, Host and Actor. He opens up about depression and trauma as well as the ups and downs of the music and entertainment industry. Soup emphasizes the importance of loving yourself, having compassion for others, and learning to heal from a dark past. His passion and positivity is incredibly infectious. Soup also challenges us t...
Nov 30, 2020•45 min•Season 1Ep. 22
As the year is coming to the end, we reflect on what we are most grateful for and get deep and intimate about the trials and tribulations of our life experiences. If you get easily stressed and overwhelmed like we do, tune in to hear how we’ve learned to read our body signals of when we need to take a step back and breathe. We also share our personal tips on how we are aiming to feel more relaxed and happy by practicing gratitude and living more mindfully.
Nov 23, 2020•51 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Lives by the motto, “work hard, play hard”, Anchie has traveled to 31 countries & counting. Tune into this episode to learn about the life and travel journey of a Taiwanese American Engineer.
Nov 16, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 20
One of the biggest strengths in our Khmer culture is our natural gravitation toward kinship, including the love for our family and community. We discuss the importance of mental health and healing within our Khmer community and hope that some of these stories and experiences resonate with you and help you feel that you are not alone in this journey toward healing and achieving inner peace.
Nov 09, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Raised in a highly diverse neighborhood, Huy's parents worked extremely hard to run their family restaurant while he spent his childhood years helping them out and studying. He discovered his love and passion for helping, mentoring and teaching others during his Pharmaceutical career. He speaks of the importance of listening, respecting, and loving your family despite political differences.
Nov 02, 2020•40 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Jasmine interviews 3 Khmericans of different generations: Mama Oui, Lisha & Mellissa, who have suffered from sleep paralysis and reveal that they had experienced paranormal activities In the Cambodian culture, this is called “khmaoch sângkât” which means a ghost sitting on top of your chest. Culturally, many Cambodians have strong beliefs that ghosts visit them or that they interact with loved ones or other people that they lost in the killing fields.
Oct 26, 2020•46 min•Season 1Ep. 17
John reveals some of the raw struggles and challenges of what it's like to be a Black man in America. Born in Long Island, NY, John identifies as Caribbean American. His family’s heritage is Guyanese and Trinidadian. In this episode, we seek to learn and understand the experiences of our Black & Brown community. We also chat about what it means to be #GoodTrouble and ruffling feathers to advocate for change.
Oct 23, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Lina, aka Spring Roll Fever, shares intimate details of her coming out process while dealing with traditional gender roles during her upbringing. She talks about the pressures to succeed academically while pursuing her passions in theater, as well as the importance of taking pauses to take care of personal matters and build a solid career.
Oct 19, 2020•49 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Randy, Host & Producer of The Bánh Mì Chronicles, gets vulnerable about some of his challenges as a 2nd generation Queer Viet-Khmer American. Learn how he has navigated through adversity in his life and has become more in tuned with his identities by surrounding himself with strong, unapologetic and empowered individuals, who inspire him to live life more authentically.
Oct 12, 2020•41 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Chann, a 2nd generation Khmer-American from Portland, Oregon, was the first person in his family to graduate from college with both a bachelor's & master's degree. He is currently pursuing his dream as a Food Show Host, Filmmaker & Chef and is always looking for ways to help other communities of color share their story through art, food, and music.
Oct 05, 2020•53 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Are you staying hopeful during COVID-19? Hear how our 2020 is going so far. We talk about how we have overcome some personal challenges and what we do to relieve stress and anxiety. It's more important than ever to keep our heads up and help each other get through these difficult and challenging times.
Sep 28, 2020•43 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Mireille immigrated with her family from Central Africa to the U.S. for a better life at only 3 years. Based in LA, Mireille is a Marketing Media Executive and speaks French and Lingala. She discusses the dichotomy of the two cultures she grew up with and some of its joys and challenges. She also shares her experiences with racism and discrimination and what it's like to travel internationally as an African-American Female.
Sep 23, 2020•50 min•Season 1Ep. 11
We take a moment to share with you what's been going on behind-the-scenes of the 2 Khmerican Sisters website and podcast as well as sharing more info about ourselves as Cambodian-Americans.
Sep 14, 2020•47 min•Season 1Ep. 10
In honor of Khmerican's 9th Anniversary, we interviewed Phatry Derek Pan, Media Entrepreneur & Founder of Khmerican, which is the most trusted, next-generation news platform on the Cambodian diaspora. Derek will share his leadership journey and experiences of living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. As a former Buddhist monk, he shares meaningful tips and advice on how to find peace and hope during this global pandemic.
Sep 09, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Sam shares his humble beginnings of being born in a Thai refugee camp to growing up in a low-income neighborhood and now living his dream as an Immigration Attorney. He shares some of his personal experiences that have challenged him to grow and strengthen as a leader, which ultimately led him to realize his passion for helping others.
Aug 26, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 8
