So how about those home loan interest rates, eh? And...mortgages! Escrow? Closing costs. Contingencies. Bidding wars. OK, anyone else totally lost too? If you're anything like Minji, seemingly responsible grown up as she (mostly) saw herself, you might have reached adulthood hearing about this grand milestone of owning a home over and over again. You might have 100% expected it to happen for you at some point when you were good and "established", even aspired to it and considered it a key marker...
Jun 07, 2022•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 174
With times as crazy as these, we need all the support we can get. Deep conversations with friends, a good book, a tranquil walk through a park, a home cooked meal, meditation...and a social media persona moonlighting as our ultra caring significant other. Enter our Internet Boyfriend and charming FOA guest this week, James Tang. In this episode, Minji catches up with her friend James, the creative soul behind the viral TikTok character "Your Internet Boyfriend" who caught some attention for his ...
Jun 02, 2022•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 173
Motherhood is a monumental, life-changing and sacred experience for those who embark on it. It's also an incredibly loaded topic shrouded in mystery, fear, and sometimes shame when it comes to the complex reality behind the glowy maternity photos, sonogram announcements, and darling newborn portraits. In this episode, the single and childless Minji invites her new friend Gaby Meier, a working woman and mother to a darling 1-year-old son, to get very honest and real about the ups, downs, & re...
May 24, 2022•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 172
We're back with SEASON 3 fam! To kick off this third installment of First Of All, we set intentions to bring good vibes and deeply personal insights on some long-awaited topics. So we're starting by going all in on vibrations, frequencies, manifesting, and the law of attraction. In this episode, Minji brings back the hilarious and wise filmmaker and co-host of Two Horny Goats Podcast, Roxy Shih. Together they share their backgrounds of what led them to their respective spiritual journeys, one in...
May 17, 2022•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 171
And just like that, we have reached the end of season 2 fam! And what better way to close it out than with the realest unfiltered-est conversation with comedian/podcaster/OG YouTuber/entrepreneur David So. In this extended season finale, David and Minji go down rabbit holes of self-awareness, fully owning what they dislike and also being disliked, as well as the ups and downs of being creative, achieving their goals, and changing ideas of success. They also discuss their second acts as grown adu...
Mar 15, 2022•2 hr 11 min•Ep. 170
This week, we get to hear a very personal and insightful conversation about late bloomers and the evolution of an ugly duckling from our well-spoken guest, James Liao. Most of us think of being a late bloomer in terms of physical appearance and romantic relationships. And while those are major players in the conversation, James also walks us through the not-so-skin-deep shifts in his social, relational, career and personality that also played a big hand in being a late bloomer. Minji and James s...
Mar 08, 2022•1 hr 38 min•Ep. 169
This one goes out to the Asian diaspora Gen X, millennial & Gen Z-ers who are getting better acquainted with or just further embracing tf out of their Asian identities. For most of us Asian Americans, we grew up assimilating, disconnecting, and/or over-representing this side of ourselves - our languages, customs, features - in a society where we were mostly stereotyped, fetishized, or simply overlooked and ignored. But throughout the many decades since our parents and grandparents immigrated...
Mar 01, 2022•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 168
If you've dreamt of starting a business, you may have stumbled across a roadblock or fifty to get off the ground or even take the leap to pursue it... Should I quit a secure thing? What if I fail? How do I prepare financially? How do I break this to my parents/significant other/industry? How do I get started or even get my foot through the door? Do I need to go back to school? How long will it take to be "successful"? In this episode, Minji sits down with Sajani Amarasiri, founder of Kola Goodie...
Feb 22, 2022•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 167
It's one day after Valentine's Day and we know everyone's already over it, but what society never seems to be over are real life tales of love and loss - the good, the bad, and the excruciatingly ugly. We at First Of All admit it openly - we love LOVE. And over time we can appreciate the bad for what it teaches us. In this solo episode, Minji shares the story behind one of the worst Valentine's Days (if not the worst) of her life - like full on ugly crying on the floor processing betrayal while ...
Feb 15, 2022•50 min•Ep. 166
LET'S TALK ABOUT MONEY, Y'ALL. Now if talking about money openly and honestly ever felt taboo, this episode. is. for. YOU! To get into the nitty gritty of money relationships, habits and strategies, Minji brings back a wonderful returning guest - photographer and blogger Melly Lee - to unpack this broad and emotionally charged topic. The two dive into their histories with money as a spender vs saver, someone who struggled with mountains of debt vs someone who was deathly afraid of debt, and as i...
Feb 08, 2022•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 165
Weddings! Love. Joy. Family. Friendship. Magic! Celebration!! .... Stress. Tension. Regrets. Bills. Fights. FOMO. As beautiful as these momentous milestones are meant to be, let's be real. Weddings can be as painful as they are joyous. In the whirlwind of dreams coming true under very strained budgets while juggling tons of deadlines, expectations, logistics and relationships...it can be anything but a fairytale. In this episode, Minji unpacks her issues with the insanity of modern wedding cultu...
Feb 01, 2022•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 164
Beauty can be such a fun way to channel your self-expression, try new products/personas/looks, practice self-care, and get in touch with your innermost confidence. It can also be overwhelming and painful trying to keep up with societal standards that feel rigid, unattainable, and downright dehumanizing at times. In this week's episode, Minji sits down with David Yi, a beauty expert and passionate advocate of examining and redefining beauty as a concept, practice, and culture. David has spent mos...
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 163
Season 2 of the Pandemic brought on a nationwide phenomenon known as The Great Resignation where MILLIONS of Americans either switched or quit their jobs..or have been thinking very hard about it. In this episode, the Gen Z hosts of Bamboo & Glass Podcast Da Eun Kim and Sophia Sun join Millennial big sis Minji to talk about their perspectives on how and why this may be happening. Together they share from their respective fields of healthcare, tech, grassroots non-profits, creative freelance,...
Jan 18, 2022•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 162
Welcome back to Season 2! To kick off our return to the airwaves, Minji and our wonderful guest, Abe Kim, explore their perspectives about men, feelings, and therapy. They discuss longstanding societal pressures that have formed our ideas about male identity as well as the brutal impact of conditioning men not to feel. You'll hear about how Abe got started in therapy, finding the right therapist, the work that goes into "the work", the financial aspect, and more. There's no time to waste y'all, ...
Jan 11, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 161
Surprise FOA fam!! Minji stops by to say hello & share some updates as we prepare for season 2! Tune in for this short episode with a special call to action for FOA listeners. Happy Holidays everyone! Follow Minji On: Twitter (@minjeeeezy) Instagram (@minjeezy) Clubhouse (@MinjiChang) ▫️ Music featured in this episode is "Uzutrap" by Uzuhan ▫️ Follow the show on Instagram and Twitter and support our Patreon ▫️ This podcast is part of Potluck: An Asian American Podcast Collective Produced by ...
Dec 01, 2021•14 min•Ep. 160
You ever reach a point in life when you step back and are just like, "Why have I been doing it this way???" Four plus years and many episodes later, Minji takes a moment to pause, reflect and make some big life decisions. Tune in to hear about radical responsibility + self-love, changing habits, and what’s changing for First Of All. Follow Minji On: Twitter (@minjeeeezy) Instagram (@minjeezy) Clubhouse (@MinjiChang) ▫️ Music featured in this episode is "Uzutrap" by Uzuhan ▫️ Follow the show on I...
Sep 30, 2021•35 min•Ep. 159
We've all been navigating a lot of unrest and uncertainty this past year and a half (or more), with so many TBDs, IDKs and false starts all around us. Some folks have made some major life changes, whether that's switching up a relationship, geographical location, family plans, or a career path. Our guest this week is pretty dang familiar with all of this territory, since diving into the unknown and switching gears has been a hallmark of his life for many years now. In this week's episode, our gu...
Sep 23, 2021•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 158
So the world continues to feel like it's imploding for a lot of us. And in the meantime, we're all at different stages in life - family dynamics, age, income, career trajectories, and relationship status - and just doing our best to figure things out from day to day. It has been one helluva strange year and a half to say the least, but also packed with tons of reflection on our places in life, who we want to be, where we want to go, and also who we want to go with. In this episode, we bring back...
Sep 10, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 157
The world feels like it's on fire or flooding at the moment, but we're here to bring some joy into it however we can. The two amazing hosts of Two Horny Goats podcast join Minji this week to put it all on the table about finding their voice and spirituality. Can we say dream collabo? The strength, vulnerability and honest humor of these women come through in a very open conversation about how they decided to go from "wouldn't it be nice" to "F it, I'm doing it, I'm making my own channel." They g...
Sep 03, 2021•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 156
Times are a-changing in Hollywood when it comes to putting stories from minority voices up on the screen. How does it all work? How have people made a lasting difference in this very historically white male dominated industry? In this week's episode, we get a little peek into the world of a seasoned Hollywood journalist working in "the trades". Our guest is Dino-Ray Ramos, who has been amplifying marginalized communities through his journalism for two decades. He shares insight on the inner work...
Aug 26, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 155
This week, Minji is extra thankful, humbled, and lost all at the same time as she examines the state of the world, America’s battle with Covid and common sense, concerns in her personal life as well as her very own scary run-in with 'Rona. Forced to go into full blown quarantine once again, she works through a panic attack, bouts of despair and a lot of anxiety. While in recovery, she comes across a documentary that educates and fires her up about longstanding gender discrimination in Hollywood....
Aug 20, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 154
First loves, coming of age, passion, romance, angst. YES, PLEASE. Minji and Priska openly share their love for the show “Normal People” based on the beloved novel by Sally Rooney. They go deep right out the gate with their thoughts and experiences with intimacy, abuse, heartache, beauty, class and mental health. They also dive into how the series portrays a particularly authentic journey with all the nuance and emotions of finding and losing love that everyday people around the world could conne...
Aug 12, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 153
So how about that Delta variant, eh? Yeah, it's been a lot for us here at First Of All and for our returning guest Steve, making us just like every other person on this planet in 2021. As many of you out there may have been sorting through returning to work, getting vaccinated, debating about vaccinations, pondering about work, questioning the meaning of life, being free of masks, having to mask up again, worrying about humanity, feeling every emotion under the sun about every one of your relati...
Aug 05, 2021•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 152
Understanding our unique identities is no small feat. We're made up of so many intersecting things that also evolve over time. Some parts we embrace wholeheartedly, others confuse us, and some can just be difficult to accept. In this episode, Minji sits down with her friend, Sam Futerman, to discuss her incredible journey as a transracial adoptee from Korea who also discovered an identical twin sister as an adult. From growing up with a white family and having to navigate uncomfortable questions...
Jul 28, 2021•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 151
In this episode, Minji shares a meaningful and harrowing experience of treating herself to her very first solo vacation to Hawaii. From making the decision, committing to keeping it, budgeting, and then actually spending a lot of time alone in a new environment, she goes through a whole mess of fun and sometimes awkward, sometimes difficult growth. This goes out to everyone who’s figuring out how to better love themselves, taking risks, and facing fears (uh, like ghosts). This is all very timely...
Jul 18, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 150
Ever stop and look back on your life and realize that you've actually overcome some pretty crazy things? Same. It may not feel like particularly special at the time, but everyone is navigating their own unique path on their individual hero's journey. In Hollywood-land, the hero's journey is a storytelling mechanism in which the main character overcomes major obstacles and challenges to transform and grow as a person (or dinosaur, elf, what have you). In this episode, Minji sits down with her fri...
Jul 02, 2021•2 hr 31 min•Ep. 149
Getting ghosted is great. If great suddenly means the absolute worst. As much as we wish we could be eternally unbothered, always in our most confident state, completely incapable of feeling small or rejected...it happens to the best of us. Falling for someone can be a high like no other- full of mystery, intrigue, butterflies, and anticipation. And if it doesn't work out, especially when the person, uh, vanishes, the fallout can be more than we ever bargained for. In this episode, Minji gets vu...
May 28, 2021•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 148
Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month~ hope you all take time to celebrate the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) folks in your universe, including yourself if that applies. While May calls for honoring the Asian diaspora, it has been a painful and scary year for the AAPI community, with surges in anti-Asian brutality, hatred, and xenophobia. In the midst of all the ongoing racial tensions in the US and around the world, many have resorted to lashing out or just resigning to apathy. So...
May 10, 2021•1 hr 48 min•Ep. 147
For some people, it's easy to ask for what they want. It's not a big deal to say no. It doesn't take everything out of them to put themselves first all the time or even a majority of the time when it comes to big and little decisions. Some people walk around not having a bottomless need for approval, permission, or external validation. For anything. Seriously. And for some people, they don't know what that existence even begins to feel like because all they do is maneuver themselves around other...
Apr 30, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 146
Life moves quickly, doesn't it? And before you know it, you've gone through relationships, career changes, life transitions, family drama, friendships, and growth milestones in the blink of an eye. It's one thing to be able to slow down or even pause to savor all the good stuff, and it's another to let go of things that have taken up space, hurt you, and stunted your happiness. In this episode, Minji sits down with her friend, artist/producer/creator Jessica Stafford, to dive into how important ...
Apr 23, 2021•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 145
