Model Minority Moms

What does "American" mean in "Asian-American"? Does it mean legal status, shared culture, shared language, shared benefits, shared commitment and sacrifice? How does that differ for our parents' generation vs ours? How do we reconcile that with the fact that despite being Americans, we as people of Asian descent still face discrimination and more recently even violence at the hands of other Americans? Take a listen as Susan, Jeanette and Kate all bring their different perspectives and personalities to this sometimes uncomfortable but important question of what being American means to each of us.

So how do you really really feel about abortion? And do you have anywhere you can talk about it? With Roe v Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court, we dig into where we stand with respect to abortion rights and how we got there. Wherever you are on the issue, we can all agree that it's important, especially for women. At the same time, our cultural and political environment feels super-polarized right now, eliminating spaces to voice different views in a civil and safe space. In this podcast episode, we seek to reclaim that in our own way... by creating a space for three smart but supportive friends to talk openly about this critical, timely and sensitive issue.

For those of us coming from families with deep dysfunction and/or trauma, we often choose different ways of coping - achievement, power, money, control, even addiction. Anything but despair right? For poet, writer and artist Shin Yu Pai, she chose the path of self-expression through language as a way of making sense of her past, present and future. Her experience of growing up in 1980s Riverside, California as the child of Taiwanese immigrants has profoundly shaped her projects, as well as her relationship to her son. We got to know her as the creator of The Blue Suit, a limited-series podcast from Seattle's NPR station KUOW that features the stories of Asian Americans through the lens of every day items. Join us for this thoughtful conversation about her choice to choose the creative professional path, how her life experiences have shaped her work, and what makes her choose the work she does every day. For more on The Blue Suit podcast and Shin Yu Pai, check out these links:  Her upcoming book Less Desolate  A live conversation about The Blue Suit Podcast hosted at McCaw Hall's Nesholm Family Lecture Hall in Seattle: RSVP here 

Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? Between COVID and flus/colds/random GI virus raging through our communities, it can feel like moms just can't catch a break. When your kid is sick home from care, how do you manage to care for them while keeping a toehold at work and keeping everything running in the household? We get real about what life looks like for working mamas when their little ones get sick.

Capping off our series on career decisions as Asian Americans, working parents, immigrant kids and products of elite schools, we talk about finding meaning in our careers and how that has evolved from our teens into our thirties. What does meaning in a career even mean? Our discussion took us to a somewhat unexpected destination that perhaps will resonate with you too.

Matchmaker, co-founder of a magazine for Asian-American teenage girls, co-founder of the Gold House collective (a leading AAPI organization for advancing media representation and commercial success), former management consultant, former chief of staff to Tony Hsieh the founder of Zappos, now a venture capitalist with Andreessen Horowitz... Maggie's career has been interesting and impressive to say the least. On this episode, she shares her career management philosophy with typical MMM candor and how parenthood and career have influenced each other. Listen for some great inspiration for anyone's career journey.

What's money got to do with your career? Is it everything, nothing, somewhere in between? How does the level of compensation influence how you feel about your job? What was your parents' message to you? What's your message to your kids? We tackle these questions and more in our episode on career and money, and our experiences trying to navigate these sometimes treacherous and confusing waters.

What's your strategy for managing career decisions with your spouse? Do you take turns prioritizing one person's career over the other? Do each of you have a defined role? What does money have to do with it? How do you factor in risk/passion/other contributions to the household? In this episode, we talk about how we have managed - or not! :( - career decisions with our spouses and what we've learned so far. 

In part 2 of "What do your parents think of your career?" Susan shares her reflections on how her parents and family have shaped her career decisions. Susan says that her dad was a "tiger dad in a foreign land" - can you immediately relate? Have no clue what she's talking about? Tune in to hear how Susan has tried to keep her performative streak alive while trying to keep her parents happy.

Ah parents... Some of them have strong opinions about your career but have no clue about the actual reality you face. Some of them might have a clue but offer no support. And for some reason, they always seem to say the wrong thing about what you do. If this isn't your experience, we are happy for you. For those of us who feel a small stab to the heart whenever our parents say something about our work, this episode is for you. In this episode, Kate and Jeanette share how their parents have influenced the career choices they've made so far, as well as the good things and the struggles that have come with that experience.