For the month of February, we sit down with queer Asian Americans to learn more about how they navigate finding love here in America.   This episode, we sit down with Derek Tran, a gay second-generation Vietnamese-American entrepreneur in LA and talk about growing up in LA, being a part of the gaysian LA scene, navigating social media and dating apps, and finding self-love through his spiritual and body transformation.   Derek Tran (he/him/his) is a gay, second-generation Vietnamese-American entrepreneur residing in Los Angeles.  His interests include mindfulness, fitness, environmental sustainability and has been an integral part of the LA Gaysian scene for more than 20+ years.   In this episode we talk about:

• How he got started with his businesses in LA.
• The story of his family moving from Vietnam and throughout Los Angeles county.
• Growing up as one of the only Vietnamese individuals in his hometown and trying to assimilate into American culture.
• Coming back home to his identity and finding his sense of cultural pride.
• Social media and its impact on our generation.
• Why there is an entire culture around shaming hookup app conversations.
• Why racial preference is just racism - from exclusion to fetishism.
• His journey through body transformation.
• What unsolicited advice say more about people than the advice itself.
• How Derek started to do the work to find love for himself. 

  References:

• The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
• The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man's World by Alan Downs
• Headspace App

  You can reach out to Derek via Instagram @findyourfearless   You can follow me at: Instagram (instagram.com/stevenwakabayashi) YouTube (youtube.com/stevenwakabayashi) Weekly Newsletter (mindfulmoments.substack.com)