Award-winning R&B/Rap producer Band!t fell in love with the genres as the young son of Korean American academics. Unsatisfied with the standard STEM direction, he began teaching himself the rudiments of producing original beats interwoven with samples of songs from the 70s while in college. But it would require plenty of blood, sweat, tears, and unshakeable faith in God before he was given chances to prove what he could do. 

VP Harris was inserted into the race just a few months ago, and now we're only 3 weeks away from the day when all the votes will be cast and counted. After that, the whole world will finally know who will be the 47th POTUS. Harris has proven to be a much more formidable adversary to Trump, and yet most polls are still saying that this race is too close to call.

Podcasters Fong and Kemp address why it's so uncomfortable living with uncertainty, and how important it is for us all to learn to embrace it, even as we cling to our hopes and dreams until we need to let them go.

My guests this week are Paul Cheng and David Fu. Paul is finishing his first term on Arcadia's City Council and seeking a second term, while David is running to join his friend Paul on their city's council. I started getting to know a few of the Asian Americans running for local offices when they asked me to take photographs for their campaigns of them with their families. I've really come to appreciate how fortunate we are that people of the caliber and character of David and Paul are willing to serve their cities by trying hard to solve vexxing problems like homelessness. If you'd like to learn more about Paul and why he's running again, go to www.cheng4arcadia.com. Likewise, if you'd like to get to know David better and his reasons for running, go to www.davidfu4arcadia.com.

Because Mika Shino was born in Japan, she possessed an innate connection to Japan's traditions, culture, aesthetics, and cuisines. But having grown up in other countries, especially America, she also was imbued with a creative curiosity that was free to explore beyond the boundaries of her native roots. When she became a mom, she soon learned that most of American snacks originatetd in Europe, and they weren't healthy. So she began to experiment in her kitchen, eventually concocting a healthy snack that her boys and their friends loved that was based in the traditional Japanese mochi cake. But she took a huge leap of faith when she decided to mass produce Issei Mochi Gummies. Her unique Japanese American healthy snack is now found in most grocery stores, on Amazon, and can also be bought directly from www.mochigummies.com. She is adamant about sticking with Issei's goal to create beautiful, healthy, and delicious foods that bring happiness, honor Asian heritage, and garner a community. They aim to enhance diversity and inclusion in the food sector, building bridges across cultures through food.

Vietnamese American playright and performer Susan Lieu recently published her memoir The Manicurist's Daughter. After her 30-something manicurist mother died from a botched tummy-tuck surgery, Susan was met with a wall of silence from all her relatives. Tragically, she internalized the body-shaming-consciousness that led to her mother's unnecessary death. This led to years and years of battles with her weight and self-esteem. But she eventually learns to push back hard against the body-shaming voices around her and inside her head.

Louis Wu was an engineer, not an entrepreneur. But when he and his wife agreed that he needed a job that would allow him to spend more time with their young children, he began casting around, trying to find his new career path. In this episode, you'll hear how he ended up starting Ohana Music 18 years ago, which has become a widely respected source of quality affordable and now customized ukuleles around the world. www.ohana-music.com

#ukulele #ukulelelife

According to experts, the average person goes through at least 30 major changes in his or her life. Some changes are things that we choose, e.g., marriage, divorce, different career, while some changes are things that happen or happen to us that we must navigate, e.g, war, assault, poor health, accident, etc. Carolyn Taketa is a certified life transformation coach after being a litigator in court, a mom, the small groups pastor of a megachurch, and then an empty nester. She loves helping others who don't feel comfortable in their own skin learn to cherish who they truly are and be able to bring the best version of themselves to different situations. www.carolyntaketa.com

#change #navigatingchange #lifecoach

On Tuesday night, September 3rd, Trump and Harris locked horns in what now looks to be the first and final debate between the two leading candidates for America's next POTUS. Even if you didn't watch it, by now, days later, you've no doubt heard that Harris prevailed mightily and convincingly over Trump. Regardless of the outcome, Fong and Kemp were ready to weigh in the very next day. If you listened to their episode following the Biden v. Trump debate (June 29, EP 382), you'll quickly notice a huge boost in their morale!

Will how she performed at this debate give VP Harris the win in November? Will the GOP now start to quickly step away from their frontrunner like the Dems did with Biden in June? (Hint: hell will freeze over before they'd do this.) Will the upcoming debate between Sen. Vance and Gov. Walz be a carbon copy of this one?

My very special guest this bonus episode is Doreen Wong. You're going to get to hear from her because she said 'yes' to me twice last week. She accepted my surprise proposal of marriage on September 3rd, and then the next day she finally accepted my invitation to join me on my podcast to tell the miraculous story of how we've come back together fifty-plus years after we broke up before the end of her senior year in high school. Miracles do happen!

Lei Wang was perfectly happy with her burgeoning career in marketing and finance. But one fateful frigid Boston evening, she went to watch a documentary on mountain climbing, and something unusual began to stir in her. Even though she was a short, out-of-shape, unathletic 30-year-old person, she became seized by the vision of climbing to the top of Mount Everest!

You'll be utterly amazed at what she went through to achieve this compelling vision. And you'll be inspired by the life-lessons she's learned along the way to climbing to the top of the world's highest peaks on all seven continents, and skiing to both Poles!