Beyond Words

Katherine is a lighting specialist based in Los Angeles. When she was 22, she came to the U.S. to finish her last year of engineering degree in Miami, Florida. We talked about the challenges of learning and translating industry-specific terms in different languages and how acting classes helped her with public speaking. Katherine also shared some pros and cons of having a multicultural background in work and love life and so much more. Katherine is also a super host for a cozy studio at Mammo...

Allison is an interior designer and florist based in Los Angeles. She was born in Korea and moved to Canada with her family when she was 10 years old. Without knowing any English at that time, Allison shared her English learning journey and some of the struggles she faced in the early years. She also opened up about how she grew to embrace her Korean identity more and became more confident because of that. I also invite you to check out some of her flower arrangement work on our blog! If you ...

Thaddeus is an interior designer based in Los Angeles. He was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Macau, and came to the U.S. for college when he was 18 years old. We had such a fun discussion on foreign accents and our experiences with them. Thaddeus shared some of the regrets he had throughout the years and how all these turned out to be some of the best experiences he had. He also shared how his bilingual skill got him the first job when he graduated and much more. -Thank you so much for listeni...

Von is an interior designer and a full-time professor at Cal State Long Beach. He was born in the Philippines and moved to the U.S. with his family when he was 4 years old. In this episode we talked about the challenges with language and culture retention when someone moves to a new country at a young age and why mental health is becoming a hot topic in the architecture and design industry. Von also shared why he switched from biochemistry to architecture and what made him pursue the full-tim...

Taiina is an artist, musician, producer, singer, and writer. She was born and raised in Moscow, Russia. At the age of 16, she came to the U.S. by herself to pursue her passion - Jazz. She shared her music journey and why she decided to stay in the U.S. to continue her music career. Taiina shared how one-on-one teaching and mentoring are irreplaceable and the importance of finding people who embrace and celebrate your differences. I would love to invite you to check out her amazing work!Websit...

Marta is an interior designer based in Los Angeles. She was born and raised in Poland and came to the U.S. when she was 22 years old. Marta shared her struggle with accent in American when she first came here and how that experience was different than when she lived in Austria, how she got into interior design and a unique and fun "Marie Kondo" like work experience during school. Marta also shared her 3 years of backpacking & world traveling experience and how that changed her perspective...

Manni is an architect based in Los Angeles. He was born and raised in Oxnard, California. His parents immigrated to American when they were teenagers from Mexico. Manni shared his struggles with his stutter growing up, how his cultural upbringing affected the way he spoke, how he overcame his speech impediment and became a better speaker and more confident in presenting himself. -Thank you so much for listening and being part of this community! If you enjoyed today's episode, we'd love it if ...

Fang Nan is an architect based in Los Angeles. She was born and raised in China and came to the U.S. when she was 22 years old for grad school. Fang shared her unique university journey in China, how that helped her transition after moving to the U.S., her opinion and experiences in different areas of her life with her bi-lingual and bi-cultural background.-Thank you so much for listening and being part of this community! If you enjoyed today's episode, we'd love it if you leave a review and ...

Kirstin Nguyen is an architect based in Los Angeles. She was born and raised in Vietnam and came to the U.S. when she was 13 years old. Kirstin shared her language learning journey when she first came to the U.S., how she ended up studying architecture after a few years of exploring different majors, and how she got into competing in triathlon. -Thank you so much for listening and being part of this community! If you enjoyed today's episode, we'd love it if you leave a review and rating on th...

Neo is an interior designer based in Los Angeles. Neo's dad was a veteran, so after the war, his family immigrated to the U.S through a program called HOP (humanitarian operation program). Neo shared experiences on how he embraced and succeeded in some of the unexpected transitions throughout school and his career, how a comment on his accent pushed him to study harder, and how he finally was able to face his true self after he came out to his mom.-Thank you so much for listening and being pa...