Bombshell Brunches Podcast

When did you realise that self-worth was attached to looks? Have you been told “you’re so pretty - you don’t need to work as hard”, or thought to yourself “If I look ‘better’, I might get the job”? For every side of this surface-level coin, this episode is for YOU!

Let’s talk about another side of the glass ceiling: the one where you’re too pretty to be smart, you only got the job because you’re “beautiful”, and you get compliments based on outside, out-of-your-control elements. 

We dig into the dark side of the “pretty” compliments for young girls and how they combined with affection can end up linking girls’ self-worth to appearance rather than things in their control such as intelligence or humour. 

Looks in general hold so much weight in society (pun intended), so we want to encourage you to show up as YOUR best self. So let’s get real, here: from Mowgli to Erin Brokovich, from Barbie to Gigantor, we get into the weeds with the ‘unsaid side’ of ‘pretty’, and highlight some of the impactful compliments we’ve given and received that highlight the shine from within! 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, Chris and Elvin!  

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

Let’s get planning! Today we’re talking WEDDINGS! We talk to Grace Harvey about our own unique perspectives on unions, the importance of knowing your values and the elements that enrich your union experience: from budget to bandwidth, guests to the dress, we’re on the road to togetherness with our favorite event planner. Find out some best questions to ask your future planner, how to DIY it, and why a farm might not be cheaper than that luxury hotel. 

About Our Guest: 

Grace is a food and drink-loving Brit in British Columbia. With over 12 years of hospitality experience in some of BC and Europe’s top spaces, resorts, and fine dining restaurants, Grace designs inimitable events in exceptional settings. Grace’s love for participating in exceptional experiences is matched only by her love of a lazy Sunday brunch with her best friends. Grace’s global travels have resulted in her meticulous planning, organising and running all manner of events. A lover of small towns with big personalities, Grace now resides in Victoria, where she reads up on wine, dog-sits at every opportunity, and revels in bringing dream events to life. Grace is currently an event planner at The Good Party, based in Victoria, B.C.

 ** RESOURCES **

• The Good Party
• Real Estate: Ashley Smith Episode
• 2Paycheques Away Episode 

To connect with Grace: click HERE 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, Chris and Elvin!  

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

This one’s a BIG topic. We’re bringing you our breakdown of some select media and anecdotal clips, with a focus on how media looks different from around the world. 

We talk through the impact of the overwhelm of news, fear-mongering verbiage and international perspectives, to listening lightly and creating individual control over your mental and emotional health. As always, we believe in being brave and living full. We know that education is influence, and influence is personal power. So, we hope that you will take some time to do your own reading and research, too! We took this topic on because we both felt it hard to turn off media sources, and easy to feel helpless. So, in brunch break style, we’re here for you to help discuss ways to design and protect our mental sanctuaries, do what we can, and take a big, collective breath as we look at internal and external stories that impact us on countless levels.

RESOURCES:
CBC Segment
BBC Segment
SCMP Segment
SABC Segment

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

New York Times
Daily Maverick
University of Amsterdam
The Daily Podcast
CBC Ways to Help Ukraine

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

From a “Farm strong” cultivating a deep well of self-initiating music and story ideas, we sit down with a true force of nature. Barbara Lee took the “nobody looks like me” narrative, and used it as fuel to start the longest-running Asian film festival in Canada. Join us as we talk farm life to film life, creating long-term change with authentic action, and attracting a team of investors, volunteers and creatives by being your true self. Barbara is a beacon of inspiration, showing us how to walk in with a curiosity lens, relinquish those regrets, and take each opportunity as a two-way investment. So sit back, get your popcorn out, and enjoy the show!

About Barbara

Barbara has spent over twenty-five years as a community advocate for diverse representation and organizer of events to increase the profile and opportunities for Canadian Asian artists in film, television, media and music. She is the founder of the Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF). Co-founder of the Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon (MAMM) in its 16th year and founder and producer of the Asians in Movies, Music and Media Summit (AIM3), and the recently launched Racial Equity Screen Office (RESO).

Barbara Lee is an independent filmmaker, producer and songwriter in Vancouver. She has worked as a broadcast journalist and has received the regional and national Radio and Television News Directors’ Association (RTNDA) Award for Best Editorial for her work entitled Mother’s Day. She is also the winner of the National Film Board (NFB) of Canada’s Diversity award Pacific/Yukon and her NFB produced documentary BETWEEN THE LAUGHTER aired on CBC and PBS Northwest.  Currently, she is completing her feature documentary SING MY SONG and her horror script.

 RESOURCES:

Elimin8hate

Vancouver Asian Film Festival

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, Chris and Elvin!  

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

It’s still FAB-RUARY, and we’re making fabulous moves for the second month of 2022! Join us as we discuss the morning rituals that make us the best version of ourselves. Are you team Kristina - hardcore routines and checking those dopamine boxes or team Raquelle - led by your intuition and all about cortisol reduction? Either way, dive into it with us as we talk about how to navigate the craziness of life while running like a well oiled machine. 

 RESOURCES:

Deep work - Cal Newport

Ashley Margeson Episode

Unapologetic Eating

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Chris and Elvin!  

Thank you to our Branding Consultants at Roodenburg Design and Audio Career Pathway Support from Levels Music Production!

From a performance, marketing and communications background to gathering Angel investors while pioneering remote and virtual teams, Kate has made entrepreneurship in the gig-based economy look like a beautiful breeze. We talk about the real work - living and breathing your values so that your product or service shines through! Kate’s commitment to brand integrity, transparency about attracting investors for a brand, and tips on how to align yourself for sustainable success are exactly what we could all use as we waltz into each day! Business owners, creative thinkers and wellness lovers will ADORE this episode, so sit back, and take a chill pill and then pre-order the Loba Pill Organizer to set up in style each day!

About Our Guest: 

Kate has a background in advertising and communications, and has worked with numerous healthcare organizations including Doctors of BC, BC Family Doctors, and the Health Data Coalition. She is the founder of Armature Collective, a marketing and branding company based in Vancouver. Kate believes strongly in giving back to arts and community services, and supporting personal development. She has held numerous community leadership roles, organized charity events, and provides personal coaching to a select group of

clients. 

RESOURCES:

• Loba
• Ripple of Change
• Doctor Bobby Parmer
• Dr. Creaser
• Dr. Bowen
• The Forum: Canadian entrepreneurs 

Special thanks to Jenn Wint for the connection! 

To connect with Kate: click HERE 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

It's the Year of the Tiger and we're ready to ROAR! Join Raquelle and Kristina as we explore some of the biggest personal shifts brought to us in 2021. Raquelle, coming from a year which included 8 major trips living in three different continents over the pandemmy. She digs into her biggest learnings from taking bold moves, realizing that sometimes the goal isn’t everything and how this year was a big one for re-evaluating her values. Kristina, an avid traveler, talks about what it was like not being able to leave Canada for the last two years, how she navigated her industry being turned upside down and how she realized the importance of knowing when it’s the right time to leave.

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, and Elvin!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

Happy Lunar New Year! Remember when a caller left a voicemail for Missouri News Anchor Michelle Li, saying that her dumpling comment on the food segment of New Years’ Day was “Very Asian” and that she should “keep her Korean to herself”? WE DO. #VeryAsian movement starter Michelle Li takes a moment to share her badass, bombshell self with us, and we’re OVER THE MOON (just in time for Lunar New Year, too!). Michelle is an absolute beacon, lighting up the classiest ways to embrace the unknown, lead with curiosity and take baby steps towards a better world. Listen all the way to the end to hear the REST of the story with the unknown caller, and get inspired by a woman who reminds us that when you choose to lead each day with grace, forgiveness and kind curiosity, you may not feel ready for life’s adventures, but you are certainly BUILT for it!

About Michelle Li:

Michelle Li is a news anchor for KSDK, the NBC affiliate in St. Louis, less than a year, previously in Seattle at King 5. Raised in Missouri, near Kansas City. She is the founder of the Very Asian Foundation, sparked by a globally-formed movement in early 2022. 

To connect with Michelle: click HERE 

To connect with the Very Asian Foundation: click HERE

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Rowan, Chris and Elvin!  

With special thanks to: 

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Partner
Roodenburg Design Consultants: Branding Partner

How do you increase confidence, lower cortisol levels, reduce stress and command influence and authority? Easy: SING IN THE SHOWER! MAKE WEIRD SOUNDS! MASSAGE YOUR JAW! And speak through a straw into a cup of water every day. Think of voice as the new meditation: it’s something that we all use, and most of the time, it’s unconsciously so. Today’s episode breaks down how our voice actually creates sound, why it’s great for your mental wellbeing, and why teachers, public speakers, managers, fitness instructors, parents and guardians, and ANYONE who’s talking for extended periods of time can create a more powerful presence, internally and impactfully to others. Three minutes a day is all it takes, so sit back, grab a glass of water, and drink in this nourishing episode with Rachael and Carol-Lynne!

About Rachael:
Rachael Schroeder is a singer, songwriter and vocal producer/editor. Pursuing her lifelong passion, Rachael has been honing her vocal technique and songwriting craft since a young age through continuous vocal training, workshops and collaborations. From 2015 to 2017, she attended an audio music school in Vancouver, studying sound engineering, music production, music business and artist development. From her heart to yours, Rachael’s lyrics express fearless truths layered with Imogen Heap inspired harmonies driven by her smokey yet powerful vocals. Currently Rachael focuses primarily on vocal work and songwriting in collaboration with creatives around the globe. 

About Carol-Lynne Quinn:
CQ Voice is a voice company founded by Carol-Lynne Quinn, an athletic science-based voice coach.  She has worked with award-winning vocalists, coaching JUNO Master Classes and Canada’s Music Incubator.
In 2021, CQ Voice launches ROAR, an online community with vocal training programs, live challenges, articles, podcasts, live group classes and a plethora of resources for all voice users. 

RESOURCES:

• Ingo Titze 
• CQ Voice 
• Roar Community 
• 'Fix You' Coldplay Cover by Fearless Soul ft. Rachael Schroeder 

To connect with Rachael Schroeder: click HERE 

To connect with Carol-Lynne Quinn: click HERE 

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)

Tuesday Brunch Break Time! We revisit daily practices in this new season, and break down the ingredients that we use in our quest to Be Brave, Live Full. Raquelle and Kristina have very different ways of optimizing, and we walk through this brunch break to share knowledge, celebrate differences, and ask some big questions so that you can take away the most valuable tips for YOUR best version of you! Some key takeaways: 

• Movement, Light and Hydration as big, bold daily foundations
• Morning Mindset routine: build your own, and change it seasonally
• The Cake Analogy: get nerdy about how much YOU need of what in your life, in order to set up for your best day
• Make Space: You can’t listen if you are crowded! Make sure you have space to just sit back and observe
• Get Curious: Coming from a place of non-judgement and questioning your deeper why underneath your behaviour will help you custom bake your own Daily Practice Cake. 

We hark back to Dr. T, Diana Sadat, and Bake Daddy for some super tips on creating your best, fullest life. So sit back, relax, and tune in for our Brunch BAKE. ;)

To connect with Bombshell Brunches: click HERE

To connect with Kristina Lao: click HERE

To connect with Raquelle Roodenburg: click HERE

Thank you to our incredible BB Team: Glen, Bosco, Hannah, Grace, Elvin and Nicole!  

Levels Music Production: Audio Career Pathway Support (to connect with Levels Music Pro, click HERE)